Blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) not only is an important predator structuring the benthic community in estuaries along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of North America the Chesapeake Bay, but also supports important commercial fisheries throught this range. Like many estuarine species, blue crab exhibits a complex life history with stages occuring in both the estuary and higher salinity coastal waters. Thus, different life stages of blue crab are spatially separated along a salinity gradient. Moreover, the expression of this life history pattern is also influenced by temperature. The effects of temperature vary across the wide latitudinal range (South America to Atlantic Canada) that characterizes blue crab. In tropical and sub-tropical parts of the species range, blue crab can complete their life cycle within a year and release of zoea can occur year-round. From mid-latitudes northwards, low winter temperatures force the species to halt growth and overwinter in the sediments. This delays maturation and produces a more pulsed recruitment pattern. changes however over the wide latitudinal range across which this species is found.

QuaFEL research seeks to understand and predict patterns in the abundance and distribution of blue crab. Research has focused:

• General Additive Models (GAMs)of spatial distribution
• Geostatistical estimates of abundance
• Population dynamics
• Growth
• Winter mortality
• Spatial dynamics
• Limits and Targets
• Stock Assessment

Selected early publications from the lab's research on blue crab include:

• Brylawski, B. and T. J. Miller . 2003. The bioenergetic modeling of the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) using the computer-based Wisconsin model. Bull. Mar. Sci.72:491-504.
• Miller, T. J. 2003. Incorporating space into models of blue crab populations. Bull. Mar. Sci. 72:567-588.
• Miller, T. J. and S. G. Smith 2003. Modeling Crab Growth and Population Dynamics: Insights from the Blue Crab Conference. Bull. Mar. Sci. 72:537-541