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Feeding Habits and Short-Term Mobility Patterns of Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus, Across Invaded Habitats of the Ebro Delta Subjected to Contrasting Salinity

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Abstract

The blue crab Callinectes sapidus was first observed in the Ebro Delta in 2012 and since then captures have increased exponentially up to over 2 t per day, while its presence remains low in other Catalonian estuarine areas. Here, we use a stable isotope approach (δ15N and δ13C) to explore the dietary habits of adult blue crab in four different invaded habitats—bays, coastal lagoons, rice field drainage channels, and the Ebro River—in order to assess the strength of bottom-up forces and identify risks for native and aquaculture species, as well as patterns of site fidelity (male individuals). Mixing models showed average contributions of 35.89% from organic matter in sediments, 34.25% from animal resources (fish, crustaceans, gastropods, and bivalves), and 23.84% from vegetal resources (aquatic plants and algae), although there were important differences across habitat sites. In sites where bivalves were available, they can represent up to ca. 75% of the diet, thus threatening natural banks and local oyster and mussel farms. The average estimated trophic position of blue crabs in those sites was only 2.8, which confirms an omnivorous behavior but also can be attributed to the fact that mollusks were rare in the majority of the areas sampled in the Ebro Delta. Crabs from the same habitat site exhibited very little isotopic variability, suggesting that they remain in those environments long enough to reflect local salinity conditions. Overall, our results suggest that blue crabs are likely using all locally available resources and remain in certain sites, even when preferred animal preys are scarce and low-quality items are the main dietary option.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for providing funding for the ECESIS project (PID2020-118476RR-C21) within the Research Challenges Program. Financial support was also provided by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Departament d’Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca i Alimentació). P. Prado was contracted under the INIA-CCAA cooperative research program for postdoctoral incorporation from the Spanish National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA). Authors would like to thank Jose Luis Costa for lending us the crab traps used during the study and to Pep Cabanes for technical assistance during fieldwork sampling. We are also grateful to Tania Andreu for assistance with samples’ preparation for SIA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IRTA-Sant Carles de La Ràpita. Ctra., Poble Nou Km 5.5, 43540, Sant Carles de La Ràpita, Tarragona, Spain

    Patricia Prado

  2. Institute of Environment and Marine Science Research (IMEDMAR-UCV), Universidad Católica de Valencia SVM, C/Explanada del Puerto S/n, 03710 Calpe, Alicante, Spain

    Patricia Prado

  3. Eurecat, Dept. Climate Change, Carrer Lligallo de Lorente, 3, 43870, Amposta, Tarragona, Spain

    Carles Ibáñez & Nuno Caiola

  4. School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK

    Lucy Chen

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  1. Patricia Prado
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  2. Carles Ibáñez
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  3. Lucy Chen
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  4. Nuno Caiola
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patricia Prado.

Additional information

Communicated by Jill A. Olin

Appendix

Appendix

Habitat

Site

Salinity

Trophic group

Species description

River

  

Predators

Silurus glanis (N = 1)

    

Discentratus labrax (N = 3)

River

R1 (Tortosa)

0.63 ± 0.01

Plants

Potamogeton pectinatus

   

Algae

Falta

   

Fish

Alburnus alburnus, Leuciscus cephalus, Pseudorasbora parva, Carassius auratus, Liza ramada, Anguila anguila

   

Crustaceans

Palaemon spp.

   

Bivalves

No

   

Gastropods

No

   

Sediment

Yes

   

Other invertebrates

No

 

R2 (St. Jaume d'Enveja)

2.68 ± 0.04

Plants

Myriophyllum spicatum, Potamogeton nodosus, Potamogeton crispus

   

Algae

Enteromorpha sp.

   

Fish

Atherina boyeri, Discentratus labrax (juv), Pseudorasbora parva, Scardinius erythrophthalmus

   

Crustaceans

Palaemon spp.

   

Bivalves

No

   

Gastropods

No

   

Sediment

Yes

   

Other invertebrates

No

 

R3 (close to Amposta)

1.57 ± 0.02

Plants

Potamogeton pectinatus, Vallisneria spiralis

   

Algae

Cladophora sp.

   

Fish

Angulla anguilla, Atherina boyeri, Carassius auratus, Pseudorasbora parva, Rutilis rutilus, Scardinius erythrophthalmus, Sander lucioperca (juv)

   

Crustaceans

Palaemon spp.

