Abstract

Population dynamics of Procambarus clarkii (Girard) were investigated from Sep 1986 to Aug 1987 in a stream in the Iberian Central Meseta. More than 3,000 crayfish with cephalothorax length > 2.5 cm were collected in 15 sampling periods. Length-frequency distributions of sampled crayfish were analyzed with a modified percentile increment method (PIM) to determine growth rate of the population and detect recruitment waves of sub-adults. Growth rate differs between sexes with males being precocious. The sub-adult males appear in great number in the catchable population in June while the maximum abundance of sub-adult females occurs a month later. Molting increases as early as Feb, when air temperature increases but is still below 10°C. Spawning occurs mainly from Apr to Oct, but peaks in summer. Erratic spawning can be found in any month. There is no indication that mature females spawn more than once a year. Sex ratios fluctuate considerably in the year, and the annual proportion of females in the population is 0.529 ± 0.017.

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