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Taxonomic name: Carcinus maenas (Linnaeus, 1758) Synonyms: Common names: European shore crab (English), green crab (English), strandkrabbe (German) Organism type: crustacean Carcinus maenas is native to Europe and northern Africa and has been introduced to the USA, Australia and South Africa. It is a voracious food generalist and in some locations of its introduced range it has caused the decline of other crab and bivalve species. Description Maximum carapace length is 60mm and slightly wider. It has 5 antero-lateral teeth on each side of the carapace and 3 lobes between the eyes. Colour highly variable, mostly greenish, green-brown and green-grey. Occurs in: estuarine habitats, marine habitats Habitat description Salinity tolerance enables distribution in estuaries General impacts Voracious predator. The crab is able to crush mussels and shows a clear potential to negatively threaten mussel farms. Notes Salinity tolerance enables distribution in estuaries Geographical range Native range: In its native range (north western Europe, including western Baltic Sea) it is abundant on any kind of seashore in shallow waters (upper intertidal to shallow subtidal), including estuaries. Introduction pathways to new locations Aquaculture: Live food trade: Pet/aquarium trade: Ship ballast water: Ship/boat hull fouling: Local dispersal methods Boat: Natural dispersal (local): Water currents: Management information Preventative : A two year study was undertaken for the Department of Environment and Heritage (Australia) by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to identify and rank introduced marine species found within Australian waters and those not found within Australian waters. All of the non-native potential target species identified in this report are ranked as high, medium and low priority, based on their invasion potential and impact potential. A hazard ranking of potential domestic target species based on invasion potential from infected to uninfected bioregions identifies Carcinus meanas as a 'medium priority species' - these species have a reasonably high impact/or invasion potential. For more details, please see Hayes et al. 2005. The rankings determined in Hayes et al. 2005 will be used by the National Introduced Marine Pest Coordinating Group in Australia to assist in the development of national control plans which could include options for control, eradication and/or long term management. Biological: Biological control agents such as the parasitic cirriped Sacculina carcinus have been discussed, but have not been tested in the wild yet. Nutrition It eats an enormous variety of prey items, including organisms from more than 100 families and 158 genera in 5 plant and protist and 14 animal groups. The dominant prey includes mussels, clams, snails, polychaetes, crabs, isopods, barnacles and algae. Reproduction In favourable conditions, females can spawn up to 185,000 eggs at a time that may remain attached to the pleopods of the female for months before hatching as planktonic larvae. Lifecycle stages Larval stages include Protozoea, Zoea (4 stages) and Megalopa. Lifespan of females about 3 years, males 5 years. This species has been nominated as among 100 of the "World's Worst" invaders Reviewed by: Major update under progress Dr. Stephan Gollasch, Institut for Marine Research, Duesternbrooker, Germany. Compiled by: Dr. Stephan Gollasch, Institute for Marine Research, Kiel, Germany, Ingo Narberhaus & IUCN/SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) To contribute information, please contact Shyama Pagad. Last Modified: Friday, 25 November 2005