Inter-Cohort Cannibalism of Early Benthic Phase Blue King Crabs (Paralithodes platypus): Alternate Foraging Strategies in Different Habitats Lead to Different Functional Responses

Blue king crabs (Paralithodes platypus) are commercially and ecologically important in Alaska, USA, but population abundances have fluctuated over the past several decades likely resulting from a combination of environmental and biological factors, including recruitment variability. Cannibalism between cohorts may be a source of mortality limiting recruitment success in the wild, but the degree of inter-cohort cannibalism is unknown for early benthic phase blue king crabs. In laboratory experiments, we evaluated the effects of habitat type (sand and shell) on the predator functional response and foraging behavior of year-1 blue king crabs as predators of year-0 conspecifics and examined the effects of predator presence on crypsis of prey crabs. In sand, consumption rates increased with predator size and prey density until satiation, while predation rates in shell were low regardless of predator size or prey density. These differential predation rates yielded a type III functional response in sand but a type I functional response in shell habitat. Crypsis of prey crabs was generally high and did not change in the presence of predators. Predator foraging activity was reduced in shell and may be an adaptive behavior to balance foraging efficiency and susceptibility to larger predators. Our results demonstrate that early benthic phase blue king crabs are cannibalistic between cohorts in the laboratory and that shell material is extremely effective for reducing encounter rates with conspecific predators. The distribution and abundance of such habitat may be important for recruitment success in some populations. Future studies should compare benthic habitat and species assemblages in areas with variable abundances, such as the Pribilof Islands and Saint Matthew Island in the eastern Bering Sea, to better understand possible mechanisms for recruitment variability.