Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium recently celebrated the official opening of its 6,000-square-foot Florida Coral Reef Restoration Crab Hatchery Research Center, the first fully operational Caribbean king crab hatchery of its kind that will aid in the effort to save Florida’s coral reefs.

The new facility, which is located in eastern Sarasota County, was funded in part by an award from the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation as part of the Mission: Iconic Reefs (M:IR) Capacity Building Grant program. Mote president and CEO Dr. Michael P. Crosby and Rep. Greg Steube cut the ribbon to the new facility alongside State Sen. Joe Gruters; State Rep. Fiona McFarland; Shannon Colbert, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation vice president of external affairs; Kevin Claridge, vice president of Mote's Sponsored Research and Coastal Policy Programs; and Dr. Jason Spadaro, Mote's Coral Reef Restoration Research Program manager.

Mote is a long-standing innovator and leader in coral restoration research and developing methods that are being used by coral restoration practitioners as part of M:IR. The organization now also stands at the forefront of mitigating algal overgrowth and preventing, or potentially reversing, seaweed dominance—both significant challenges to successful long-term coral reef restoration—by growing a program to bolster populations of a key reef herbivore: the Caribbean king crab.

“We will be able to produce 34,000 Caribbean King crabs in this new facility within the next four years as we grow our holistic coral reef community restoration approach," says Crosby.

Caribbean king crabs consume more algae than any species of parrotfish in the Caribbean and rival the consumption rates of urchins. The crabs also readily consume algae that are chemically defended and avoided by other grazers in the region. Eventually, the new crabs from the hatchery will be added to coral reef restoration sites, reducing the competition between algae and corals and allowing Mote’s restored corals to grow faster.

The crabs, which are omnivorous, play a crucial role in maintaining the delicate equilibrium of coral ecosystems. As algae populations surge due to external factors, the algae can smother and weaken coral structures, leaving them vulnerable to disease and bleaching events. Caribbean king crabs scour reefs for algae, curb algal growth and crabs foster a healthier environment for coral growth and settlement.

Mote's Caribbean king crab clutch will eventually be introduced onto Florida’s Coral Reef as part of the ongoing M:IR initiative led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in partnership with Mote and other organizations.

“With this new facility, we will continually manage aquaculture systems that support mass production and survival of crabs to support large-scale coral reef restoration," Spadaro says.

The hatchery facility is currently home to more than 100 Caribbean king crabs that will serve as the initial broodstock at Mote’s Aquaculture Research Park in Sarasota. The operational strategy for the facility is to gradually increase that number to 300-400 adult broodstock and, eventually, produce an estimated 250,000 juvenile crabs every year. Once the baby crabs reach a releasable size— three to five months after hatching—they will be screened by a veterinarian before being transported to Summerland Key for release onto restoration sites along Florida’s Coral Reef.