Resumen de Ecological effects of the invasive parasite Loxothylacus panopaei on the flatback mud crab Eurypanopeus depressus with implications for estuarine communities
Kathryn A. O'Shaughnessy, Juliana M. Harding, Erin J. Burge
The rhizocephalan barnacle Loxothylacus panopaei (Gissler, 1884) is a parasitic castrator that infects xanthid crabs and is invasive on the Us Atlantic coast. It was introduced with infected crabs to chesapeake bay in the mid-1960s, and has since expanded north to Long Island sound, New York, and south to cape canaveral, Florida. results of an 8-mo field study (January-August 2012) indicate mean monthly L. panopaei prevalence of 18.2% ± 6.2 (mean ± 95% cI; n = 66/384; monthly range 9.4%-30.3%) in Eurypanopeus depressus (smith, 1869) in clambank creek, North Inlet, south carolina. Prey consumption was compared between parasitized (externa-bearing) and unparasitized (externa-lacking) E. depressus 8-13 mm carapace width. Parasitized crabs (n = 43) consumed significantly fewer (median = 2) mussels (5-9 mm shell height) than unparasitized crabs (n = 29, median = 4) over 72 hrs, suggesting the ecological role of E. depressus may be modified. The parasite was only found in E. depressus 5.8-14.0 mm carapace width. Unparasitized E. depressus ranged from 2.3 to 17.0 mm carapace width.
