Abstract
The rusty crayfish, Orconectes rusticus, is one of America’s best-known non-indigenous crayfishes, having been identified as extirpating native crayfishes and disrupting local aquatic ecosystems. Over the past 40–50 years, rusty crayfish have spread from its historical range in the Ohio River drainage (U.S.A.), to waters throughout much of Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota and parts of 11 other states, Ontario (Canada) and the Laurentian Great Lakes. Using a comprehensive dataset based on all known historical records and extensive present-day surveys (n = 2775) this study reports on the invasion history of rusty crayfish, with observations on concomitant declines of native crayfishes in Wisconsin over the past 130 years (1870–2004). We found that rusty crayfish occurrences have increased from 7% of all crayfish records collected during the first 20 years of their invasion (1965–1984) to 36% of all records during the last 20 years, and that rusty crayfish have replaced the northern clearwater crayfish (O. propinquus) and virile crayfish (O. virilis) as the most dominant member of the contemporary crayfish fauna. In light of our results we discuss the introduction, establishment and integration phases of the rusty crayfish invasion and provide preliminary predictions of the potential distribution of rusty crayfish in Wisconsin lakes based on critical environmental requirements.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Association for Biodiversity Information (2001) Natural Heritage Central Databases. Arlington, VA. http://www.natureserve.org/
Arora M and Wik D (1988). Feasibility study for resolving the crayfish problem in northern Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin, Stout, Menomonie
Berrill M, Hollett L, Margosian A and Hudson J (1985). Variation in tolerance to low environmental pH by the crayfish Orconectes rusticus, O. propinquus, and Cambarus robustus. Canadian Journal of Zoology 63: 2586–2589
Bills TD and Marking LL (1988). Control of nuisance populations of crayfish with traps and toxicants. Progressive Fish Culturist 50: 103–106
Byron CJ and Wilson KA (2001). Rusty crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) movement within and between habitats in Trout Lake, Vilas County Wisconsin. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 20: 606–614
(1975). Distribution, life history and ecology of crayfish in northern Wisconsin, with emphasis on Orconectes propinquus (Girard). University of Wisconsin, Madison, 215
Capelli GM (1982). Displacement of northern Wisconsin crayfish by Orconectes rusticus (Girard). Limnology and Oceanography 27: 741–745
Capelli GM and Magnuson JJ (1983). Morphoedaphic and biogeographic analysis of crayfish distribution in northern Wisconsin. Journal of Crustacean Biology 3: 548–564
Charlebois PM and Lamberti GA (1996). Invading crayfish in a Michigan stream: direct and indirect effects on periphyton and macroinvertebrates. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 15: 551–563
Creaser EP (1932). The decapod crustaceans of Wisconsin. Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Science 27: 321–338
Elton CS (1958). The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants. Methuen, London, UK
Gunderson J (1999) Rusty crayfish: A nasty invader. Publication of the Minnesota Sea Grant, University of Minnesota
Hill AM and Lodge DM (1999). Replacement of resident crayfishes by an exotic crayfish: the roles of competition and predation. Ecological Applications 9: 678–690
Hobbs HH and Jass JP (1988) The crayfishes and shrimp of Wisconsin. (Decapoda: Palaemonidae, Cambaridae). Special Publications in Biology and Geology, No. 5. Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee: 1–177
Hobbs HH, Jass JP and Huner JV (1989). A review of global crayfish introductions with particular emphasis on two North American species (Decapoda, Cambaridae). Crustaceana 56: 299–316
Jass JP (2001) Crayfishes of the Des Plaines River in southeastern Wisconsin. Published Abstract from the North American Benthnological Society 49th Annual Meeting, LaCrosse, Wisconsin, 2001
Kershner MW and Lodge DM (1995). Effects of littoral habitat and fish predation on the distribution of an exotic crayfish, Orconectes rusticus. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 14: 414–422
Lang J (1977) Foreign crayfish taking over in some waters. Milwaukee Journal, 30 Jan 1977, Part 4, p. 10
Lodge DM, Kershner MW, Aloi JE and Covich AP (1994). Effects of an omnivorous crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) on a fresh-water littoral food-web. Ecology 75: 1265–1281
