Ocean Indicators Predict Range Expansion of an Introduced Species: Invasion History of the European Green Crab Carcinus maenas on the North American Pacific Coast

ABSTRACT An introduced population of European green crabs Carcinus maenas (Linneaus, 1758) was established in San Francisco Bay prior to 1991. Their subsequent northern range expansion is linked to larval transport in the Davidson Current to northern California (1993), southern Oregon (approximately 1996), the Oregon and Washington coastal estuaries and the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia (1998). Range expansions through larval transport to the central British Columbia coast occurred before 2010, to Haida Gwaii in 2020, and into the inland Salish Sea in 2015 and 2016. Both the range expansions of C. maenas and local abundance are strongly linked to oceanic factors during their larval development. These include (1) strong northward flow of coastal waters during winter; (2) warm surface water temperatures (>10°C for larval development); and (3) coastal circulation patterns that keep larvae close to shore, where they can be carried by wind and tidal currents into estuaries and embayments to settle. The strongest year classes and largest range expansions occurred during the last two major El Niño events. The 1997 to 1998 El Niño resulted in the colonization of embayments in Oregon, coastal Washington, and on the west coast of Vancouver Island, while the El Niño of 2015 to 2016 and the Pacific Warm Blob are linked to the range expansion into the Salish Sea. More local range expansions along the west coast of Vancouver Island, to the central British Columbia Coast, to Haida Gwaii, and inside the Salish Sea occurred during non-El Niño years.

[1]  S. Yamada,et al.  Relationship between ocean ecosystem indicators and year class strength of the invasive European green crab (Carcinus maenas) , 2021 .

[2]  I. Côté,et al.  Habitat alteration by invasive European green crab (Carcinus maenas) causes eelgrass loss in British Columbia, Canada , 2019, Biological Invasions.

[3]  P. MacCready,et al.  Larval Transport Modeling Support for Identifying Population Sources of European Green Crab in the Salish Sea , 2019, Estuaries and Coasts.

[4]  J. Largier,et al.  Widespread shifts in the coastal biota of northern California during the 2014–2016 marine heatwaves , 2019, Scientific Reports.

[5]  M. Wonham,et al.  El Niño Range Extensions of Pacific Sand Crab (Emerita analoga) in the Northeastern Pacific , 2018, Northwest Science.

[6]  S. Yamada,et al.  Lifting Barriers to Range Expansion: the European Green Crab Carcinus maenas (Linnaeus, 1758) Enters the Salish Sea , 2017, Journal of Shellfish Research.

[7]  R. Thomson,et al.  Buoyancy-driven coastal current blocks ventilation of an anoxic fjord on the Pacific coast of Canada: EFFINGHAM INLET VENTILATION , 2017 .

[8]  R. Kudela,et al.  An unprecedented coastwide toxic algal bloom linked to anomalous ocean conditions , 2016, Geophysical research letters.

[9]  P. Snelgrove,et al.  Linking eelgrass decline and impacts on associated fish communities to European green crab Carcinus maenas invasion , 2016 .

[10]  Quinn MacDonald.  Salt Spring Island , 2016 .

[11]  W. Peterson,et al.  Biological and physical ocean indicators predict the success of an invasive crab, Carcinus maenas, in the northern California Current , 2015 .

[12]  H. Neckles.  Loss of Eelgrass in Casco Bay, Maine, Linked to Green Crab Disturbance , 2015 .

[13]  C. McKenzie,et al.  Predation of Sea Scallops and Other Indigenous Bivalves by Invasive Green Crab, Carcinus maenas, from Newfoundland, Canada , 2014 .

[14]  Elena Y. Besedin,et al.  Modeling the impacts of the European green crab on commercial shellfisheries. , 2011, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[15]  J. E. Byers,et al.  A hitchhiker’s guide to the Maritimes: anthropogenic transport facilitates long‐distance dispersal of an invasive marine crab to Newfoundland , 2010 .

[16]  S. Yamada,et al.  Linking ocean conditions to year class strength of the invasive European green crab, Carcinus maenas , 2010, Biological Invasions.

[17]  S. Yamada,et al.  Will the European green crab (Carcinus maenas) persist in the Pacific Northwest , 2008 .

[18]  E. Kulikov,et al.  Estuarine versus transient flow regimes in Juan de Fuca Strait , 2007 .

[19]  S. Teck,et al.  Larval development rate predicts range expansion of an introduced crab , 2007 .

