Description
Synonymy- Cancer maenas Linnaeus 1758; Cancer granulatus; Say 1817; Portunus maenoides Rafinesque 1817; Carcinus granulatus Smith 1887; Carcinides maenas Rathbun 1930; Carcinus maenas Christiansen 1969.
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animalia | Crustacea | Malacostraca | Decapoda | Portunidae | Carcinus |
Synonyms
Invasion History
Chesapeake Bay Status
| First Record | Population | Range | Introduction | Residency | Source Region | Native Region | Vectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1874 | Established | Stable | Introduced | Regular Resident | Eastern Atlantic | Eastern Atlantic | Shipping(Fouling Community,Dry Ballast),Natural Dispersal(Natural Dispersal) |
History of Spread
Carcinus maenas (Green Crab) has spread from the European Coast (Northeast Atlantic- Iceland and Norway to Mauritania) to invade five major regions, the northwest (US-Canada), southwest (Argentina), and southeast Atlantic Ocean (South Africa); and the Northeast Pacific Ocean (CA-WA) and southwest Pacific Ocean (Australia) (Cohen et al. 1995; Carlton and Cohen 2003; Hidalgo et al. 2005).
One of the first records of Carcinus maenas from the Atlantic Coast was Say (1817), as Cancer granulosus: 'Inhabits bays and inlets near the sea'. Thomas Say is known to have collected on the Atlantic coasts of MD and NJ (Say 1858), so C. maenas apparently first colonized the Mid-Atlantic region, and spread north of Cape Cod in the late 19th century. North American records are summarized below:
Atlantic Coast:
Gulf of Maine and northwards- By 1872, Carcinus maenas was collected in Provincetown MA in 1905, and reached successively: Casco Bay ME in 1922-1930; Penobscot Bay (Rockland, Bar Harbour) ME in 1951-1953; and Passamaquoddy Bay (ME to New Brunswick Canada) and the Bay of Fundy Nova Scotia, also in 1953 (Almaca 1963; Vermeij 1982b). Contrary to some published reports, C. maenas was not collected in the Gulf of St. Lawrence until 1994, but it is now found on both the Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island sides of Northumberland Straits, and on the north side of Prince Edward Island (Audet et al. 2003). By 2007, C. maenas reached the southeastern Atlatniccoast of Newfoundland (CBC News 2007), and the Madeleine Islands, Quebec, in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence (Simard et al. 2005)
Cape Cod southwards- Carcinus maenas was collected by Say (1817) on the 'Atlantic Coast', probably in NJ, but possibly MD. Other early records are from Marthas Vineyard MA (Gould 1841), and Long Island Sound and Newport RI (DeKay 1842). Before 1911, it was abundant at Atlantic City NJ (Fowler 1911).
Delaware Bay- Carcinus maenas was collected at Cape May by 1900 (Almaca 1963). 'Carcinus maenas, the green crab, is not common in Delaware Bay, and has only been collected by us from the Cape Henlopen tide flat ... and from the southernmost tributary entering Delaware Bay' (Leathem and Maurer 1980). Larvae were reported in plankton by Deevey 1960 (cited by Williams 1984). In 2003, Green Crabs were collected in Indian River Bay, on the Atlantic coast south of Cape Henlopen (Miller and Brown 2005).
Chesapeake Bay Region (Atlantic Coast, MD-VA; Chesapeake Bay Carcinus maenas was collected in 1874 in Hog Island Bay, in Northampton Co. VA: 'a single male... This is the farthest south on the Atlantic coast of the United States from which this species has been reported" (Kingsley 1879). This crab is regularly seen in Chincoteague Bay by Maryland Department of Natural Resources personnel (Hines 1996 unpublished data.) In a survey in 2003, this crab was collected in Assawoman and Sinepunxet Bays (Miller and Brown 2005). Virginia was given as the southern limit of the U.S. Atlantic Coast range by Williams (1984). Until recently, Carcinus maenas had not been reported from Chesapeake Bay, proper. In June, 2007, an MD Department of Natural Resources employee caught a specimen in the upper Manokin River, Somerset County, Eastern shore (6-25-2007-Kevin Josenhans, personal communication)
Pacific Coast- In 1989, a single Carcinus maenas was collected at Estero Americano near the mouth of San Francisco Bay CA. By 1993, C. maenas was abundant throughout Bay (Cohen et al. 1995) and by 1994 it was found from San Francisco Bay north to Bodega Harbour (120km) (Grosholz and Ruiz 1995b). In 1997, C. maenas was collected in Coos Bay OR, in 1998 in Willapa Bay WA, and in 1999, in Barkley Sound, British Columbia (Grozholz and Ruiz 1996; Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 1999; Fisheries and Oceans Canada 1999). Southward dispersal has been much slower, with C. maenas spreading to Monterey Bay-Elkhorn Slough CA and to Morro Bay (Grosholz and Ruiz 1995; Ruiz et al. unpublished data).
History Refs.- Almaca 1963; Audet et al. 2003; Cohen et al. 1995; DeKay 1842; Fisheries and Oceans Canada 1999; Grosholz and Ruiz 1995b; Grozholz and Ruiz 1996; Kingsley1879; Leathem and Maurer 1980; Rathbun 1930a; Say 1817; Vermeij 1982b; Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 1999; Williams 1984
Invasion Comments
Range Status- The range of Carcinus maenas (Green Crab) is apparently stable in our area, given Kingsley's early (1879) record from the Delmarva peninsula. So far the crab has not been found in Chesapeake Bay proper, despite considerable searching in the lower Bay (Ruiz et al., unpublished data).
Ecology
Environmental Tolerances
| For Survival | For Reproduction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Maximum | Minimum | Maximum | |
| Temperature (ºC) | -1.0 | 30.0 | 3.0 | 26.0 |
| Salinity (‰) | 1.4 | 54.0 | 13.0 | 54.0 |
| Oxygen | ||||
| pH | ||||
| Salinity Range | poly-eu |
Age and Growth
| Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Adult Size (mm) | 25.0 | 19.0 |
| Typical Adult Size (mm) | 60.0 | 60.0 |
| Maximum Adult Size (mm) | 86.0 | 70.0 |
| Maximum Longevity (yrs) | ||
| Typical Longevity (yrs | 3.0 | 3.0 |
Reproduction
| Start | Peak | End | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive Season | |||
| Typical Number of Young Per Reproductive Event |
|||
| Sexuality Mode(s) | |||
| Mode(s) of Asexual Reproduction |
|||
| Fertilization Type(s) | |||
| More than One Reproduction Event per Year |
|||
| Reproductive Startegy | |||
| Egg/Seed Form |
Impacts
Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay
Carcinus maenas (Green Crab) has no known economic impacts, to our knowledge, in the Chesapeake region, because of this species' scarcity and peripheral distribution.
Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay
Carcinus maenas (Green Crab) had a major impact on the Mya arenaria (Soft-Shell Clam) fishery when it invaded northern New England (Gulf of Maine) after 1900 (Dow and Wallace 1953). It is also a major predator on Mercenaria mercenaria (Quahog or Hard Clam) in southern New England (Walton et al. 2001). On the West Coast, Carcinus maenas is regarded as a potential predator on commercially important clams. It could also compete with and prey on the young of commercially important crabs, such as Cancer magister (Dungeness Crab) (Cohen et al. 1995). In Europe, C. maenas has long been used for food, while in the United States it is occasionally used for bait (Williams 1984).
References- Cohen et al. 1995; Dow and Wallace 1953; Walton et al. 2010; Williams 1984
Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species
Carcinus maenas (Green Crab) is too rare in the Chesapeake Bay region to have had reported impacts on resident biota.
However; in North America, it has had serious impacts on shore communities; primarily as one of the chief predators of the intertidal zone; affecting survival and recruitment of gastropods; bivalves; and probably a wide range of other invertebrates (Vermeij 1982a; Vermeij 1982b; Williams 1984). It is a major predator of Mya arenaria (Soft-Shell Clams) in the Gulf of Maine (Dow and Wallace 1952). On the Pacific coast, C. maenas has significantly reduced densities of the most abundant benthic taxa in Bodega Bay CA. It also preys on the native crabs Cancer magister and Hemigrapsus oregonensis (Grosholz and Ruiz 1995).
Carcinus maenas is a potential competitor with native crabs; but this has not been well-studied on the Atlantic coast. In experiments on antagonistic behavior; the largest crab usually wins; which favors Callinectes sapidus (Blue Crab) because of its larger adult size (Ruiz et al. unpublished data). In competition for food; C. maenas may have a disadvantage against the faster-moving swimming crabs (Callinectes sapidus; Ovalipes ocellatus- Calico Crab) (Ropes 1989; Ruiz et al. unpublished data). Competition may restrict the penetration of C. maenas into estuarine habitats favored by C. sapidus (Ruiz et al. unpublished data).
References- Dow and Wallace 1952; Grosholz and Ruiz 1995; Ropes 1989; Ruiz et al. unpublished data; Vermeij 1982a; Vermeij 1982b; Williams 1984
Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species
Carcinus maenas (Green Crab) is too rare in the Chesapeake region to have had serious impacts on exotic biota. Its likeliest introduced prey item, Littorina littorea (Common Periwinkle) is also rare and at the southern edge of its range in the Chesapeake region (Vermeij 1982a; Williams 1984). However; these two species are likely to co-occur on the Atlantic coast of the Delmarva peninsula because of similar habitat preferences; especially on jetties, groins, and other man-made rock structures. Therefore; C. maenas predation on L. littorea in this region seems possible.
Reference- Vermeij 1982a; Williams 1984
References
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Audet, Dominique; Davis, Derek S.; Miron, Gilles; Moriyasu, Mikio; Benhalima, Khadra; Campbell, Robert (2003) Geographical expansion of a nonindigenous crab, Carcinus maenas along the Nova Scotian shore into the Southwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada., Journal of Shellfish Research 22: 255-262
Berrill, M. (1982) The life cycle of the green crab Carcinus maenas at the northern end of its range, Journal of Crustacean Biology 2: 31-39
8/27/2007 Invasive crab found in N. L. waters. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2007/08/27/green-crab.html
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Geller, J. B.; Walton, E. D.; Grosholz, E. D.; Ruiz, G. M. (1997) Cryptic invasions of the crab Carcinus detected by molecular phylogeography, Molecular Ecology 6: 901-906
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Leathem, Wayne; Maurer, Don (1980) Decapod crustaceans of the Delaware Bay area, Journal of Natural History 14: 813-828
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Vermeij, G. J. (1982b) Environmental change and the evolutionary history of the periwinkle (Littorina littorea) in North America, Evolution 36: 561-580
Walton, William C.; Ruiz, Gregory M.; Starr, Bethany A. (1999) Mitigating predation by the European green crab, Carcinus maenas, upon publicly maricultured quahogs, Mercenaria mercenaria., Journal of Shellfish Research : 305
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