Lodge DM, Kratz TK and Capelli GM (1986). Long-term dynamics of three crayfish species in Trout Lake, Wisconsin. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 43: 993–998
Lodge DM and Lorman JG (1987). Reductions in submersed macrophyte biomass and species richness by the crayfish Orconectes rusticus. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 44: 591–597
Lodge DM, Taylor CA, Holdich DM and Skurdal J (2000a). Nonindigenous crayfishes threaten North American freshwater biodiversity: lessons from Europe. Fisheries 25: 7–20
Lodge DM, Taylor CA, Holdich DM and Skurdal J (2000b). Reducing impacts of exotic crayfish introductions: new policies needed. Fisheries 25: 21–25
(1980). Ecology of the crayfish Orconectes rusticus in northern Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin, Madison, 227
Leitch JA (1996). Interbasin transfer of aquatic biota via anglers’ bait buckets. Fisheries 21: 14–18
Magnuson JJ and Kratz TK (1999) LTER crayfish. North Temperate Lakes Long-Term Ecological Research Program, NSF, Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Available at http://www.limnology.wisc.edu
Magnuson JJ, Capelli GM, Lorman JG and Stein RA (1975). Consideration of crayfish for macrophyte control. In: (eds) The Proceedings of a Symposium on Water Quality Management, pp 66–74. University of Florida, Gainsville, FL
Master L (1990) The imperiled status of North American aquatic animals. Biodiversity Network News 3: 1–2, 7–8
JM McCarthy CL Hein JD Olden MJ Zanden ParticleVan der (2006) ArticleTitleCoupling long-term studies with meta-analysis to investigate impacts of non-native crayfish on zoobenthic communities Freshwater Biology 51 224–235 Occurrence Handle10.1111/j.1365-2427.2005.01485.x
Momot WT (1984). Crayfish production: a reflection of community energetics. Journal of Crustacean Biology 4: 35–54
Momot WT (1995). Redefining the role of crayfish in aquatic systems. Reviews in Fisheries Science 3: 33–63
Olsen TM, Lodge DM, Capelli GM and Houlihan RJ (1991). Mechanisms of impact of an introduced crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) on littoral congeners, snails, and macrophytes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 48: 1853–1861
Perry WL, Lodge DM and Feder JL (2002). Importance of hybridization between indigenous and nonindigenous freshwater species: an overlooked threat to North American biodiversity. Systematic Biology 51: 255–275
Perry WL, Feder JL and Lodge DM (2001). Implications of hybridization between introduced and resident Orconectes crayfishes. Conservation Biology 15: 1656–1666
Richter BD, Braun DP, Mendelson MA and Master LL (1997). Threats to imperiled freshwater fauna. Conservation Biology 11: 1081–1093
Ricciardi A and Rasmussen JB (1999). Extinction rates of North American freshwater fauna. Conservation Biology 13: 1220–1222
Sheffy TB (1978). Mercury burdens in crayfish from Wisconsin River. Environmental Pollution 17: 219–225
Taylor CA, Warren ML, Fitzpatrick JF, Hobbs HH, Jezerinac RF, Pfieger WL and Robison HW (1996). Conservation status of crayfishes of the United States and Canada. Fisheries 21: 25–38
Wilson KA (2002). Impacts of the invasive rusty crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) in northern Wisconsin lakes. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Wisconsin, Madison, 194 pp
Wilson KA and Hrabik TR (in press) Ecological change and exotic invaders. In: Magnuson JJ, Kratz TK and Benson BJ (eds), Long-term dynamics of lakes in a landscape. Oxford University Press
Wilson KA, Magnuson JJ, Lodge DM, Hill AM, Kratz TK, Perry WL and Willis TV (2004). A long-term rusty crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) invasion: dispersal patterns and community change in a north temperate lake. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 61: 2255–2266
Vander Zanden MJ, Wilson KA, Casselman JM and Yan ND (2004a). Species introductions and their impacts in North American Shield lakes. In: Gunn, JM, Steedman, RJ, and Ryder, RA (eds) Boreal Shield Watersheds: Lake trout ecosystems in a changing environment, pp 239–264. Lewis Publishers, New York, NY
Vander Zanden MJ, Olden JD, Thorne JH and Mandrak NE (2004b). Predicting the occurrence and impact of bass introductions on temperate lake food webs. Ecological Applications 14: 132–148
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Olden, J.D., McCarthy, J.M., Maxted, J.T. et al. The rapid spread of rusty crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) with observations on native crayfish declines in Wisconsin (U.S.A.) over the past 130 years. Biol Invasions 8, 1621–1628 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-005-7854-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-005-7854-2