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Geographic expansion of the invasive red crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852) (Crustacea: Decapoda) in Mexico

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Abstract

The red crayfish Procambarus clarkii, which is native to southcentral USA and northeastern Mexico, has been successfully introduced into several countries around the world. This study documents the geographic expansion of the exotic red crayfish in Mexico and discusses the consequence of a greater propagation of this species in Mexican inland waters. New state records of this crayfish in the Baja California peninsula and in the states of Durango and Sinaloa indicate its progressive dispersion. The propagation of P. clarkii in Mexico has been caused mainly by human introduction, but it is also facilitated because of the species’ tolerance to an ample range of environmental conditions. Because of the invasive capability of P. clarkii, we suspect that this exotic species is competing for habitat and food with native freshwater shrimp of the genus Macrobrachium in many sites of northern Mexico.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the projects “Decápodos de los oasis de Baja California Sur” and “Biodiversidad de los peces y crustáceos de los oasis de Baja California Sur” of CIBNOR, SEMARNAT-CONACyT-2002-C01-73, SEMARNAT-CONACyT 173/A-1, and SEMARNAT-2002-COI-0583. L. Hernández is a recipient of a Ph.D. scholarship from CONACyT (number 144309). We also thank Oscar Armendaris for editing the figures. Thanks to Dr. Ellis Glazier for editing this English-language text.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste S.C., Mar Bermejo 195, Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, La Paz, Baja California Sur, C.P. 23090, Mexico

    Luis Hernández & Alejandro M. Maeda-Martínez

  2. Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Apartado postal 233, Ensenada, Baja California, C.P. 22800, Mexico

    Gorgonio Ruiz-Campos

  3. Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, A.P. 2981, Monterrey, Nuevo León, C.P. 64000, Mexico

    Gabino Rodríguez-Almaraz

  4. Escuela Superior de Biología, Centro de Estudios Ecológicos, Av. Universidad s/n Fracc. Filadelfia, Gomez Palacio, Durango, 35010, Mexico

    Fernando Alonzo-Rojo

  5. Departamento de Acuacultura, CIIDIR-IPN unidad Sinaloa, A.P. 280, Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico

    Juan Carlos Sainz

Authors
  1. Luis Hernández
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  2. Alejandro M. Maeda-Martínez
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  3. Gorgonio Ruiz-Campos
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  4. Gabino Rodríguez-Almaraz
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  6. Juan Carlos Sainz
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Correspondence to Alejandro M. Maeda-Martínez.

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Hernández, L., Maeda-Martínez, A.M., Ruiz-Campos, G. et al. Geographic expansion of the invasive red crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852) (Crustacea: Decapoda) in Mexico. Biol Invasions 10, 977–984 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-007-9175-0

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