Interciencia ISSN: 0378-1844 [email protected] Asociación Interciencia Venezuela Rodríguez, Gilberto; Suárez, Héctor Anthropogenic dispersal of decapod crustaceans in aquatic environments Interciencia, vol. 26, núm. 7, julio, 2001, pp. 282-288 Asociación Interciencia Caracas, Venezuela Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=33905803 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative ANTHROPOGENIC DISPERSAL OF DECAPOD CRUSTACEANS IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS GILBERTO RODRÍGUEZ and HÉCTOR SUÁREZ iological invasion has The present canal, projected and built by ber of species dispersed in the area been considered by re- Ferdinand-Marie de Lesseps (1805-1894) through ships ballast water is considered cent authors as equiva- was inaugurated on November 1869. The negligible. The occasional presence of the lent to an environmental global change channel spans 160 km, from the Bay of lobster Thennus orientalis, first recorded (Vitousek et al., 1996). This opinion re- Suez in the Red Sea to Port Said in the in 1896 in Fiume, Italy (Elton, 1958), can flects the concern for the increasing list Mediterranean, using the intermediate be explained by transport on ships’ hulls. of organisms that cross from an ocean to Manzala, Timsah and Bitter lakes. The unidirectional dis- another, establishing dense populations in Migration through the persal from the Red Sea to the Mediter- the new environments. These authors Suez Canal was restrained at the begin- ranean (with the exception of a few fish mention as examples Bermuda, where ning by the hypersaline waters of the species) has been ascribed to the preva- 65% of the vascular plants are non-na- Bitter Lakes (»68‰ S), but thereafter a lence of a northward current in the canal. tive, or California, where 76 species of large contingent of Red Sea species have More recently Por (1971) considered the freshwater fishes are native and 42% are dispersed to the Mediterranean. One of Mediterranean as a zoogeographical cul- non-native. Although this phenomenon is the first to cross was the crab Portunus de-sac, a tropical sea non-saturated by more noticeable in plants, due to the pelagicus and its trajectory was followed the temperate Atlantic fauna because of large number of cultivated species, and in by the Suez Canal Company because of its high salinity and temperature, and freshwater fishes, object of an active the worth of this species as a food staple. consequently “pre-adapted” to receive im- trading for aquaria, other groups of na- The species became abundant in the ca- migrant species. On the other hand Ben- tive invertebrates show the same ten- nal between 1889 and 1993, reached Port Tuvia (1966) considered that the Red Sea dency. This is the case of decapod crus- Said in 1898 and four years latter was contains a larger number of species than taceans, which due to construction of abundant there. In 1930 was common in the Mediterranean due to the adaptive di- channels, increase in maritime transport Palestine and in 1958 had reached versity in the tropical and subtropical and development of aquaculture, have Cyprus and was a common fare in Egypt, biotopes. It can be expected that the found new opportunities for expanding with fishing grounds off Port Said, Alex- more vigorous Indo-Pacific species can their original areas of distribution andria and Haifa (Elton, 1958). The ac- successfully compete with the native tive multiplication of other immigrant Mediterranean species, while it is less Lessepsian Migrations species has been reflected in the fisheries probable than the smaller Atlanto-Medi- statistics for the region. Penaeus japoni- terranean populations could adapt to the The Suez Canal is an cus, P. semisulcatus, Metapenaeus steb- Red Sea conditions. Aron and Smith unparalleled situation where two biogeo- bingi and M. monoceros are now regu- (1971) considered that the Eastern Medi- graphical provinces, previously totally larly trawled in the Eastern Mediterra- terranean is still in an unstable equilib- separated, enter into contact and interpen- nean by Turkish, Israeli and Egyptian rium and that the competitive pressures etrate. The pharaonic connection between fishermen (Gorgy, 1966; Holthuis, 1980). will lead to a more efficient use of the the Red and Mediterranean seas from the There are at present 40 energy available, which not necessarily 13th to the 8th centuries BC, allowed the species of decapods in the Mediterranean will accord to human interests. migration of very few species due to the accounted for as Lessepsian migrants The Kiel Canal, built low salinity there prevailing (Por, 1971). (Table I) while, on the contrary, the num- between 