   

Bivalves

No

   

Gastropods

No

   

Sediment

Yes

   

Other invertebrates

No

Lagoons

L1 (Encanyissada)

27.26 ± 0.03

Plants

Ruppia cirrohosa

   

Algae

Unidentified red algae

   

Fish

Pomatochistus microps

   

Crustaceans

Palaemon spp.

   

Bivalves

No

   

Gastropods

No

   

Sediment

Yes

   

Other invertebrates

No

 

L2 (Tancada)

31.63 ± 0.02

Plants

Ruppia cirrohosa

   

Algae

Chaetomorpha linum

   

Fish

Atherina boyeri, Pomatochistus microps

   

Crustaceans

Palaemon spp.

   

Bivalves

Cerastoderma sp.

   

Gastropods

No

   

Sediment

Yes

   

Other invertebrates

No

 

L3 (Les Olles)

0.72 ± 0.03

Plants

Potamogeton nodosus, Lemna minor, Ceratophyllum demersum

   

Algae

Green filamentous algae, and green folious algae

   

Fish

Lepomis gibbosus

   

Crustaceans

No

   

Bivalves

No (lots of empty shells of Corvicula fluminea)

   

Gastropods

No (lots of empty shells of Pomacea maculata)

   

Sediment

Yes

   

Other invertebrates

No

Discharge channels

DC1 (Sèquia Gran)

5.28 ± 0.05

Plants

No

   

Algae

Enteromorpha sp.

   

Fish

Dicentrarchus labrax, Anguila anguila, Gobius paganellus

   

Crustaceans

Palaemon spp.

   

Bivalves

No

   

Gastropods

No

   

Sediment

Yes

   

Other invertebrates

No

 

DC2 (Sèquia de l'Ala)

1.11 ± 0.08

Plants

Lemna minor

   

Algae

Enteromorpha sp.

   

Fish

Cyprinus carpio, Gambusia holbrooki, Pseudospora parva

   

Crustaceans

No

   

Bivalves

No

   

Gastropods

F. Physidae

   

Sediment

Yes

   

Other invertebrates

No

 

DC3 (El canalot)

30.57 ± 0.07

Plants

Cymodocea nodosa

   

Algae

Chondria tenuissima

   

Fish

Anguilla anguilla

   

Crustaceans

Palaemon spp.

   

Bivalves

No

   

Gastropods

No

   

Sediment

Yes

   

Other invertebrates

No

Bay

B1 (Northern Alfacs Bay)

30.02 ± 0.06

Plants

Zostera noltii

   

Algae

Enteromorpha sp.

   

Fish

Sparus aurata, Gobius paganellus

   

Crustaceans

Palaemon spp., P. longirostris

   

Bivalves

Mytilus galloprovincialis, Crassostrea gigas

   

Sediment

Yes

   

Other invertebrates

Paranemonia cinerea

 

B2 (Alfacs Bay, Trabucador sand bar)

34.98 ± 0.05

Plants

Cymodocea nodosa

   

Algae

Hypnea musciformis, Acetabularia acetatum, Chaetomorpha linum, Ulva sp., Anotrichium furcellatus, Stypocaulon scoparium

   

Fish

Salaria pavo

   

Crustaceans

Palaemon spp.

   

Bivalves

Cerastoderma sp., Donax spp.

   

Gastropods

Cerithium sp., Conus mediterraneus, Nassarius reticulatus, Hexaples trunculus

   

Sediment

Yes

   

Other invertebrates

Paranemonia cinerea

 

B3 (Fangar Bay)

32.53 ± 0.04

Plants

Cymodocea nodosa

   

Algae

Cladophora sp., Ulva sp., Dictyota sp.

   

Fish

Mullus surmulletus, Sparus aurata

   

Crustaceans

Palaemon spp.

   

Bivalves

Mytilus galloprovincialis, Crassostrea gigas

   

Gastropods

Cerithium sp.

   

Sediment

Yes

   

Other invertebrates

No

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Prado, P., Ibáñez, C., Chen, L. et al. Feeding Habits and Short-Term Mobility Patterns of Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus, Across Invaded Habitats of the Ebro Delta Subjected to Contrasting Salinity. Estuaries and Coasts 45, 839–855 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-021-01004-2

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