Invasive crabs found flourishing in Panama

PANAMA CITY, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Scientists have found a harmful invasive crab species has become established and is reproducing in a lake that's to become part of the Panama Canal.

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute investigators in Panama City, Panama, have determined the Harris mud crab is reproducing in a small, man-made lake designated to become the third set of locks in the $5 billion Panama Canal expansion project.

STRI staff scientist Mark Torchin and McGill University graduate student Dominique Roche note the Harris mud crab (Rhithropanopeus harrisii) that's native to the East Coast of North America has spread to at least 21 nations, causing varying degrees of both environmental and economic damage.

Although individual Harris mud crabs were previously reported in Panama, the study marks the first report of an established and reproducing population in that country.

The Miraflores Third Lock Lake was created during the early 1940s in an aborted canal expansion plan. The new canal project will reconnect the lake with the waterway.

The study is part of a major ongoing project by the Smithsonian Marine Science Network to document the movement of invasive species.

The research is reported in the September issue of Aquatic Invasions.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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