Biogeographic comparisons of prey responses to the invasive marine crab Carcinus maenas


Meeting Abstract

25.4  Wednesday, Jan. 5  Biogeographic comparisons of prey responses to the invasive marine crab Carcinus maenas? FREEMAN, Aaren*; WRIGHT, Jeffrey; SZETO, Kaylene; KOOB, Elise; HEWITT, Chad; CAMPBELL, Marne; Adelphi University; Australian Maritime College; University of New Hampshire; University of New Hampshire; Australian Maritime College; Australian Maritime College afreeman@adelphi.edu

Global redistribution of invasive species by human activity is increasingly bringing organisms in contact that have no shared evolutionary history. The capacity of native community members to recognize and respond to invasive predators with appropriate antipredator defenses can considerably influence the impact and success of an invasive species. Antipredator defenses can be manifested as morphological defenses or behavioral responses (the latter can result in trait-mediated indirect interactions or TMIIs). There are several possible scenarios for TMIIs to occur in the case of invasive predators: native prey may be unable to detect the invasive predator, native prey may detect the invasive predator regardless of previous experience, or the capacity to recognize the invasive predator may develop as an evolved or acquired trait. In this study, we explored the above possibilities using the invasive, marine European green crab (Carcinus maenas). Carcinus was introduced to Australia and eastern North America over 100 years ago. Consequently, some populations of native, intertidal prey have been exposed to Carcinus for over 100 years and some populations of some have never experienced the crab (western Tasmania and Newfoundland). In a series of laboratory experiments we found that native whelks collected from “experienced” and “naïve” populations reduced foraging in response to waterborne cues from Carcinus. Thus, even whelks that shared no evolutionary history with Carcinus recognized the invasive crab’s waterborne cues. Furthermore, experienced and naïve whelk populations differed in pre-existing and induced shell thickness.

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