On the 17th of June coastal expedition "King crab - 2016" has ended.

The expedition took place from 05th to 17th of July 2016 on the Barents Sea coast in Bay of East Murman Dalnezelenetskaya to study biology of red king crab in the Barents Sea coastal zone. Works were carried out on the basis of seasonal biological station in the village of Dalnie Zelentsy. The task of the expedition was to study the most important population characteristics of red king crab in the Barents Sea coastal zone, increase knowledge about nutrition of red king crab, study distribution features in the Dalnezelenetskaya Bay and dynamics of its stock, study of benthic communities in Dalnezelenetskaya lips. Diving shooting (several diving transects) of Dalnezelenetskaya lip was carried out during the field work, king crab individuals were collected and analyzed. Samples of hepatopancreas, heart, meat, hemolymph and gonad of 48 king crab species were selected and recorded. Samples of fouling and kommensal organisms of king crab (amphipods, hydroids, polychaetes, crustaceans, etc.) were collected. Fresh data on gender dimension and structure of population, occurrence of injured animals and females with eggs was obtained. Data results will expand the information on status of groups of red king crab in coastal waters of the Kola Peninsula and obtain new data on various aspects of its biology. The expedition besides from MMBI scientists was attended by specialists from Institute of Environmental Physiology Ural Branch RAS (Arkhangelsk).