The red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852), native to the southern/southeastern United States and northern Mexico, has been introduced in many countries worldwide. The species has a remarkable invasiveness due to its high reproductive rate and ability to tolerate broad ranges of water parameters like salinity. Nevertheless, no consistent observations of P. clarkii have been reported in the marine environment until now. Data demonstrating the presence of the crayfish within marine ecosystems were collected by a personal acquaintance and two volunteers who published photos of the species on Facebook marine biology and fishing groups. The species was identified based on photos taken by these people in the described areas. P. clarkii has been spotted in three different localities, in two of which observations are recurrent. The species can survive miles from the nearest freshwater stream and could potentially colonise marine waters at depths up to 20 m. The multiple observations of P. clarkii collected in our study uncover a persistent presence of the species within some marine areas, rather than its mere sporadic occurrence. Our results highlight the need for further investigation to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the crayfish’s ability to withstand salinity and colonise the marine environment.

From Fresh to Salt Waters: First Reports of the Red Swamp Crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852) in Mediterranean Marine Waters

Alfredo Santovito
Membro del Collaboration Group
;
2024-01-01

Abstract

The red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852), native to the southern/southeastern United States and northern Mexico, has been introduced in many countries worldwide. The species has a remarkable invasiveness due to its high reproductive rate and ability to tolerate broad ranges of water parameters like salinity. Nevertheless, no consistent observations of P. clarkii have been reported in the marine environment until now. Data demonstrating the presence of the crayfish within marine ecosystems were collected by a personal acquaintance and two volunteers who published photos of the species on Facebook marine biology and fishing groups. The species was identified based on photos taken by these people in the described areas. P. clarkii has been spotted in three different localities, in two of which observations are recurrent. The species can survive miles from the nearest freshwater stream and could potentially colonise marine waters at depths up to 20 m. The multiple observations of P. clarkii collected in our study uncover a persistent presence of the species within some marine areas, rather than its mere sporadic occurrence. Our results highlight the need for further investigation to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the crayfish’s ability to withstand salinity and colonise the marine environment.
2024
3
1
10
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9917/3/1/1
crayfish; Procambarus clarkii; alien species; invasive species; alien species adaptation; salinity tolerance
Alessandro Nota; Alfredo Santovito; Raffaele Gattelli; Francesco Tiralongo
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
hydrobiology-03-00001-2.pdf

Accesso aperto

Tipo di file: PDF EDITORIALE
Dimensione 2.17 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
2.17 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2318/1976796
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact