The competitive and predatory impacts of the nonindigenous crab Carcinus maenas (L.) on early benthic phase Dungeness crab Cancer magister Dana

We evaluate the potential competitive and predatory impacts of nonindigenous European green crab Carcinus maenas on native Dungeness crab Cancer magister in the northeast Pacific. The coastal estuaries of Washington State, USA, provide appropriate habitat for recently introduced green crab, yet these areas are important nursery grounds for Dungeness crab and contribute greatly to the coastal crab fishery. Juvenile Dungeness crabs are dependent on limited intertidal epibenthic shell for refuge habitat during early benthic life and experience increased mortality on open sand and mud as a result of predation by fish and birds. Early juveniles throughout the subtidal are similarly at risk due to predation by fish and especially adult conspecifics. Laboratory experiments and infrared video observations revealed that juvenile green crab displace Dungeness crab of equal size from shelters during one-on-one competition. Green crab also consistently win nocturnal foraging trials in which the species compete for fresh, damaged clams. Field and laboratory enclosure experiments show that juvenile Dungeness crab emigrate from oyster shell habitat as a result of competition and predation by adult green crab. Depending on the extent to which the two species overlap, interactions with the dominant nonindigenous species could have a negative influence on juvenile Dungeness crab survival and could conceivably impact recruitment to the fishery. However, current evidence indicates that the distribution of green crab in Washington State is far removed from nursery areas of Dungeness crab.