First records of the crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852) (Decapoda, Cambaridae) in Lake Varano and in the Salento Peninsula (Puglia region, SE Italy), with review of the current status in southern Italy

Abstract

Lionfishes are conspicuous and disruptive predators once introduced outside of their native range. Here we provide a revision of the occurrences of the common lionfish Pterois miles (Bennett, 1828) in the Mediterranean Sea, showing its rapid geographical expansion since 2012. A single lionfish was photographed in September 2016 during a scientific survey off the Vendicari coast, Southern Sicily, Italy. This is the first record of this notorious invasive species from Italian waters. Given its large size, conspicuous appearance, and venomous spines, it is critical to involve informed citizen scientists in tracking the spread of this species and to develop means to manage or adapt to its presence in the Mediterranean Basin.

First Scientific Records of the Invasive Red Swamp Crayfish, Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852) (Crustacea: Cambaridae) in Malta, a Threat to Fragile Freshwater Habitats

“…The latter allows this species to find refuge in artificial freshwater reservoirs, such as those used for agriculture or the freshwater systems including underground waters as noted in Italy (Mazza et al, 2014). Since its detection in September 2016, the species has expanded its population size and range, covering at least 400m between October 2016 and March 2017, consistent with similar studies conducted in Italy (Cilenti et al, 2017). This spreading rate is of conservation concern, given that the area studied marks the beginning of one of the longest water systems on the island (Figure 1), and does not exclude the possibility that this species could spread further from the main valley system expanding its range through smaller water courses in the area, possibly effecting other valleys.…”

“…The invasion of P. clarkii in Europe has started a couple of decades ago, with the first records in Spain dating back to 1973 (Holdich et al, 2009). Since then several successive records of this species have been recorded in various freshwater bodies in most of the Central and Southern European countries (Holdich et al, 2009;Cilenti et al, 2017), and other Mediterranean localities including Israel (Wizen et al, 2008), and islands (Holdich et al, 2009) such as Sicily (D'Angelo and Lo Valvo, 2003;Di Leo et al, 2014). In Europe, the occurrence of this NICS is considered as a major threat, causing localized extinctions of native species such as such as, Astacus leptodactylus and Austropotamobius pallipes, leading to large annual economic losses (Holdich et al, 2009;Sundseth, 2014;Souty-Grosset et al, 2016).…”

Tracking the invasion of the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852) (Decapoda Cambaridae) in Sicily: a “citizen science” approach

“…The active dispersal hypothesis has been proposed for the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis Daudin 1802, another highly invasive alien species occurring in Sicilian inland waters (Faraone et al 2008). For P. clarkii, instead, distribution likely derives from multiple deliberate and independent introduction events, as already observed in other regions in southern Italy (Cilenti et al 2017).…”

Aliens in caves: the global dimension of biological invasions in subterranean ecosystems

“…For example, the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard) has spread widely throughout freshwater bodies across Europe since its first introduction in Spain (Habsburgo‐Lorena, 1978; Souty‐Grosset et al ., 2016) now representing one of the 100 worst invasive species (DAISIE, 2008). It is increasingly being documented also in aquifers and caves (Mazza et al ., 2014; Souty‐Grosset et al ., 2016; Di Russo et al ., 2017; Cilenti et al ., 2017).…”