Trophic flexibility of the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus in invaded coastal systems of the Apulia region (SE Italy): A stable isotope analysis

The Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus in southern European coastal waters: Distribution, impact and prospective invasion management strategies

“…Besides a presumed high degree of competition with native brachyurans (Gennaio et al, 2006;Mancinelli et al, 2013a), and a post facto confirmation of its high invasive potential in Greek waters by means of the Marine Invertebrate Invasiveness Scoring Kit (MI-ISK by CEFAS: https://www.cefas.co.uk/services/ research-advice-and-consultancy/invasive-and-non-native-species/; Perdikaris et al, 2016), little information is available on the functional role of the species in Europe. Invertebrate and vertebrate predators of C. sapidus in SEW are to date unidentified, as well as its parasites and pathogens (see Nagle et al, 2009 for native habitats; but see Mancinelli et al, 2013b for an unconfirmed claim of parasitic dynoflagellates of the genus Hematodinium in SE Italy) In addition, the trophic ecology of the species is virtually unexplored, the only exception being recent stable isotopes investigations (Mancinelli et al, 2013a;Carrozzo et al, 2014;Mancinelli et al, 2016aMancinelli et al, , 2017. A high size-and site-related variability in trophic position has been shown, implying that the blue crab has the potential to impact benthic communities at multiple trophic levels.…”

Further records of Callinectes sapidus (Rathbun, 1896) (Decapoda, Brachyura, Portunidae) in the Strait of Sicily

“…In light of the above considerations, this note documents the finding of further five specimens suggesting the successful settlement of C. sapidus in the Strait of Sicily and provides an updated map of all the records as from the one previously summarised by Mancinelli et al (2017b) and Labrune et al (2019).…”

“…Indeed, this area is characterized by a mesoscale circulation system that might facilitate their spread and arrival (Capodici et al 2018) as well as by local conditions, such as water temperature, salinity, oxygen and seabed habitat, that can improve their settlement and survival ability (Montalto et al 2020). Looking at the whole Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic blue crab is almost ubiquitous in Aegean and Levantine basins and in the last two decades has become common along the Ionian coasts as well as in the Adriatic Sea, with repeated observations in Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, and Albania (Mancinelli et al 2017b). In the last years, increasing records of blue crab have also occurred in Sardinian waters as reported by Piras et al (2019) and in the North-East of the Iberian Peninsula by Fuentes et al (2019), in Algeria by Benabdi et al (2019), in Morocco by Oussellam and Hocein (Chartosia et al 2018) and South-west Sicily (Lipej et al 2018 and present records), suggesting that the species continues its expansion in the western sector of Mediterranean basin (Fig.…”

“…Regarding the negative effects of C. sapidus, as suggested by Mancinelli et al (2017a), further studies should be made to understand the nature of impact and the implications for the native species due to its presence. However, as highlighted by several studies, C. sapidus can attack fish and other crustaceans trapped in fishing nets and damage fishing gear (Mancinelli et al 2017b;Garcia et al 2018). Therefore, its voracity and aggressive behaviour might gradually alter the native Mediterranean biodiversity with socio-economic implications.…”

Parasites affect hemocyte functionality in the hemolymph of the invasive Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus from a coastal habitat of the Salento Peninsula (SE Italy)

“…The Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 (Decapoda, Brachyura, Portunidae) is native to the north-western Atlantic Ocean coasts; the first record from European waters was in 1901 along the Atlantic coasts of France (Nehring, 2011); subsequently, it extended its presence throughout the Mediterranean Sea (Mancinelli et al, 2017a). In particular, the blue crab has been recorded in the Adriatic (Dulčić et al, 2011;Mancinelli et al, 2016;Cilenti et al, 2015) and Ionian Seas (Mancinelli et al, 2013a(Mancinelli et al, , 2017bCarrozzo et al, 2014), where a number of established, fully reproductive populations have been identified. Currently, C. sapidus is considered an invasive alien species (IAS) in the Mediterranean Sea (Katsanevakis et al, 2014).…”