Chionoecetes opilio   (Fabricius, 1788)

Snow crab

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Chionoecetes opilio  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Chionoecetes opilio

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Malacostraca | Decapoda | Oregoniidae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Benthic; depth range 4 - 1400 m (Ref. 119370), usually 100 - 300 m (Ref. 117890).  Boreal; -1°C - 10°C (Ref. 78815), preferred 3°C (Ref. 107945); 79°N - 29°N, 20°E - 43°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Northern Pacific, Northern Atlantic and the Arctic. Introduced to the Northeast Atlantic (Barents Sea) and the Arctic (Kara Sea). Boreal to polar.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 5.0, range 5 - ? cm Max length : 13.7 cm CW male/unsexed; (Ref. 127428); max. published weight: 864.00 g (Ref. 127428)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Sediments mostly consisted of fine brown mud, either with or without nodules, pebbles and foraminiferans (Ref. 119389). Also found on sandy and gravelly bottoms (Ref. 119370). With year round temperatures 0 to 5°C (Ref. 78817). Exhibits cannibalism (Ref. 101157).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Members of the order Decapoda are mostly gonochoric. Mating behavior: Precopulatory courtship ritual is common (through olfactory and tactile cues); usually indirect sperm transfer.

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Kon, T., T. Adachi and Y. Suzuki. 2003. (Ref. 93379)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Tools

E-book | Field guide

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Fisheries: species profile; publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 0.4 - 7.1, mean 2.9 (based on 631 cells).
Prior r = 0.58, 95% CL = 0.38 - 0.87, Based on 4 full stock assessments.
Price category (Ref. 80766): Very high.
Nutrients: Calcium = 109 [35, 184] mg/100g; Iron = 1.59 [1.21, 1.97] mg/100g; Protein = 20.2 [19.2, 21.3] %; Omega3 = 0.285 [0.185, 0.386] g/100g; Selenium = 48.3 [-31.7, 128.3] μg/100g; VitaminA = 0 μg/100g; Zinc = 1.79 [1.17, 2.40] mg/100g (wet weight).