Male parent size, sperm storage and egg production in the crabChionoecetes bairdi(Decapoda, Majidae)

Primiparous Chionoecetes bairdi Rathbun were mated to males 65- to 140-mm carapace width. All females received enough sperm to fertilize a full clutch of eggs. Following egg extrusion, 93% of the females had enough sperm remaining in their spermathecae to fertilize additional egg clutches. The number of sperm remaining in one of the paired spermathecae shortly after extrusion of a female's first egg clutch ranged from 40 × 103 to 49 × 105 and bore no significant relationship to either size or carapace condition of the male partner. In several instances, different males mated with more than one female. Within each cohort of females mated by the same male, the number of sperm remaining in the spermathecae, following egg extrusion, was not related to the females' position in mating chronology.