Aquatic Invasive Species

Prized as one of the traditional culinary dishes of New Orleans, the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) has a very different meaning in Italy. After being introduced in the 1970s, the red swamp crayfish has proven to be one of the most successful invasive species in Italian freshwater environments. Annalisa Paglianti and Francesca Gherardi from the University of Florence in a recent study compared the growth of both the native crayfish (Austrioitamobius pallipes) and the red swamp crayfish with respect to temperature and food diet. They found that the in increased temperatures, an increasingly more common characteristic in Europe, the red swamp crayfish grew at a significantly faster rate than the native species. They also found that identical diets produced faster and larger growth in the red swamp crayfish. These findings have led scientists to theorize that the success of the red swamp crayfish in Italy may be due to these characteristic. However, this theory represents only a small portion of the complex interaction of the red swamp crayfish in Italy.

Journal of Crustacean Biology. 2004. doi: 10.1651/c-2374

Researchers from the Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal led by Maria Cruz and Rui Rebelo

have found that Procambarus clarkii, or the red swamp crayfish, introduced in the 1970′s to the Iberian peninsula is still well established today. Originally from the southern United States of America, the red swamp crayfish has been found to establish itself on every continent except Antarctica and Australia and has been noted for its severe detrimental effects on rice production on the Iberian Peninsula.

Cruz and Rebelo found that with the red swamp crayfish, its range was mostly determined by geographical features. However, they also found that the red swamp crayfish frequently experiences overland transfer between bodies of water, making it an extremely mobile aquatic species. With this said, Cruz and Rebelo both predict a continued spread to red swamp crayfish to currently unpopulated bodies of water in the region.

Reference: Hydrobiologia, Volume 575, Pages 191-201, Published OCT 2006, DOI: 10.1007/s10750-006-0376-9