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Geographic location of the Kiel Canal, Germany (54°15'N, 9°36'E). Numbers indicate the canal kilometres.
Source publication
The amphipod Melita nitida Smith, 1873 is indigenous to the Atlantic coast of North America and so far has only been recorded as non-native species from the Pacific coast of North America and estuarine waters in The Netherlands. We detected a few specimens in the mesohaline part of the Kiel Canal (Germany) which showed considerable variation of som...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... is the first record of M. nitida in German waters. In March 2010, in total 27 specimens were found subtidally on artificial hard substrates, i.e. rock fills, in the mesohaline, eastern part of the Kiel Canal (kilometre 92) connecting the North Sea via the Elbe Estuary with the Baltic Sea (54°15'N, 9°36'E; see Figure 1). Material (fixed specimens) have been deposited at the Federal Institute of Hydrology (Koblenz, Germany). ...
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The non-native amphipod Melita nitida Smith, 1873 was collected between 2013 and 2016 in Arcachon Bay, Hossegor Lake and the Gironde Estuary (SW France) in intertidal oyster reefs and under stones. This species, native to the Atlantic coast of North America, is considered as a non-indigenous species on the Pacific coast of North America. Recently,...
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Citations
... It is very similar in morphology to M. setiflagella inhabiting river estuaries in Japan [Yamato, 1988]. The issue is even more complicated by the fact that M. setiflagella and M. nitida are so close morphologically that some authors [Krapp-Schickel, Sket, 2015] consider these species extremely similar, while others treat them as synonyms [Jarrett, Bousfield, 1996, Faasse, van Moorsel, 2003Reichert, Beermann, 2011]. Clarification of the taxonomic position of the presented species requires further genetic research. ...
... The morphological descriptions of M. nitida, M. setiflagella, and M. cf. setiflagella has not shown significant differences [Yamato, 1988;Jarrett, Bousfield, 1996;Faasse, van Moorsel, 2003;Reichert, Beermann, 2011;Grintsov et al., 2022;Tomikawa et al., 2022], which necessitates further research. ...
... It is found mainly in shellfish farms (cultivating the oyster Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg, 1793)), among oyster shells, under small stones, on the underside of boulders, on a silty seafloor, and also among intertidal rocks and algae [Paulmier, 1905;Kunkel, 1918;Watling, Maurer, 1972;Fasse, Van Moorse, 2003;Gouillieux, 2016]. This species occurs in wide ranges of water temperatures (from 0 to 32 °C) and salinities (from 0 to 35‰) [Bousfield, 1973;Sheridan, 1979;Chapman, 1988;Faasse, van Moorsel, 2003;Reichert, Beermann, 2011]. It forms also high abundances in seagrass beds in more saline waters (20-33‰) [Gouillieux, 2016]. ...
... In Europe M. nitida was first recorded in the Western Scheldt Estuary in the Netherlands in 1998 (Faasse and Moorsel 2003). However, re-examination of samples from Figure 3. M. nitida can be distinguished from native Melita species by the following characters (Reichert & Beermann 2011, Zettler & Zettler 2017: ...
... the nearby Belgian Zeeschelde revealed that the species lived there in 1996 (VLIZ Alien Species Consortium 2011).The species has later been reported from the North Sea Canal near Amsterdam and from The New Waterway connecting the Rhine with Rotterdam(Reichert & Beermann 2011). In 2002 it was recorded in the Kiel Kanal(Reichert & Beermann 2011), with subsequent finds in brackish water bays and lagoons in the German part of the Baltic Sea(Zettler & Zettler 2017, Messner & Zettler 2018. ...
... the nearby Belgian Zeeschelde revealed that the species lived there in 1996 (VLIZ Alien Species Consortium 2011).The species has later been reported from the North Sea Canal near Amsterdam and from The New Waterway connecting the Rhine with Rotterdam(Reichert & Beermann 2011). In 2002 it was recorded in the Kiel Kanal(Reichert & Beermann 2011), with subsequent finds in brackish water bays and lagoons in the German part of the Baltic Sea(Zettler & Zettler 2017, Messner & Zettler 2018. Between 2013 and 2016 Melita nitida was recorded in three different locations in SW France(Gouillieux et al. ...
Two new amphipods for Norway Melita nitida and Corophium multisetosum (Crustacea; Amphipoda) were registered in brackish waters in the Tista Estuary in Halden, southeastern Norway. Both species were found in the samples from Tista’s outlet into the Idde Fjord, C. multisetosum in the beach zone and M. nitida at about 4 m depth. Melita nitida is a North American species first found in Europe in the Netherlands in 1998, and since then dispersed into the Baltic Sea via the Kiel Canal and now also found several places on the German Baltic Sea coast and in the Black Sea. Corophium multisetosum was collected even before the 1920s in Western Europe, and is considered native for Europe, whereas its relationship to North America is more ambiguous. From the British Isles and the Netherlands, it seems to have spread to Germany, Poland, Denmark and Sweden, and at present Norway. Until now the two species were found in small numbers at the Norwegian sites and their influence on the total benthic community is probably negligible in this initial phase. The Tista Estuary in Halden apparently appears to be a hotspot for alien brackish water species in Norway. Generally estuaries, with their combination of brackish water jointly with their unsaturated ecological niches and intensive international ship traffic, seem to possess the highest potential infection rate for aquatic systems with alien acrozoobenthic species.
... The effectiveness of shelter traps was also confirmed by studies conducted by Veldhuizen (2000), Fowler et al. (2013) and Hewitt and McDonald (2013). Artificial habitat traps have proved particularly effective in catching small crustaceans, including isopods and amphipods, i.e. fauna using macrophytes, stones, as well as man-made structures as a refuge from predators (Viejo 1999;Reichert & Beermann 2011;Sedano et al. 2020). In ports like Gdynia, these organisms seem to hide near the quays, as well as among stones filling gabions and other structures used to stabilize the bottom against sediment movement. ...
The effectiveness of two artificial habitat collectors, crab condo (HC1) and habitat crate (HC2), providing a refuge for small mobile fauna, was tested along with two commercial baited traps, Chinese box trap (BT1) and Gee’s Minnow trap (BT2) recommended for only single deployments under a harmonized survey of the Baltic and the North-East Atlantic. Our objective was also to determine whether a multi-deployment of baited traps in the growing season increases the diversity and abundance of collected mobile epifauna. Nineteen species of benthic mobile epifauna, including six non-indigenous species (NIS), were collected between May and October 2014 using all tested types of traps in the Port of Gdynia (southern Baltic Sea). Crustaceans, represented by 16 taxa, constituted the group with the highest diversity and abundance. Our study showed that HC1 and HC2 are more effective gear than BT1 and BT2, as both species richness (including NIS) and abundance were higher. Furthermore, the double deployment of BT1 and BT2 increased the diversity and abundance of the captured fauna. The use of artificial habitat collectors as an additional method to the already recommended baited traps for mobile epifauna monitoring in ports should be considered and the number of baited trap deployments should be increased during the growing season.
... Previous research has proven that the establishment of invasive species affect resident species, mainly species from the same ecological guild (Reichert and Beermann 2011). Being a dominant peracarid crustacean in most of benthic habitats of Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean ) and considering their opportunistic behaviour (González et al. 2008), it is expected that this species may affect the resident benthic communities. ...
Phtisica marina, originally described by Slabber, 1769 from Netherlands, is one of the most abundant caprellid amphipod species reported from numerous regions around the globe and is primarily associated with fouling communities in harbours. This study chronicles the further spreading out of P. marina into the Indian coastal waters. During a regular coastal survey in Gulf of Kachchh (Northwest coast of India), an established population of P. marina was observed in the subtidal regions of Vadinar and Sikka during April 2017. The caprellid could be a possible alien species in Indian waters as the species met the criteria for exotic taxa. The most possible introductory vectors and pathways are discussed in this study. As this species can survive in the stressed environments of low hydrodynamics and it has opportunistic behaviour, further studies are necessary to reveal its potential impact on local communities.
... The species is native to Atlantic coast of North America. In European waters, M. nitida has been previously observed e.g.: since in 1998 in The Netherlands (Faasse and van Moorsel, 2003) and 2010 in Germany (Reichert and Beermann, 2011), between 2013 and 2016 -in three localities of the French Atlantic coast: Arcachon Bay, Hossegor Lake and the Gironde Estuary (Gouillieux et al., 2016). ...
... The latter family includes the species Melita nitida Smith, 1873 native to the Atlantic coast of North America. In 2010, this amphipod was found in the westernmost part of the Baltic Sea (Kiel Canal, Germany), but re-identification of the material from the previous surveys showed that M. nitida was present in these waters at least since 2008 (Reichert & Beermann 2011). So far, this species was reported by Lackschewitz et al. (2014) from the south-western Baltic Sea (Mecklenburg Bay), but without any details. ...
... Up to now, the species has been recorded from estuaries and ports of the North and Baltic Seas, in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland as well as of the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay), in France ( Fig. 3). Regarding vectors responsible for the introduction of M. nitida to European waters, the most likely ones are fouling on ship hulls or international oyster transports (Heiman et al. 2008;Reichert & Beermann 2011;Gouillieux et al. 2016). The identification of M. nitida may pose some difficulties due to the intraspecific morphological variations as well as nuances in taxonomic characters which allow to distinguish this species from the other American amphipods in the so-called "Melita nitida complex" (Chapman 1988;Jarrett & Bousfield 1996;Faasse & van Moorsel 2003;Reichert & Beermann 2011). ...
... Regarding vectors responsible for the introduction of M. nitida to European waters, the most likely ones are fouling on ship hulls or international oyster transports (Heiman et al. 2008;Reichert & Beermann 2011;Gouillieux et al. 2016). The identification of M. nitida may pose some difficulties due to the intraspecific morphological variations as well as nuances in taxonomic characters which allow to distinguish this species from the other American amphipods in the so-called "Melita nitida complex" (Chapman 1988;Jarrett & Bousfield 1996;Faasse & van Moorsel 2003;Reichert & Beermann 2011). In its introduced range in Europe, the species may be misidentified when using European identification literature, e.g. ...
The present paper reports the first observation of the North American amphipod
... Outside its native range, Chapman (1988) recorded M. nitida in the NE Pacific from British Columbia to California and considered records from Ecuador, Panama, and Costa Rica (Shoemaker 1935) as dubious -possibly representing an undescribed species. In European waters, M. nitida has been observed since 1998 in The Netherlands (Faasse and van Moorsel 2003) and 2010 in Germany (Reichert and Beermann 2011). Here we report the first record of M. nitida in three localities of the French Atlantic coast: Arcachon Bay, Hossegor Lake and the Gironde Estuary. ...
... Melita nitida shows variability in ornamentation on urosome segment 2, which is size-dependent (Reichert and Beermann 2011). This was confirmed by observations of a significant positive correlation between the number of spines (range: 1-5) and the length of the specimens (BL range: 2.4-8.64 mm) (non-parametric Spearman, r = 0.68, p<0.01). ...
... M. elongata can also be distinguished by its accessory flagellum, which is composed of 1-2 short articles (Sheridan 1979), whereas M. nitida and M. setiflagella have up to 3 articles. M. nitida is very closely related, morphologically, to M. setiflagella from Japan, but differs by the absence of a notch at inferior antenna 1 corner of head and the setation of antenna 2 peduncle article 5. Krapp-Schickel and Sket (2015) consider M. nitida and M. setiflagella as extremely similar, morphologically, and some authors (Jarrett and Bousfield 1996;Faasse and van Moorsel 2003;Reichert and Beermann 2011) even consider both species as synonyms. ...
The non-native amphipod Melita nitida Smith, 1873 was collected between 2013 and 2016 in Arcachon Bay, Hossegor Lake and the Gironde Estuary (SW France) in intertidal oyster reefs and under stones. This species, native to the Atlantic coast of North America, is considered as a non-indigenous species on the Pacific coast of North America. Recently, the presence of M. nitida was reported in Europe, both in The Netherlands and in Germany. This species may have been accidentally introduced to Arcachon Bay with oyster transfers. An identification key for species belonging to the genus Melita and closely related species in European waters is also provided.
... 5 Mörg daemi eru um land nám sem líklega hafa orðið með þess um haetti. 6,7,8 Grjótkrabbinn (Cancer irroratus) er nýr landnemi við strendur Íslands (sjá rammagrein). Tegundin fannst fyrst hér við land árið 2006, 9 en nátt úruleg útbreiðsla krabbans er við austurströnd NorðurAmeríku, frá Suður Karólínu í suðri til Labrador í norðri. ...
Grjótkrabbi (Cancer irroratus) er nokkuð stórvaxinn krabbi sem fannst fyrst hér við land árið 2006. Náttúruleg heimkynni krabbans eru við austurströnd Norður-Ameríku, en hann barst að líkindum til Íslands í kjölfestuvatni skipa. Síðan 2006 hefur grjótkrabbinn fundist víða við Vesturland og nýlega einnig við Vestfirði. Sumar og haust árið 2011 beindust rannsóknir einkum að því að kanna staðbundinn þéttleika grjótkrabbans í Faxaflóa og Hvalfirði. Fjallað verður um tvær merkingatilraunir sem annars vegar fóru fram í Hvalfirði um mánaðarmótin maí–júní og hins vegar á Sundunum við Reykjavík í seinnihluta septembermánaðar 2011. Að auki voru sniðtalningar framkvæmdar af köfurum í júlí og október 2011. Við merkingarnar voru notuð hefðbundin tölusett T-merki, en vandkvæði við merkingar á krabbadýrum eru fólgin í því að merkin duga yfirleitt ekki nema að næstu hamskiptum. Merkingarnar gefa því einungis upplýsingar um skammtímafar en þær má einnig nota til að átta sig á stofnstærð. Merktir voru 139 krabbar í Hvalfirði og 1.167 á Sundunum. Endurheimtuhlutfall í gildrur var lágt í báðum tilraununum, en hlutfall kvendýra í afla var nokkuð hátt og voru mörg þeirra með áföst egg í júní. Minna veiddist af öðrum krabbategundum.
The low salinity of the Baltic Sea means that marine, fresh water and brackish water crustacean species can inhabit it. Many are benthic organisms. Some remain buried in the bottom sediments, others occur on sandy or muddy bottoms, and some attach themselves to a hard substrate. In the Baltic Sea, the class Malacostraca is represented by six orders. Five of these—Mysidacea, Cumacea, Tanaidacea, Isopoda, and Amphipoda—belong to the Eumalacostraca, while the Eucarida are represented by one order—Decapoda.
