The Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis H. Milne Edwards, 1853 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Varunidae) reappears in the northern Adriatic Sea: Another intrusion attempt or the trace of an overlooked population?

Abstract

Eriocheir sinensis is included among the 100 most invasive aquatic invertebrates due to its colonization history and the impacts to biodiversity and economy in the newly invaded environments. Despite of that, its attempts of colonization of the Mediterranean basin seem to have failed so far. In this paper, we summarize the status and the distribution of the species in the Mediterranean and report a further finding from the northern Adriatic Sea, confirmed through an integrative taxonomy approach. We finally discuss the vectors of introduction that may be at the basis of the present record, highlighting the unexplored possibility that an undetected population is already thriving in the area. Whatever of the hypotheses done here is true, the Adriatic Sea could be a new perfect house for this invader, suggesting that more attention should be paid by stakeholders in preventing rather than in remediating possible impacts.

Keywords: Alien species; Bioinvasions; Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI); Integrative taxonomy; Mediterranean Sea; Sacca di Goro Lagoon.