The Japanese Shore Crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus) is an invader here, but it’s pretty common and becoming more so,
These crabs are fairly easy to recognize. Their legs have alternating light and dark bands. Their carapace (body) is more square than native crabs and has three sawtooth-like cuts on each side.
These crabs are fairly easy to recognize. Their legs have alternating light and dark bands. Their carapace (body) is more square than native crabs and has three sawtooth-like cuts on each side.
They live in the intertidal zone. That’s the part of the shore between the high and low tide marks. These crabs were hiding in the rocks of a jetty in Stone Harbor. And there were a lot of them, crammed into every crevice and even sparring with one another for the best spots.
Asian Shore Crabs are native to, as you can probably deduce, Asia -- specifically the Pacific coast from southern Russia to Hong Kong.
They were first spotted on the Atlantic Coast in 1988 in Cape May. Since then they’ve spread north to Maine and south to North Carolina.
Marine biologists report that they’re crowding out some native species and eating others. They say the Asian Shore Crabs are spreading quickly and beating out natives because they’re voracious eat all kinds of stuff: algae, salt marsh grass, clams, barnacles, fish larvae, oysters, mussels and more. They even eats another invader: the European Green Crab.
Even as larvae they’re outcompeting natives. They're quicker at finding plankton than other species of crabs.
They also don’t have any predators here.
Some scientists say the Asian Shore Crab could be responsible for the shrinking numbers of native species like lobsters in Long Island Sound, blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay and blue mussels at At Crane Neck Point N.Y.
