The American Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae) is Rapidly Expanding Through the Mediterranean Coast of Morocco

Taybi, Abdelkhaleq Fouzi; Mabrouki‍, Youness

doi:10.1007/s41208-020-00204-0

Cited by 16 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Within the Mediterranean basin, the blue crab has been recently reported in several freshwater habitats, including the Ichkeul Lake in Tunisia [28], wetlands of the Moulouya mouth and Oued Kert mouth (Morocco) [31], the Tirso and Fenosu rivers in Western Sardinia [27], the mouth of the Basento River (Italy) [32], and Lake Volvi in Northern Greece [33].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Euryhaline Aliens Invading Italian Inland Waters: The Case of the Atlantic Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896

et al. 2022

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Alien invasive species represent a major threat in Italian freshwaters. Despite national and European regulations aimed at the control and prevention of new invasive species, the number of allochthonous species is increasing and so is the rate of spread. One of the most widespread invasive animals in coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea is the blue crab Callinectes sapidus, a native of the Western Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Argentina. The species is euryhaline, and besides coastal waters, it is also commonly recorded in upper estuaries and lower reaches of rivers. Considering its fast adaptability and invasiveness, the main purpose of this work is to assess whether its biological plasticity and invasive capability may represent, in addition to marine and coastal habitats, also a potential threat for inland waters. Samples were collected in seven sites distributed between Southern and Central Italy. The new records are herein presented, starting from the original introduction by ballast waters and the actual westward migration in inland waters of Latium and Tuscany. In addition, the threat to biodiversity is also discussed, considering the blue crab aggressiveness toward both vertebrates and invertebrates, which may limit the distribution of native freshwater fish and macrofauna.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Euryhaline Aliens Invading Italian Inland Waters: The Case of the Atlantic Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896

et al. 2022

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“…It is a sufficient period to trap and catch virtually all the fish in each area. Invasive species caught were preserved in 90% ethanol or 10% formalin solution, while native fish (especially fry of Cyprinidae) were returned to the water (see Taybi, Mabrouki, & Doadrio, 2020a for more details).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The first record of the swordtailXiphophorus helleriiHeckel, 1848 (Poeciliidae, Actinopterygii) established in the wild from Morocco

et al. 2020

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Aquarium and ornamental fish trade is currently recognized as a major source of invasive species in aquatic ecosystems around the world. The swordtail Xyphophorus hellerii is a popular ornamental freshwater fish that occurs as an introduced species in the aquatic habitats of at least thirty-one countries. We report the first finding of an established population of the swordtail in Morocco. Twelve individuals of X. hellerii were captured along Oued Ain Chkef inside the park (Fez Province), including females and males (mature and immature). Ongoing investigations could soon reveal more occurrences of this species in the country.

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“…It was recorded for the first time on the Atlantic coasts of Europe in 1900 and the Mediterranean Sea in 1935 (Bouvier, 1901;Nehring, 2011). Nowadays, several established populations exist in the North Sea (Belgium and Netherlands), Atlantic coasts of the Iberian Peninsula (Nehring, 2011;Morais et al, 2019;Vasconcelos et al, 2019), and across the Mediterranean Sea (Mancinelli et al, 2017;Taybi and Mabrouki, 2020). The contribution of citizen scientists in tracking the expansion of this species has been critical in the Mediterranean Sea.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The contribution of citizen scientists in tracking the expansion of this species has been critical in the Mediterranean Sea. Fishers helped tracking the species' range expansion in Morocco (Taybi and Mabrouki, 2020), Algeria (Benabdi et al, 2019), Greece (Perdikaris et al, 2016), Albania (Beqiraj and Kashta, 2010), Italy (Suaria et al, 2017;Cerri et al, 2020), and Spain (Castejón and Guerao, 2013;González-Wangüemert and Pujol, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-Cost Citizen Science Effectively Monitors the Rapid Expansion of a Marine Invasive Species

Encarnação

Baptista

Teodósio

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Citizen science and informed citizens have become fundamental in providing the first records and accounts about the expansion of numerous non-indigenous species. However, implementing a successful citizen science campaign can be expensive and particularly difficult for aquatic species. Here, we demonstrate how a low-cost citizen science campaign and its outreach plan in social and traditional media enabled to track the expansion of the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 along the coast of Algarve (southern Portugal, Europe). We describe the outreach strategy and a cost-benefit analysis of the first year of the citizen science campaign. Social media platforms allowed us to reach a significant number of citizens (over 31,500 clicks in Facebook publications), while traditional media gave national visibility to the citizen science campaign and biological invasions. In only 1 year, we documented the spread of the invasive Atlantic blue crab across the entire 140 km of the Algarve coast with 166 valid observations referring to 1747 specimens, submitted by 62 citizen scientists. We spent 0 € on the citizen science campaign, but considering the time invested in the campaign the cost would have summed up to 3,751 €, while the total minimum cost for one scientist to go to the field and retrieve the equivalent information would have exceeded 11,000 €. We used free online tools of communication to obtain the records about the Atlantic blue crab, instead of a dedicated web platform or mobile app, and handled social media accounts ourselves, which saved us at least 18,815 €. The citizen science campaign revealed that the Atlantic blue crab is unequivocally established in southern Portugal and that females appear to exhibit summer migrations to coastal areas to spawn as in the native area. Overall, our low-cost citizen science campaign effectively documented the rapid spread of a marine invasive species while providing some insights into its ecology. Our strategy can be easily replicated and implemented elsewhere in the world to tackle the ever-growing problem of biological invasions while increasing the scientific literacy of local populations.

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The American Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae) is Rapidly Expanding Through the Mediterranean Coast of Morocco

Cited by 16 publications

References 27 publications

Euryhaline Aliens Invading Italian Inland Waters: The Case of the Atlantic Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896

Euryhaline Aliens Invading Italian Inland Waters: The Case of the Atlantic Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896

The first record of the swordtailXiphophorus helleriiHeckel, 1848 (Poeciliidae, Actinopterygii) established in the wild from Morocco

Low-Cost Citizen Science Effectively Monitors the Rapid Expansion of a Marine Invasive Species

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