Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

One century away from home: how the red swamp crayfish took over the world

  • Reviews
  • Published:
Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) (hereafter RSC), native to the southern United States and north-eastern Mexico, is currently the most widely distributed crayfish globally as well as one of the invasive species with most devastating impacts on freshwater ecosystems. Reconstructing the introduction routes of invasive species and identifying the motivations that have led to those movements is necessary to accurately reduce the likelihood of further introductions. In this study, we: (i) review the temporal evolution of the scientific literature on the RSC; (ii) compile georeferenced, time-explicit records of the species to provide a comprehensive understanding of its global expansion process; and (iii) evaluate the potential role of biological supply companies in the translocations of the RSC. The interest of the RSC in scientific research increased steadily since the beginning of the twentieth century until stabilization in the late 1960s. The number of studies related to the use of the RSC in aquaculture showed two peaking periods: the years elapsed between 1970s to mid-1980s, and a continuous increase since the mid-1980s. Research on the RSC as an invasive species has only been numerically relevant in recent times, with the number of studies increasing since the 2000s to represent currently around 25% of the scientific production dealing with this species. Although the first introductions of the RSC took place in the 1920s, our synthesis highlights the rapid expansion of the species since the 1960s, arguably promoted by the emergence of crayfish industry, but other introduction pathways such as the mitigation of schistosomiasis, potential releases from research experiments, school science programs or pet trade cannot be ruled out. Currently, the RSC is present in 40 countries of four continents and there is still potential for further expansion. Commercial suppliers from native (Louisiana) and non-native (California or North Carolina) areas in the United States have provided live-specimens of the RSC for scientific research around the world for decades, suggesting that the invasion process of the RSC could be more complex than generally assumed. Tracing the introduction routes of invasive species and understanding the motivations that have led to those movements of species is key to reduce their spread and the likelihood of future introductions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ackefors H (1998) The culture and capture of crayfish fisheries in Europe. World Aquacult 29:18–24

    Google Scholar 

  • AgCenter LSU (2016) Louisiana summary of agriculture and natural resources, 1978 through 2016. Baton Rouge, Louisiana

    Google Scholar 

  • Aldrovandi U (1606) De reliquis animalibus exanguibus. Libri IV. De mollibus, crustaceis, testaceis, et zoophytis. Babtistam Bellagambam, Bologna

  • Bellard C, Cassey P, Blackburn TM (2016) Alien species as a driver of recent extinctions. Biol Lett 12(2):20150623

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bertelsmeier C, Ollier S, Liebhold AM, Brockerhoff EG, Ward D, Keller L (2018) Recurrent bridgehead effects accelerate global alien ant spread. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 115(21):5486–5491

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Blackburn TM et al (2011) A proposed unified framework for biological invasions. Trends Ecol Evol 26(7):333–339

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boakes EH, McGowan PJ, Fuller RA, Chang-qing D, Clark NE, O’Connor K, Mace GM (2010) Distorted views of biodiversity: spatial and temporal bias in species occurrence data. PLoS Biol 8(6):e1000385

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Brady S (2013) Incidental aquaculture in california’s rice paddies: red swamp crawfish. Geogr Rev 103(3):336–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brasher AMD, Luton CD, Goodbred SL, Wolff RH (2006) Invasion patterns along elevation and urbanization gradients in Hawaiian streams. Trans Am Fish Soc 135(4):1109–1129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brock VE (1960) The introduction of aquatic animals into Hawaiian waters. Intern Rev der Gesamtcn Hydrobiol 45:463–480

    Google Scholar 

  • Capinha C, Essl F, Seebens H, Moser D, Pereira HM (2015) The dispersal of alien species redefines biogeography in the anthropocene. Science 348(6240):1248–1251

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chang VC, Lange WH (1967) Laboratory and field evaluation of selected pesticides for control of the red crayfish in California rice fields. J Econ Entomol 60(2):473–477

