Abstract
Invasive alien species are a major threat to biodiversity. Thus, it is fundamental to implement control strategies at the early stages of invasions. In the framework of the Italian-Swiss Alien Invasive Species in Lake Maggiore cooperative programme, we performed an extensive study on the occurrence and ecology of alien crayfish, one of the most significant invaders of freshwater habitats. From April 2017 to July 2018, we inspected seventy-five sites along the coastline to verify crayfish occurrence. We recorded, for the first time, the signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus. Additionally, we found few individuals and remains of the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii, and confirmed the presence of a consistent population of the spinycheek crayfish Orconectes limosus. Given the high number of O. limosus’ individuals found, it was possible to perform in-depth biometric and ecological analyses for this abundant species only. We observed no significant differences of biometric measures between males and females of O. limosus. We explore its habitat preferences with a generalized linear model, detecting a significant relationship between mean annual temperatures and the presence of shelters of this species. These results, together, have direct implications for planning rapid management response actions on alien crayfish in large and deep lakes.
Highlights
Invasive Alien Species (IAS) are regarded as one of the major drivers of the global biodiversity decline [1,2,3]
We confirmed the occurrence of three alien crayfish in Lake Maggiore
We recorded the occurrence of the signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus for the first time in Lake Maggiore (Canton Tessin, Switzerland) based on three specimens collected in by a professional fisherman
Summary
Invasive Alien Species (IAS) are regarded as one of the major drivers of the global biodiversity decline [1,2,3] They impact native species and ecosystems, and the human society, by threatening. In Europe, crayfish represent the most frequent freshwater invaders, responsible for local extinctions of native species, damage to freshwater resources, as well as to productive activities [5,6]. Their introduction is a serious threat to these key habitats [7], which are usually already compromised by several anthropogenic stressors including chemical pollution, climate change, and water derivations and withdrawals [8,9]. Five of these species are considered of Union Concern [12]: Orconectes limosus (Rafinesque, 1817), O. virilis (Hagen, 1870), Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana, 1852), Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852), and Procambarus fallax (Hagen, 1870) f. virginalis
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