Distribution of the Invasive Spiny-Cheek Crayfish (Orconectes Limosus) in the Czech Republic. Past and Present

Abstract

The American spiny-cheek crayfish, Orconectes limosus, was first introduced into European waters in 1890. The first literature record about the occurrence of O. limosus on the territory of the Czech Republic was published almost 100 years later -in 1989. The presence of this species in Czechia, however, was first recorded already in the 1960s, when crayfish were observed in the dead arms and pools adjacent to the river Elbe (Labe) in Central Bohemia. In the following few decades the spiny-cheek crayfish has spread into several larger rivers of the Elbe watershed and some of their smaller tributaries. The eastern part of the country (mostly belonging to the watershed of the river Morava) has not yet been colonised by this species. O. limosus can be found in lower reaches of a number of watercourses of a low stream order, but does not seem to penetrate far upstream in such localities. Its distribution in standing waters is largely the result of intentional humanmediated translocations. The long-term coexistence of Orconectes and native crayfish species has not yet been recorded, although both introduced and native crayfish at least occasionally come into contact. As O. limosus is a major carrier of the crayfish plague on the Czech territory, and crayfish plague outbreaks have been recently recorded, the dynamics of Orconectes invasion deserves careful monitoring in the future. Key-words:Orconectes limosus, spiny cheek crayfish, invasive species, distribution, crayfish plague, Czech Republic. DISTRIBUTION DE L'ÉCREVISSE INVASIVE (ORCONECTES LIMOSUS) EN RÉPUBLIQUE TCHÈQUE. PASSÉ ET PRÉSENT RÉSUMÉL'écrevisse américaine, Orconectes limosus, a été introduite en Europe en 1890. Les premiers écrits relatant la présence d'O. limosus sur le territoire de la République tchèque ont été publié presque 100 ans plus tard, en 1989. Cette espèce a déjà été observée en Tchéchie cependant, dans les années 60, dans les bras morts et les plans d'eau adjacents à la rivière Elbe (Labe) en Bohème centrale. Dans les décennies suivantes, l'écrevisse américaine a colonisé d'autres grands cours d'eau du bassin de l'Elbe, et quelques-uns de leurs plus petits affluents. La partie orientale du pays (correspondant principalement au bassin de la rivière Morava) n'a pas encore été colonisée par cette espèce. O. limosus est présente dans les parties les plus basses d'un certain nombre de cours d'eau d'ordre hydrographique faible, mais elle ne semble pas remonter très en amont des cours d'eau. Sa répartition dans les eaux calmes est largement le résultat des transports effectués par l'homme. La coexistence au long-terme d'Orconectes et des espèces natives d'écrevisse n'a pas encore été établie, bien que les écrevisses natives et les écrevisses introduites se retrouvent au moins occasionnellement en contact. L'écrevisse O. limosus étant le principal vecteur de la peste de l'écrevisse sur le territoire tchèque, et des cas de peste de l'écrevisse ayant été récemment enregistrés, la dynamique de l'invasion de l'Orconectes doit être soigneuseme...

The Fecundity, Time of Egg Development and Juvenile Production in Spiny-Cheek Crayfish (Orconectes Limosus) Under Controlled Conditions

“…By the end of 20 th century, it had spread widely in the Elbe watershed, due to its natural dispersal potential as well as a result of anthropogenic translocations PETRUSEK et al, 2006). This species is a major vector of the crayfish plague pathogen, Aphanomyces astaci, in Czech open waters (KOZUBÍKOVÁ et al, 2006).…”

Crayfish in Czech cultural space: the longest documented relationship between humans and crayfish in Europe

“…Three species of crayfish are nonindigenous: (i) Astacus leptodactylus Eschscholtz imported in 1890s from the eastern part of Europe (Eastern Galicia) in order to replenish the declined native populations of A. astacus; (ii) North American Orconectes limosus (Rafinesque) which was first recorded in Europe in 1890 and subsequently has spread over the evaluated territory in about 1960; and (iii) North American Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana) imported to the evaluated territory from Sweden in the 1980s (Kozák and Policar, 2003;Petrusek et al, 2006;Kouba et al, 2014).…”

“…Frič and Nekut in 1868 published the first scientific work focused on crustaceans, including crayfish, in Bohemia and Moravia. The first new species of crayfish, Astacus leptodactylus, was introduced from Eastern Europe to Bohemia and later Moravia at the end of the 19th century (ca 1890) in order to replenish declining populations of indigenous A. astacus (Petrusek et al, 2006). Although there is no evidence as to the quantity of crayfish exploited in the 19th century, they were listed under Section 1 of Law 62/1895 mor.…”

“…The crayfish plague induced a decline in indigenous crayfish populations (e.g. Alderman, 1996;Petrusek et al, 2006;Kozubíková et al, 2008) throughout continental Europe. This disease was first recognized in Bohemia in 1879 and in Moravia in about 1902; between 1898 and 1902, massive mortality of indigenous crayfish was recorded for this reason (Votrubec, 1931).…”

First record of the spiny-cheek crayfish (Orconectes limosus) in Slovenia – 300 km upstream from its known distribution in the Drava River

“…The newly discovered spiny-cheek crayfish population will have an immediate significant impact downstream and it has altered the predicted spread of this species in the Drava River basin to be much faster than it would have been if colonization occurred by natural upstream dispersal. As this species prefers slowflowing, larger and warmer rivers (Pöckl, 1999;Petrusek et al, 2006) and shallow parts of lakes (Hirsch et al, 2016) it is expected to spread downstream into the accumulation lakes of the Drava River hydroelectric power plants, where it has the potential to reach high population densities.…”