Puky, Miklós

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143ACTA ZOOLOGICA BULGARICAActa zool. bulg., Suppl. 7, 2014: 143-146Introduction Mainly due to intensive transport of goods and peo-ple to and from other continents in the previous centuries, Europe is a continent where more than 11 000 alien species exist (DAISIE). Their taxonomic composition is really diverse, including species from bacteria to mammals. About 15% of these alien spe-cies cause economic damage and 15% of them cause harm to biological diversity. According to a recent estimate this damage is valued at over 260 million euros in Ireland and Northern Ireland alone, without estimating e.g. the regulating and supporting ecosys-tem services offered through biodiversity (Kelly et al. 2013). The introduction of aquatic alien species has been known in Europe for a long time. The num-ber of established aquatic species is lower than, for example, that of terrestrial plants (DAISIE). However, aquatic alien species may threaten equally seriously the biodiversity and may cause damage. As an example, fighting a long-establis-hed invasive decapod, Eriocheir sinensis (Edwards, 1853), cost 80 million euros in a hundred years in Germany alone (Gollasch 2011). This species is also present in the Danube River from Romania and Bulgaria up to Austria and Hungary (Gomui et al. 2002, Kutsarov, trichKova 2013, PuKy et al. 2005, rabitsch, schiemer 2003). Crayfish are an important freshwater mac-roinvertebrate group playing a key role in many ecosystems (reynolds, souty-Grosset 2012). The Invasive Crayfish on Land: Orconectes limosus  (Rafinesque, 1817) (Decapoda: Cambaridae) Crossed  a Terrestrial Barrier to Move from a Side Arm  into the Danube River at Szeremle, Hungary Miklós Puky MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Danube Research Institute, H-2131 Göd, Jávorka Sándor u. 14., Hungary;  Email: puky.miklos@okologia.mta.hu Abstract:  Non-indigenous crayfish species have successfully invaded many European lentic and lotic ecosystems in the past 120 years. Orconectes limosus (Rafinesque, 1817) has one of the largest distribution areas from among these taxa. Its invasion front has recently reached the Lower Danube while it has also been gradu-ally colonising Middle Danubian tributaries and adjacent areas in the Carpathian Basin. A further charac-teristic with invasion implications was observed along the Danube River at Szeremle, Hungary. On 28th September, 2011, at 3.15 pm an adult individual of O. limosus was observed walking from the Szeremle dead arm towards the Danube River. The river and the Szeremle arm are separated by a dike during low and medium water levels. The individual crossed successfully the dike and covered a distance of approxi-mately 20 metres between the two separate water bodies. It is the first record of O. limosus in the Danube River catchment crossing on land from one water body into another. This behaviour definitely helps the colonisation of new water bodies when only small stretches of land separate inhabited and non-inhabited water bodies. It may also help the exchange of individuals between neighbouring populations, as well as to allow the use of terrestrial escape routes in case of desiccation or pollution of the water body. 144Puky M. introduction of non-indigenous species to Europe sometimes was owing to a deliberate human ac-tivity including mainly North-American speci-es. Non-indigenous crayfish species have invaded successfully European lentic and lotic ecosystems. Orconectes limosus (Rafinesque, 1817) has been on the continent for over 120 years, while other taxa have just recently arrived (souty-Grosset et al. 2006, holdich et al. 2009). Predominant species, such as Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana, 1852), have already colonised at least twenty countries and are still spreading. The present paper reports the first descripti-on of O. limosus crossing on land from one water body into another water body in the Danube River catchment, which may play a role in spreading this species at its invasion front, as well as in its survival strategy in areas where its populations have already been established. Material and Methods The Szeremle Danube side arm is situated on the left side of the main arm of the Danube River, between rkm 1478.8 and 1469.1. In 1994 a transverse dike was constructed at its lower end. It is situated at 85.6 m a.s.l. and it includes a built-in 800 mm culvert which, at present, is not in use. The Danube River reaches the top of the dike when the water level at Baja is around 510 cm. In the last 15-20 years the water level overtopped the dike in approximately 15% of the days. A previously unreported characteristic with in-vasion implications was detected at the dike at low water level. On 28th September, 2011, at 3.15 pm. an adult individual of O. limosus was observed walk-ing from the Szeremle Danube side arm towards the Danube River. Results and Discussion An Orconectes limosus individual successfully crossed a dike (Fig. 1) and covered a distance of approximately 20 metres between the two separa-ted water bodies. Though it stopped several times at suitable places and hid in crevices between the rocks, especially while climbing the dike, its mo-vement was basically unidirectional. Orconectes li-mosus has been reported earlier to be found on land, e.g. there are four records from the Netherlands when it was forced to walk directly after dredging or dehydrating. An observation from Poland even recorded it several hundred metres from the water at night after rainfall (soes, Koese 2010). Its first record in the wild in the United Kingdom was also from land, from the lawn of a garden, and therefore it was considered to be moving on land (holdich, blacK 2007). However, these publications did not describe the animals moving from one water body into another one. Orconectes limosus has one of the largest distri-bution areas among non-indigenous crayfish species in Europe (souty-Grosset et al. 2006). Its invasion front has recently reached the Lower Danube River (Pârvulescu et al. 2009). Moreover, it is also gradu-ally colonising Middle Danubian tributaries and ad-jacent areas in the Carpathian Basin. It was intro-duced to Hungary from Germany for farming in the late 1950s (thuránszKy 1960). Until 1985, however, it was not detected in natural Hungarian water bo-dies. thuránszKy, Forró (1987) first recorded this species in the wild in a large secondary branch of the Danube River. In less than 30 years it colonised the Hungarian stretch of the river and established abundant and spreading populations in side arms and tributaries of the river such as the Dráva River, the Ipoly River, the Tisza River (including the River Körös) and several small water courses and canals (bódis et al. 2012, Györe et al. 2013, hudina et al. 2009, PuKy 2009, PuKy, schád 2006, sallai, PuKy 2008, szePesi, harKa 2011). Several biological characteristics assist the spread of O. limosus. Among them are the potential shift of its mating regime towards facultative part-henogenesis (Buřič et al. 2013); its high tolerance to environmental conditions and good adaptabi-lity to a wide range of water types and water bo-dies with different water quality (holdich, blacK 2007). Moreover, O. limosus has high tolerance to-wards crayfish plague, a fungal disease caused by Aphanomyces astaci, which is lethal for European crayfish (souty-Grosset et al. 2006). The first cha-racteristic allows multiplication when in low abun-dance, the second enables migrating individuals to use less favourable waters, which may serve as bar-riers for other crayfish (e.g. stepping stone habitats), while the latter is a key factor when coming into contact with indigenous crayfish in Europe. As O. limosus is often a carrier of the crayfish plague (e.g. Invasive Crayfish on Land: Orconectes limosus (Rafinesque, 1817) (Decapoda: Cambaridae) Crossed...145KozubiKova et al. 2010), it infects native populati-ons, which are usually wiped out fast by the disease thus creating crayfish-free habitats for the invasive species (reynolds, souty-Grosset 2012). There are some exceptions: when the prevalence of A. astaci is very low in the carrier populations, and indigenous and non-indigenous crayfish populations co-exist for long periods (schrimPF et al. 2013). Orconectes limosus may outcompete native crayfish even in the absence of the crayfish plague agent because it has many features that enhance its survival, giving it an advantage over the native European species. Orconectes limosus is able to endure heavy polluti-on and low oxygen concentrations (souty-Grosset et al. 2006); it has a rapid population growth, which is associated with a high somatic growth rate (KozáK et al. 2007). Besides, the fecundity of O. limosus is also higher (Ďuriš et al. 2006) and its sexual matu-ration is also earlier than that of European crayfish, e.g. Astacus astacus (souty-Grosset et al. 2006, Buřič et al. 2013). Orconectes limosus is known or, in some ins-tances, suspected to spread through different me-ans. A recent finding south of Lake Balaton, the largest lake in the Carpathian Basin, was made in a fishpond system connected to an inflow of the lake at least 50 km away from any known populations, which suggests strongly that it got there with the intentional or unintentional help of man (Ferincz et al. 2014). The described phenomenon, the first record of O. limosus crossing on land from one European wa-terbody into another, is a movement on a very diffe-rent scale. However, this behaviour definitely helps the colonisation of new water bodies if only small stretches of land separate inhabited and non-inhabi-ted waters and may also help the exchange of indivi-duals between neighbouring populations, as well as using terrestrial escape routes in case of the drying out or pollution of water bodies. Acknowledgements: The author thank Sándor Kéthelyi-Nagy for his help in the field, Dr. Julian Reynolds for his valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript and for im-proving the English text, and the referees for their valuable com-ments. Fig. 1. Orconectes limosus crossed this transverse dike to reach another water body on the other side at Szeremle side arm, Hungary (Photo: Miklós Puky)146Puky M. References bódis e., P. borza, i. Potyó, m. PuKy, a. WeiPerth and G. Guti 2012. Invasive molluscs, crustacean, fish and reptile species along the Hungarian Danube stretch and some connected waters. – Acta Zoologica Hungarica, 58: 29-45. 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Invasive Crayfish on Land: Orconectes limosus (Rafinesque, 1817) (Decapoda: Cambaridae) Crossed a Terrestrial Barrier to Move from a Side Arm into the Danube River at Szeremle, Hungary

Invasive Crayfish on Land: Orconectes limosus (Rafinesque, 1817) (Decapoda: Cambaridae) Crossed a Terrestrial Barrier to Move from a Side Arm into the Danube River at Szeremle, Hungary

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