Comparison of parasite diversity in native panopeid mud crabs and the invasive Asian shore crab in estuaries of northeast North America

Kelley Kroft,April Blakeslee

doi:10.3391/ai.2016.11.3.07

Abstract

Comparison of parasite diversity in native panopeid mud crabs and the invasive Asian shore crab in estuaries of northeast North America

Highlights

Species invasions represent one of the greatest threats to worldwide biodiversity (Carlton and Geller 1993; Vitousek et al 1997; Crowl et al 2008); yet much remains to be understood regarding nonindigenous species (NIS), their populations, and the communities they invade, especially in marine systems (Torchin et al 2002)
We focused on intertidal estuarine and coastal communities along the Atlantic coast of the United States, where a fairly recent invasive species, the Asian shore crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus De Haan, 1835, has become abundant and overlaps with a group of native mud crabs (Panopaeidae) in many estuarine habitats in the region
We examined endoparasite taxonomic richness, prevalence, and intensity of infection in two species of native mud crab, P. herbstii and E. depressus, and the introduced Asian shore crab, H. sanguineus, from multiple estuarine and coastal communities along the US Atlantic coast

Summary

Introduction

Species invasions represent one of the greatest threats to worldwide biodiversity (Carlton and Geller 1993; Vitousek et al 1997; Crowl et al 2008); yet much remains to be understood regarding nonindigenous species (NIS), their populations, and the communities they invade, especially in marine systems (Torchin et al 2002). While many anthropogenicallytransported species do not become established (Carlton 1996; Williamson and Fitter 1996), successfully invading species may achieve larger body sizes and higher abundances than conspecifics in their native range (Torchin et al 2001; Mitchell and Power 2003). Parasite richness in introduced species is often half that of native conspecifics (Torchin et al 2002; Blakeslee et al 2013). In some cases, parasite escape has been associated with increased demographic performance in non-native hosts (Torchin et al 2001; Blakeslee et al 2013)

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Discussion

Conclusion