Analysis of the acoustic signature of dungeness crabs (Cancer magister)

Acoustic signals from Dungeness crabs of known size and sex have been collected and analyzed. The digital analysis included computation of the autocorrelation function and the power spectral density of each signal. The relationship between spectral resolution, statistical error and signal length was considered. Several different spectral windows were applied. The width of the window was found to have a greater effect on the spectrum than did the type of window. Results of the analysis to date indicate that it may be possible to identify the sex of a crab from its acoustic signature. Effective and practical methods of recovering and analyzing the acoustic signatures of marine species could lead to a remote detection and identification technique. Success with such a technique should contribute to both more efficient harvesting and more effective management of marine resources.