Abstract
During the summer of 1998 a new year class of the invasive European green crab, Carcinus maenas, appeared in Oregon and Washington estuaries as well as in northern California, USA, and on Vancouver Island, Canada. This invader was first discovered in San Francisco Bay almost a decade earlier and by 1995 it had spread to northern California. The coast-wide colonization event we studied in 1998 (El Niño cohort) was correlated with unusually strong north flowing coastal currents from September 1997 to April 1998. Larval transport by ocean currents from established populations to the south appeared to be the mechanism for the colonization. Crabs from the 1998-year class grew faster than counterparts from Maine and Europe, averaging 14 mm in carapace width in June, and 46 mm by September 1998. By the end of their second summer, males ranged from 52 to 80 mm in carapace width, and by fall of 2000 some males attained a carapace width of over 90 mm. The life span for C. maenasit in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia is estimated to be similar as in Europe and Maine: 4–6 years. Even though the initial colonists (98-year class) are dying of senescence, and coastal currents have not been favorable for larval transport from source populations in California, green crabs do persist in Oregon and Washington estuaries. It appears that local reproduction and recruitment in some years is high enough to keep this population from going extinct.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
D Adelung (1971) ArticleTitleUntersuchungen zur Häutungsphysiologie der dekapoden Krebse am Beispiel der Sandkrabbe Carcinus maenas Helgoländer wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen 22 66–119 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaE3MXktlajsLc%3D
C Almaça (1962) ArticleTitleSur la distribution géographique du genre Carcinus Leach. (Crust. Dec. Brach.) Revista da Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Série, 2, C Ciências Naturai 10 109–113
C Almaça (1982) ArticleTitleNote sur la biology des populations de Carcinus maenas (L.) de la zone intertidale du Portugal occidental Quaderni del Laboratorio di Tecnologia della Pesca 3 IssueID2–5 179–185
Anonymous (2002) Data on average monthly anomalies of sea level from 1975–2002. School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii ftp://ilikai. soest.hawaii.edu/islp/slpp.anomalies
MJ Bagley JB Geller (2000) Microsatellite DNA analysis of native and invading populations of European Green Crabs. First National Conference on Marine Bioinvasions. Sponsored by grant, January 24–27, 1999 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Sea Massachusetts 241–243
S Behrens Yamada C Hunt (2000) ArticleTitleThe arrival and spread of the European green crab, Carcinus maenas in the Pacific Northwest Dreissena! 11 IssueID2 1–7
S Behrens Yamada (2001) Global Invader: the European green crab. Oregon Sea Grant and Washington Sea Grant Corvallis Oregon 123
Behrens Yamada S, Hunt C and Richmond N (2000) The arrival of the European Green Crab, Carcinus maenas, in Oregon Estuaries. Marine Bioinvasions: Proceedings of the first National Conference, January 24–27, 1999, pp 94–99. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sea Grant Program
M Berrill (1982) ArticleTitleThe life cycle of the green crab Carcinus maenas at the northern end of its range Journal of Crustacean Biology 2 31–39
GJ Broekhuysen (1936) ArticleTitleOn development, growth, and distribution of Carcinus maenas (L.) Archives Néerlandaises de Zoologie 2 257–339 Occurrence Handle10.1163/187530137X00104
D Bückmann D Adelung (1964) ArticleTitleDer Enfluß der Umweltfaktoren auf das Wachstum und den Häutungsrhythmus der Strandkrabbe Carcinus maenas Helgoländer wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen 10 91–103
AN Cohen JT Carlton MC Fountain (1995) ArticleTitleIntroduction, dispersal and potential impacts of the green crab Carcinus maenas in San Francisco Bay, California Marine Biology 122 225–237
