PeerJ (Nov 2019)
Combining data from different sampling methods to study the development of an alien crab Chionoecetes opilio invasion in the remote and pristine Arctic Kara Sea
Abstract
Data obtained using three different types of sampling gear is compared and combined to assess the size composition and density of a non-indigenous snow crab population Chionoecetes opilio in the previously free of alien species Kara Sea benthos. The Sigsbee trawl has small mesh and catches even recently settled crabs. The large bottom trawl is able to catch large crabs, but does not retain younger crabs, due to its large mesh. Video sampling allows the observation of larger crabs, although some smaller crabs can also be spotted. The combined use of such gear could provide full scope data of the existing size groups in a population. The density of the crabs was calculated from the video footage. The highest figures were in Blagopoluchiya Bay at 0.87 crabs/m2, where the settlement seems to be reaching its first peak of population growth after the introduction. High density in the Kara Gates Strait at 0.55 crabs/m2, could be due to the close proximity of the Barents Sea from where the crabs can enter by both larval dispersal and active adult migration. All size groups have been present in most sampled areas, which suggest successful settlement and growth of crabs over a number of years. Again, this was not the case in Blagopoluchiya Bay with high density of small crabs (<30 mm CW), which confirms its recent population growth. Male to female ratio was strikingly different between the bays of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago and west of the Yamal Peninsula (0.8 and 3.8 respectively). Seventy five ovigerous females were caught in 2016, which confirms the presence of a reproducing population in the Kara Sea. The spatial structure of the snow crab population in the Kara Sea is still in the process of formation. The presented data indicates that this process may lead to a complex system, which is based on local recruitment and transport of larvae from the Barents Sea and across the western Kara shelf; formation of nursery grounds; active migration of adults and their concentration in the areas of the shelf with appropriate feeding conditions.
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