Pathways of invasion: the genetic structure of the Chinese mitten crab in Europe
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1
CEAB, Spain
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2
The Natural History Museum, Department of Life Sciences, United Kingdom
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3
Natural Resources Wales, United Kingdom
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4
Wild Life Trusts Wales, United Kingdom
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5
University of London, United Kingdom
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6
IRSTEA, France
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7
Combinatie van Beroepsvissers (COSTA), Netherlands
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8
Medway Valley Countryside Partnership, United Kingdom
The Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis, is native to the North East and South coast of China, where it is considered a delicacy and thus highly valued for commercial exploitation, especially aquaculture. Eriocheir sinensis is also well known for its high invasive potential, and since the early 20th century, populations have been reported in rivers and estuarine habitats along the NE European coastline causing considerable damage to natural ecosystems. Although there is a plethora of information about its occurrence within European ecosystems, little is known about the genetic structure of these mitten crab populations. In the present study, the genetic diversity and population structure of Chinese mitten crab is characterized from England and North Wales in order to evaluated potential invasion routes of E. sinensis between continental Europe and the UK. Consequently several introduced populations were sampled from France, Holland and United Kingdom and genotyped using a portion of the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene. Furthermore, a thorough morphological examination was undertaken. The present study provides novel genetic evidence on the diversity and connectivity of European populations of the Chinese mitten crab. This information will be used by stakeholders as a baseline to develop and implement efficient management strategies against the vectors responsible for the dispersal of European mitten crabs.
Keywords:
invasive species,
Crustacea,
Mitten crab,
cytochrome oxidase,
connectivity,
Phylogeography
Conference:
XIX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies, Porto, Portugal, 5 Sep - 9 Sep, 2016.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
2. GLOBAL CHANGES, INVASIVE SPECIES AND CONSERVATION
Citation:
Palero
F,
Ferrer Mateu
I,
Wray
B,
Hughes
R,
Morritt
D,
Lepage
M,
Van Der Meer
M,
Tate
M and
Clark
PF
(2016). Pathways of invasion: the genetic structure of the Chinese mitten crab in Europe.
Front. Mar. Sci.
Conference Abstract:
XIX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies.
doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2016.05.00183
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Received:
07 Jun 2016;
Published Online:
03 Sep 2016.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Ferran Palero, CEAB, Blanes, Spain, fpalero@gmail.com