1887 and 1895 in an extent of KEY WORDS / Crustacea Decapoda / Dispersal / Environmental Impact / Biological Invasion / Recibido: 16/04/2001. Aceptado: 16/05/2001 Gilberto Rodríguez. Marine Biologist. M.Sc., University of Miami, USA. Ph.D., University of Wales, UK. Emeritus Researcher, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC). Address: Centro de Ecología, IVIC, Apartado 21827, Caracas 1020-A, Venezuela. e-mail: [email protected] Héctor Suárez. Biologist, Universidad de Oriente, Venezuela. Research Associate, IVIC. 282 0378-1844/01/07/282-07 $ 3.00/0 JUL 2001, VOL. 26 Nº 7 98 Km, links the North Sea with the Bal- TABLE I tic Sea, from the mouth of the Elbe MARINE DECAPOD CRUSTACEANS DISPERSED FROM THEIR NATURAL River to the Kiel Bay, bypassing the de- DISTRIBUTION AREAS tour along the Danish peninsula. It is possible that the estuarine mud crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii found its way Family Species From To Date Mechanism to the Baltic through the Kiel Canal, af- Penaidae Fenneropenaeus indica Red Sea Mediterranean 19811 M ter its introduction in the Netherlands, Marsupenaeus japonicus Red Sea Mediterranean 19272 M since its first record in that sea, in 1936, Japan Brazil, Tahiti, others. 19753,4,5 Cult Penaeus monodon Indo-Pacific Hawaii, Tahiti, USA, was from the Baltic end of the canal Brazil, England 19753 Cult (Wolff, 1954). In other respects, this Ca- Penaeus semisulcatus Red Sea Mediterranean 19286 M nal is of little biogeographical relevance. Metapenaeus monoceros Red Sea Mediterranean 19272 M The Panama Canal spans Metapenaeus stebbingi Red Sea Mediterranean 19272 M 64 Km from coast to coast. Although its Trachysalambria curvirostris Red Sea Mediterranean 19297 M lake-lock design and the presence of a Metapenaeopsis aegyptia Red Sea Mediterranean 19908 M wide freshwater zone supplied by the Metapenaeopsis Chagres River precludes any Lessepsian mogiensis mogiensis Indo-Pacific, Mediterranean 19979 M migration, at both ends of the present ca- Red Sea 2 nal several fouling and perforating organ- Sergestidae Lucifer hanseni Red Sea Mediterranean 1927 M Pasiphaeidae Leptochela isms (pholadid bivalves, teredos, cirripeds, aculeocaudata Red Sea Mediterranean 193610 M bryozoans, and other) usually considered Leptochela pugnax Red Sea Mediterranean 195811 M as natives of the opposing ocean, can be Processidae Processa aequimana Red Sea Mediterranean 194612 M observed. These are euryhaline forms that North Sea BW 11 can withstand transport through the fresh- Palemonidae Palaemonella rotumana Red Sea Mediterranean 1958 M Periclimenes calami Red Sea Mediterranean 19272 M water section attached to the hulls of local Palemon adspersus Eastern Atlantic Aral Sea 195413 IT vessels that have been moored for a long Caspian Sea 195613 time (Carlton, 1985). 198014 It has been extensively Palemon elegans Eastern Atlantic Aral Sea 195413 AI Caspian Sea 195613 debated whether it is possible that the 198014 ballast water discharged at opposite sides Alphaeidae Automate branchialis Red Sea Mediterranean 195811 M of the Canal, since its aperture in 1914, Alpheus edwardsi Red Sea Mediterranean 192415 M could be an “active” mechanism for the Alpheus inopinatus Red Sea Mediterranean 195811 M transport. Carlton (1985) recorded 9 in- Alpheus lobidens Red Sea Mediterranean 193610 M Alpheus migrans Red Sea Mediterranean 197816 M vertebrates and 4 fishes for which this Alpheus rapacida Red Sea Mediterranean 196417 M mechanism is possible and 5 inverte- Synalpheus hululensis Red Sea Mediterranean 196417 M brates and 2 fishes for which it is prob- Pandalidae Pandalus kessleri North Pacific Black Sea 195914 IT able. Among the decapod species, trans- Ogyrididae Ogyrides mjobergi Red Sea Mediterranean 195811 M 18,19 port in ballast water is considered a pos- Scyllaridae Thenus orientalis Red Sea Mediterranean 1896 AI Palinuridae Panulirus ornatus Red Sea Mediterranean 198920 M sible mechanism for Rhithropanopeus Lithodidae Paralithodes North Pacific Barents Sea 199621 IT harrisii and the freshwater crab Neorhyn- camtschaticus chus alcocki found in Pedro Miguel lock. Raninidae Notopus dorsipes Red Sea Mediterranean 196417 M Eurypanopeus dissimilis, found in the Calappidae Matuta banksi Red Sea Mediterranean 19908 M 11 third lock, ranges from Florida to Brazil Leucosidae Ixa monodi Red Sea Mediterranean 1958 M Leucosia signata Red Sea Mediterranean 19908 M and its presence in the Panama Canal is Myrax fugax Red Sea Mediterranean 193022 M not unusual. Majidae Pyromaia tuberculata Eastern Pacific Japan 197023 AI New Zealand 197824 Accidental Introduction Platimaia wywillethompsoni Red Sea Mediterranean 196725,26 M Hyastenus