Upogebia major

Invasion History

First Non-native North American Tidal Record: 2009
First Non-native West Coast Tidal Record: 2009
First Non-native East/Gulf Coast Tidal Record:

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General Invasion History:

None

North American Invasion History:

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Description

Upogebia major (de Haan 1841, Japanese Mud Shrimp) is a burrowing shrimp which superficially resembles a small lobster, with large claws on the front pair of legs. The exoskeleton is weakly calcified, with a parchment-like texture. The rostrum is smoothly rounded and lacks ventral teeth, but has two ocular spines, and ends in three teeth. The dorsal surface of the carapace is flat, rather than rounded. In both the male and female, the thumb of the propodus is one-third of the length of the dactyl, lacking teeth or tubercles on the inner and outer dactyl surfaces. The chelipeds (claws) differ between males and females. The medial surface of the male dactyl bears hree prominent oblique ridges and a small lateral tooth. The female dactyl has two longitudinal rows of tubercles. The 2nd pereopod has a merus with one proximal ventral spine and two large proximal medioventral spines. There are weak spines on ventral coxae of pereopod 1-3. The maximum length is 95 mm (Holthuis 1995).. The color ranges from tan to bluish gray, based on photgraphs by Chapman et al. (2021) and Hong (2013).

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Taxonomy

Ecology

General:

Upogebia major (Japanese Mud Shrimp) is a burrowing decapod, resembling a small lobster, ocurring in intertidal and shallow subtidal mudflats, where its burrows can be 2 m deep, and are Y-shaped with two entrances. Reproduction is sexual, but intersex individuals occur, possibly due to castration by parasites (Ubaldo 2014), or possibly indicating sequential hermaphroditism (Chapman et al. 2021). The male gonads contain oocyte-like cells, but Kinoshita et al (2003) considered that hermaphroditsm is unlikely, given the strong sexual dimorphism in this species, and the occurrence of small individuals (10-15 mm carapace length) of both sexes. In any event, females begin producing eggs in their third year, at 27-28 mm carapace length, in December-May, Mating occurs in the female's burrow. Larvae hatch in March-May into planktonic zoeae, which spend about a month in the plankton. Juveniles live for a time in adult burrows, until they can burrow on their own (Kinoshita et al. 2003).

Upogebia major inhabits temperate climates with wide temperature ranges, and euhaline-polyhaline salinities salinities (Kinoshita et al. 2003; Itani 2004; Selin 2015). Mud shrimps are filter-feeders, pumping water through their burrows, and filtering phytoplankton and detritus (Hong 2013). The burrows, up to 2 m in depth are used as shelter by a wide variety of symbionts, including polychaetes, bivalves, and gobies (Kinoshita et al. 2003). Mud Shrimps rarely leave their burrows, because they are vulnerable to predation by fishes, birds, and mammals. They have a vairety of parasites, but the most significant one in North Ameirican waters is the isopod Orthione griffensis, introduced from the Northwest Pacific, which reduces reproductive output of the shrimps (Griffen 2009; Smith and Chapman 2009).

Food:

Phytoplankton, detritus

Consumers:

Crabs, fish, birds, Orthione griffensis (parasite)

Competitors:

Other mud shrimps

Trophic Status:

Suspension Feeder

SusFed

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Habitats

General Habitat	Salt-brackish marsh	None
General Habitat	Unstructured Bottom	None
General Habitat	Grass Bed	None
Salinity Range	Polyhaline	18-30 PSU
Salinity Range	Euhaline	30-40 PSU
Tidal Range	Subtidal	None
Tidal Range	Low Intertidal	None
Tidal Range	Mid Intertidal	None
Vertical Habitat	Endobenthic	None

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Tolerances and Life History Parameters

Minimum Temperature (ºC)	6.6	Field, Shinhama Lagoon, Tokyo Bay (Field, Kinoshita et al. 2003). This shrimp can probably tolerates lower temperatures.
Maximum Temperature (ºC)	30.3	Field, Shinhama Lagoon, Tokyo Bay (Field, Kinoshita et al. 2003)
Minimum Salinity (‰)	20.2	Field, Shinhama Lagoon, Tokyo Bay (Field, Kinoshita et al. 2003)
Maximum Salinity (‰)	35	Typical marine salinity
Minimum Length (mm)	60	Approximate minimum total of ovigerous females, which bear eggs at a carapace length of 30 mm (Kinoshita et al. 2003)
Maximum Length (mm)	95	(Holthuis 1991)
Broad Temperature Range	None	Cold Temperate-Warm temperate
Broad Salinity Range	None	Polyhaline-Euhaline

