BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF THE EUROPEAN GREEN CRAB, CARCINUS MAENAS: NATURAL ENEMY EVALUATION AND ANALYSIS OF HOST SPECIFICITY

Many introduced marine organisms are ecological and economic pests. Nevertheless, no management approach is available to mitigate their impacts. Now, a theoretical perspective borrows principles from classical biological control, as widely applied to terrestrial and fresh water systems, to control the abundance of introduced marine pests. A banner example of a marine pest is the European green crab, Carcinus maenas (L.) (Brachyura: Cancridae). This crab invaded San Francisco Bay in the late 1980s and has ex-panded its geographic range at a record rate. Studies on the Pacific coast of the U.S.A. and elsewhere strongly indicate that it is a worst-case introduction, affecting native organisms and potentially harming fisheries and aquaculture. Extensive studies show that a significant ele-ment of its success, where introduced, has been release from its natural enemies, notably parasites. Natural enemies are infectious agents with potential to contribute to green crab biologi-cal control include two parasitic castrators: Sacculina carcini Thompson (Rhizocephala: Sacculinidae) and, Portunion maenadis Giard (Isopoda: Entoniscidae), the parasitoid flatworm