Callinectes Sapidus Rathbun, 1896, After 70 Years from Its First Appearance in the Gulf of Trieste, Northern Adriatic Sea, Italy (Decapoda: Portunidae)
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12 6 2006 the journal of biodiversity data 2 December 2016 Check List NOTES ON GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION Check List 12(6): 2006, 2 December 2016 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.15560/12.6.2006 ISSN 1809-127X © 2016 Check List and Authors The return of the Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896, after 70 years from its first appearance in the Gulf of Trieste, northern Adriatic Sea, Italy (Decapoda: Portunidae) Chiara Manfrin1*, Giovanni Comisso2, Andrea dall’Asta3, Nicola Bettoso4, and J. Sook Chung5 1 Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, via L. Giorgieri, 5, 34127, Trieste (Trieste), Italy 2 Riserva Naturale Regionale “Valle Canal Novo”, via delle Valli 2, 33050, Marano Lagunare (Udine), Italy 3 Civico Aquario Marino, Molo Pescheria, 2, 34123, Trieste (Trieste), Italy 4 Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione dell’Ambiente del Friuli Venezia Giulia, via A. La Marmora, 13, 34139 Trieste, Italy 5 Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, 701 East Pratt Street Baltimore, MD 21202, USA * Corresponding author E-mail: [email protected] Abstract: Since August 2015, an increasing number al. 2000), Russia (Azov Sea) (Diripasko et al. 2009; of Blue Crabs, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896, have Pashkov et al. 2012), Ukraine (Monin 1984), and Georgia been reported in the Marano and Grado Lagoon, Gulf (Shaverdashvili and Ninua 1975). Records are being of Trieste, in the northern Adriatic Sea. This species is continuously updated, and the most recent sighting was not a new introduction and in fact the first record of C. off Turkey (Yağlıoğlu et al. 2014). sapidus in Italy and the entire Adriatic Sea dates back Callinectes sapidus reached the Mediterranean basin in to 1949 in the Grado Lagoon. Interestingly, no other ships’ ballast tanks (Holthuis and Gottlieb 1955), but the records of C. sapidus have been reported since the first timing is unknown (Castriota et al. 2012). This species record. Here, we note the re-appearance of C. sapidus in was in fact often mistaken for Portunus segnis (Forskål, the Gulf of Trieste. 1775) and often had been called Neptunus pelagicus or P. pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758) until the P. pelagicus species Key words: invasive species; re-appearance; Marano complex was revised (Lai et al. 2010). and Grado Lagoon; Adriatic Sea Callinectes sapidus was reported from the Ebro delta, Spain (Tuncer 2008) and Guadalquivir, southern Ibe- ria (Cabal et al. 2006), suggesting an active expansion The American Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, of range of this species toward southern latitudes in 1896 (Decapoda: Portunidae) is a euryhaline and eury- estuaries (Ribeiro and Veríssimo 2014). In the Mediter- thermal invasive species in Europe. Its native range is ranean, C. sapidus is known from Malta (Sciberras and the western North Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia to Schembri 2007), the Ligurian Sea (Tortonese 1965; Argentina. However, during the last decade, its range Bisconti and Silvi 2005), the Aegian-Levantine Sea has expanded, either accidentally or deliberately, into basin (Serbetis 1959; Enzenrob et al. 1997; Zaitsev and both Asia and Europe (Galil 2000). The first record in Öztürk 2001), and the Ionian Sea (Molnar et al. 2008; Western Europe was from the Biscay Gulf, France, in the Thessalou-Legaki et al. 2012). early 20th century (Bouvier 1901). Since then, this spe- In the Adriatic Sea, C. sapidus was first recorded cies has been reported from the North Sea (Netherlands in 1949, as Neptunus pelagicus, from Grado Lagoon in 1932, Belgium in 1981, and Germany in 1965) (Den (Giordani Soika 1951). The correct identity was Hartog and Holthuis 1951; Kühl 1965; Adema 1991; established in 1993 following the discovery of two males Gollasch 1996) and in the Baltic Sea in 1951 (Denmark) in the Venice Lagoon in 1991 and 1992 (Mizzan 1993). (Wolff 1954; Knudsen 1989; Gollasch 1996). It has been Many records were reported from the Adriatic Sea, found along the coasts of Britain in 1982 (Clark 1984; along both western (Gennaio et al. 2006; Scaravelli and Minchin et al. 2013), Portugal (Gaudêncio and Guerra Mordenti 2007; Florio et al. 2008; Castriota et al. 2012; 1979), and Spain (Cabal et al. 2006). Mancinelli 2013; Cilenti et al. 2015; Manfrin et al. 2015) Starting in the late 1960s, C. sapidus was observed and eastern coasts (Tuncer 2008; Beqiraj and Kashta in Bulgaria (Black Sea) (Bulgurkov 1968; Petrescu et 2010; Dulčić et al. 2010; Dulčić et al. 2011). However, Check List | www.biotaxa.org/cl 1 Volume 12 | Number 6 | Article 2006 Manfrin et