On 13 December 2007, the fifth Chinese Mitten Crab was confirmed for the Chesapeake Bay. A local waterman had collected the crab near Cove Point, MD in June 2007, after which he preserved the crab and later, contacted scientists at the Calvert Marine Museum in Calvert County about his specimen. Biologists at the museum identified the crab and sent pictures to the Marine Invasions Research Laboratory as confirmation. The latest Chesapeake Bay Mitten Crab identified is a mature female and was found the furthest south to date in the Mid-Atlantic region. Another Mitten Crab has also been found in the Hudson River near Newburgh NY on 11 January 2008, collected alive and in good condition from the impingement screen at the Danskammer power plant. This specimen, a juvenile male, was delivered to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and then passed along to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center for identification and research purposes. For more information on the latest Mitten Crab findings, please click here. For information on Mitten Crabs and archived articles, please click here.
A female Mitten Crab washed up on the shores of the Hudson River in late October, and was found by a waterman in Cold Spring, NY, only 30 miles north of Nyack, NY, where the first Hudson River Mitten Crab (a large male) was discovered in June 2007. This female, measuring 30.5 mm in carapace width, was found dead but in good condition, and appears to be the first sighting of a juvenile Mitten Crab in the Mid-Atlantic region. All previously confirmed Mitten Crabs were adults. In total, eleven Mitten Crabs have now been confirmed in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, from Chesapeake Bay to the Hudson River, all discovered within the past three years, 2005-2007. Three of these crabs are female, one from each major waterway: Cheseapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, and now the Hudson River. For more information regarding the recent Hudson River Mitten Crab please click here. For more information on Mitten Crabs and archived articles please click here.
Two female crabs were captured in commercial fishing pots in late June and early July respectively, bringing the number of Mitten Crabs found in the Mid-Atlantic region to ten. These are the first females found in the area. The first female was discovered on the 23rd of June off of Kent Point Maryland, with a body (carapace) width of 66 mm. The second female, found on 10 July, was located in Simons River in the upper Delaware Bay, with a carapace width of 63 mm. Both females were reproductively mature. SERC scientists are examining the newly found females for clues as to how long the crabs have been in the area, and where they have potentially traveled. For more information regarding the female Mitten Crabs please click here. For downloadable information on Mitten Crabs and archived articles, please click here.
In late May and early June, five more male Chinese Mitten Crabs were caught in commercial crab pots located in the upper portion of the Delaware Bay and near the Tappen Zee Bridge on the Hudson River, making these crabs the first to be captured outside of the Chesapeake Bay region. A total of eight male mitten crabs have now been found on the East Coast of the United States in three distinct estuaries. In turn, the Chinese Mitten Crab Survey Task Force has broadened its watch statement to include the states of MD, DE, VA, PA, NJ, NY and other northern states. The Marine Invasions Research Laboratory at SERC has moved to the forefront as the primary contact for Mitten Crab reports, and has collected all reported Mitten Crab specimens for further study and genetic testing. For the press release associated with the Delaware Bay crabs, please click here. For current status on the Mitten Crab watch, please click here for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. For information on the Chinese Mitten Crab Watch, how to identify a Mitten Crab, and what to do if you find one, please click here.
The third Chinese Mitten Crab was captured by watermen fishing off of the Holland Point Bar in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, 40 miles south from where the first two confirmed mitten crabs were found. It was delivered alive to SERC, where Marine Invasions head Greg Ruiz confirmed its identity. It is a mature male, with a carapace measuring 64.4 mm (2.5 inches)across. Mitten crabs are native to Asia, but have invaded and impacted Northern European waters and the West Coast of the United States. SERC scientists have implemented a Chinese Mitten Crab monitoring and detection program along with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, to determine the status of the mitten crab in the region. The Marine Invasions Lab plans to retain the newly caught mitten crab for further study. For material on what mitten crabs look like, their biology, and how to report a mitten crab sighting, please click here. For the press release associated with this news, please click here.
A commercial crabber caught the second Chinese Mitten crab over a year ago in his pots placed near the mouth of the Patapsco River. He gave it to a volunteer ranger at North Point State Park in Baltimore Maryland, who kept it alive for 3 months in an aquarium, freezing the crab after it died. SERC scientists confirmed the crab as Eriocheir sinensis after the ranger contacted authorities at Maryland's Department of Natural Resources. The crab is male, of approximately the same size as the first confirmed Mitten Crab in the Bay. It will be released to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, where it will be catalogued and studied by SERC and NMNH scientists in greater detail to determine where the crab originated from. Details about what to do if you find a Mitten Crab in the Chesapeake Bay available here.
While fishing for blue crabs at the mouth of the Patapsco River in early June, A Chesapeake Bay waterman caught a mature male Chinese Mitten Crab, Eriocheir sinensis. This is the first confirmed collection of a Mitten Crab in the Bay The Chinese Mitten crab, native to East Asia, has already invaded Northern Europe and the West Coast of the U.S., so SERC scientists are examining the specimen for any clues as to how it arrived in Bay waters. Read more about the Mitten Crab here. Detailed information on Mitten Crab biology available in the NEMESIS database. Check back for updates on the Mitten Crab status.
SERC's Education Department and the Marine Invasions Research Laboratory teamed up with Ball State University Teachers College to create and produce an Electronic Field Trip (EFT) entitled "Biological Invasions: The Introduction of Non-Native Species Worldwide". The fieldtrip was broadcasted and webcasted live from the Port of Oakland to classrooms across America on May 10th, 2005. It featured Smithsonian scientists along with students on a hunt for biological invaders to investigate the causes and consequences of biological invasions. More information on the broadcast and the website is available here.
The Aquatic Bioinvasions Research and Policy Institute (ABRPI) is a joint initiative between Portland State University (PSU) and SERC. Administered by Dr. Greg Ruiz of the Marine Invasions Research Laboratory at SERC and Dr. Mark Sytsma of PSU's Center for Lakes and Reservoirs, ABRPI was created to facilitate coordinated and collaborative research, education, and outreach activities that focus on aquatic (marine and freshwater) bioinvasions. More information on ABRPI can be found here and here.
The U.S. Coast Guard has issued a Final Rule on "Penalties for Non-Submission of Ballast Water Management Reports."For more information, visit http://invasions.si.edu/nbic/news.html
Visit the new National Ballast Information Clearinghouse web site: http://invasions.si.edu/nbic/
The National Ballast Information Clearinghouse (NBIC) is a joint program of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and the United States Coast Guard that collects, analyzes, and interprets data on the ballast water management practices of commercial ships that operate in the waters of the United States.
Smithsonian Magazine, July 2004
Drs. Paul Fofonoff and Greg Ruiz contribute to the "Who's Counting?" section of the Smithsonian Magazine. The article reads, "162 non-native plant, animal and microbe species, released deliberately or accidentally by people over the past two centuries, thrive in the Chesapeake Bay, according to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Maryland. Because those aliens often lack predators, they can wreak havoc in the bay's ecosystem. For example, though loved by many, the mute swan has become a major eco-nuisance since its release in 1962, driving off native waterfowl and devouring aquatic plants."
Field Notes, New Jersey Field Office, USFWS Spring 2004 p. 22 by Dr. Paul Fofonoff
Many of the plants and animals of New Jersey's ocean and estuarine waters are not native to the region. More than 70 species have been introduced to the Hudson and Delaware estuaries, and the coastal Atlantic Ocean and bays of New Jersey. Among the invaders are marine crabs and snails, oyster diseases, freshwater game fishes, and wetland plants. Several of the invaders have had dramatic impacts on ecosystems and native species. Education and outreach is the best defense against future invasions.
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