Description
Caprella mutica is distinctive among East Coast caprellids because of its large size (Turcotte and Sainte Marie 2009; Macarena Ros, personal communication).
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animalia | Crustacea | Malacostraca | Amphipoda | Caprellidae | Caprella |
Synonyms
Invasion History
Chesapeake Bay Status
| First Record | Population | Range | Introduction | Residency | Source Region | Native Region | Vectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Established | Expanding | Introduced | Regular Resident | Western Atlantic | Western Pacific | Shipping (Fouling) |
History of Spread
Caprella mutica is native to the northwest Pacific. It was described from Peter the Great Bay, Russia, by Schurin in 1939, and was subsequently found from the Kurile Islands and Akkeshi Bay in Hokkaido Japan (Ashton 2006) south to the Bohai Sea (Laoning Province) and Jiazhou Bay (Shandong Province) in China (Huang 2001). This caprellid has been introduced to the West (California-Alaska),and the East (MD-Quebec) coasts of North America and Europe from France to Norway and Iceland (Platvoet et al. 1995; Willis et al. 2004; Ashton 2006), and to New Zealand (Willis et al. 2009). Caprellids are capable of long-distance dispersal on floating seaweeds or other objects, but the dispersal of C. mutica across and between oceans has been due to ship transport in ballast water and fouling, and transplants of Pacific Oysters from Japan (Ashton 2006; Ashton et al. 2007; Willis et al. 2009).
On the West Coast- Caprella mutica (initially reported as C. acanthogaster) was collected at Field's Landing, in Humboldt Bay, California in 1973 (1973, Martin 1977, cited by Carlton 1979, Marelli 1981, Boyd 2002). In 1977, it was collected near Oakland, San Francisco Bay (Marelli 1981). By 2002, it ranged south to San Diego Bay (Cohen et al. 2002) and north to Puget Sound and Victoria, British Columbia (Cohen et al. 1998; Cohen et al. 2001; Frey et al. 2007). Later, it was found to range much farther north, including the coast of British Columbia from Victoria to the Queen Charlotte Islands, and Prince Rupert (Frey et al. 2009), and Ketchikan to Kachemak Bay, and Dutch Harbor, in the Aleutian Islands (Ashton et al. 2009). Potential vectors for C. mutica's transport to the West coast include transplants of Pacific Oysters (Crassostrea gigas, hull fouling, and ballast water.
The earliest collection of Caprella mutica on the East Coast of North America was in 1998 in Brundenel, on Prince Edward Island, Canada, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (1998, Locke et al. 2007; Turcotte and Sainte Marie 2009). In 2000, in a survey of southern New England harbors, Caprella mutica was collected in many locations from Gloucester, Massachusetts, south to Newport Rhode Island. A subsequent survey in 2003 extended the range north to reeport, Maine, and south to Mystic, Connecticut (MIT Sea Grant 2003). This caprellid has also been collected in Passamaquoddy Bay, New Brunswick, Canada in 2003 (Ashton 2006), in Placentia Bay on the south shore of Newfoundland (2010, Fisheries and Oceans Canada 2011), and at several more locations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, including Chaleur Bay (2003) and the Magdalen Islands, Quebec (2005) (Turcotte and Sainte Marie (2009).
In 2013, established populations of C. mutica were found in the Indian River Inlet, Delaware, and Ocean City Inlet, Maryland (Macarena Ros, personal communication, 2013). The Ocean City collection is the only one in the Chesapeake Bay region, so far. None were found at Chincoteague inlet VA, but there have been no other surveys of caprellids in the Chesapeake Bay region.
Invasion Comments
None
Ecology
Environmental Tolerances
| For Survival | For Reproduction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Maximum | Minimum | Maximum | |
| Temperature (ºC) | -2.0 | 28.0 | 20.0 | 4.0 |
| Salinity (‰) | 14.6 | 40.0 | ||
| Oxygen | None | |||
| pH | ||||
| Salinity Range | poly-eu |
Age and Growth
| Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Adult Size (mm) | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| Typical Adult Size (mm) | 15.0 | 12.0 |
| Maximum Adult Size (mm) | 50.0 | |
| Maximum Longevity (yrs) | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Typical Longevity (yrs | 0.2 | 0.2 |
Reproduction
| Start | Peak | End | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive Season | |||
| Typical Number of Young Per Reproductive Event |
|||
| Sexuality Mode(s) | |||
| Mode(s) of Asexual Reproduction |
|||
| Fertilization Type(s) | |||
| More than One Reproduction Event per Year |
|||
| Reproductive Startegy | |||
| Egg/Seed Form |
Impacts
Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay
The caprellid Caprella mutica has a limited known range in the Chesapeake Bay region. No economic impacts have been reported.
Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay
In Scotland, Norway, Atlantic Canada, and other areas where fishand shellfish-farming is dominant, high densities of C. mutica, develop on ropes and nets. Field and laboratory work (unpublished) indicates that high densities of C. mutica interfere with settlement of mussel spat (Turcotte and Sainte Marie 2009).
Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species
At present, Caprella mutica has a limited known range in the Chesapeake Bay region, and has no reported impacts here. However, elsewhere in its invaded range, Caprella mutica has achieved extraordinary densities, especially on man-made structures. Studies of its economic and ecological impacts are limited, but observations indicate that C. mutica can affect aquaculture operations, displace native caprellids, and affect the feeding of native fishes (Ashton 2006; Page et al. 2007; Shucksmith et al. 2009; Turcotte and Sainte Marie 2009).
Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species
At present, Caprella mutica has a limited known range in the Chesapeake Bay region, and has no reported impacts here.
References
Ashton, Gail V. (2006) Distribution and dispersal of the non-native caprellid amphipod, Caprella mutica Schurin 1935, None , Aberdeen, UK. Pp. NoneAshton, Gail V.; Riedlecker, Eva I.; Ruiz, Gregory M. (2008) First non-native crustacean established in coastal waters of Alaska., Aquatic Biology 3: 133-137
Ashton, Gail V.; Willis, Kate J. ; Burrows, Michael T.; Cook, Elizabeth J. (2007) Environmental tolerance of Caprella mutica: Implications for its distribution as a marine non-native species., Marine Environmental Research 64: 305-312
Boos. Karin; Ashton, Gail V.; Cook, Elizabeth J. (2011) The Japanese skeleton shrimp Caprella mutica: A global invader of coastal waters, None , Dordrecht. Pp. 129-156
Boyd, Milton J.; Mulligan, Tim J; Shaughnessy, Frank J. (2002) Non-indigenous marine species of Humboldt Bay, California., None , Sacramento. Pp. 1-118
Carlton, James T. (1979) History, biogeography, and ecology of the introduced marine and estuarine invertebrates of the Pacific Coast of North America, , Davis. Pp. 1-904
Cohen, Andrew N. and 22 authors (2001) Washington State exotics expedition 2000: a rapid survey of exotic species in the shallow waters of Elliott Bay, Totten and Eld inlets, and Willapa Bay, None , Olympia. Pp. None
Cohen, Andrew; and 16 authors. (1998) Puget Sound expedition: a rapid assessment survey of non-indigenous species in the shallow waters of Puget Sound., , Olympia, Washington. Pp. 1-37
Cook, Elizabeth J.; Jahnke, Marlene; Kerckhof, Francis; Minchin, Dan; Faasse, Marco; Boos, Karin; Ashton, Gail (2007) European expansion of the introduced amphipod Caprella mutica Schurin 1935., Aquatic Invasions 2: 411-421
Cook, Elizabeth J.; Willis, Kate J.; Lozano-Fernandez, M. (2007) Survivorship, growth and reproduction of the non-native Caprella mutica Schurin, 1935 (Crustacea: Amphipoda), Hydrobiologia 590: 55-64
2011 Japanese skeleton shrimp in Newfoundland waters. http://www.nfl.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/folios/00604/images/ais_ea_Caprella_Distr_Ver2011_lg-eng.jpg
Frey, Melissa A.; Gartner, Heidi N.; Murray, Cathryn Clarke;Therriault, Thomas W. (2009) First confirmed records of the non-native amphipod Caprella mutica (Schurin 1935) along the coast of British Columbia, Canada, and the potential for secondary spread via hull fouling, Aquatic Invasions 4: 495-499
Huang, Zongguo (Ed.), Junda Lin (Translator) (2001) Marine species and their distribution in China's Seas., , Malabar, FL. Pp.
Locke, Andrea; Hanson, John Mark (2009) Rapid response to non-indigenous species. 1. Goals and history of rapid response in the marine environment., Aquatic Invasions 4: 237-247
Maciejeski, Jennifer (2008) Substrate preference between two caprellid species: Caprella mutica and Caprella drepanochir, None , Charleston OR. Pp. 1-8
Marelli, Dan C. (1981) New records for Caprellidae in California, and notes on morphological variant of Caprella verrucosa Boek, 1871, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 94: 654-662
2003-2008 Introduced and cryptogenic species of the North Atlantic. http://massbay.mit.edu/exoticspecies/exoticmaps/introduced.html
Page, Henry M.; Dugan, Jenifer E.; Schroeder, Donna M.; Nishimoto, Mary M.; Love, Milton S.; Hoesterey, Justin C. (2007) Trophic links and condition of a temperate reef fish: comparisons among offshore oil platform and natural reef habitats., Marine Ecology Progress Series 344: 245-256
Platvoet, D. (1995) Description of new Caprella species from the Netherlands, Bulletin Zoologisch Museum Universiteit van Amsterdam 15: 1-4
Shucksmith, Richard; Cook, Elizabeth J.; Hughes, David J.; Burrows, Michael T. (2009) Competition between the non-native amphipod Caprella mutica and two native species of caprellids Pseudoprotella phasma and Caprella linearis, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 89: 1125-1132.
Turcotte, Christian; Sainte Marie, Bernard (2009) Biological synopsis of the Japanese skeleton shrimp Caprella mutica, Canadian Manuscript Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 2903: 1-26
Willis, K. J.; Cook, E. J.; Lozano-Fernanez, M.; Takeuchi (2004) First record of the alien caprellid amphipod, Caprella mutica, for the UK., Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 84: 1027-1028
Willis, Kate J.; Woods, Chris M. C.; Ashton, Gail V. (2009) Caprella mutica in the Southern Hemisphere: Atlantic origins, distribution, and reproduction of an alien marine amphipod in New Zealand, Aquatic Biology 7: 249-259