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Live and Let Live: Invasive Host, Charybdis longicollis (Decapoda: Brachyura: Portunidae), and Invasive Parasite, Heterosaccus dollfusi (Cirripedia: Rhizocephala: Sacculinidae)

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In the Wrong Place - Alien Marine Crustaceans: Distribution, Biology and Impacts

Part of the book series: Invading Nature - Springer Series in Invasion Ecology ((INNA,volume 6))

Abstract

The Levantine populations of the invasive swimming crab Charybdis longicollis have been parasitized by the rhizocephalan Heterosaccus dollfusi, itself an alien, since 1992. The parasite affects the host morphology, moulting, behaviour, causes its sterilization, and induces mortality. The high prevalence of H. dollfusi can be ascribed to the dense population of the host, the year-round reproduction of the parasite that promotes recurrent re-infection, and the recruitment dynamics that likely permit the synchronous development of both host and parasite. After 17 years, despite the high prevalence of the parasite and its injurious impact on the host reproduction, the invasive host-parasite pair has reached an apparent modus vivendi, with no evident reduction in the host population and with recurrent seasonal high rates of parasitization and multiple externae.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are deeply grateful to Jørgen Lützen for awakening their interest in this fascinating rhizocephalan barnacle, and to Marco Vannini for helpful suggestions throughout the years. The authors thank Daniela Friedmann, Mel Cooper, Limor Shoval, Eva Mizrahi and Kinneret Gal, IOLR, for their assistance in assembling the material.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sezione di Zoologia “La Specola”, Museo di Storia Naturale, via Romana 17, Florence, 50125, Italy

    Gianna Innocenti

  2. National Institute of Oceanography, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Haifa, 31080, Israel

    Bella S. Galil

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  1. Gianna Innocenti
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  2. Bella S. Galil
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Correspondence to Gianna Innocenti .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Res., National Institute of Oceanography, Haifa, Israel

    Bella S. Galil

  2. Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, United Kingdom

    Paul F. Clark

  3. , Maritime Studies Program, Williams College, Mystic, 06355, Connecticut, USA

    James T. Carlton

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Innocenti, G., Galil, B.S. (2011). Live and Let Live: Invasive Host, Charybdis longicollis (Decapoda: Brachyura: Portunidae), and Invasive Parasite, Heterosaccus dollfusi (Cirripedia: Rhizocephala: Sacculinidae). In: Galil, B., Clark, P., Carlton, J. (eds) In the Wrong Place - Alien Marine Crustaceans: Distribution, Biology and Impacts. Invading Nature - Springer Series in Invasion Ecology, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0591-3_20

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