Carcinus maenas - wikipedia Carcinus maenas Carcinus maenas Scientific classification Kingdom : Animalia Phylum : Arthropoda Subphylum : Crustacea Class : Malacostraca Order : Decapoda Infraorder : Brachyura Family : Portunidae Genus : Carcinus Species : C. maenas Binomial name Carcinus maenas ( Linnaeus, 1758 ) Carcinus maenas is a common littoral crab. It is known by different names around the world. In the British Isles, it is generally referred to as the shore crab, or green shore crab. In North America and South Africa, it bears the name green crab or European green crab. In Australia and New Zealand, it is referred to as either the European green crab or European shore crab. C. maenas is a widespread invasive species, listed among the 100 `` world 's worst alien invasive species ''. It is native to the north - east Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea, but has colonised similar habitats in Australia, South Africa, South America and both Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America. It grows to a carapace width of 90 millimetres ( 3.5 in ), and feeds on a variety of molluscs, worms and small crustaceans, potentially impacting a number of fisheries. Its successful dispersion has occurred via a variety of mechanisms, such as on ships ' hulls, sea planes, packing materials, and bivalves moved for aquaculture. Contents 1 Description 2 Native and introduced range 3 Ecology 4 Control 4.1 Use as a food 5 Fishery 6 Taxonomic history 7 References 8 External links Description A young Carcinus maenas showing the common green colour C. maenas has a carapace up to 60 millimetres ( 2.4 in ) long and 90 mm ( 3.5 in ) wide, but can be larger outside its native range, reaching 101 mm ( 4.0 in ) wide in British Columbia. The carapace has five short teeth along the rim behind each eye, and three undulations between the eyes. The undulations, which protrude beyond the eyes, are the simplest means of distinguishing C. maenas from the closely related C. aestuarii, which can also be an invasive species. In C. aestuarii, the carapace lacks any bumps and extends forward beyond the eyes. Another characteristic for distinguishing the two species is the form of the first and second pleopods ( collectively the gonopods ), which are straight and parallel in C. aestuarii, but curve outwards in C. maenas. The colour of C. maenas varies greatly, from green to brown, grey or red. This variation has a genetic component, but is largely due to local environmental factors. In particular, individuals which delay moulting become red -- coloured rather than green. Red individuals are stronger and more aggressive, but are less tolerant of environmental stresses, such as low salinity or hypoxia. Juvenile crabs on average display greater patterning than adults. Native and introduced range Rough map of the distribution of Carcinus maenas. Blue areas are the native range, red areas are the introduced or invasive range, black dots represent single sightings that did not lead to invasion, and green areas are the potential range of the species. C. maenas is native to European and North African coasts as far as the Baltic Sea in the east, and Iceland and Central Norway in the north, and is one of the most common crabs throughout much of its range. In the Mediterranean Sea, it is replaced by the closely related species Carcinus aestuarii. C. maenas was first observed on the east coast of North America in Massachusetts in 1817, and may now be found from South Carolina northwards ; by 2007, this species had extended its range northwards to Placentia Bay, Newfoundland. In 1989, the species was found in San Francisco Bay, California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. Until 1993, it was not able to extend its range, but reached Oregon in 1997, the state of Washington in 1998 and British Columbia in 1999, thus extending its range by 750 kilometres ( 470 mi ) in ten years. By 2003, C. maenas had extended to South America with specimens discovered in Patagonia. In Australia, C. maenas was first reported `` in the late 1800s '' in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, although the species was probably introduced as early as the 1850s. It has since spread along the south - eastern and south - western seaboards, reaching New South Wales in 1971, South Australia in 1976 and Tasmania in 1993. One specimen was