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Changeux T (2003) Evolution de la répartition des écrevisses en France métropolitaine selon les enquêtes nationales menées par le Conseil Supérieur de la Pêche de 1977 à 2001. Bull Fr Pêche Piscic 370–371:15–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung SCH (2010) The social life of American crayfish in Asia. In: Farrer James (ed) Globalization, food and social identities in the Asia Pacific region. Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture, Tokyo

    Google Scholar 

  • China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (2018) China crayfish industry development report. June 2018. https://bit.ly/2Vst98r

  • Chucholl C (2013) Invaders for sale: trade and determinants of introduction of ornamental freshwater crayfish. Biol Invasions 15:125–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark DF, Avault JW (1975) Effect of feeding, fertilization, and vegetation on production of red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii. Freshw Crayfish 2:125–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Clavero M, Villero D (2013) Historical ecology and invasion biology: long-term distribution changes of introduced freshwater species. Bioscience 64(2):145–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clavero M, Nores C, Kubersky-Piredda S, Centeno-Cuadros A (2016) Interdisciplinarity to reconstruct historical introductions: solving the status of cryptogenic crayfish. Biol Rev 91(4):1036–1049

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Comeaux MC (1978) The crawfish industry of California and the Northwest. The California Geographer 18:121–135

    Google Scholar 

  • Crandall KA, Buhay JE (2007) Global diversity of crayfish (Astacidae, Cambaridae, and Parastacidae—Decapoda) in freshwater. Hydrobiologia 595:295–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crooks JA, Soulé ME (1999) Lag times in population explosions of invasive species: causes and implications. In: Sandlund OT, Schei PJ, Viken Å (eds) Invasive species and biodiversity management. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 103–125

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • D’agaro E, De Luise G, Lanari D (1999) The current status of crayfish farming in Italy. Freshw Crayfish 12:506–517

    Google Scholar 

  • Edsman L (2004) The Swedish story about import of live crayfish. Bull Fr Pêche Piscic 372–373:281–288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estoup A, Guillemaud T (2010) Reconstructing routes of invasion using genetic data: why, how and so what? Mol Ecol 19(19):4113–4130

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Faulkes Z (2015) The global trade in crayfish as pets. Crustac Res 44:75–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forcina G et al (2015) Impacts of biological globalization in the Mediterranean: unveiling the deep history of human-mediated gamebird dispersal. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112(11):3296–3301

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gallardo B, Clavero M, Sánchez MI, Vilà M (2016) Global ecological impacts of invasive species in aquatic ecosystems. Global Change Biol 22(1):151–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gary DL (1974) The commercial crawfish industry in south Louisiana. Louisiana Sea Grant College Program, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge

    Google Scholar 

  • Geiger W, Alcorlo P, Baltanás A, Montes C (2005) Impact of an introduced Crustacean on the trophic webs of Mediterranean wetlands. Biol Invasions 7:49–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gherardi F (2011) Towards a sustainable human use of freshwater crayfish (Crustacea, Decapoda, Astacidea). Knowl Manag Aquat Ecosyst 401:1–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Gherardi F, Barbaresi S (2000) Invasive crayfish: activity patterns of Procambarus clarkii in the rice fields of the lower Guadalquivir (Spain). Arch Hydrobiol 150:153–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gherardi F, Aquiloni L, Diéguez-Uribeondo J, Tricarico E (2011) Managing invasive crayfish: is there a hope? Aquat Sci 73(2):185–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gisbert E, López MA (2007) First record of a population of the exotic mummichog Fundulus heteroclitus (L., 1766) in the Mediterranean Sea basin (Ebro River delta). J Fish Biol 71(4):1220–1224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Global Biodiversity Information Facility, GBIF (2019). https://www.gbif.org/species/2227300. Accessed 15 January 2019

  • Gouin N, Grandjean F, Pain S, Souty-Grosset C, Reynolds J (2003) Origin and colonization history of the white-clawed crayfish, Austropotamobius pallipes, in Ireland. Heredity 91(1):70–77

