Crayfish invading Europe: the case study of Procambarus clarkii
TL;DR: The results of these studies, combined with the increasing information available in the scientific literature on this and other crayfish species, will help to understand invasions in this taxon and make predictions about the identity of futurecrayfish invaders.
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Abstract: The red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii, native to northeastern Mexico and southcentral USA, is today the dominant macroinvertebrate in several European countries. While the first introduction of this species into Spain is well-documented, little is known about its pathways of invasion and the reason for its rapid spread in several European countries. Study of the biology of the species has revealed a number of properties that makes this crayfish a successful invader. Procambarus clarkii exhibits properties characteristic of an r-selected species, including early maturity at small body size, rapid growth rates, large numbers of offspring at a given parental size, and relatively short life spans. It is also plastic in its life cycle, able to disperse widely in the habitat and to tolerate environmental extremes. It displays generalist and opportunistic feeding habits, consuming macrophytes and preying on amphibians. Procambarus clarkii can also replace indigenous crayfish by a combination of mechanisms,...
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Figures
Figure 2. UPGMA dendrogram based on the Euclidean distance between the 60 sampled crayfish. Letters refer to populations and numbers to specimens. A, B, and C are populations from the Tuscan Region (Italy), specifically A refers to the Massaciuccoli Lake population, B to the Fucecchio wetland population, and C to the population inhabiting irrigation ditches in the neighbourhood of Florence; D is a population from Malalbergo in the Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy, and E from Èvora, Alentejo (Portugal). F indicates a sample from the native Lousiana (New Orleans, USA), used as the control. 
Figure 5. Comparisons between experimental areas and between sampling periods (August and September) in the concentration of chlorophylls (Chl) a (a), b (b), c (c), and phaeopigments (Phaeo) (d) (meanþSE) from a total of eight samples of phytoneuston. Experiments were conducted in six 10 7 m areas along a channel in the wetland ‘‘Padule di Fucecchio’’ (Italy). Each of the six areas was randomly chosen to host crayfish populations at either low (1 crayfish m 2) or high densities (14 crayfish m 2). During August (the period of its more intense foraging activity), the biomass of surface microalgae was strongly affected by the presence of dense populations of the crayfish, chlorophyll a and phaeopigments (the products of chlorophyll degradation), showing a significantly lower and higher concentration, respectively, in areas hosting a high, rather than a low, crayfish density. Two asterisks denote a significant difference of at least P5 0.001 after nested ANOVA. 
Figure 3. Food items (in %) contained in the gut of 20 P. clarkii collected from different sites in Europe. Food was classified into the categories of sediments, detritus, plant material, and animal material. 
Figure 6. Median values (and interquartile ranges) of dominance (victories over the total number of fights battled in percentage) by each analyzed decapod species (A. pallipes, Aus; P. clarkii, Pro; P. fluviatile, Pot) over the two rival species throughout five days of combat. Dominance remained constant with time in every species combination (P4 0.1). Dominance by P. clarkii was significantly lower when opposed to P. fluviatile than to A. pallipes (P50.002). On the contrary, dominance by A. pallipes (P4 0.1) and by P. fluviatile (P4 0.1) was independent of the rival species. 
Figure 4. Average final biomass (and SE) of three macrophytes weighed at the end of a 3-wk field study conducted in an oligotrophic lake in Tuscany (Lago della Doccia, Italy) using cages (bottom area: 0.45 m2) that contained no crayfish (ctrl, n¼ 3) and crayfish at the density of 5 (low, n¼ 3) and 10 (high, n¼ 3). 
Figure 1. Distribution of P. clarkii in Europe denoted by black dots (from Souty-Grosset et al. 2006, under permission).
Citations
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A global meta-analysis of the ecological impacts of nonnative crayfish
TL;DR: The assessment of crayfish as strong interactors in food webs that have significant effects across native taxa via polytrophic, generalist feeding habits is supported, supported by the first global meta-analysis of the ecological effects of nonnative cray fish under experimental settings.
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The red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii in Europe: Impacts on aquatic ecosystems and human well-being
Catherine Souty-Grosset,Pedro M. Anastácio,Laura Aquiloni,Filipe Banha,Justine Choquer,Christoph Chucholl,Elena Tricarico +6 more
TL;DR: The species fulfils the criteria of the Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament (species widely spread in Europe and impossible to eradicate in a cost-effective manner) and has been included in the “Union List”.
245
Biological invaders are threats to human health: an overview
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