scholarly journals North American Branchiobdellida (Annelida: Clitellata) or Crayfish Worms in France: the most diverse distribution of these exotic ectosymbionts in Europe

Zoosymposia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-140
Author(s):  
JEAN-FRANÇOIS PARPET ◽  
STUART R. GELDER

Crayfishes and other invertebrates were collected during 2010 to 2016 from 519 sites located in the river basins of the Adour, Charente, Dordogne, Garonne, Loire, Seine, Rhône and Sélune in France. North American species included Pacifastacus leniusculus at 255 sites, Faxonius limosus at 206 sites, Procambarus clarkii at 56 sites, and the endemic Austropotamobius pallipes at two sites. However, branchiobdellidans were only recorded from 100 sites with 23 of these being sampled more than once, resulting in a total of 127 collections.      The widely distributed western North American, P. leniusculus carried four of its endemic branchiobdellidan species: Cambarincola gracilis, C. okadai, Triannulata magna and Xironogiton victoriensis. X. victoriensis was found at the majority of sites, with C. okadai, C. gracilis, and T. magna at fewer locations. Although F. limosus was the second most numerous crayfish species collected, it did not carry any of its endemic North American branchiobdellidan species. However, it was found cohabiting with P. leniusculus at four sites but carried X. victoriensis at only one of these. European A. pallipes only occurred at two sites with individuals harboring X. victoriensis, although no cohabiting exotic crayfish were found. Crayfish were also absent from three sites where free-living X. victoriensis were recovered from substrate samples. Procambarus clarkii appeared at sites scattered across the country, while specimens with C. mesochoreus were restricted to the Adour drainage.      This study has shown the widespread distribution of exotic branchiobdellidans in the wild and the virtual extinction of endemic species in France. In addition, we have provided the first European record of T. magna, and the first record of C. mesochoreus in France; the latter being only the second recording in Europe. With this comprehensive survey of their crayfish hosts in France, monitoring future exotic range expansions and endemic contraction or extinction can be traced. These data will be available to authorities for future planning in maintaining healthy freshwater bodies by reducing the damaging effects caused by exotic crayfishes.

NeoBiota ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 65-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agata Mrugała ◽  
Miloš Buřič ◽  
Adam Petrusek ◽  
Antonín Kouba

The causative agent of crayfish plague, Aphanomyces astaci Schikora, was long considered to be a specialist pathogen whose host range is limited to freshwater crayfish. Recent studies, however, provided evidence that this parasite does not only grow within the tissues of freshwater-inhabiting crabs but can also be successfully transmitted by them to European crayfish species. The potential to act as alternative A. astaci hosts was also indicated for freshwater shrimps. We experimentally tested resistance of two freshwater atyid shrimps: Atyopsis moluccensis (De Haan, 1849) and Atya gabonensis Giebel, 1875. They were infected with the A. astaci strain associated with the globally widespread North American red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852), the typical host of the A. astaci genotype group D. As popular ornamental species, both shrimps may get in contact with infected P. clarkii not only in the wild but also in the aquarium trade. We assessed the potential of shrimps to transmit A. astaci to susceptible crayfish by cohabiting A. gabonensis previously exposed to A. astaci zoospores with the European noble crayfish, Astacus astacus (Linnaeus, 1758). In both experiments, the presence of A. astaci infection was analysed with species-specific quantitative PCR. We detected A. astaci in bodies and exuviae of both shrimp species exposed to A. astaci zoospores, however, the intensity of infection differed between the species and analysed samples; it was higher in A. moluccensis and the exuviae of both species. A. astaci was also detected in one A. astacus individual in the transmission experiment. This finding reveals that freshwater shrimps may be able to transmit A. astaci to crayfish hosts; this is particularly important as even a single successful infection contributes to the spread of the disease. Moreover, our results indicate that the tested shrimp species may be capable of resisting A. astaci infection and reducing its intensity through moulting. Although their potential to act as prominent A. astaci vectors requires further research, it should not be ignored as these freshwater animals may then facilitate A. astaci spread to susceptible crayfish species in aquarium and aquaculture facilities as well as in the wild.


Zoosymposia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-158
Author(s):  
STUART R. GELDER

Over the last 130 years demand for crayfish has exceeded regional supplies around the world, so stocks, primarily from North America, have been imported to satisfy this need. These demands are human based and include gastronomy, sport fishing bait, food for rearing animals, educational aides, ornamentation in waterbodies, and more recently a significant increase in pet crayfish sales. The three most common commercial species from North America are Pacifastacus leniusculus, Procambarus clarkii and Orconectes limosus, although four other species are increasing in importance as they become more widely distributed. All of these crayfish in their endemic range have been reported to carry branchiobdellidan annelids. Therefore, when the crayfish are translocated, their ectosymbionts likely accompany them. Eighty-six potentially transportable branchiobdellidans are recognized in this paper, along with the distribution of six species known to have been translocated. Moreover, branchiobdellidans endemic to the translocation regions have adopted introduced crustacean hosts, which demonstrates that branchiobdellidan host species specificity is not as restrictive as many researchers believe. On the evidence to date, these translocated branchiobdellidans appear to have the same relationship and cause the same amount of damage, if any, as those on their endemic crayfish hosts. The geographical distribution of endemic branchiobdellidan—crayfish species associations are unique to each of four disjunct regions as defined by Bănărescu: Euro-Mediterranean, East Asian, western North American and eastern North American; the latter includes eastward drainages from Canada to Costa Rica.


Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 606
Author(s):  
Daria Sanna ◽  
Ilenia Azzena ◽  
Fabio Scarpa ◽  
Piero Cossu ◽  
Angela Pira ◽  
...  

