Dataset Information

Increase in density of genetically diverse invasive Asian shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus) populations in the Gulf of Maine.

ABSTRACT: Hemigrapsus sanguineus, the Asian shore crab, has rapidly replaced Carcinus maenas, the green crab, as the most abundant crab on rocky shores in the northwest Atlantic since its introduction to the United States (USA) in 1988. The northern edge of this progressing invasion is the Gulf of Maine, where Asian shore crabs are only abundant in the south. We compared H. sanguineus population densities to those from published 2005 surveys and quantified genetic variation using the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene. We found that the range of H. sanguineus had extended northward since 2005, that population density had increased substantially (at least 10-fold at all sites), and that Asian shore crabs had become the dominant intertidal crab species in New Hampshire and southern Maine. Despite the significant increase in population density of H. sanguineus, populations only increased by a factor of 14 in Maine compared to 70 in southern New England, possibly due to cooler temperatures in the Gulf of Maine. Genetically, populations were predominantly composed of a single haplotype of Japanese, Korean, or Taiwanese origin, although an additional seven haplotypes were found. Six of these haplotypes were of Asian origin, while two are newly described. Large increases in population sizes of genetically diverse individuals in Maine will likely have a large ecological impact, causing a reduction in populations of mussels, barnacles, snails, and other crabs, similar to what has occurred at southern sites with large populations of this invasive crab species.

SUBMITTER: Lord JP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5597051 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Increase in density of genetically diverse invasive Asian shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus) populations in the Gulf of Maine.

Lord Joshua P JP Williams Larissa M LM

Biol Invasions. 20170401 4

Hemigrapsus sanguineus, the Asian shore crab, has rapidly replaced Carcinus maenas, the green crab, as the most abundant crab on rocky shores in the northwest Atlantic since its introduction to the United States (USA) in 1988. The northern edge of this progressing invasion is the Gulf of Maine, where Asian shore crabs are only abundant in the south. We compared H. sanguineus population densities to those from published 2005 surveys and quantified genetic variation using the ...[more]

PMID: 28919836

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Project description:In the Gulf of Maine area (GoMA), as elsewhere in the ocean, the organisms of greatest numerical abundance are microbes. Viruses in GoMA are largely cyanophages and bacteriophages, including podoviruses which lack tails. There is also evidence of Mimivirus and Chlorovirus in the metagenome. Bacteria in GoMA comprise the dominant SAR11 phylotype cluster, and other abundant phylotypes such as SAR86-like cluster, SAR116-like cluster, Roseobacter, Rhodospirillaceae, Acidomicrobidae, Flavobacteriales, Cytophaga, and unclassified Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria clusters. Bacterial epibionts of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium fundyense include Rhodobacteraceae, Flavobacteriaceae, Cytophaga spp., Sulfitobacter spp., Sphingomonas spp., and unclassified Bacteroidetes. Phototrophic prokaryotes in GoMA include cyanobacteria that contain chlorophyll (mainly Synechococcus), aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs that contain bacteriochlorophyll, and bacteria that contain proteorhodopsin. Eukaryotic microalgae in GoMA include Bacillariophyceae, Dinophyceae, Prymnesiophyceae, Prasinophyceae, Trebouxiophyceae, Cryptophyceae, Dictyochophyceae, Chrysophyceae, Eustigmatophyceae, Pelagophyceae, Synurophyceae, and Xanthophyceae. There are no records of Bolidophyceae, Aurearenophyceae, Raphidophyceae, and Synchromophyceae in GoMA. In total, there are records for 665 names and 229 genera of microalgae. Heterotrophic eukaryotic protists in GoMA include Dinophyceae, Alveolata, Apicomplexa, amoeboid organisms, Labrynthulida, and heterotrophic marine stramenopiles (MAST). Ciliates include Strombidium, Lohmaniella, Tontonia, Strobilidium, Strombidinopsis and the mixotrophs Laboea strobila and Myrionecta rubrum (ex Mesodinium rubra). An inventory of selected microbial groups in each of 14 physiographic regions in GoMA is made by combining information on the depth-dependent variation of cell density and the depth-dependent variation of water volume. Across the entire GoMA, an estimate for the minimum abundance of cell-based microbes is 1.7×10(25) organisms. By one account, this number of microbes implies a richness of 10(5) to 10(6) taxa in the entire water volume of GoMA. Morphological diversity in microplankton is well-described but the true extent of taxonomic diversity, especially in the femtoplankton, picoplankton and nanoplankton--whether autotrophic, heterotrophic, or mixotrophic, is unknown.

Dataset Information

Increase in density of genetically diverse invasive Asian shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus) populations in the Gulf of Maine.

Publications

Increase in density of genetically diverse invasive Asian shore crab (<i>Hemigrapsus sanguineus</i>) populations in the Gulf of Maine.

Similar Datasets

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