Abstract
Details of the female annual reproductive cycle in the population from Northumberland are given. Mating occurs in October and is followed by egg laying in early November. Eggs are carried by females until the following July–August when hatching occurs. The smallest ‘berried’ female caught was 25 mm carapace length (C.L.) and this was chosen as the minimum size for adult females. Only 40–50% of adult females, hand-caught, were ‘berried’ in the Spring following egg laying; but this percentage was low largely because few females in the size classes below 28 mm C.L. were ‘berried’. The reasons for adult females being non-reproductive in a year are discussed.
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Brewis, J.M., Bowler, K. A study of reproductive females of the freshwater crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes . Hydrobiologia 121, 145–149 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008717
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008717