Invasion
Invasion Description
1st Record? Appledore Island/ME/Gulf of Maine (Seeley 1986; Donahue et al. 2009). Probably introduced much earlier.
Geographic Extent
Appledore Island/ME/Gulf of Maine (Seeley 1986; Donahue et al. 2009)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Alternate | Natural Dispersal |
| Alternate | Hull Fouling |
Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Predation | |
| Shells of Littorina obtusata (Smooth Periwinkle) collected in Appledore Island, Gulf of Maine, before 1900, and in 1982-84, showed a change in morphology (high-spired to low-spired) indicative of natural selection by Carcinus predation (Seeley 1986). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Food/Prey | |
| Field and labooratory experiments on the Isles of Shoals, Maine indicate that Carcinus maenas are frequent prey for American Lobsters (Homarus americanus) and that their vulnerability to predation limits C. maenas subtidal distribution (League-Pike and Shulman 2009). | ||