al. | The Blue Crab in the Northern Adriatic Sea Figure 1. Locations and year of first appearance of Callinectes sapidus in Europe and Italy. The literature on which this is based is cited in the text. no other C. sapidus have been collected from the Gulf identified in the state-sponsored ‘‘Natura 2000’’ survey of Trieste, until now. First records for C. sapidus in as a Site of Community Importance (SCIs IT3320037). European waters are summarized in Figure 1. The area is economically important, supporting tourism Here, we document the occurrence of C. sapidus in the and industry. There are recreational fisheries (mainly Gulf of Trieste, 66 years after the previous (and first) the Venerupis philippinarum [A.Adams & Reeve, 1850], record from the same area (Giordani Soika 1951). Manila Clam) and with fish farming (Acquavita et al. The Gulf of Trieste is divisible into two main sectors 2014). According to the Water Framework Directive that are separated by the Timavo River. The first sector 2000/60/EC, three main water types were identified in extends to the sandy Grado littoral zone at west, whereas the Marano and Grado Lagoon: mesohaline TME (5–20 the second sector extends from the Timavo River to the PSU), polyhaline TPO (20–30 PSU), and euhaline TEU Istrian littoral and is characterized by rocky coastline. (30–40 PSU) (Bettoso et al. 2010). The Gulf includes the Marano and Grado Lagoon. Five specimens of C. sapidus were collected between The Marano and Grado Lagoon is one of the most late August 2015 to September 2016 (Table 1) within the ecologically intact wetlands in the entire Mediterranean Marano and Grado Lagoon (Figure 2). area. The lagoon complex, between the deltas of the Collection of the specimens numbers 1, 2, 4, and Tagliamento and Isonzo rivers is approximately 32 5 (Table 1) was done using fyke nets with the help of km long, up to 5 km wide, and has an area of 160 km2. local anglers, A fyke net consists of a barrier of about The surrounding drainage basin (1,880 km2) delivers 60 m in length and 1.3 m in height, with a mesh size of important loads of both nutrients and pollutants (Covelli 1.6 cm, which leads fish and shrimp towards four cone- et al. 2012; Saccon et al. 2013). Since 1971, the lagoon shaped, unbaited traps also with the same mesh size. is protected by the Ramsar Convention. Following the This fishing gear, with the barriers set perpendicular implementation of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EC), to the tidal flow, takes advantage of tidal dynamics to which concerns the protection of biodiversity, it is also catch fish and shrimp (Malavasi et al. 2004). Specimen Table 1. Collection sites of each specimen, along with date of collection, size expressed as carapace width and sex. Voucher ID ZI-06635 is within the collection of the Museo Friulano di Storia Naturale of Udine (via Sabbadini, 32, 33100, Udine, Italy), while voucher ID c485 is stored and is part of the collection of the Civico Museo di Storia Naturale of Trieste (via dei Tominz, 4, 34139, Trieste, Italy). Pictures of each specimen are reported in Figure 3. Site no. Site Geographic coordinates Date collected Carapace width (mm) Sex Voucher Figure 1 Marano Lagoon 45.70° N, 013.11° E 27 August 2015 160 ♂ ZI-06635 Figure 3a 2 Marano Lagoon 45.70° N, 013.20° E 30 September 2015 176 ♀ — Figure 3b 3 Grado Lagoon 45.70° N, 013.35° E 29 October 2015 190 ♂ c485 Figure 3c 4 Marano Lagoon 45.70° N, 013.08° E 26 August 2016 177 ♂ — Figure 3d 5 Marano Lagoon 45.70° N, 013.20° E 9 September 2016 158 ♂ — Figure 3e Check List | www.biotaxa.org/cl 2 Volume 12 | Number 6 | Article 2006 Manfrin et al. | The Blue Crab in the Northern Adriatic Sea Figure 2 Map of the Gulf of Trieste showing collecting sites (white dots) for each of the five specimens (site numbers correspond to those in Table 1). number 3 was collected in water about 4 m deep by About 70 years ago one specimen of C. sapidus was mean of trammel net. found near Grado (Giordani Soika 1951). Subsequent to Specimens (Figure 3) were identified according to this record, no additional specimes of C. sapidus have Williams (1974) and Galil et al. (2002). We identified been found in the Gulf of Trieste until now. the species in loco and later one of us (JSC) confirmed According to the Harding’s (2003) classification, the identificiation using photographs. The carapace crabs can be divided into three size groups (small, CW width (CW, maximal distance between the posterior < 80 mm; medium, CW 80–120 mm; and large, CW > 120 anterolateral spines; Table1) and sex were recorded for mm) and our specimens are fit the large category. All the each specimen. Callinectes sapidus is characterized by an specimens were caught in water where salinity is greater intense blue color of the appendix. The remainder of the than 30. Dulčić et al. (2011) observed that populations exoskeleton is olive-brown. As with other portunid crabs, of C.