General Impacts

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Regional Impacts

P090	San Francisco Bay		Ecological Impact	Parasite/Predator Vector
Upogebia major is a possible host vector for the introduction of the parasitic isopod Othione griffenis to San Francisco Bay (Chapman et al. 2021).
P090	San Francisco Bay		Ecological Impact	Competition
Upogebia major is a potential competitor with the native U. pugettensis and U. macgintieorum. Howver, the idfferential impact of the castrating parasite Oirthione griffenis means that the two species probably rarely co-occur. Also, the native U. pugettensis is highly aggressive and terriitorial , while litle aggression is seen in U.major (Chapman et al. 2021).
P090	San Francisco Bay		Ecological Impact	Habitat Change
Mud shrimps of the genus Upogebia are major habitat engineers, creating Y-shaped burrows up to 2 m deep, and creating structures in otherwise largely unstructured mudflats (kinoshita et al. 2003; Chapman et al. 2021). The bivlaveCryptomya californeinsis (California Softshell) is a frequent commensal of Upogebiia burrows (Chapman et al. 2021). Burrows of Upogebia spp. are also used by polychaetes, bivalves, copepods, and gobies (Kinoshita et al. 2003).
NEP-V	Northern California to Mid Channel Islands		Ecological Impact	Parasite/Predator Vector
Upogebia major is a possible host vector for the introduction of the parasitic isopod Othione griffenis to San Francisco Bay (Chapman et al. 2021).
NEP-V	Northern California to Mid Channel Islands		Ecological Impact	Competition
Upogebia major is a potential competitor with the native U. pugettensis and U. macgintieorum. Howver, the idfferential impact of the castrating parasite Oirthione griffenis means that the two species probably rarely co-occur Chapman et al. 2021).
NEP-V	Northern California to Mid Channel Islands		Ecological Impact	Habitat Change
Upogebia major is a potential competitor with the native U. pugettensis and U. macgintieorum. Howver, the idfferential impact of the castrating parasite Oirthione griffenis means that the two species probably rarely co-occur Chapman et al. 2021).
CA	California		Ecological Impact	Competition
Upogebia major is a potential competitor with the native U. pugettensis and U. macgintieorum. Howver, the idfferential impact of the castrating parasite Oirthione griffenis means that the two species probably rarely co-occur Chapman et al. 2021)., Upogebia major is a potential competitor with the native U. pugettensis and U. macgintieorum. Howver, the idfferential impact of the castrating parasite Oirthione griffenis means that the two species probably rarely co-occur. Also, the native U. pugettensis is highly aggressive and terriitorial , while litle aggression is seen in U.major (Chapman et al. 2021).
CA	California		Ecological Impact	Habitat Change
Upogebia major is a potential competitor with the native U. pugettensis and U. macgintieorum. Howver, the idfferential impact of the castrating parasite Oirthione griffenis means that the two species probably rarely co-occur Chapman et al. 2021)., Mud shrimps of the genus Upogebia are major habitat engineers, creating Y-shaped burrows up to 2 m deep, and creating structures in otherwise largely unstructured mudflats (kinoshita et al. 2003; Chapman et al. 2021). The bivlaveCryptomya californeinsis (California Softshell) is a frequent commensal of Upogebiia burrows (Chapman et al. 2021). Burrows of Upogebia spp. are also used by polychaetes, bivalves, copepods, and gobies (Kinoshita et al. 2003).
CA	California		Ecological Impact	Parasite/Predator Vector
Upogebia major is a possible host vector for the introduction of the parasitic isopod Othione griffenis to San Francisco Bay (Chapman et al. 2021)., Upogebia major is a possible host vector for the introduction of the parasitic isopod Othione griffenis to San Francisco Bay (Chapman et al. 2021).

References

Chapman, John W.; Dumbauld, Brett R.; Itani, Gyo; Markham, John C. (2012) An introduced Asian parasite threatens northeastern Pacific estuarine ecosystems, Biological Invasions 14: published online

Chapman, John W.; Li, Jingchun; McGowan, Michael F.; Breitenstein, Ralph A.; Appy, Ralph; Hie, Kathryn A.; Piotrowski, Christina N.; Elder, Leanne E. (2021) A doubled down invasion of the northeast Pacific by the Asian mud shrimp,Upogebia major and its coevolved bopyrid isopod parasite, Orthione griffenis, Aquatic Invasions 16(4): 721–749
10.3391/ai.2021.16.4.09

Dumbauld, Brett R.; Chapman, John W.; Torchin, Mark E.; Kuris, Armand M. (2011) Is the collapse of mud shrimp (Upogebia pugettensis) populations along the Pacific coast of North America caused by outbreaks of a previously unknown bopyrid isopod parasite (Orthione griffenis)?, Estuaries and Coasts 34: 336-350

Griffen, Blaine D. (2009) Effects of a newly invasive parasite on the burrowing mud shrimp, a widespread ecosystem engineer, Marine Ecology Progress Series 391: 73-83

Holthuis, L. B. (1991) Marine lobsters of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species of interest to fisheries known to date., FAO Fisheries Synopsis 13(125): 1-292

Hong, Jae-Sang (2013) Biology of the Mud Shrimp Upogebia major (de Haan, 1841), with particular Reference to pest management for shrimp control in Manila clam bed in the west coast of Korea, Ocean and Polar Research 35(4): 323-349

Itani, Gyo (2004) Distribution of intertidal upogebiid shrimp (Crustacea:Decapoda: Thalassinidea) in Japan, Contributions of the Biological Laboratory of Kyoto University 29: 383-399

Kinoshita, K.; · Wada, M.; · Kogure. K. Furota, T. (2008) Microbial activity and accumulation of organic matter in the burrow of the mud shrimp, Upogebia major (Crustacea: Thalassinidea), Marine Biology 153: 277-283

Kinoshita, Kyoko; Nakayama; Satoko; Furota, Toshio (2003) Life cycle characteristics of the deep-burrowing mud shrimp Upogebia major (thalassinidea: upogebiidae)on a tidal flat along the northern coast of Tokyo Bay, Journal of Crustacean Biology 23(2): 318-327

Selin, N. V. Selin, N. I. (2015) Features of the spatial distribution of the Japanese Mud Shrimp Upogebia major (De Haan, 1841) (Decapoda: Upogebiidae) in the Vostok Bay, Sea of Japan, Russian Journal of Marine Biology 41: 219-222

U.S. National Museum of Natural History 2002-2021 Invertebrate Zoology Collections Database. http://collections.nmnh.si.edu/search/iz/



Ubaldo, Jonathan Pino 2016 Local factors affecting morphological abnormalities inthe mud shrimp, <em>Upogebia major</em>, inhabiting mud tidal flats of the Seto Inland Sea. <missing URL>

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