The Potential Distribution of Chinese Mitten Crabs (Eriocheir Sinensis) in Selected Waters of the Western United States with U.S.· Bureau of Reclamation Facilities
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The Potential Distribution of Chinese Mitten Crabs (Eriocheir sinensis) in Selected Waters of the Western United States with U.S.· Bureau of Reclamation Facilities Andrew N. Cohen San Francisco Estuary Instititute Oakland,CA and Anna Weinstein National Fish and Wildlife Foundation San Francisco, CA Tracy Fish Collection Facilities Studies Volume 21 United States Department of the Interior Bureau ofReclamation Mid-Pacific Region and the Technical Service Center November 2001 Contents Life History ofthe Chinese Mitten Crab Eriocheir sinensis ..........................................................._.. ______ 1 Taxonomic Treatment ofthe Genus Eriocheir . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4 Methods for Estimating Potential Range . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... 5 Global Distribution of Chinese Mitten Crabs .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 7 Factors Affecting the Distribution and Abundance ofMitten Crabs ......................................................... 11 General Habitat Preference .. .. ... .. ... .. .. .. .. ... ... .. ... .. .. ... .. ..... .. .. ... ..... 11 Latitude . .. .. .. .. 12 Salinity .................................................................................................... 13 Temperature . .. .. .. .. 16 Pollution ........ ·......................................................................................... 19 Primary Productivity ... ... ... ... ... .. ... ..... .. .. .. ... ... .. ... .. .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. 19 Water Velocity in the River .......................................................................... 19 Barriers in the River .................................................................................... 20 Upstream Distance ...................................................................................... 21 Isolation from the Sea . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 21 Potential Distribution of Mitten Crabs Relative to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Facilities .......................... 21 Columbia River System .............................................................................. 21 Rogue River ............................ ... ... ............................................................ 32 Klamath River ........................................................................................... 35 Sacramento-San Joaquin River System I San Francisco Bay ............................... 37 Lavaca and Nueces Watersheds/ Coastal Bend Estuaries ..................................... 42 Types of Potential Impacts ··--··-······································································································ 47 Summary and Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 50 References ··································································································································· 52 Literature Cited . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 52 Presentations ... .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. 60 Personal Communications . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. 60 Tables 1 Timing and location of mitten crab life stages . .. .. .. ... ... .. .. .. ... I 2 Characteristics of watersheds with large mitten crab populations .. .. .. .. ... .. .. ... 8 3 Summary of size and discharge data for watersheds that have supported large mitten crab populations .... 12 4 Salinity ranges reported for mitten crabs .................................................................................... 13 5 Temperature ranges reported for mitten crabs ............................................................................... 17 6 Summary of latitude and temperature data for watersheds that have supported large mitten crab populations .......................................................................................................................... 18 7 Some water temperature data for the Columbia River system ......................................................... 22 8 Darns on the main stem of the Columbia River in the United States ............................................... 24 9 Reservoirs on the main stem of the Columbia River below Grand Coulee Dam ................................. 24 10 Latitude and temperature ranges for watersheds with large mitten crab populations, and data for assessed watersheds ............................................................................................................................ 26 11 Range of size and discharge data for watersheds with large mitten crab populations, and data for assessed watersheds . .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. 27 12 Highest daily water temperatures in the Tualatin River ................................................................. 30 13 Darns of the Y alcima Project .................................................................................................... 31 14 Reservoirs of the Yalcima Project ............................................................................................. 32 15 Some water temperature data for the Rogue River system .............................................................. 33 I6 USBR storage dams in the Rogue River Basin . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 34 17 USBR diversion dams in the Rogue River Basin ......................................................................... 34 18 USBR reservoirs in the Rogue River Basin ................................................................................ 35 19 Some water temperature data for the Klamath River system ........................................................... 36 20 Dams of the Klamath Project .... .. .. .. ... ... .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. ... ... .. .. ... ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 36 21 Reservoirs of the Klamath Project ............................................................................................ 37 22 Some water temperature data for the San Francisco Bay watershed . .. .. .. ... .. .. 38 23 Central Valley Project dams and reservoirs in the San Francisco Bay watershed . .. .. 39 24 Major canals of the Central Valley Project in the San Francisco Bay watershed . .. .. .. .. .. 39 25 Components of the Texas Coastal Bend Estuarine Complex . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 43 26 Main tributaries of the Texas Coastal Bend Estuarine Complex . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... 44 27 Some salinity data for the Texas Coastal Bend Estuarine Complex . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 44 28 Some water temperature data for the Texas Coastal Bend Estuarine Complex .. .. .. .. .. 45 Figures 1 Mitten crab's use ofesrua,y and river sections ............................................................................... 3 2 Establishment, growth and spread of a mitten crab population within a watershed . .. 4 3 Columbia River system .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. ... .. ... ... .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. 25 4 Tualatin River basin ................... .. ..... ..... ... .. .... .. .. .. ........................ ... ............. ... .. ... ................ 29 Acknowledgments We would like to thank Klaus Anger, James Athearn, Martin Attrill, Mark Buettner, Jose Ferrero Rodriguez, Stephan Gollasch, Kathy Hieb, Leslie Hanna, Lloyd Hess, Zach Hymanson, Debbie Rudnick, Scott Siegfried, Richard Tullis, Tanya Veldhuizen, Johnson Wang and Kim Webb for providing us with information, answering our numerous questions, or reviewing the manuscript. We are especially grateful to Nai-Gang Zhao for granting us an interview, Tanya Veldhuizen for arranging it and Johnson Wang for translating; to James Athearn for his extensive help with the Columbia River section; and to Debbie Rudnick and Lloyd Hess for their detailed and perceptive comments on the manuscript. Given our shamefully limited language skills, we are indebted to Nicole David, Rainer Hoenicke, Marilyn Myers, Erin Sauls and Johnson Wang for providing translations or assistance with translations ofvarious Chinese, German, Danish and French writings on mitten crabs, whether done for us or for others. We thank Pat Chambers and Michael May for assistance with the maps; Cristina Grosso for text scanning and transcription; Charles Liston and Diana Weigrnann for their patient support as project managers; and Jack Laws for allowing us to reproduce his mitten crab drawing on the cover. Life History of the Chinese Mitten Crab Eriocheir Sinensis The Chinese mitten crab (Order Decapoda, Family Grapsidae) is native to China and Korea and has been introduced to Europe and North America. It reaches an adult size of about 30-90 mm in carapace width, with a gray-green or greenish-brown dorsal surface and a white ventral surface. Larger juveniles and adults have a dense mat of brown, hair-like setae on the front claws, a feature distinctive to the genus Eriocheir. Mitten crabs are catadromous, living most of their lives in fresh or brackish water and migrating to brackish or salt water to reproduce. The seasons and locations where the various life stages of the mitten crab are found are surnarized in Table I. After 1-4 years in fresh or brackish water, where the crabs feed on aquatic vegetation and benthic invertebrates, 1 their gonads begin developing during the summer and the crabs move downstream into brackish or salt water in late summer to early fall, where mating takes place. Anger ( 1990) suggested that downstream migration is probably triggered by hormones from the developing gonads, but other researchers reported that in China migration is triggered by a drop in water temperature from 25°C to 20°C (Jin & Li 1998; Hyrnanson et al. 1999; Zhao presentation