A record of the invasive Blue Crab Rathbun, 1896 (Arthropoda: Crustacea) in Black Sea waters near Cape Shabla, Bulgaria
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Date
2025-05-12
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Abstract
The Black Sea is a closed brackish-water intercontinental sea, part of the Mediterranean basin, with which it is connected through the Bosporus Strait, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles Strait. Due to this connection, many organisms from the Mediterranean Sea migrated to the Black Sea. One of these migratory organisms is the invasive blue crab. In the present study, we report the occurrence of one male Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 (carapace length: 70.09 cm, width: 15.69 cm, weight: 166.9 g) caught during commercial fishing on 26 April 2024 Black Sea waters near Cape Shabla,
Bulgaria. Additional monitoring activities should be undertaken in the Black Sea to clarify the possibility of reproduction and determine the reproductive season of blue crab.
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Keywords
Black sea, Blue crab, invasive species