IS the INVASIVE ASIAN SHORE CRAB (Hemigrapsus Sanguineus) EXPANDING INTO UPPER BARNEGAT BAY?

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IS THE INVASIVE ASIAN SHORE CRAB (Hemigrapsus sanguineus) EXPANDING INTO UPPER BARNEGAT BAY? Kristen Ranges2, Kylie Johnson1, Jeffrey Webb1, and Emily Cristiano1 1 Monmouth University Marine and Environmental Biology and Policy Program 2 University of Delaware School of Marine Science and Policy Faculty Mentor: Dean John A. Tiedemann, Department of Biology Funding Sources: Urban Coast Institute Marine Science and Policy Initiative and Santander Bank ABSTRACT The Asian shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus) is native to low energy rocky intertidal habitats along the east coast of Asia. They are thought to have been introduced to the mid-Atlantic and northeast coasts of the United States through ship ballast water. Their presence in North America was first discovered in 1988 at Townsends Inlet, New Jersey. Their populations have increased and spread rapidly since that time. Along the Atlantic coast, their range now extends from North Carolina to Maine. In the Barnegat Bay region, there have been reports of H. sanguineus along the Barnegat Inlet and Manasquan Inlet jetties since the early 1990s; however, no records of their presence in characteristics habitats within the bay existed prior to 2013. In the summers of 2012 and 2013, macrozooplankton samples we collected in upper Barnegat Bay contained megalopae larvae of H. sanguineus. In July 2013, preliminary field surveys at sites characteristic of the crab’s usual rocky intertidal habitat revealed the presence of adult crabs inhabiting an area of rip-rap in the upper bay at the Bay Head Shores Beach Club. Field surveys conducted this summer at these same sites included seining to identify possible prey species available to H. sanguineus, as well as quadrat sampling to locate and quantify the number of crabs in these areas of suitable habitat in the upper bay. This year, adult Asian shore crabs were again found at the Bay Head Shores site. In addition, adult crabs were found within the rap-rap at two other sites where they were previously absent – the Bay Point Harbor boat ramp and the Ocean County Park at the Mantoloking Bridge. These updated records provide evidence of an extension of the species local range within the upper bay. .

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Hemigrapsus Asian Crab
NONINDIGENOUS SPECIES INFORMATION BULLETIN: Asian shore crab, Japanese shore crab, Pacific crab, Hemigrapsus sanguineus (De Haan) (Arthropoda: Grapsidae) IDENTIFICATION: The Asian shore crab has a square-shaped shell with 3 spines on each side of the carapace. The carapace color ranges from green to purple to orange-brown to red. It has light and dark bands along its legs and red spots on its claws. Male crabs have a distinctive fleshy, bulb-like structure at the base of the moveable finger on the claws. This species is small with adults ranging from 35 mm (1.5 in) to 42 mm (1.65 in) in carapace width. NATIVE RANGE: Hemigrapsus sanguineus is indigenous to the western Pacific Ocean from Russia, along the Korean and Chinese coasts to Hong Kong, and the Japanese archipelago. LIFE HISTORY: This species is an opportunistic omnivore, feeding on macroalgae, salt marsh grass, larval and juvenile fish, and small invertebrates such as amphipods, gastropods, bivalves, barnacles, and polychaetes. The Asian shore crab is highly reproductive with a breeding season from May to September, twice the length of native crabs. The females are capable of producing 50,000 eggs per clutch with 3-4 clutches per breeding season. The larvae are suspended in the water for approximately one month before developing into juvenile crabs. Actual carapace width of Because of this, the larvae have the ability to be specimen is ~ 20 mm transported over great distances, a possible means Asian Shore Crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus) of new introductions. (Specimen courtesy of Susan Park, University of Delaware) HABITAT: This versatile crab inhabits any shallow hard-bottom intertidal or sometimes subtidal habitat.
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