GROWTH OF IMMATURE FALSE SOUTHERN KING CRAB, PARALOMIS-GRANULOSA (ANOMURA, LITHODIDAE), IN THE BEAGLE CHANNEL, ARGENTINA

We studied the growth of the immature false southern king crab, Paralo mis granulosa (10-57 mm carapace length, CL) from the Beagle Channel, Argentina during 1988-1991. Crabs were kept in laboratory tanks or in a pen submerged in the Beagle Channel. One hundred and thirty two moul ting individuals were studied and neither tagging nor the place of cap tivity had a detectable effect on the growth of immature crabs. Also, no differences in growth between sexes were found. Increment at moult and its variability increased with premoult size. Growth factor, or pe rcent increment, for healthy crabs was constant and was about 12.5% (S D=4.0%). Increment per moult and growth factor for crabs with injured limbs were significantly lower than those for healthy crabs. Moulting was dearly seasonal: 75% of the observed moults occurred during the la te spring early summer, i.e. November to January. Crabs < 40 mm CL wer e observed also to moult during winter. Males and females begin to mou lt annually 2 and 3 years before reaching gonadal maturity at 50.2 and 60.6 mm CL, respectively. Aided by our moult increment function for c rabs that moulted in captivity, 14 moult instars were required to expl ain the size frequency distribution of crabs collected in the field. P aralomis granulosa takes about 8 years to growth from ca. 12 to 57 mm CL.