A global occurrence database of the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus

Giorgio Mancinelli,Roberta Bardelli,Argyro Zenetos

doi:10.1038/s41597-021-00888-w

Abstract

The Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus is a portunid native to the western Atlantic, from New England to Uruguay. The species was introduced in Europe in 1901 where it has become invasive; additionally, a significant northward expansion has been emphasized in its native range. Here we present a harmonized global compilation of C. sapidus occurrences from native and non-native distribution ranges derived from online databases (GBIF, BISON, OBIS, and iNaturalist) as well as from unpublished and published sources. The dataset consists of 40,388 geo-referenced occurrences, 39,824 from native and 564 from non-native ranges, recorded in 53 countries. The implementation of quality controls imposed a severe reduction, in particular from online databases, of the records selected for inclusion in the dataset. In addition, a technical validation procedure was used to flag entries showing identical coordinates but different year of record, in-land occurrences and those located close to the coast. Similarly, a flagging system identified entries outside the known distribution of the species, or associated with unsuccessful introductions.

Highlights

Background & SummaryBiological invasions are currently acknowledged as one of the main threats to the integrity of marine ecosystems[1,2]
European seas provide an impressive illustration of the extension of the phenomenon, with over 850 established non-indigenous species (NIS) since 19503,4
Considerable efforts are currently made worldwide to collect data on bio-ecological traits of marine NIS to predict their invasiveness, identify introduction pathways, evaluate the risks connected with their introduction, and implement appropriate mitigation procedures[5,6,7,8,9,10]

Summary

Introduction

Background & SummaryBiological invasions are currently acknowledged as one of the main threats to the integrity of marine ecosystems[1,2]. The dataset includes fields reporting taxonomic information, the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS; www.marinespecies.org) unique identifier (aphiaID), and provides information on geographical location (e.g., coordinates in decimal degrees), reference to original sources, as well as the flagging system implemented (Table 2).

Results

Conclusion