Carcinus aestuarii

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Carcinus aestuarii
Carcinus aestuarii 2009 G1.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Carcinidae
Genus: Carcinus
Species:
C. aestuarii
Binomial name
Carcinus aestuarii
Nardo, 1847  [1]
Synonyms
  • Carcinus mediterraneusCzerniavsky, 1884
  • Carcinus maenas aestuariiNardo, 1847
  • Portunus menoidesRafinesque, 1817

Carcinus aestuarii, also known as the Mediterranean green crab is a littoral crab, native to the Mediterranean Sea.

Contents

Carcinus aestuarii bears some similarities to Carcinus maenas and was sometimes considered to be a subspecies thereof, rather than a species in its own right, but a molecular biological study using the COI gene found the difference between the two taxa to be substantial, supporting their status as separate species. [2] The two taxa can be visually distinguished by the front of the carapace, between the eyes, which is short and toothed in C. aestuarii but longer and smoother in C. maenas. Also, the gonopods of C. aestuarii are straight and parallel, whereas those of C. maenas are curved. [3]

Distribution

It is found in the Atlantic Ocean around the Canary Islands, all along the coasts of the Mediterranean and the Black and the Azov Seas including the Suez Canal. [4]

As invasive species

Whereas C. maenas has invaded many shorelines throughout the world, C. aestuarii has only been implicated in one invasion; the coastline of Japan has been invaded by either C. aestuarii or a hybrid of C. aestuarii and C. maenas. [5]

Diet

C. aestuarii is an omnivorous predator of small bivalves with soft shells, small crustaceans, annelids as well as being a scavenger of dead aquatic animals. Algae is also part of the diet. Eating habits can change throughout its lifespan and seasonally in relation with available food in its habitat. [6] [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Cancer pagurus</i> Species of crustacean

Cancer pagurus, commonly known as the edible crab or brown crab, is a species of crab found in the North Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and perhaps the Mediterranean Sea. It is a robust crab of a reddish-brown colour, having an oval carapace with a characteristic "pie crust" edge and black tips to the claws. A mature adult may have a carapace width up to 25 centimetres and weigh up to 3 kilograms. C. pagurus is a nocturnal predator, targeting a range of molluscs and crustaceans. It is the subject of the largest crab fishery in Western Europe, centred on the coasts of the British Isles, with more than 60,000 tonnes caught annually.

<i>Carcinus maenas</i> Species of invasive crab

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 European green crab.

<i>Carcinus</i> Genus of crabs

Carcinus is a genus of crabs, which includes Carcinus maenas, an important invasive species, and C. aestuarii, a species endemic to the Mediterranean Sea.

<i>Plagusia squamosa</i> Species of crab

Plagusia squamosa is a marine crab of the family Plagusiidae, formerly considered a subspecies of Plagusia depressa. It is found in tropical Indo-Pacific oceans. P. squamosa's carapace is bumpy and quite coarse, seemingly scaly, leading to its common name: The Scaly Rock Crab.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common cockle</span> Species of bivalve

The common cockle is a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Cardiidae, the cockles. It is found in waters off Europe, from Iceland in the north, south into waters off western Africa as far south as Senegal. The ribbed oval shells can reach 6 centimetres (2.4 in) across and are white, yellowish or brown in colour. The common cockle is harvested commercially and eaten in much of its range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grooved carpet shell</span> Species of bivalve

The grooved carpet shell, or Palourde clam, Ruditapes decussatus, or Venerupis decussatus, is a clam in the family Veneridae. It is distributed worldwide and is highly prized due to its ecological and economic interest. It has been proposed as a bioindicator.

<i>Liocarcinus depurator</i> Species of crab

Liocarcinus depurator, sometimes called the harbour crab or sandy swimming crab, is a species of crab found in the North Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Black Sea. It grows up to 50 millimetres (2.0 in) in width and 40 mm (1.6 in) long, and can be distinguished from other crabs, such as the shore crab Carcinus maenas, by the curved rows of white spots on its carapace.

Hematodinium is a genus of dinoflagellates. Species in this genus, such as Hematodinium perezi, the type species, are internal parasites of the hemolymph of crustaceans such as the Atlantic blue crab and Norway lobster. Species in the genus are economically damaging to commercial crab fisheries, including causing bitter crab disease in the large Tanner or snow crab fisheries of the Bering Sea.

