| This study compared the major mineral contents among three mitten crab populations: Eriocheir sinensis, E. japonica and their hybrids. The results showed as following: (1) For mineral contents in the muscle of adult male crabs, there were no significant differences on K, P and Zn contents among three mitten crab populations; E. sinensis had the highest Na, Mg and Cu contents, but had the lowest Mn and Fe contents among three populations, while E. japonica had the lowest content of Ca. For mineral contents in the testis, no significant difference was found on Na and Mg contents among three populations; the highest Mn and Fe contents of testis were found in E. japonica, and E. sinensis and hybrid crab had the lowest Ca, Cu and K, P, Zn contents, respectively. For mineral contents in the hepatopancreas, there was no significant difference for Mg, Ca and P contents among three mitten crab populations; the highest Na, K and Mn contents and the lowest Fe contents of hepatopancreas were found in hybrid crab, E. sinensis and E. japonica had the highest Cu and Zn contents, respectively. (2) For mineral contents in muscle of female crabs, there was no significant difference for the major elements among three mitten crab populations; E. sinensis had the highest levels of Cu, Zn and Mn in the muscle, and E. Japonica had the lowest contents of these trace elements. There were significant differences for all of nine mineral contents in ovaries among three populations. E. sinensis had the higher N, P,Mg and Zn contents than the other two populations; except for the lowest Na contents in hybrid crab and K contents in E. sinensis, respectively, the lowest levels of the other six elements were all found in E. japonica. For mineral contents in the hepatopancreas, the rank of general mineral contents among three mitten crab populations showed as following: E. japonica>E. sinensis >hybrid crab. In general, three mitten crab populations had the lower contents of Na, Mg, Cu and Zn, but the higher levels of Ca, P and K than most of marine crabs; although the pattern of mineral composition was similar for three mitten crab populations, there were species-specific for the contents of some elements among three populations. |
