Abstract
Carcinus maenas (the “shore crab” or “European green crab”) is a very proficient invader (considered to be one of the world’s 100 worst invaders by the IUCN) due to its phenotypic plasticity, wide temperature and salinity tolerance, and an extensive omnivorous diet. Native to Atlantic Europe, it has established two well-studied nonindigenous populations in the northwestern Atlantic and northeastern Pacific and less-studied populations in Australia, Argentina and South Africa. Green crabs are eurythermal and euryhaline as adults, but they are limited to temperate coastlines due to more restrictive temperature requirements for breeding and larval development. They cannot tolerate wave-swept open shores so are found in wave-protected sheltered bays, estuaries and harbors. Carcinus maenas has been the subject of numerous papers, with over 1000 published in the past decade. This review provides an up-to-date account of the current published information on the life history and population dynamics of this very important species, including genetic differentiation, habitat preferences, physical parameter tolerances, reproduction and larval development, sizes of crabs, densities of populations, sex ratios, ecosystem dynamics and ecological impacts in the various established global populations of green crabs.
Highlights
The first extensive examination of C. maenas was J.H
This review examines published papers by various researchers studying C. maenas in the native European and northwestern
It was concluded that C. maenas in this population likely derived from a single introduction of a small number of founders to San Francisco Bay, California, from the western Atlantic, supporting an early conjecture based on observations of crabs in live seafood shipments arriving in the western US from the northeastern US [36]
Summary
The first extensive examination of C. maenas was J.H. Crothers’ “The Biology of the Shore Crab. 1393 papers published in the first decade of the new millennium) the vast majority have involved three main populations—the native population in Europe and the two prominent nonindigenous populations in the northwestern Atlantic and northeastern Pacific. Canada and New England populations, with data from south of those regions included in only a few publications In both the native and northwestern Atlantic populations, the numbers of crabs in the southern part of the ranges are greatly reduced, making collecting sufficient specimens for study difficult. This review examines published papers by various researchers studying C. maenas in the native European and northwestern. Atlantic and northeastern Pacific nonindigenous populations, where relevant studies from each major population will be discussed in appropriate sections to follow, with occasional mention of data from other populations when available and appropriate
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