The invasive Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 expands its distributional range southward to Atlantic African shores: first records along the Atlantic coast of Morocco

Chaouti, Abdellatif; Belattmania, Zahira; Nadri, Amal; Serrão, Ester Á.; Encarnação, João; Teodósio, Alexandra; Reani, Abdeltif; Sabour, Brahim

doi:10.3391/bir.2022.11.1.23

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…Invasion success is often dictated by propagule pressure (Holle and Simberloff, 2005) to circumvent or minimize biological resistance (Brown and Barney, 2021). On the northwestern coast of Africa, propagule pressure is increasing from northern populations along the Atlantic coast of Morocco (Chaouti et al, 2022;Chairi and Gonzaĺez-Ortegoń, 2022). Our present-day habitat suitability predictions already identified the coast of Mauritania with a high presence probability, meaning that the species may colonize this area in the upcoming years.…”

Section: Current Distributionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…These authors compiled data from multiple databases/sources of published and unpublished records: Global Biodiversity Information System (GBIF, www.gbif.org), Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS, www.obis.org), Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON, https:// bison.usgs.gov), iNaturalist (www.inaturalist.org). Additional records made between 2019 and March 2022 were retrieved from GBIF, scientific literature (Encarnacão et al, 2021a;Chaouti et al, 2022;Encarnacão et al, 2022;Encarnacão et al, 2023), and unpublished records submitted to our citizen science campaign New Marine Species of the Algarve (NEMA -Novas Espećies Marinhas do Algarve, www.NEMAlgarve.com). The datasets were merged, and then the duplicates, doubtful identifications, and mismatched geographic coordinates (i.e., coordinates outside the marine environment) were removed.…”

Section: Species Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aquatic species shows asymmetric distribution range shifts in native and non-native areas

et al. 2023

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IntroductionClimate change is reshaping the geographical distribution of species across the globe. In marine ecosystems, climate change creates novel challenges to an environment impacted by numerous anthropogenic stressors. Forecasting shifts in species distribution, including the expansion of non-indigenous species under climate change scenarios, is a management challenge for today’s world.MethodsWe applied Bayesian Additive Regression Tree (BART) models to investigate the environmental factors modulating the occurrence and habitat preferences of the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 in native and non-native areas. With BART models, we also aimed to predict its current and future distributions under two climate change scenarios (RCPs 4.5 and 8.5). BART models were performed using global occurrences of the Atlantic blue crab – recorded from 1830 to 2022 – and several environmental covariates (i.e., water temperature, salinity, current velocity, and rugosity). Model accuracy was assessed with the Area Under the Curve (AUC) and True Skill Statistics (TSS) criteria. Cross-validation experiments were made to balance accuracy prediction and uncertainty model prediction intervals.Results and discussionAUC and TSS values indicated that data validation was successful for the BART model. Water temperature was the most critical variable affecting the presence probability of the Atlantic blue crab. The BART model predicts asymmetric distribution range shifts on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The non-native populations will experience broader shifts in their distribution range than in the native range, and the RCP 8.5 scenario model outputs predict a wider distribution range by the end of the century. Overall, we anticipate significant ecological changes in native and non-native areas. The range expansion in native areas is often equivalent to the ecological shifts induced by invasive species, so lessons learned by ecologists and managers in non-native areas will provide actionable insights to managers in native areas.

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Section: Current Distributionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Species Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Aquatic species shows asymmetric distribution range shifts in native and non-native areas

et al. 2023

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“…In Morocco, C. sapidus was first reported on its Mediterranean coast, in the Marchica coastal lagoon in 2017 [11] while its first record on the Atlantic coast of Morocco was in the Merja Zerga Lagoon in 2019 [12]. The species is now established in many localities along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Morocco [12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

<em>Hematodinium perezi</em> (Dinophyceae: Syndiniales) in Morocco: First Record on the African Atlantic Coast, and First Country Record of a Parasite of the Invasive Blue Crab <em>Callinectes sapidus</em>

