The Norwegian Institute of Marine Research has received data on the dissemination of snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the Barents Sea from its Russian partner organization PINRO. The mapping of the population showed unexpected results, the institute’s website reads.
According to PINRO, there is ten times as much snow crab as there is king crab in the Barents Sea. The Russian scientists have compared the biomass of the two species.
Like the king crab, the snow crab is a new species in the Barents Sea. But while the king crab was deliberately put out in the Barents Sea by Russian scientists in the 1960s, it is uncertain how the snow crab has spread to the area — by ballast water or by natural migration.
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