Morphological traits related to potential invasiveness of two subspecies of the crayfish Faxonius neglectus

River Research and Applications
By: , and 

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Abstract

Biological invasions have major environmental and economic impacts, and pose a serious threat to global biodiversity. Invasive crayfish species are one of the greatest threats to native crayfish biodiversity. Additionally, almost 50% of US and Canadian species are considered at risk, making crayfish one of the most imperiled taxonomic groups in the world. Small-scale (extralimital) invasions are often overlooked and may be more common than large-scale (extraregional) invasions. One example of an extraregional and extralimital invader is the Ringed Crayfish (Faxonius neglectus), which has been independently introduced multiple times to drainages throughout the United States, including those adjacent to its native range. Traits related to invasiveness, such as chelae size, are suggested to differ between invasive crayfish from extralimital and extraregional source populations with larger size related to increased invasiveness. We examined morphological traits related to invasion potential for both subspecies of FneglectusFneglectus neglectus and Fneglectus chaenodactylus. We sampled 28 stream sites within the known native range of Fneglectus, including the Neosho and Upper White River drainages in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri. Total carapace length, chelae length and chelae width of 30 adult male Fneglectus were measured from each site. We found significant differences in crayfish morphological characteristics among stream sites. We found significantly greater chelae length:carapace length (ChL:CarL) and chelae width:chelae length (ChW:ChL) in Fneglectus chaenodactylus than Fneglectus neglectus. Even among Fneglectus neglectus populations, there were significant differences in ChL:CarL and ChW:ChL. Morphological characteristics suggest that Fneglectus chaenodactylus and some populations of Fneglectus neglectus may be pre-adapted to the role of invader.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Morphological traits related to potential invasiveness of two subspecies of the crayfish Faxonius neglectus
Series title River Research and Applications
DOI 10.1002/rra.4024
Volume 38
Issue 8
Year Published 2022
Language English
Publisher Wiley
Contributing office(s) Coop Res Unit Atlanta
Description 9 p.
First page 1510
Last page 1518
Country United States
State Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma
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