Title: Selectivity of Chinese mitten-handed crab for major weeds in the northern paddy fields
The selection and feeding of weeds and rice were studied in Chinese mitten-handed crab(Eriocheir sinensis) with different body weights of 1-10,11-20,21-30 and ≥30 g cultured in net cages disposed in a paddy field.It was found that the crab showed significantly feeding selection of the weeds, the maximal food consumption for wild arrowhead, followed by for Potamogeton and Monochoria grass and the minimal for barnyard grass and rice. The crabs with different sizes were found to have different consumption of the weeds.The crab weighing 20-30 g had the maximal food consumption of the wild arrowhead, significantly different from the others(P0.01).The crab over 30 g showed the minimal food consumption of Monochoria vaginalis,and Echinochloa crusgalli(P0.05). The crab weighing 1-10 g had the maximal food consumption of the barnyard grass and rice,significantly different from the others(P0.01). [Lü Dong-feng, WANG Wu, MA Xu-zhou, CHEN Zai-zhong, BAI Guo-fu, CHEN Wei-xin, YU Yong-qing (2011). Selectivity of Chinese mitten-handed crab for major weeds in the northern paddy fields. Journal of Dalian Ocean University. (2)].