Landmark Book on the Blue Crab

The Maryland Sea Grant College has published the first-ever comprehensive reference book on the blue crab. The 800-page volume, The Blue Crab: Callinectes sapidus, brings together the work of 28 authors in 16 chapters to cover the spectrum of blue crab biology and ecology.

The book details blue crab anatomy and addresses larval, juvenile, and adult development. It also covers diseases and parasites, the ecology of all life stages, population dynamics, and the history of blue crab fisheries in the U.S.

The Blue Crab was edited by L. Eugene Cronin and Victor S. Kennedy. Sadly, Cronin, a long-time and well-known Bay researcher, passed away at age 81 as the book was taking shape. Kennedy, a biologist and professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Horn Point Laboratory, continued to lead the effort. The book is dedicated to the memory of Gene Cronin.

“This book distills decades of research by many dedicated scientists on this ecologically and economically important species,” says Kennedy. “Our intent was to bring together information useful for managers, decision makers, and other researchers.”

In a review for the National Shellfisheries Association Newsletter, Sandra E. Shumway of the University of Connecticut writes: “A handsome volume that should stand as the definitive research reference on the blue crab for years to come.... The Blue Crab should have a place on the bookshelves of all marine libraries, fisheries managers’ offices, researchers, teachers, and students.”

Given the current state of blue crab stocks in the Chesapeake Bay, all this information could not come at a better time.

Information about the book is available on the web at www.mdsg.umd.edu/store/books/bc/ — including a Look Inside feature. Major sponsors of the book’s publication include the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Fair Play Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, I.T. Todd, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

The Blue Crab joins another Sea Grant book, The Eastern Oyster, as a companion reference text. Kennedy served as the lead author on that volume as well.

Contact: Jack Greer, Maryland Sea Grant, greer@mdsg.umd.edu 301405-6377
For more on Dr Victor S. Kennedy, see www.mdsg.umd.edu/CQ/V05N4/side4/