Use one sheet per each type of information submitted
NAME OF COUNTRY or ORGANIZATION
National Institute of Oceanography, Israel
CONTACT PERSON ON TECHNICAL CONTENTS OF THE INFORMATION
Name of the contact person / Dr. Bella s. Galil
Name of her/his organization / National Institute of Oceanography
Postal address of the organization / POB 8030, Haifa 31080, Israel
Phone number
+ (country code)-(area code)-(phone number) / 972 4 8565271
E-mail address /
TYPE OF INFORMATION SUBMITTED – Tick one information source in the right column
Peer reviewed journal publication / v
Other publication, e.g. case study, legislation, best practice
Unpublished (sharable)
Suggested citation in the CBD document(s), if any preference exists / 1. Galil BS, Lützen J (1998) Jeopardy: Host and parasite lessepsian migrants from the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Journal of Natural History 32: 1549 – 1551
2. Innocenti G, Vannini N, Galil BS (1998) Notes on the behaviour of the portunid crab Charybdis longicollis Leene, parasitized by the Rhizocephalan Heterosaccus dollfusi Boschma. Journal of Natural History 32: 1577 – 1585
3. Galil BS, Innocenti G (1999) Notes on the population structure of the portunid crab Charybdis longicollis Leene, parasitized by the rhizocephalan Heterosaccus dollfusi Boschma, off the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Bulletin of Marine Science 64(3): 451 – 463
4. Innocenti G, Pinter N, Galil BS (2003) Observations on the agonistic behavior of the swimming crab Charybdis longicollis Leene infected by the rhizocephalan barnacle Heterosaccus dollfusi Boschma. Canadian Journal of Zoology 81(1): 173 – 176
5. Innocenti G, Galil BS (2007) Modus vivendi: invasive host/parasite relations - Charybdis longicollis Leene and Heterosaccus dollfusi Boschma. Hydrobiologia 590: 95 – 101
6. Innocenti G, Galil BS, Yokes MB, Diamant A, Goren M (2009) Here and there: a preliminary note on the prevalence of an alien rhizocephalan parasite at the southern and northern limits of its introduced range. Journal of Parasitology 95(6): 1387 – 1390
7. Innocenti G, Galil BS (2011) Observations on parasite and epibiont prevalence in the Levantine population of the Erythrean alien portunid Charybdis longicollis Leene. Monografie del Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali di Torin 40: 379 – 388
SUGGESTED CATEGORY OF THE INFORMATION SUBMITTED
Tick in the right column for relevant session (multiple answers allowed if needed)
Wildlife trade
e-commerce
Positive case of biological control on IAS
Negative case of biological control on IAS / v
A tool on assessing or evaluating social consequences of IAS introduction
A tool on assessing or evaluating economic consequences of IAS introduction
A tool on cost-benefit analysis for eradication of IAS
Management measures on IAS
Control measures on IAS
A tool for examining impact of climate change on IAS establishment/spread
A tool for examining impact of land-use change on IAS establishment/spread
Other
SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE INFORMATION SUBMITTED
The swimming crab Charybdis longicollis, found in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and Madagascar, was first recorded in the Mediterranean in 1954. Soon after, its populations underwent an exponential growth stage and nowadays it occurs all along the Levant, from Egypt to Rhodes, being common on sandy-mud bottoms at 25-60 m, where it may form as much as 70% of the benthic biomass. In 1992 it was first found to be parasitized by the rhizocephalan Heterosaccus dollfusi, an Erythraean alien as well. The parasite causes sterilization and prevents moult in its host.. Seasonal variations in infection range from 42.9% to 69.8% of the sample with a relatively high number of multiple externae per host. An enduring dialectic for the proliferation of invasive alien species, the ‘Enemy Release Hypothesis’, is predicated on the premise that natural enemies regulate populations and that populations of alien species benefit from a reduction in parasites, competitors and predators compared to populations within their native range (Elton 1958). Torchin & Lafferty (2009) considered parasites the main category of natural enemies in marine ecosystems and asserted that alien populations experience a net reduction in parasitism (both in terms of species richness and prevalence within a host population) compared to conspecific populations from the native range.
Yet, C. longicollis, heavily parasitized by the alien rhizocephalan H. dollfusi which injuriously impacts on its behaviour, growth and fecundity, and induces host mortality, nevertheless established thriving populations along the Levant Sea coastline (Galil & Lützen 1995, Innocenti et al. 1998, 2003, 2009, Galil & Innocenti 1999, Innocenti & Galil 2007). The extraordinarily high prevalence of the castrating parasite does not impede the success of the host,
neither in terms of abundance, nor in the geographic and bathymetric ranges of its populations in the Mediterranean.
OTHER INFORMATION, IF ANY
URL to download http://
By submitting this information, I agree that Secretariat of the CBD may use the contents in line with the relevant decisions of the Conference of the Parties.