[20]  C. Griffiths,et al.  Why Carcinus maenas cannot get a grip on South Africa's wave-exposed coastline , 2007 .

[21]  Joe Roman,et al.  Diluting the founder effect: cryptic invasions expand a marine invader's range , 2006, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[22]  S. Yamada,et al.  Status of the European Green Crab in Oregon and Washington Estuaries in 2012 , 2006 .

[23]  J. M. Orensanz,et al.  A prediction come true: the green crab invades the Patagonian coast , 2005, Biological Invasions.

[24]  J. Carlton,et al.  Episodic global dispersal in shallow water marine organisms: the case history of the European shore crabs Carcinus maenas and C. aestuarii , 2003 .

[25]  Adriana Huyer,et al.  The coastal ocean off Oregon and northern California during the 1997–8 El Niño , 2002 .

[26]  Cascade J. B. Sorte,et al.  Larval dynamics of the sand crab, Emerita analoga, off the central Oregon coast during a strong El Niño period , 2001 .

[27]  D. Armstrong,et al.  The competitive and predatory impacts of the nonindigenous crab Carcinus maenas (L.) on early benthic phase Dungeness crab Cancer magister Dana. , 2001, Journal of experimental marine biology and ecology.

[28]  E. Grosholz,et al.  Cryptic invasions of the crab Carcinus detected by molecular phylogeography , 1997, Molecular ecology.

[29]  E. Grosholz.  Contrasting Rates of Spread for Introduced Species in Terrestrial and Marine Systems , 1996 .

[30]  Edwin D. Grosholz,et al.  Spread and potential impact of the recently introduced European green crab, Carcinus maenas, in central California , 1995, Marine Biology.

[31]  J. Carlton,et al.  Introduction, dispersal and potential impacts of the green crab Carcinus maenas in San Francisco Bay, California , 1995, Marine Biology.

[32]  P. Leblond,et al.  Velocity and temperature fluctuations in a buoyancy‐driven current off Vancouver Island , 1991 .

[33]  G. M. Branch,et al.  On the distribution, diet and possible impact of the invasive European shore crab Carcinus maenas (L.) along the South African coast , 1990 .

[34]  C. Püschel,et al.  Temperature and growth in Carcinus maenas L. (Decapoda: Portunidae) larvae reared in the laboratory from hatching through metamorphosis , 1986 .

[35]  T. H. Butler.  A Record of the Anomuran Crustacean Emerita analoga (Stimpson) from British Columbia , 1959 .

[36]  J. Hjort,et al.  Fluctuations in the Great Fisheries of Northern Europe: Viewed in the Light of Biological Research , 1914 .

[37]  Sean W. McDonald,et al.  Citizen science program detects range expansion of the globally invasive European green crab in Washington State (USA) , 2018 .

[38]  R. Malouf,et al.  Global Invader: The European Green Crab. , 2016 .

[39]  Pacific Region.  EVALUATING TRANSFERS OF HARVESTED SHELLFISH PRODUCTS, FROM THE WEST TO THE EAST COAST OF VANCOUVER ISLAND, AS A POTENTIAL VECTOR FOR EUROPEAN GREEN CRABS (CARCINUS MAENAS) AND OTHER NON-INDIGENOUS INVERTEBRATE SPECIES , 2015 .

[40]  A. Locke,et al.  Risk Assessment for European green crab (Carcinus maenas) in Canadian Waters Évaluation des risques représentés par le crabe européen (Carcinus maenas) dans les eaux canadiennes , 2008 .

[41]  T. Therriault,et al.  Status of the European Green Crab, Carcinus maenas, in British Columbia - 2006 , 2007 .

[42]  R. Beamish,et al.  Effects of ocean variability on recruitment and an evaluation of parameters used in stock assessment models , 2004, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries.

[43]  J. Cherniawsky,et al.  European green crab (Carcinus maenas) dispersal: The Pacific experience , 2002 .

[44]  A. Weinstein,et al.  Investigations into the Introduction of Non-indigenous Marine Organisms via the Cross-Continental Trade in Marine Baitworms , 2001 .

[45]  N. P. Reed,et al.  United States Fish and Wildlife Service , 1984 .

[46]  Josephine F. L. Hart.  Crabs and their relatives of British Columbia , 1982 .

[47]  T. Say.  An account of the Crustacea of the United States (continued) , 1818 .