found in Western Australia in 1965, but there have been no further discoveries in the area since. C. maenas first reached South Africa in 1983, in the Table Docks area near Cape Town. Since then, it has spread at least as far as Saldanha Bay in the north and Camps Bay in the south, over 100 kilometres ( 62 mi ) apart. There have been appearances of C. maenas recorded in Brazil, Panama, Hawaii, Madagascar, the Red Sea, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar ; however, these have not resulted in invasions, but remain isolated findings. Japan has been invaded by a related crab, either C. aestuarii or a hybrid of C. aestuarii and C. maenas. It is believed, based on the ecological conditions, that C. maenas could eventually extend its range to colonise the Pacific coast of North America from Baja California to Alaska. Similar ecological conditions are to be found on many of the world 's coasts, with the only large potential area not to have been invaded yet being New Zealand ; the New Zealand government has taken action, including the release of a Marine Pest Guide in an effort to prevent colonisation by C. maenas. Ecology. A female ! Carcinus maenas carrying fertilised eggs C. maenas can live in all types of protected and semi-protected marine and estuarine habitats, including habitats with mud, sand, or rock substrates, submerged aquatic vegetation, and emergent marsh, although soft bottoms are preferred. C. maenas is euryhaline, meaning that it can tolerate a wide range of salinities ( from 4 to 52 ‰ ), and survive in temperatures of 0 to 30 ° C ( 32 to 86 ° F ). The wide salinity range allows C. maenas to survive in the lower salinities found in estuaries, and the wide temperature range allows it to survive in extremely cold climates beneath the ice in Winter. A molecular biological study using the COI gene found genetic differentiation between the North Sea and the Bay of Biscay, and even more strongly between the populations in Iceland and the Faroe Islands and those elsewhere. This suggests that C. maenas is unable to cross deeper water. Females can produce up to 185,000 eggs, and larvae develop offshore in several stages before their final moult to juvenile crabs in the intertidal zone. Young crabs live among seaweeds and seagrasses, such as Posidonia oceanica, until they reach adulthood. Argopecten irradians, a scallop which has been affected by the introduction of C. maenas C. maenas has the ability to disperse by a variety of mechanisms, including ballast water, ships ' hulls, packing materials ( seaweeds ) used to ship live marine organisms, bivalves moved for aquaculture, rafting, migration of crab larvae on ocean currents, and the movement of submerged aquatic vegetation for coastal zone management initiatives. Thresher et al. found C. maenas dispersed in Australia mainly by rare long - distance events, possibly caused by human actions. C. maenas is a predator, feeding on many organisms, particularly bivalve molluscs ( such as clams, oysters, and mussels ), polychaetes and small crustaceans. They are primarily nocturnal, although activity also depends on the tide, and crabs can be active at any time of day. In California, preferential predation of C. maenas on native clams ( Nutricola spp. ) resulted in the decline of the native clams and an increase of a previously introduced clam ( the amethyst gem clam, Gemma gemma ). C. maenas has been implicated in the destruction of the soft - shell clam ( Mya arenaria ) fisheries on the east coast of the United States and Canada, and the reduction of populations of other commercially important bivalves ( such as scallops, Argopecten irradians, and northern quahogs, Mercenaria mercenaria ). The prey of C. maenas includes the young of bivalves and fish, although the effect of its predation on winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus is minimal. C. maenas can, however, have substantial negative impacts on local commercial and recreational fisheries, by preying on the young of species, such as oysters and the Dungeness crab, or competing with them for resources. Control Cancer productus limits the spread of Carcinus maenas in parts of North America. Due to its potentially harmful effects on ecosystems, various efforts have been made to control introduced populations of C. maenas around the world. In Edgartown, Massachusetts, a bounty was levied