JH Crothers (1968) ArticleTitleThe biology of the shore crab Carcinus maenas (L.). 2. The life of the adult crab Field Studies 2 597–614
M Dries D Adelung (1982) ArticleTitleDie Schlei, ein Modell für die Verbreitung der Strandkrabbe Carcinus maenas Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen 35 65–77
C d’Udekem d’Acoz (1993) ArticleTitleActivités reproductrices saisonnières des différentes classes de tailles d’une population de crabes verts Carcinus maenas (Linnaeus, 1758) dans le sud de la mer du Nord Cah. Biol. Mar. 35 1–13
S Eriksson AM Edlund (1977) ArticleTitleOn the ecological energetics of 0-group Carcinus maenas (L.) from a shallow sandy bottom in Gullmar Fjord, Sweden Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 30 233–248
R Figlar-Barnes B Dumbauld A Randall (2002) Monitoring and control of European green crab (Carcinus maenas) populations in the coastal estuaries of Washington State 1998–2000. Draft Progress Report Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Olympia, Washington
T Furota S Watanabe T Watanabe S Akiyama K Kinoshita (1999) ArticleTitleLife history of the Mediterranean green crab, Carcinus aestuarii Nardo, in Tokyo Bay, Japan Crustacean Research 28 IssueID5 5–15
V Gomes (1991) ArticleTitleFirst results of tagging experiments on crab Carcinus maenas (L.) in the Ria de Aveiro Lagoon, Portugal Ciência Biológica Ecology and Systematics (Portugal) 11 IssueID1/2 21–29
ED Grosholz GM Ruiz (1995) ArticleTitleSpread and potential impact of the recently introduced European green crab, Carcinus maenas, in central California Marine Biology 122 239–247
Hart JFL (1982) Crabs and their relatives of British Columbia. Handbook No. 40 British Columbia Provincial Museum, 266 pp
BM Hickey (2001) Coastal Ocean-Estuary Coupling JK Parrish K Litle (Eds) PNCERS 2000 Annual Report Coastal Oceans Program NOAA 77–84
CE Hunt S Behrens Yamada (2003) ArticleTitleBiotic resistance experienced by an invasive crustacean in a temperate estuary Biological Invasions 5 33–43
A Huyer JA Barth J Fleischbein PM Kosro RL Smith (1998) ArticleTitleThe Coastal Ocean off Oregon and Northern California during the 1997/1998 El Niño, Part 1: Temperature, Salinity and Geostropic Velocity Fields Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 79 IssueID45 F485
GS Jamieson ED Grosholz DA Armstrong RW Elner (1998) ArticleTitlePotential ecological implications for the introduction of the European green crab, Carcinus maenas (Linnaeus), to British Columbia, Canada, and Washington, USA Journal of Natural History 32 1587–1598
K Janke (1990) ArticleTitleBiological interactions and their role in community structure in the rocky intertidal of Helgoland (German Bight, North Sea) Helgoländer Meeres untersuchungen 44 219–263
KT Jensen JN Jensen (1985) ArticleTitleThe importance of some epibenthic predators on the density of juvenile benthic macrofauna in the Danish Wadden Sea Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 89 157–174
JA Kitching JF Sloane FJ Ebling (1959) ArticleTitleThe ecology of Lough Ine. VIII. Mussels and their predators Journal of Animal Ecology 28 331–341
WCM Klein Breteler (1975a) ArticleTitleGrowth and moulting of juvenile shore crabs, Carcinus maenas in a natural population Netherlands Journal of Sea Research 9 86–99
WCM Klein Breteler (1975b) ArticleTitleLaboratory experiments on the influence of environmental factors on the frequency of moulting and the increase in size at moulting of juvenile shore crabs, Carcinus maenas Netherlands Journal of Sea Research 9 100–120
WCM Klein Breteler (1976a) ArticleTitleMigration of the shore crab, Carcinus maenas in the Dutch Wadden Sea Netherlands Journal of Sea Research 10 338–353
WCM Klein Breteler (1976b) ArticleTitleSettlement, growth and production of the shore crab, Carcinus maenas, on tidal flats in the Dutch Wadden Sea Netherlands Journal of Sea Research 10 354–376