<i>Potamon fluviatile</i> Species of crab

Potamon fluviatile is a freshwater crab found in or near wooded streams, rivers and lakes in Southern Europe. It is an omnivore with broad ecological tolerances, and adults typically reach 50 mm (2 in) in size during their 10–12 year lifespan. They inhabit burrows and are aggressive, apparently outcompeting native crayfish.

<i>Percnon gibbesi</i> Species of crab

Percnon gibbesi is a species of crab. It is one of at least two species commonly called Sally Lightfoot, and is also referred to as the nimble spray crab or urchin crab. It has been described as "the most invasive decapod species to enter the Mediterranean".

<i>Pachygrapsus marmoratus</i> Species of crab

Pachygrapsus marmoratus is a species of crab, sometimes called the marbled rock crab or marbled crab, which lives in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and parts of the Atlantic Ocean. It is dark violet brown, with yellow marbling, and with a body up to 36 millimetres (1.4 in) long. A semiterrestrial omnivore, it feeds on algae and various animals including mussels and limpets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algophagy</span> Obtaining nutrients by consuming algae

Algophagy is a feeding behaviour whereby an animal eats algae as a food source. Algae is a group of photosynthetic organisms that mostly rely on aquatic environments. They grow low to the ground as they lack vascular tissue, an adaptation postdating their origin. While the group of algal species is large, it is generally accepted that algae is high in nutritional value and often contain a variety of concentrated vitamins and minerals.

<i>Pirimela</i> Genus of crabs

Pirimela is a genus of crab containing a single species, Pirimela denticulata.

<i>Pisa armata</i> Species of crab

Pisa armata is a species of crab from the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

<i>Dyspanopeus sayi</i> Species of crab

Dyspanopeus sayi is a species of mud crab that is native to the Atlantic coast of North America. It has also become established outside its native range, living in Swansea Docks since 1960, the Mediterranean Sea since the 1970s, the North Sea since 2007 and the Black Sea since 2010. It can reach a carapace width of 20 mm (0.8 in), and has black tips to its unequal claws. It feeds on bivalves and barnacles, and is in turn eaten by predators including the Atlantic blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. Eggs are produced from spring to autumn, the offspring reach sexual maturity the following summer, and individuals can live for up to two years. The closest relative of D. sayi is D. texanus, which lives in the Gulf of Mexico; the two species differ in subtle features of the genitalia and the last pair of walking legs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crabs of the British Isles</span>

Around 65 species of crab occur in the waters of the British Isles. All are marine, with the exception of the introduced Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis, which occurs in fresh and brackish water. They range in size from the deep-water species Paromola cuvieri, which can reach a claw span of 1.2 metres, to the pea crab, which is only 4 mm (0.16 in) wide and lives inside mussel shells.

<i>Pyromaia tuberculata</i> Species of crab

Pyromaia tuberculata is a species of crab in the family Inachoididae.

Potamocorbula amurensis is a species of small saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the order Myida. Common names include the overbite clam, the Asian clam, the Amur River clam and the brackish-water corbula. The species is native to marine and brackish waters in the northern Pacific Ocean, its range extending from Siberia to China, Korea and Japan. It has become naturalised in San Francisco Bay.

<i>Sacculina carcini</i> Species of barnacle

Sacculina carcini, the crab hacker barnacle, is a species of parasitic barnacle in the family Sacculinidae, in particular a parasitic castrator, of crabs. The crab that most often is used as a host is the green crab, the natural range of which is the coasts of Europe and North Africa. It can be found attached to the crab's abdomen and affects consumption rates by humans.

Carlos José Correia de Azevedo is a Portuguese biologist specialising in microparasites of aquatic organisms, particularly Apicomplexa, Haplosporidia, Microsporidia, and Myxozoa.

References

  1. 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.
  2. 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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-13. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  3. 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.
  4. Števčić, Z; Galil, B (1993). "Checklist of the Mediterranean brachyuran crabs". Acta Adriat. 34: 5–76.
  5. James T. Carlton; Andrew 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.
  6. Chen, R.B; Watanabe, S; Yokota, M (2004). "Feeding habits of an exotic species, the Mediterranean green crab Carcinus aestuarii, in Tokyo Bay". Fisheries Science. 70: 430–435.
  7. Baklouti, S; Derbali, A; Dhieb, K; Kammoun, W; Jarboui, O (2013). "Proximate composition and its seasonality of the Mediterranean green crab: Carcinus aestuarii Nardo, 1847 (Brachyura, Portunidae), in southern Tunisian waters (Central Mediterranean)". Journal of Marine Biology. 2013b: 1–6.