in 1995 for catching C. maenas, to protect local shellfish, and 10 tons were caught. There is evidence that the native blue crab in eastern North America, Callinectes sapidus, is able to control populations of C. maenas ; numbers of the two species are negatively correlated, and C. maenas is not found in the Chesapeake Bay, where Callinectes sapidus is most frequent. On the west coast of North America, C. maenas appears to be limited to upper estuarine habitats, in part because of predation by native rock crabs ( Romaleon antennarium and Cancer productus ) and competition for shelter with a native shore crab, Hemigrapsus oregonensis. Host specificity testing has recently been conducted on Sacculina carcini, a parasitic barnacle, as a potential biological control agent of C. maenas. In the laboratory, Sacculina settled on, infected, and killed native California crabs, including the Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister ( formerly Cancer magister ), and the shore crabs Hemigrapsus nudus, Hemigrapsus oregonensis and Pachygrapsus crassipes. Dungeness crabs were the most vulnerable of the tested native species to settlement and infection by the parasite. Although Sacculina did not mature in any of the native crabs, developing reproductive sacs were observed inside a few Metacarcinus magister and Hemigrapsus oregonensis. Any potential benefits of using Sacculina to control C. maenas on the west coast of North America would need to be weighed against these potential non-target impacts. Use as a Food Researchers at the University of Maine have actively been developing value - added green crab products, with the goals of driving business interest, stimulating a commercial green crab fishery, and alleviating predation effects. Specifically, one study evaluated the consumer acceptability of empanadas ( fried, stuffed pastries ) which contained varying amounts of green crab mince meat. It was reported that the empanadas were rated between `` like slightly '' and `` like moderately '' for overall acceptability by a consumer panel ( n = 87 ). Furthermore, about two - thirds of the panelists would `` probably '' or `` definitely '' buy the empanadas if available locally. Additionally, the same researchers developed a patty product made from green crab mince meat using restructuring additives ( transglutaminase, dried egg white, isolated soy protein ). It was reported that although a successful green crab patty was developed, the restructuring additives may have had greater functionality in a raw crab meat system, as opposed to the fully cooked mince that was utilized in the present study. The results from both studies are considered promising, especially considering that these were initial rounds of green crab product development. Legal Sea Foods, an East Coast of the United States restaurant chain has arranged to purchase green crabs in season from local fishermen, in the first known commercial use for the crabs in the US food industry. Legal plans to test crab and shrimp etouffee, crab risotto with spring vegetables, and crab minestrone, all made with green crab stock, in their test kitchen during the winter of 2015 and offer the dishes in their other restaurant locations during the crab season. In its native range, the green crab is mostly used as an ingredient in soups and sauces. Fishery Shore crabs in a bucket C. maenas is fished on a small scale in the north - east Atlantic Ocean, with approximately 1200 tonnes being caught annually, mostly in France and the United Kingdom. In the northwest Atlantic, C. maenas was the subject of fishery in the 1960s, and again since 1996, with up to 86 tonnes being caught annually. Taxonomic history Carcinus maenas was first given a binomial name, Cancer maenas, by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. An earlier description was published by Georg Eberhard Rumphius in his 1705 work De Amboinsche Rariteitkamer, calling the species Cancer marinus sulcatus, but this predates the starting point for zoological nomenclature. A number of later synonyms have also been published : Monoculus taurus Slabber, 1778 Cancer granarius Herbst, 1783 Cancer viridis Herbst, 1783 Cancer pygmaeus Fabricius, 1787 Cancer rhomboidalis Montagu, 1804 Cancer granulatus Nicholls, 1943 Megalopa montagui Leach, 1817 Portunus menoides Rafinesque - Schmaltz, 1817 Portunus carcinoides Kinahan, 