– In some places in the USA there are 30,000 crabs of this type in one square metre. It is very competitive and can compete with our crabs for food and territory, says Vivian Husa. The marine scientist talks about the Asian beach crab that was found for the first time in this country on Tuesday. A nursery school on a trip found it in a nature reserve in Spangereid in Lindesnes municipality. Husa says the crab has great invasion potential. According to her, it lays 50,000 eggs. The larvae spread effectively with the current. In areas where it settles, it can have a major impact on other life in the shore. – It eats, among other things, a lot of fry of beach snails, mussels and mites. If it becomes very numerous, it can have a major effect on riparian communities, says Husa. It was in this area, Kjerkevågen nature reserve in Spangereid, that the crab was found on Tuesday this week. Photo: Kjetil Windsland – It was tough! The crab was found by Kjetil Windsland who works in Spangereid nature nursery. The kindergartener was out hunting for crabs when the crab from the Pacific appeared under a rock. Windsland immediately realized that this was a crab he had never seen before. – The shape of the head was more square and the claws were more solid. The color of the legs was also different, he says. After showing it to the children and getting the response “That was tough!”, they put it in a bucket. Before they went home they threw it back into the sea with the other crabs. A colleague thought it was a so-called brush crab and took a picture of it. Only later that day did they realize via the Facebook page of the Institute of Marine Research that the crab was even more special than they had thought. Worker at the nature nursery Kjetil Windsland says they went back to look for the crab the next day, but then they didn’t see a trace of it. Photo: Privat Asking people to take pictures Marine scientist Husa says that she had to look very carefully at the picture to determine the species. – It is very similar to the brush crab and has not been registered in Norway before. She says that the Asian shore crab came to Europe in 1999. After arriving in France, it spread up and down the coast of Europe. – Unfortunately, we have probably been waiting for this one, as it has previously been detected along the entire west coast of Sweden. What should people who discover it do? – They should take a good picture of it both from the top and the bottom. The picture can be sent to us via Dugnad for the sea. People are welcome to take care of the crab until they have received an answer from us. Marine researcher Vivian Husa at the Institute of Marine Research says that the Asian beach crab is similar to our own, but that it is slightly smaller and has a square shell with three dots on the sides. Photo: Kjetil Windsland / NTB Laying out bricks Windsland in the nature nursery says that Husa will now equip them with crab bricks. She then comes to visit to do research and pull the strings with them. – We were supposed to take care of the crab, but we didn’t know that at the time. Crabs are now a hot topic in the nursery and something we will focus on in the future!
ttn-69
Asian beach crab discovered in Lindesnes – may threaten Norwegian species – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
