The Determination of crab species in Çakalburnu estuary and the investigation of the reproduction and the maturity of Carcinus aestuarii

This work presents the results of analyses to determine the growth and maturity of Mediterranean green crab. Sampling was carried out between April 2001 - April 2002 and a total of 2386 with (1350 males and 1036 females) were caught. All crabs were counted and examined for sex, body size, weight, occurrence of ovigerous females and epibionts. Besides these measurements physical and chemical properties of lagoon were also analysed. Sex ratio (females : males) was calculated and in September 2001 this ratio is 1.9 and in January 2002 is 0.2. The crabs grow steadily throughout the summer months, and females are able to breed during their first year. In winter, the crabs migrate offshore (İzmir Bay) and the breeding season lasts from winter to spring. The characteristic of Çakalburnu Lagoon is hypertrophic, the concentrations of nutrients were at high level during whole sampling time, according to concentrations abundance of the crabs were changed. This study indicates that this hypertrophic habitat is convenient for Mediterranean green crab. At last, importance of wetlands can not be denied for living resources and this can tried to determine by this work.