Carcinus Maenas: a Demographic Study of an Invasive Shore Crab in the New England Rocky Intertidal
نویسنده
چکیده
Carcinus maenas (Green Crab) is an invasive crab species on the east and west coasts of the United States dating back to 1817. The introduction of another invasive species in 1988, Hemigrapsus sanguineus (Asian Shore Crab), has created competitive interactions between the crabs. A demographic study was conducted to compare crab populations. A total of 155 crabs were collected, 25 of which were C. maenas and 130 H. sanguineus. There are significantly more male Green Crabs (21) than female Green Crabs (4) (p>.0001). There are also significantly more female Asian Shore Crabs (81) than males (49) (p>.0001). Correlations between width and limb loss also exist such that as the width of the Asian Shore Crab carapace increases, the number of autotomized limbs increases (p>.0001). These results lead to important questions and further studies regarding competition between these invasive species.
منابع مشابه
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