K Lafferty A Kuris (1996) ArticleTitleBiological control of marine pests Ecology 77 1989–2000
PJ Roux ParticleLe BM Branch PAP Joska (1990) ArticleTitleOn the distribution, diet and possible impact of the invasive European shore crab Carcinus maenas (L.) along the South African coast South African Journal of Marine Science 9 85–93
TW Miller (1996) ArticleTitleFirst record of the green crab, Carcinus maenas in Humboldt Bay, California California Fish and Game 82 IssueID2 93–96
H Mohamedeen RG Hartnoll (1989) ArticleTitleLarval and postlarval growth of individually reared specimens of the common shore crab Carcinus maenas (L.) Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 134 1–24
Moksnes P-O (1999) Recruitment regulation in juvenile shore crabs Carcinus maenas: importance of ntraspecific interactions in space limited refuge habitats. PhD thesis, Department of Marine Ecology, Göteborg University, Sweden
BA Menge (1983) ArticleTitleComponents of predation intensity in the low zone of New England rocky intertidal region Oecologia (Berlin) 58 141–155
S Munch-Petersen P Sparre E Hoffmann (1982) ArticleTitleAbundance of the shore crab, Carcinus maenas (L.), estimated from mark-recapture experiments Dana 2 97–121
L Muntz FJ Ebling JA Kitching (1965) ArticleTitleThe ecology of Lough Ine. XIV. Predatory activities of large crabs Journal of Animal Ecology 34 IssueID2 315–329
L Pihl R Rosenberg (1982) ArticleTitleProduction, abundance, and biomass of mobile epibenthic marine fauna in shallow waters, western Sweden Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 57 273–301
Queiroga H (1989) An analysis of the size structure of Carcinus maenas (L.) in Canal de Mira (Ria de Aveiro, Portugal) using the probability paper method. Bios (Macedonia, Greece) Scientific Annals of the School of Biology 1(1) 89–106. (Proceedings of the Fourth Colloquium Crustacea Decapoda Mediterranea Thessaloniki, April 25–28, 1989, ISSN 1105–5049)
E Rasmussen (1973) ArticleTitleSystematics and ecology of the Isefjord marine fauna (Denmark) with a survey of the eelgrass (Zostera) vegetation and its communities Ophelia 11 1–507
N Richmond (1998) Green Crabs in Coos Bay, Oregon: first observations and management response. Abstract of talk presented at the Oregon/Washington Sea Grant Workshop: Green Crab: potential impacts in the Pacific Northwest. February 9–10, 1998 Vancouver Washington
JW Ropes (1968) ArticleTitleThe feeding habits of the green crab, Carcinus maenas (L) Fishery Bulletin 67 IssueID2 183–203
A Schoener DL Fluharty (1985) Biological Anomalies off Washington in 1982–83 and other major Niño Periods WS Wooster DL Fluharty (Eds) El Niño North. Niño Effects in the Eastern Subartic Pacific Ocean, pp 211–255. Washington Sea Grant Program University of Washington Seattle
D Simberloff T Dayan C Jones G Ogura (2000) ArticleTitleCharacter displacement and release in the small Indian mongoose, Herpestes javanicus Ecology 81 IssueID8 2086–2099
ME Torchin KD Lafferty AM Kuris (2001) ArticleTitleRelease from parasites as natural enemies: increased performance of a globally introduced marine crab Biological Invasions 3 IssueID4 333–345
WR Welch (1968) ArticleTitleChanges in abundance of the green crab, Carcinus maenas (L.), in relation to recent temperature changes Fishery Bulletin 67 337–345
C Zeng P Abello E Naylor (1999) ArticleTitleEndogenous tidal and semilunar moulting rhythms in early juvenile shore crabs Carcinus maenas: implications for adaptations to a high intertidal habitat Marine Ecology Progress Series 191 257–266
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yamada, S.B., Dumbauld, B.R., Kalin, A. et al. Growth and persistence of a recent invader Carcinus maenas in estuaries of the northeastern Pacific. Biol Invasions 7, 309–321 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-004-0877-2
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-004-0877-2