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gutiérrez CP (1998) Cajuns and Crawfish. In: Shortridge BG, Shortridge JR (eds) The taste of American place. Rowman & Littlefield, New York, pp 139–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutiérrez-Yurrita PJ, Martinez JM, Ilhéu M, Bravo-Utrera MA, Bernardo JM, Montes C (1999) The status of crayfish populations in Spain and Portugal. Crustacean Issues 11:161–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamdi SAH (1994) Studies on the red swamp crawfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852) (Decapoda: Camaridae) in the River Nile, Egypt. Dissertation M. Sc. Thesis, Fac. Sci., Cairo Univ, 136 pp

  • Harper DM et al (2002) Distribution and abundance of the Louisiana red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii Girard at Lake Naivasha, Kenya between 1987 and 1999. Hydrobiologia 488:143–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbs HH, Lodge DM (2010) Decapoda. In: Thorp JH, Covich AP (eds) Ecology and classification of North American freshwater invertebrates, 3rd edn. Academic, San Diego, pp 901–968

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbs HH III, Jass JP, Huner JV (1989) A review of global crayfish introductions with particular emphasis on two North American species (Decapoda, Cambaridae). Crustaceana 56(3):299–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofkin BV, Mkoji GM, Koech DK, Loker ES (1991) Control of schistosome-transmitting snails in Kenya by the North American crayfish Procambarus clarkii. Am J Trop Med Hyg 45(3):339–344

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holdich DM (1993) A review of astaciculture: freshwater crayfish farming. Aquat Living Resour 6(4):307–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes SJ (1924) The genus Cambarus in California. Science 60(1555):358–359

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hulme PE (2009) Trade, transport and trouble: managing invasive species pathways in an era of globalization. J Appl Ecol 46:10–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huner JV (1977) Introductions of the Lousiana Red Swamp Crayfish, Procambarus clarkii (Girard); an update. Freshw Crayfish 3:193–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Huner JV (2002) Procambarus. In: Holdich D (ed) Biology of freshwater crayfish. Blackwell Science Ltd., Oxford, pp 541–584

    Google Scholar 

  • iNaturalist (2019) Accessed 15 May 2019. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&taxon_id=51221

  • Kawai T (2017) A review of the spread of Procambarus clarkii across Japan and its morphological observation. Freshw Crayfish 23(1):41–53

    Google Scholar 

  • LaCaze CG (1970) Crawfish farming. Louisiana wildlife and fisheries commission fisheries. Bulletin 7:1–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Larson ER, Olden JD (2008) Do schools and golf courses represent emerging pathways for crayfish invasions. Aquat Invasions 3(4):465–468

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson ER, Olden JD (2012) Using avatar species to model the potential distribution of emerging invaders. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 21(11):1114–1125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laurent PJ (1990) Point sur les risques engendrés par l’introduction intempestive de Procambarus clarkii, l’Ecrevisse rouge des marais de Louisiane. Courrier de la Cellule Environnement INRA 11(11):7–10 (In French)

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockwood JL et al (2019) When pets become pests: the role of the exotic pet trade in producing invasive vertebrate animals. Front Ecol Environ 17(6):323–330

    Google Scholar 

  • Lodge DM, Taylor CA, Holdich DM, Skurdal J (2000) Nonindigenous crayfishes threaten North American freshwater biodiversity: lessons from Europe. Fisheries 25(8):7–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loureiro TG, Anastácio PMSG, Araujo PB, Souty-Grosset C, Almerão MP (2015) Red swamp crayfish: biology, ecology and invasion-an overview. Nauplius 23(1):1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Machino Y, Holdich DM (2006) Distribution of crayfish in Europe and adjacent countries: updates and comments. Freshw Crayfish 15:292–323

    Google Scholar 

  • Oficialdegui FJ et al (2019) Unravelling the global invasion routes of a worldwide invader, the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii). Freshwr Biol 64(8):1382–1400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oficialdegui FJ, Sánchez MI, Clavero M (2020) Brought more than twice: the complex introduction history of the red swamp crayfish into Europe. Knowl Manag Aquat Ecosyst 421:02

