Abstract
Although the Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis (H. Milne-Edwards, 1853) (Crustacea, Decapoda, Varunidae) invaded the Baltic Sea about 80 years ago, published information on its present distribution and abundance in this region is lacking. We provide here information on its Baltic-wide distribution and long-term population dynamics. The species has been found all over the coastal Baltic Sea and also in some adjacent rivers and lakes. The Chinese mitten crab appears to have increased in abundance in recent years in the northeastern part of the Baltic Sea (Gulf of Finland, Gulf of Riga, northern Baltic Proper). Higher catch rates were observed in spring (April–June) and autumn (September–November). The size variation of crabs in different samples was low (mean carapace width 6.1–6.3 cm). Despite findings of gravid females, the reproduction of the mitten crab in the central, northern and eastern Baltic region is considered unlikely due to low salinity and the individuals caught are assumed to actively migrate into the region from the species’ main European distribution area (southeastern North Sea), certainly over 1500 km migration distance. Thus, the dynamics of the North Sea population is probably regulating, at least in part, the occurrence of the Chinese mitten crab in the Baltic Sea area.
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Acknowledgements
The following persons are highly acknowledged for their help in gathering findings on Chinese mitten crab: Janis Birzaks, Ole Gorm Norden Andersen, Erik Fladung, Kathe Rose Jensen, Melanie Josefsson, Mart Kangur, Maris Plikshs, Ole Tendal, Maris Vitinsh and Inger Wallentinus. Finnish Natural History Museum is acknowledged for kindly allowing us to use their collections. We also thank Jim Carlton and two anonymous referees for their suggestions to improve the manuscript and Tiia Kaare for language revision. The current study was funded, in part, through a U.S. Government Grant (SEN100-04-GR151). The opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Government. This study was partly supported by the MarBEF Network of Excellence ‘Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning’, which is funded by the Sustainable Development, Global Change and Ecosystems Programme of the European Community’s Sixth Framework Programme (contract no. GOCE-CT-2003-505446). This publication is contribution number MPS-06036 of MarBEF. The current work was also supported by the European Commission Sixth Framework Programme Projects ALARM (Assessing LArge scale environmental Risks for biodiversity with tested Methods, contract no. GOCE-CT-2003-506675), and DAISIE (Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe, contract no. GOCE-2004-511202), Estonian governmental fundamental research projects 0182578s03 and 0182579s03, Baltic Sea Research Programme (BIREME) of the Academy of Finland and the World Bank financed Baltic Sea Regional Project (BSRP).
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Ojaveer, H., Gollasch, S., Jaanus, A. et al. Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis in the Baltic Sea—a supply-side invader?. Biol Invasions 9, 409–418 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-006-9047-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-006-9047-z