In the fresh waters of Sardinia (Italy), the non-indigenous crayfish species Procambarus clarkii has been reported from 2005, but, starting from 2019, there have been several reports of a new non-indigenous crayfish in southern and central areas of this Mediterranean island, and its morphology suggests that this species may be the marbled crayfish Procambarus virginalis. Forty-seven individuals of this putative species were analyzed, using the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome c Oxidase subunit I as molecular marker to identify this crayfish and investigate the level of genetic variability within the recently established population. Phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses were carried out on a dataset including sequences from the Sardinian individuals and from all congenerics available in GenBank. Results showed that the new Sardinian crayfish belong to the species P. virginalis. All the sequences belonging to P. virginalis from European countries are identical, with only few exceptions found among Sardinian individuals. In conclusion, this paper highlights the occurrence of a new further alien species in the Sardinian fresh waters, which are already characterized by the high presence of non-indigenous species.


2017 ◽  
Vol 372 (1734) ◽  
pp. 20160247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide M. Dominoni ◽  
Susanne Åkesson ◽  
Raymond Klaassen ◽  
Kamiel Spoelstra ◽  
Martin Bulla

Chronobiological research has seen a continuous development of novel approaches and techniques to measure rhythmicity at different levels of biological organization from locomotor activity (e.g. migratory restlessness) to physiology (e.g. temperature and hormone rhythms, and relatively recently also in genes, proteins and metabolites). However, the methodological advancements in this field have been mostly and sometimes exclusively used only in indoor laboratory settings. In parallel, there has been an unprecedented and rapid improvement in our ability to track animals and their behaviour in the wild. However, while the spatial analysis of tracking data is widespread, its temporal aspect is largely unexplored. Here, we review the tools that are available or have potential to record rhythms in the wild animals with emphasis on currently overlooked approaches and monitoring systems. We then demonstrate, in three question-driven case studies, how the integration of traditional and newer approaches can help answer novel chronobiological questions in free-living animals. Finally, we highlight unresolved issues in field chronobiology that may benefit from technological development in the future. As most of the studies in the field are descriptive, the future challenge lies in applying the diverse technologies to experimental set-ups in the wild. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Wild clocks: integrating chronobiology and ecology to understand timekeeping in free-living animals’.


2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Marrone ◽  
Murtada D. Naser ◽  
Gh. Yasser Amaal ◽  
Francesco Sacco ◽  
Marco Arculeo

2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 95 ◽  
Author(s):  
PM Johnson ◽  
S Lloyd ◽  
T Vallance ◽  
MDB Eldridge

THE musky rat-kangaroo (Hypsiprymnodon moschatus) is endemic to the tropical rainforests of north-east Queensland (Johnson and Strahan 1982). It is the smallest (510 ? 530 g) and most unusual member of the marsupial superfamily Macropodoidea (Dennis and Johnson 1995). Unlike other macropodoids, H. moschatus is frugivorous, diurnal, has an opposable first digit on the pes, a running quadrupedal gait and possesses a relatively unspecialised digestive tract (Johnson and Strahan 1982; Dennis 2002). It also differs from all other macropodoids in typically giving birth to multiple young, usually twins ? although single young and triplets are regularly reported both in the wild and in captivity (Troughton 1967; Johnson and Strahan 1982; Johnson et al. 1983; Dennis and Marsh 1997; Lloyd 2001). However, the birth of more than three young has not previously been observed in H. moschatus or any other macropodoid, even though all species possess four teats.


1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 1688-1704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell L. Hall

New ammonite faunas are described from sections along Bighorn and Scalp creeks in central-western Alberta where Lower Jurassic parts of the Fernie Formation are exposed. The first record of the upper Sinemurian Obtusum Zone from the Fernie is based on the occurrence of Asteroceras cf. stellare and Epophioceras cf. breoni in the basal pebbly coquina on Bighorn Creek. The overlying Red Deer Member has yielded Amaltheus cf. stokesi, representing the upper Pliensbachian Margaritatus Zone; in immediately superjacent strata the first North American examples of ?Amauroceras occur together with Protogrammoceras and ?Aveyroniceras. In the basal parts of the overlying Poker Chip Shale a fauna including Harpoceras cf. falciferum, Harpoceratoides, Polyplectus cf. subplanatus, Hildaites cf. serpentiniformis, and Dactylioceras cf. athleticum is correlated with the lower Toarcian Falciferum Zone.The upper parts of the Poker Chip Shale on Fording River in southeastern British Columbia contain a fauna representing some part of the upper Toarcian, but owing to poor preservation, generic identifications are only tentatively made.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alana A. E. Wilcox ◽  
Amy E. M. Newman ◽  
Nigel E. Raine ◽  
D. Ryan Norris

AbstractEastern North American migratory monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) have faced sharp declines over the last two decades. Although captive rearing has been used as an important tool for engaging the public and supplementing conservation efforts, a recent study that tested monarchs in a flight simulator suggested that captive-reared monarchs lose their capacity to orient southward during fall migration to their Mexican overwintering sites. We raised offspring of wild-caught monarchs on swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) and, after eclosion, individuals were either tested in a flight simulator or radio-tracked in the wild using array of over 100 automated telemetry towers. While only 33% (7/39) of monarchs tested in the flight simulator showed strong southeast to southwest orientation, 97% (28/29) of the radio-tracked individuals were detected by automated towers south or southeast of the release site, up to 200 km away. Our results suggest that, though captive rearing of monarch butterflies may cause temporary disorientation, proper orientation is likely re-established after exposure to natural skylight cues.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document