The Caspian-Volga-Baltic Invasion Corridor

New records of alien species on the Levantine coast of Turkey

“…Populations of mitten crabs appear to have become established in the Black Sea (Zaitsev and Öztürk, 2001), and the Sea of Azov (Murina and Antonovsky, 2001). Recent captures from this region include mitten crabs from the Volga River Delta and, the Cheboksary and Rybinsk Reservoirs (Slynko et al 2002). Baltic Sea records of Eriocheir sinensis were first reported from Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Sweden and Finland by Boettger (1934), Linnaniemi (1933) and Panning (1938).…”

Invasions of higher crustaceans (Crustacea: Malacostraca) in waters of the gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea)

“…In the basin of the Volga River, the Chinese mitten crab was first found in the 1970s in the area of the city of Saratov (Anikin, 2002); in subsequent years, in 1995 and 1996, it was found in the area of Saratov (Anikin, 2002;Zolotukhin and Nazarova, 2002) and, in 1995, in the Rybinsk Reservoir (Slynko et al, 2002).…”

Invasions of alien amphipods (Amphipoda: Gammaridea) in aquatic ecosystems of North-Western Russia: pathways and consequences

“…At present, three inland invasion corridors are known for alien species to extend through Europe from the Ponto-Caspian basin to the Baltic Sea (Bij de Vaate et al, 2002). The Volga-Don, Volga-Baltic, Dnieper-Vistula and Danube-Rhine waterways are the most important significance corridors in the dispersal of amphipods from the southern basin in a northern direction (Ja_ zd_ zewski, 1980;Bij de Vaate et al, 2002;Slyn'ko et al, 2002). Construction of the Pripet-Bug canal (or King's Canal) connecting the Dnieper and Vistula systems has resulted in the range expansion of several PontoCaspian amphipods (C. ischnus, C. curvispinum, P. robustoides) to the Baltic Sea and western Europe (Ja_ zd_ zewski, 1980;Bij de Vaate et al, 2002;Ja_ zd_ zewski et al 2004).…”

“…This waterway can also be considered as a possible invasion route of G. fasciatus from the Upper Volga basin to the Onega Lake (Berezina & Panov, 2003b). Climatic change, such as global warming, together with the formation of European inland waterways may also have facilitated the rapid dispersal of some aquatic species, including thermophilous amphipods from southern rivers of Ponto-Caspian and Mediterranean basins to aquatic systems of central and northern regions (Dukes & Mooney, 1999;Slyn'ko et al, 2002). Actually, during the 20th century the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere was 1.0-3.5°C higher than in the 19th century (Houghton et al, 1996;Dukes & Mooney, 1999), which has resulted in the warmer winters at high latitudes.…”