http://www.boston.com/dailynews/144/region/Asian_shore_crab_making_itself:.shtml

Asian shore crab making itself at home on Northeastern shores

By Jay Lindsay, Associated Press, 5/24/2001 17:36

BOSTON (AP) It's tiny 2 to 3 inches wide at most but the voracious Asian shore crab has launched a mighty invasion on the rocky shores of the Northeast, and some scientists are worried about what that could mean for the local environment.

The Asian crab first appeared on American shores in New Jersey in 1988. It's since made its way as far north as the Isle of Shoals in New Hampshire, and as far south as North Carolina.

Scientists expect that it will keep moving north, possibly as far as Canada. And they're concerned about long term ecological effects of the move, because the crab reproduces rapidly and eats just about anything in its path, including shellfish seedlings.

''The basic thing is that scientists don't know how this is going to spin out,'' said Robert Buchsbaum, coastal ecologist at the Massachusetts Audubon Society's North Shore office.

The crab is indigenous to waters from southern Russia to Hong Kong, and likely came across the ocean in the ballast waters of a foreign vessel. It was first discovered in the U.S. by a biology student at Franklin & Marshall College during a class trip to Cape May, N.J.

''When I saw it, I said, 'It doesn't belong here,''' said John J. McDermott, the student's professor at the Lancaster, Pa., school.

Now, unchecked by natural predators and boosted by a lengthy reproductive season, the crab has been found in concentrations as thick as 100 per square meter in parts of southeastern New England.

Its population is currently spotty from Boston's North Shore to New Hampshire, but scientists say it probably won't be long before the crabs become common all around northern New England, scampering from underneath the rocks where they hide.

Despite the quick spread of the ''bioinvader,'' the Asian shore crab probably isn't a threat to commercially important species, such as mussels and clams, McDermott said. It will eat shellfish, along with a variety of other species like barnacles, but so far it's focused on algae and sticks to rocky areas where those species are scarce.

Some believe the Asian crab may even benefit clammers because it could crowd out green crabs, another alien species, which eats clam seedlings and is generally despised by clammers.

The biggest ecological concern is that crowding effect caused by the crab proliferation. But it's unknown exactly which species will see population drops because of the crab, and how that will affect the local environment, Buchsbaum said.

The notorious purple loosestrife weed is an example of how severely an alien species can affect the environment, Buchsbaum said. The weed has destroyed animal habitats around the country.

Judith Pederson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sea Grant program is monitoring the Asian sea crab, partly in hopes of an early recognition of the crab's potential ecological impact.

''It can have an effect on some species we may be interested in,'' Pederson said, ''but it will happen before we realize it.''

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2001

Answers

Perhaps less of a pest if it were larger. Crab can be quite tasty. 2 to 3 inches isn't worth bothering with (although the kitties might enjoy the occasional crab pet).

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2001