1857 The lectotype chosen for the species came from Marstrand, Sweden, but it is assumed to have been lost. In 1814, writing for The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, William Elford Leach erected a new genus, Carcinus to hold this species alone ( making it the type species of the genus, by monotypy ). In 1847, Nardo described a distinct subspecies occurring in the Mediterranean Sea, which is now recognised as a distinct species, Carcinus aestuarii. References ^ Jump up to : Peter K.L. Ng ; Danièle Guinot ; Peter J.F. Davie ( 2008 ). `` Systema Brachyurorum : Part I. An annotated checklist of extant Brachyuran crabs of the world '' ( PDF ). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 17 : 1 -- 286. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2011 - 06 - 06. Jump up ^ `` 100 of the World 's Worst Invasive Alien Species ''. Invasive Species Specialist Group. ^ Jump up to : S.B. Yamada ; L. Hauck ( 2001 ). `` Field identification of the European green crab species : Carcinus maenas and Carcinus aestuarii '' ( PDF ). Journal of Shellfish Research. 20 ( 3 ) : 905 -- 909. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2007 - 09 - 27. Jump up ^ Iain J. McGaw ; Timothy C. Edgell ; Michel J. Kaiser ( 2011 ). `` Population demographics of native and newly invasive populations of the green crab Carcinus maenas '' ( PDF ). 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Jump up ^ Green Crab Control Committee ( November 13, 2002 ). `` Management plan for European Green Crab '' ( PDF ). United States Federal Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force. Jump up ^ Fernando J. Hidalgo, Pedro J. Barón & José María ( Lobo ) Orensanz ( 2005 ). `` A prediction come true : the green crab invades the Patagonian coast ''. Biological Invasions. 7 ( 3 ) : 547 -- 552. doi : 10.1007 / s10530 - 004 - 5452 - 3. ^ Jump up to : R. Thresher ; C. Proctor ; G. Ruiz ; R. Gurney ; C. MacKinnon ; W. Walton ; L. Rodriguez ; N. Bax ( 2003 ). `` Invasion dynamics of the European shore crab, Carcinus maenas, in Australia '' ( PDF ). Marine Biology. 142 ( 5 ) : 867 -- 876. doi : 10.1007 / s00227 - 003 - 1011 - 1. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2007 - 06 - 12. Jump up ^ Geoffrey M. Clarke ; Suellen Grosse ; Marcus Matthews ; Peter C. Catling ; Brendon Baker ; Chad L. Hewitt ; Diane Crowther ; Stephen R. Saddlier ( 2000 ). State of the Environment Indicators for Exotic Environmental Pest Species. Australia : State of the Environment Technical Paper Series. Canberra : Department of the Environment and Heritage. Jump up ^ P.J. Le Roux ; G.M. Branch ; M.A.P. Joska ( 1990 ). `` On 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 ( 1 ) : 85 -- 93. doi : 10.2989 / 025776190784378835. Jump up ^ T.J. Carlton ; A.N. Cohen ( 2003 ). `` Episodic global dispersal in shallow water marine organisms : the case history of the European shore crabs Carcinus maenas and C. aestuarii ''. Journal of Biogeography. 30 ( 12 ) : 1809 -- 1820. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1365 - 2699.2003. 00962. x. Jump up ^ `` Marine Pest Guide '' ( PDF ). Biosecurity New Zealand. June 2006. Jump up ^ A.N. Cohen ; J.T. Carlton ; M.C. Fountain ( 1995 ). `` Introduction, dispersal and potential impacts of the green crab Carcinus maenas in San Francisco Bay, California ''. Marine Biology. 122 ( 2 ) : 225 -- 237. Jump up ^ Roman, Joe ; Palumbi, Stephen R. ( 2004 ). `` A global invader at home : population structure of the green crab, Carcinus maenas, in Europe '' ( PDF ). Molecular Ecology. 13 ( 10 ) : 2891 -- 2898. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1365 - 294X. 2004.02255. x. PMID 15367106. ^ Jump up to : Perry ( 2005 ). `` USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database ''. Jump up ^ B. Bedini ( 2002 ). `` Colour change and mimicry from juvenile to adult : Xantho poressa ( Olivi, 1792 ) ( Brachyura, Xanthidae ) and Carcinus maenas ( Linnaeus, 1758 ) ( Brachyura, Portunidae ) ''. Crustaceana. 75 ( 5 ) : 703 -- 710. doi : 10.1163 / 156854002760202688. Jump up ^ `` European green crab ''. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Archived from the original on June 13, 2008. Retrieved February 12, 2010. Jump up ^ M. Novak ( 2004 ). `` Diurnal activity in a group of Maine decapods ''. Crustaceana. 