Lamkhalkhal,

Rahmouni,

Selfati

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Dinoflagellates belonging to Hematodinium are important parasites of marine crustaceans, primarily dec-apods. In this study, we document the first report of H. perezi Chatton & Poisson, 1930 on the African Atlantic coast. This is also the first parasite record in the invasive American blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 in Morocco. Specimens of C. sapidus were sampled in winter 2023 from two Ramsar sites on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, namely Merja Zerga and Oualidia Lagoons, and were screened to detect the presence of parasites in their hemolymph. Based on staining fresh hemolymph smears, we did not de-tect Hematodinium in any of the 36 investigated individuals (20 and 16 from Merja Zerga and Oualidia lagoons, respectively), probably due to methodological artifacts. The PCR-based method was revealed to be more accurate in diagnosing the Hematodinium parasite. It showed that 13 blue crabs were infected by the parasite at Merja Zerga Lagoon (prevalence 65%) and four individuals at Oualidia Lagoon (25%). Ge-netic analysis, based on the ITS1 rDNA gene from Hematodinium, confirmed the sequences as being those of Hematodinium perezi.

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“…In the Mediterranean Sea, it was reported in the Aegean Sea as early as the 1930s, and in the adjacent Turkish coast in 1949 (Enzenroß et al, 1997). Since then, this species has greatly expanded its distribution along the entire Mediterranean Sea and adjacent seas, but also in the North Sea and the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula and northern Africa (Encarnação et al, 2021;Mancinelli et al, 2021;Chaouti et al, 2022;González-Ortegón and Chairi [in press)]. On the western coast of the Iberian Peninsula, the first record dates back to 1967 in the Tagus Estuary (Portugal), but only a few sporadic records were made since then in this region (Encarnação et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Meanwhile, in the Alboran Sea, the first record was made in 2017 in Nador Lagoon (Morocco, Mediterranean Sea) (Chartosia et al, 2018), and the species later expanded to the east and west (Taybi and Mabrouki, 2020). Today, the species is also present in the Moroccan Atlantic coast (Chaouti et al, 2022;González-Ortegón and Chairi [in press)].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Free Pass Through the Pillars of Hercules? Genetic and Historical Insights Into the Recent Expansion of the Atlantic Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus to the West and the East of the Strait of Gibraltar

et al. 2022

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The invasive Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus has considerably extended its distribution along the Gulf of Cadiz and Moroccan coasts in the northeast Atlantic. This could indicate a new introduction event in the Gulf of Cadiz from the native area, in case of detectable genetic differences from the Mediterranean Sea populations. To test this and reconstruct the invasion, we assessed the genetic structure of crabs in the Gulf of Cadiz and Alboran Sea. We used sequences of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), in almost its full length (1511 basepairs), of 149 individuals from three sites along the Spanish Mediterranean coast, two in the Alboran Sea, and two in the Gulf of Cadiz. Our data reveal low genetic variability, with only two haplotypes (here referred to as CSWM1 and CSWM2), compared to its known high genetic diversity in the native range, indicating a strong founder effect in the study region. Here we document an inversion of haplotype predominance between regions, haplotype CSWM2 being dominant in most of the Spanish Mediterranean coast, but less frequent in the Gulf of Cadiz and Alboran Sea. This suggests a secondary introduction of propagules into the investigated area, rather than a new introduction from the native area, nor a natural westward expansion with environmental selection of one haplotype over the other. Further studies with additional populations would help to better unveil the history of yet another invasive species in the Gulf of Cadiz.

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The invasive Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 expands its distributional range southward to Atlantic African shores: first records along the Atlantic coast of Morocco

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

Aquatic species shows asymmetric distribution range shifts in native and non-native areas

Aquatic species shows asymmetric distribution range shifts in native and non-native areas

<em>Hematodinium perezi</em> (Dinophyceae: Syndiniales) in Morocco: First Record on the African Atlantic Coast, and First Country Record of a Parasite of the Invasive Blue Crab <em>Callinectes sapidus</em>

Free Pass Through the Pillars of Hercules? Genetic and Historical Insights Into the Recent Expansion of the Atlantic Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus to the West and the East of the Strait of Gibraltar

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