The Japanese Skeleton Shrimp Caprella mutica (Crustacea, Amphipoda): A Global Invader of Coastal Waters

Abstract

Successful invasion must be viewed as the result of a unique sequence of events, with the established species overcoming a number of previously prohibitive obstacles, for example lack of dispersal vectors, habitat characteristics and environmental conditions of the new area, and the ability to persist in interspecific interactions in the new community. The Japanese skeleton shrimp, Caprella mutica, is proving to be a highly successful non-native crustacean in coastal waters outside its native range having overcome these obstacles. In the past 40 years, C. mutica has spread from its native sub-boreal waters of north-east Asia to numerous locations in both the northern and southern hemisphere, where it has successfully established self-sustaining and thriving populations. After its first European record from the Netherlands in 1995, C. mutica spread rapidly within the North Sea and later to the west coast of Scotland and to Ireland in less than 15 years. Caprella mutica is generally associated with man-made structures and can be found in abundance on boat hulls, floating pontoons and aquaculture infrastructure clinging to fouling organisms.