77 ( 5 ) : 603 -- 620. doi : 10.1163 / 1568540041717975. Jump up ^ E.D. Grosholz ( 2005 ). `` Recent biological invasion may hasten invasional meltdown by accelerating historical introductions ''. PNAS. 102 ( 4 ) : 1088 -- 1091. doi : 10.1073 / pnas. 0308547102. PMC 545825. PMID 15657121. Jump up ^ Gilles Miron ; Dominique Audet ; Thomas Landry ; Mikio Moriyasu ( 2005 ). `` Predation potential of the invasive green crab ( Carcinus maenas ) and other common predators on commercial bivalve species found on Prince Edward island ''. Journal of Shellfish Research. 24 ( 2 ) : 579 -- 586. doi : 10.2983 / 0730 - 8000 ( 2005 ) 24 ( 579 : PPOTIG ) 2.0.CO ; 2. Jump up ^ D.L. Taylor ( 2005 ). `` Predatory impact of the green crab ( Carcinus maenas Linnaeus ) on post-settlement winter flounder ( Pseudopleuronectes americanus Walbaum ) as revealed by immunological dietary analysis ''. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 324 ( 2 ) : 112 -- 126. doi : 10.1016 / j. jembe. 2005.04. 014. Jump up ^ K.D. Lafferty ; K.D. Kuris ( 1996 ). `` Biological control of marine pests ''. Ecology. Ecological Society of America. 77 ( 7 ) : 1989 -- 2000. doi : 10.2307 / 2265695. JSTOR 2265695. Jump up ^ F.R. McEnnulty ; T.E. Jones ; N.J. Bax ( 2002 ). `` The Web - Based Rapid Response Toolbox. Web publication ''. Archived from the original on May 19, 2006. Retrieved March 9, 2006. Jump up ^ C.E. DeRivera ; G.M. Ruiz ; A.H. Hines ; P. Jivoff ( 2005 ). `` Biotic resistance to invasion : Native predator limits abundance and distribution of an introduced crab '' ( PDF ). Ecology. 86 ( 12 ) : 3367 -- 3376. doi : 10.1890 / 05 - 0479. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2010 - 06 - 10. Jump up ^ S.B. Yamada ( 2001 ). Global invader : the European Green Crab. Oregon Sea Grant. p. 123. ISBN 1 - 881826 - 24 - 4. ^ Jump up to : J.H.R. Goddard ; M.E. Torchin ; A.M. Kuris ; K.D. Lafferty ( 2005 ). `` Host specificity of Sacculina carcini, a potential biological control agent of introduced European green crab Carcinus maenas in California '' ( PDF ). Biological Invasions. 7 ( 6 ) : 895 -- 912. doi : 10.1007 / s10530 - 003 - 2981 - 0. Jump up ^ https://umaine.edu/news/blog/2017/06/06/food-thought-green-crab-pastries-pass-umaine-taste-test/ Jump up ^ `` Mechanical Separation of Green Crab ( Carcinus maenas ) Meat and Consumer Acceptability of a Value - Added Food Product ''. Journal of Aquatic Food Product Technology. 26 : 172 -- 180. doi : 10.1080 / 10498850.2015. 1126663. Jump up ^ http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/78/ Jump up ^ Warner, Roger ( 2015 - 02 - 12 ). `` Green crabs are multiplying. Should we eat the enemy ? ''. The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2015 - 02 - 13. Jump up ^ `` FAO Nominal Catches : Carcinus maenas ''. FishBase. ^ Jump up to : `` Species Carcinus maenas ( Linnaeus, 1758 ), European Shore Crab ''. Australian Faunal Directory. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. October 9, 2008. Retrieved October 15, 2010. External links Crustaceans portal Media related to Carcinus maenas at Wikimedia Commons Species Profile - European Green Crab ( Carcinus maenas ), National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library. Lists general information and resources for European Green Crab. Taxon identifiers Wd : Q27779 ADW : Carcinus_maenas ARKive : carcinus - maenas BugGuide : 467459 EoL : 128502 EPPO : CRCNMA GBIF : 5178595 iNaturalist : 52523 ITIS : 98734 NCBI : 6759 WoRMS : 107381 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carcinus_maenas&oldid=826121365 '' Categories : Portunoidea Crustaceans of the Atlantic Ocean Crustaceans described in 1758 Edible invasive species Hidden categories : Articles with ' species ' microformats Good articles Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikispecies Afrikaans Asturianu Brezhoneg Cebuano Dansk Deutsch Eesti Español Euskara فارسی Føroyskt Français Galego Íslenska Кыргызча Magyar Nederlands Nordfriisk Norsk Norsk nynorsk Picard Polski Português Русский Scots Simple English Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt West - Vlams Winaray 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 17 February 2018, at 09 : 12. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. 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Question: where is the european green crab native to
Answer: north-east Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea