Invasive species - Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) in Flanders, Belgium

Sander Devisscher1, Tim Adriaens1, Dimitri Brosens1, Peter Desmet1

1 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Kliniekstraat 25, 1070, Brussels, Belgium

Corresponding author(s): Sander Devisscher (faunabeheer@inbo.be)Tim Adriaens (tim.adriaens@inbo.be)Dimitri Brosens (dimitri.brosens@inbo.be)Peter Desmet (peter.desmet@inbo.be)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Devisscher S, Adriaens T, Brosens D, Desmet P (2023). Invasive species - Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) in Flanders, Belgium. Version 1.9. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). Occurrence dataset. https://doi.org/10.15468/eakzzv https://doi.org/10.15468/eakzzv

Abstract

Invasive species - Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) in Flanders, Belgium is a species occurrence dataset published by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). The dataset contains over 6,000 occurrences (Chinese mitten crab exclusively) sampled between 2000 and now. The data are compiled from different monitoring initiatives coordinated or run at INBO. The Chinese mitten crab is listed as a species of EU concern sensu the EU regulation 1143/2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species (IAS). This requires member states to report on the status and distrubution of such species. Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/LifeWatchINBO/data-publication/tree/master/datasets/invasive-chinese-mitten-crab-occurrences
To allow anyone to use this dataset, we have released the data to the public domain under a Creative Commons Zero waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). We would appreciate however, if you read and follow these norms for data use (http://www.inbo.be/en/norms-for-data-use) and provide a link to the original dataset (https://doi.org/10.15468/eakzzv) whenever possible. If you use these data for a scientific paper, please cite the dataset following the applicable citation norms and/or consider us for co-authorship. We are always interested to know how you have used or visualized the data, or to provide more information, so please contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata, opendata@inbo.be or https://twitter.com/LifeWatchINBO.

Keywords: Occurrence, Observation, Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis, crustaceans, invasive alien species, non-native species, Occurrence

General description

Purpose: Native to the Pacific coasts of China and Korea, Chinese mitten crabs arrived in European waters in the early 1900s and are believed to have been introduced via ship's ballast water and, possibly, intentionally released to establish fisheries. Since its arrival in Germany, the species has rapidly invaded coastal and inland waters throughout Europe. It was first recorded in Belgium in 1933 in the Zeeschelde near Antwerp (Wouters 2002). Based on recent observations, it is now common in Flanders (Messiaen et al. 2010), in flowing as well as still waters, where it is benefitting from improved water quality (Kerckhof et al. 2007, Stevens 2010). In the last few years, the species has increased in distribution area and numbers, and is now colonizing inland waters. The Scheldt estuary is the most important invasion route, where its numbers seem to have stabilized in recent years (unpublished data, INBO). The seasonal upstream migration of mitten crabs has become a well known phenomenon in Flanders (e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSBqwufl3pA), but its impact in the region is not well known.

The Chinese mitten crab is listed as a species of EU concern sensu the EU regulation 1143/2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction of invasive alien species (IAS). This regulation requires member states to set up surveillance and early warning, as well as rapidly eradicate new introductions of a selection of IAS. Additionally, it requires member states to set up management programmes for widely established species and to evaluate and report on the progress of these programmes. To do this, baseline data on the distribution of selected IAS are needed, which is one of the reasons we are publishing these data.

Data published through GBIF: https://ipt.inbo.be/resource?r=invasive-chinese-mitten-crab-occurrences

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: This is a monospecies dataset: all records are Chinese mitten crabs (Eriocheir sinensis H. Milne Edwards, 1853).
Taxonomic ranks
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Family: Varunidae
Genus: Eriocheir
Species: Eriocheir sinensis
Common names: animals, Chinese mitten crab

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: Flanders, Belgium.
Coordinates: 50°40'48''N and 51°30'36''N Latitude; 2°32'24''E and 5°55'12''E Longitude 

Living time period: 2000-09-01 - now

Methods

Method step description: Not provided.
Study extent description: This dataset is compiled from various data sources (research projects, monitoring programmes, unpublished datasets) available at the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). Because many of these studies/projects are small, we chose to extract Chinese mitten crab occurrences from the original (mostly formerly unpublished) datasets and compile them into this dataset.
Sampling description: Most of the Chinese mitten crabs were caught using double fyke nets in rivers and surface waters. The set-up of the fyke netting network was mostly primarily aimed at catching fish (Steven et al. 2009). These nets sample the lower 50 cm of the water column. The nets are placed parallel to the river's bank, as opposed to normal fyke nets that are placed at a 90° angle to the bank. Mitten crabs were mostly recorded as bycatch of fish monitoring or riverine/estuarine research projects. In most cases, the number of crabs per fyke was recorded, but for high density locations, the density was recorded as the net weight of crabs caught. The fyke nettings only provide data on relative abundances of mitten crabs, not of mitten crab densities. Counts and weights are not included in this dataset and are available upon request.
Quality control description: Fieldwork was mostly performed by professionals (trained experts or researchers) of the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). However, 1797 records represent volunteer data from a validated citizen science project on the occurrence of fish in the Scheldt estuary (Stevens et al. 2009, Breine unpublished). In this case, captures were performed by trained volunteers and data were subject to validation by the researcher involved.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive Invasive species - Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) in Flanders, Belgium
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: https://ipt.inbo.be/archive.do?r=invasive-chinese-mitten-crab-occurrences
Publication date of data: 2023-12-05
Language: English
Licences of use: Public Domain (CC0 1.0)

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2015-10-30
Hierarchy level: Dataset

References
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EU (2014) Regulation (EU) no 1143/2014 of the European parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species. Official Journal of the European Union 4.11.2014, L317:35-55
Messiaen M, Lock K, Gabriels W, Vercauteren T, Wouters K, Boets P, Goethals PLM (2010) Alien macrocrustaceans in freshwater ecosystems in the eastern part of Flanders (Belgium). Belgian Journal of Zoology 140: 30–39
Kerckhof F, Haelters J, Gollasch S (2007) Alien species in the marine and brackish ecosystem: the situation in Belgian waters. Aquatic Invasions 2: 243–257 https://doi.org/10.3391/ai.2007.2.3.9 https://doi.org/10.3391/ai.2007.2.3.9 
Wouters K (2002) On the distribution of alien non-marine and estuarine macro-crustaceans in Belgium. Bulletin van het Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen. Biologie 72: 119–129
Stevens M (2010) Advies betreffende de Chinese Wolhandkrab langsheen de Schelde. INBO.A.2010.59. Available online https://www.inbo.be/nl/advies/advies-betreffende-de-chinese-wolhandkrab-langsheen-de-schelde
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Boets P, Brosens D, Lock K, Adriaens T, Aelterman B, Mertens J, Goethals PLM (2016) Alien macroinvertebrates in Flanders (Belgium). Aquatic Invasions 11: in press