  • Olenin S, Didžiulis V, Ovčarenko I, Olenina I, Nunn AD, Cowx IG (2008) Review of introductions of aquatic species in Europe. EC FP6 Coordination Action IMPASSE, pp 65

  • Patoka J, Kalous L, Kopecký O (2015) Imports of ornamental crayfish: the first decade from the Czech Republic’s perspective. Knowl Manag Aquat Ec 416:04

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patoka J, Kocánová B, Kalous L (2016) Crayfish in Czech cultural space: the longest documented relationship between humans and crayfish in Europe. Knowl Manag Aquat Ecosyst 417:05

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Penn GH (1943) A study of the life history of the Louisiana red-crawfish, Cambarus clarkii Girard. Ecology 24(1):1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Penn GH (1954) Introductions of American crawfishes into foreign lands. Ecology 35(2):296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters JA, Lodge DM (2009) Invasive species policy at the regional level: a multiple weak links problem. Fisheries 34:373–380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Putra MD et al (2018) Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852) and crayfish plague as new threats for biodiversity in Indonesia. Aquat Conserv Mar Freshwat Ecosyst 28(6):1434–1440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reid AJ et al (2019) Emerging threats and persistent conservation challenges for freshwater biodiversity. Biol Rev 94:849–873

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds J, Souty-Grosset C, Richardson A (2013) Ecological roles of crayfish in freshwater and terrestrial habitats. Freshw Crayfish 19(2):197–218

    Google Scholar 

  • Ricciardi A, MacIsaac HJ (2011) Impacts of biological invasions on freshwater ecosystems. Fifty Years Invasion Ecol Leg Charles Elton 1:211–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Riegel JA (1959) The systematics and distribution of crayfishes in California. Calif Fish Game 45(1):29–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Stark L (1968) Neurological control systems-studies in bioengineering. Plenum Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Swahn JÖ (2004) The cultural history of crayfish. Bull Fr Pêche Piscic 372–373:243–251

    Google Scholar 

  • Tricarico E et al (2008) Depuration of microcystin-LR from the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii with assessment of food quality. Aquaculture 285:90–95

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Twardochleb LA, Olden JD, Larson ER (2013) A global meta-analysis of the ecological impacts of non-native crayfish. Freshw Sci 32(4):1367–1382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WWF. Living Planet Report (2016) Risk and resilience in a new era. World Wildlife Fund International, Gland, p 2016

    Google Scholar 

  • Xia A (2007) Xiaolongxia Yangzhi Jishu (little lobster cultivation technique). China Agriculture University Press, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Xinya S (1988) Crayfish and its cultivation in China. Freshw Crayfish 7:391–395

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Biblioteca Campus Cartuja for providing us old literature which was not available online. We also thank David Aragonés from Laboratorio de SIG y Teledetección (LAST-EBD) at Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC) and three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the first draft of the manuscript. F.J.O. was supported by a grant associated to the project (RNM-936) funded by the Andalusian Government.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Marta I. Sánchez

    Present address: Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Apartado 1095, 41080, Seville, Spain

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), C/Américo Vespucio 26, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092, Seville, Spain

    Francisco J. Oficialdegui, Marta I. Sánchez & Miguel Clavero

  2. Instituto Universitario de Investigación Marina (INMAR) Campus de Excelencia Internacional/Global del Mar (CEI·MAR), Universidad de Cádiz, Puerto Real, Cadiz, Spain

    Marta I. Sánchez

Authors
  1. Francisco J. Oficialdegui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marta I. Sánchez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Miguel Clavero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francisco J. Oficialdegui.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 444 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Oficialdegui, F.J., Sánchez, M.I. & Clavero, M. One century away from home: how the red swamp crayfish took over the world. Rev Fish Biol Fisheries 30, 121–135 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-020-09594-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-020-09594-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation