Invasion
Invasion Description
1st record: Cape May Co./NJ/Townsends Inlet (1988, McDermott 1991)
Geographic Extent
Fishermans Island/VA/Chesapeake Bay-Atlantic (1994, Ruiz et al., unpublished data); Cape Charles/VA/Chesapeake Bay-Atlantic (1992, McDermott 1998); Portsmouth/VA/Elizabeth R.; Virginia Beach/VA/Rudees Inlet-Atlantic (1995, Ruiz et al., unpublished data); Silver Beach (Northampton Co.)/VA/Chesapeake Bay (1995, Ruiz et al., unpublished data); Newport News/VA/Hampton Roads (2000, USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2008); Dorchester Co./MD/Little Choptank River (5/25/2020, USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2020); Chincoteague/VA/Chincoteague Inlet (2003, Miller and Brown 2005); George Island Landing/VA/Chincoteague Bay (2003, Miller and Brown 2005); Newport Bay/MD/Chincoteague Bay (2003, Miller and Brown 2005); Ocean City/MD/Atlantic Ocean (1999, USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2008; 2012, Schab et al. 2013, decline in abundance, resurgence of naitve Panopeus herbstii); Isle of Wight/MD/Assawoman Bay (2003, Miller and Brown 2005); DE/Indian River Inlet (1992, McDermott 1998); Holts Landing/DE/Indian River Inlet (2003, Miller and Brown 2005); Burton Island Marina, Rehoboth/DE/Rehoboth Bay (2003, Miller and Brown 2005); Cape Henlopen/DE/Delaware Bay-Atlantic (1992, McDermott 1998); Lewes/DE/University of Delaware Harbor (2001-2012, Schab et al. 2013, decline in abundance, resurgence of naitve Panopeus herbstii); Cape May/NJ/Delaware Bay-Atlantic (1990, McDermott 1998); Port Mahon/DE/Delaware Bay (2003, Fofonoff, personal observation); Cape May/NJ/Cape May Harbor, Atlantic Ocean (1990, McDermott et al. 1998); Cape May Co./NJ/Hereford Inlet (1990, McDermott 1998); Cape May Co./NJ/ Townsends Inlet (1988, McDermott 1991; 2012, Schab et al. 2013, H. sanguineus remains dominant); NJ/Great Egg Harbor (1992, McDermott 1998); NJ/Barnegat Inlet (1992, McDermott 1998); Sandy Hook/NJ/Atlantic Ocean; Sandy Hook/NJ/Raritan Bay (1992, McDermott 1998); New York/NY/New York Harbor (1995, MIT Sea Grant 2003; Strayer et al. 2007); South Shore of Long Island/NY/Atlantic Ocean (1994, McDermott 1998); Groton/CT/Long Island Sound (2015, Lord and Williams 2016, 41.3170 -72.0616)Weekapaug/RI/Block Island Sound (1997, Whitlach and Osman 2000); Matunuck/RI/Block Island Sound (1997, Whitlach and Osman 2000); Point Judith/RI/ Block Island Sound (1997, Whitlach and Osman 2000); Block Island/RI/Block Island Sound (USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2008); Narragansett/RI/Narrow River (Rhode Island Sound) (1994, McDermott 1998); Newport, Rhode Island Sound (1996, USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2008); Narragansett Bay Campus/RI/West Passage, Narragansett Bay (1997, Paul Fofonoff, Personal observations); Cove Haven Marina, Barrington/RI/Narragansett Bay (2000, MIT Sea Grant 2002); Warwick Cove Marina, Warwick/RI/Narragansett Bay (2000, MIT Sea Grant 2002); Warwick Cove Marina, Warwick/RI/Narragansett Bay (2000, MIT Sea Grant 2002); Port Edgewood Marina, Cranston/RI/Providence River (2013, Wells et al. 2014); Fall River Battleship Cove, Fall River/MA/Taunton River (2000, MIT Sea Grant 2002); Gooseberry Island Westport/MA/Buzzards Bay (1996, Ledesma and O'Connor 2001); West Island (New Bedford)/MA/Buzzards Bay (1994, McDermott 1998); Bourne/MA/Cape Cod Canal (2000, MIT Sea Grant 2003); Woods Hole/MA/Buzzards Bay-Vineyard Sound (1992, McDermott 1998); Falmouth/MA/Vineyard Sound (1996, O'Connor 2013); Vineyard Haven, Martha's Vineyard/MA/Vineyard Haven (1997, Whitlach and Osman 2000); Dead Neck Island, Cotuit/MA/Nantucket Sound (2011, MIT Sea Grant 2012); Dennis/MA/Nantucket Sound (1997, O'Connor 2013); Save the Bay Docks, Providence/RI/Rovidence River to Brewer Yacht Haven, Stamford/CT/Long Island sopund (Pederson et al. 2021, found in 7 of 10 sites surveyed)
Vectors
Level | Vector |
---|---|
Alternate | Ballast Water |
Regional Impacts
Ecological Impact | Predation | |
Field and experimental studies in the Cape Cod-Cape Hatteras region support the occurence of strong impacts of Hemigrapsus sanguineus predation on small shore fauna (mussels, snails, etc.), but also on juvenile crabs, paticularly Carcinus maenas. In experimental trials, adult Hemigrapsus sanguineus fed on Blue Mussels (Mytilus edulis), Hard Clams (Mercenaria mercenaria), and Periwinkles (Littorina littorea). Small mollusks were preferred. Enclosure experiments at Black Rock Harbor, Connecticut, indicated that H. sanguineus predation accounted for up to 25% of mortality of Blue Mussels (Mytilus edulis (Brousseau et al. 2014). In one study, very few L. littorea were consumed (Boudreau and O'Connor 2003), while in another, many where eaten (Gerard et al. 1999). In laboratory trials, 71% of H. sanguineus preferred animal food (mussels, M. edulis., and barnacles, Semibalanus balanoides) over algae (Ulva sp. and Chondrus crispus) (Brousseau and Baglivo 2005). In experimental feeding trials using M. edulis, H. sanguineus was found to feed at higher rates than Carcinus maenas (Green Crabs) of equal weight (de Graff and Tyrrel 2004), but feeding rates per crab were lower due to their smaller average body size (Griffen and Byers 2009). In laboratory experiments, C. maenas showed a reduction in feeding rates at high population densities due to intraspecific interference, but H. sanguineus maintains its feeding rates at high densities (Griffen and Delaney 2007). The replacement of C. maenas by H. sanguineus in rocky intertidal regions of southern New England waters (Long Island to Cape Ann) has resulted in a likely increase in predation rates, due to much higher population densities of H. sanguineus (Lohrer and Whitlach 2002a; Griffen and Delaney 2007). Blue Mussels (Mytilus edulis) from southern New England, which have coexisted with H. sanguineus for about 15 years, show a shell thickening response when exposed to chemical cues from the crabs, an apparent evolutionary response (Freeman and Byers 2006). In an 8-year field survey in Rye, New York, by 2005, L. littorea had declined to 25% of its 1998 density, and was negatively correlated with the abundance of H. sanguineus (Kraemer et al. 2007). Enclosure studies in Long Island Sound found a measurable effect of H. sanguineus on recruitment of barnacles during larval settlement, but this effect was short-lived (Brousseau and Goldberg 2007). Predation by H. sanguineus on Molgula manhattensis altered the composition of fouling communities, favoring the introduced tunicates Botryllus violaceus and Diplosoma listerianum (Freeman et al. 2016). In a study of Littorina saxatilis (Rough Periwinkle, native) from 3 populations near Stony Brook NY, one population showed morphogical responses in shellll proportions to H. sanguineus, while two populations did not.repond. None of the populations showed shell growth reponses to the native Dyspanopeus sayi (Hooks and Padilla 2020). | ||
Ecological Impact | Competition | |
Field observations indicate that Hemigrapsus sanguineus has largely displaced Carcinus maenas from rocky intertidal habitats from Cape Cod to New Jersey (Gerard et al. 1999; Jensen et al. 2002; Lohrer and Whitlatch 2002b; Kraemer et al. 2007). The native Dyspanopeus sayi (Say's Mud Crab) and Eurypanopeus depressus have also declined sharply from intertidal habitats in Long Island Sound, although they remain abundant in subtidal waters (Gerard et al. 1999; Kraemer et al. 2007). In experimental trials, H. sanguineus interfered with the feeding of C. maenas at bait stations, and frequently displaced green crabs from the bait (Jensen et al. 2002). Hemigrapsus sanguineus, in experiments, accepted conspecific individuals in shelters, but excluded similarly sized Green Crabs (Carcinus maenas and native Rock Crabs (Cancer irrorarus (Hobbs et al. 2017). In comparison with Panopeus herbstii, the native Black-Fingered Mud Crab), in Long Island Sound, H. sanguineus had higher fecundity, multiple broods, a longer reproductive season, and more rapid dispersal (Brousseau and McSweeney 2016). | ||
Ecological Impact | Food/Prey | |
Prey selection experiments generally support the hypothesis that H. sanguineus is preferred by crab-eating fishes (Tautoga onitis, Tautogolabrus adspersus, and Centropristis striata), but this preference varies with fish size and substrate. Over-fishing of these predators may be favoring the invasion of H. sanguineus and its spread into deeper waters (Heinonen and Auster 2012). | ||