Crayfish Predation Experiments on the Introduced Zebra Mussel, Dreissena Polymorpha, in Ireland, and Their Potential for Biocontrol.

Abstract

The zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha, native to the Aralo-Caspian region, has spread across Europe in the last 180 years. Although it reached England in 1820, it only arrived in Ireland in around 1995, probably attached to the hull of pleasure boats, and since then has spread through the lowland Shannon and Erne systems, which are linked by canal. While White-clawed crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes (Lereboullet) occur in these systems, Dreissena has not yet colonized sites with large crayfish populations. In laboratory experiments crayfish of both sexes ranging in size from 32-48 mm carapace length (CL) were offered zebra mussels in 7 size classes spanning a range from 3-17 mm total length. Crayfish fed most on small mussels, although there was some correlation between size of crayfish and largest mussels attacked. When eaten mussels were not replaced, crayfish shifted to larger sizes. In the presence of alternative prey, experienced crayfish ate mussels and alternative foods in similar amounts while those who had never encountered zebra mussels nearly always chose the alternative foods first. The possibility of crayfish exerting significant controlling impacts on expanding mussel populations is discussed.

Predation by the invasive American signal crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus Dana, on the invasive zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha Pallas: the potential for control and facilitation

“…Predation by an established crayfish population may confer a water body with resistance against zebra mussel invasion through predation of low numbers of small zebra mussel individuals (Reynolds & Donohoe, 2001). Conversely, if a zebra mussel population is established first, it may facilitate crayfish invasion by providing an abundant food source directly, as well as through providing habitat for other macroinvertebrate prey (Stewart et al, 1998).…”

“…Discrete size classes of mussels were used to facilitate statistical analysis of the data and identification of consumed mussels. The size classes selected are considerably larger than those used previously in experiments with other crayfish species (1-22 mm; Piesik, 1974;Love & Savino, 1993;MacIsaac, 1994;Martin & Corkum, 1994;Reynolds & Donohoe, 2001), but preliminary experiments and earlier study by Schreiber et al (1998) identified that signal crayfish are capable of consuming a greater range of mussel sizes.…”

“…Numerous studies have investigated crayfish predation on zebra mussels (Piesik, 1974;Love & Savino, 1993;MacIsaac, 1994;Martin & Corkum, 1994;Perry et al, 1997;Schreiber et al, 1998;Reynolds & Donohoe, 2001), as well as mollusc prey selection by crayfish (Covich et al, 1981;Brown, 1998;Nyström & Pérez, 1998). The majority of these studies have focused on Orconectes propinquus, O. rusticus and O. virilis, which are present in the Great Lakes in North America.…”

Modelling the predation effects of invasive crayfish,Procambarus clarkii(Girard, 1852), on invasive zebra mussel,Dreissena polymorpha(Pallas, 1771), under laboratory conditions

“…1 week. In various studies, the starvation time considered varies between 24 hours and 9 days (Martin & Corkum 1994;Reynolds & Donohoe 2001;Mistri 2004).…”

“…Several studies have investigated crayfish predation on zebra mussels (Piesik 1974;Love & Savino 1993;MacIsaac 1994;Martin & Corkum 1994;Perry et al 1997;Schreiber et al 1998;Reynolds & Donohoe 2001), including by Procambarus clarkii (Gonçalves 2013).…”