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Green Shore Crabs (Carcinus Maenas) are not new to Maine waters, but a mutant version of crabs has been invading in recent years. And they are mean.
Credit: Shutterstock
An aggressive race of green crab invades the waters of Maine.
Crabs (Carcinus Maenas) threaten blue mussels, clams and eelgrass beds on the state's rocky coast. Crustaceans are simply naughty: researchers working with crabs say that instead of protecting themselves from threats, creatures rush forward, waving claws.
"Whenever I went to get one, they went to take me instead," said Louis Logan, a graduate student from the University of New England, at The Associated Press.
The crabs, about 13 centimeters long, belong to the same species that have long lived in the waters of Maine. However, according to a study conducted by Markus Frederich, professor of marine science at the University of New England, a distinct population of this species has traveled south from Nova Scotia and Canada. According to the State Marine Resources Department, these non-native crab species feed on important marine animals for the Maine economy, including mussels and clams.
Green crabs probably arrived in North America in the nineteenth century in the ballast water of European ships. According to the Department of Marine Resources, Maine's green crab population has exploded over the last decade, a cycle likely related to rising ocean temperatures. A similar pattern occurred during a hot period of the 1950s. [In Images: Amazing World of Deep Sea Yeti Crabs]
The Department of Marine Resources is working to stop the damage by encouraging municipalities to trap and remove crabs and by collaborating with the US Corps of Engineers to install crab fencing that would prevent invasive animals from penetrate particularly valuable mollusc banks.
Meanwhile, Frederich and his colleagues are struggling to understand why newcomers to Nova Scotia are so much more aggressive than the green crabs that used to make their home in Maine. Researchers are studying how water temperature and salinity could alter crab behavior, according to the University of New England, and even put crabs on treadmills to test their endurance and metabolism.
Original article on Live Science.
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