This project examines the environmental factors affecting the survival of mitten crab zoea, in the hopes of better understanding patterns of Chinese mitten crab abundance in the San Francisco Bay-Delta region. The basic idea behind the research is that under optimal conditions, zoeal survivorship should predict adult abundance three to four years later, the time it takes for the crabs to reach adulthood.

We have attempted to determine the environmental factors that may regulate the year-class strength of the invasive mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis. Specifically, we are attempting to correlate the environmental factors that are involved in crab larvae (zoeae) survivorship, thus determining the numbers of mitten crab adults that occur in successive years. This type III life history suggests that under optimal conditions, the more zoeae survive, more adults will occur in 3-4 years.