19/150: Invasive Species Awareness on Crab Appreciation Day

Animalia: Arthropoda: Malacostraca: Decapoda: Portunidae: Carcinus: Carcinus maenas (Linnaeus, 1758)

The European green crab is an invasive species from the North Atlantic coast of Europe and North Africa, first found in Canadian waters in 1951 in New Brunswick and has since spread all over Atlantic Canada. It is a part of the order Decapoda which include more than 8,000 species of crustaceans including shrimp, lobsters, crayfish, hermit crabs and crabs. The European green crab is an aggressive, dominant predator that lives in shallow ocean waters such as salt marshes, rocky coasts and sandy beaches, and feeds on a variety of shellfish. As cool as these crabs are, they do compete with native crabs and lobsters for food and shelter, reduce invertebrate and fish diversity, threaten shellfish aquaculture and impact eel fisheries by damaging the eels when they enter the traps. #Canada150 #Biodiversity150

Here’s the barcode sequence information for this species:

Process ID:  BBGCO142-14

nucleotide sequence

TACGCTATATTTTATCTTTGGGGCTTGAGCTGGCATAGTAGGGACTTCTTTGAGTCTTATTATTCGAGCTGAATTAGGGCAGCCAGGAACTTTAATCGGTAACGATCAAATTTATAATGTTGTTGTAACTGCTCATGCTTTTGTAATAATTTTTTTCATAGTAATACCAATTATAATTGGAGGATTTGGTAATTGACTTGTACCTCTAATATTAGGAGGGCCAGATATAGCTTTTCCTCGAATAAATAATATAAGGTTCTGATTACTTCCTCCGTCTTTAACCTTACTTTTAATAAGAGGGATGGTAGAAAGAGGAGTTGGAACAGGATGAACAGTCTATCCTCCTTTAGCAGGGGCTATTGCCCACGCTGGTGCTTCAGTTGATTTAGGGATTTTCTCTTTACATTTAGCCGGGGTTTCTTCTATTTTAGGAGCTGTAAATTTTATAACAACTATTATCAATATGCGTTCTTTCGGCATGACAATAGACCAGATACCTTTATTTGTGTGAGCTGTTTTTATTACTGCGATCCTTTTATTATTATCGTTGCCGGTTTTAGCAGGAGCTATTACAATACTTCTAACTGACCGAAATCTAAACACCTCATTCTTCGATCCTGCAGGAGGTGGAGACCCAGTTCTGTACC———–

amino acid sequence

TLYFIFGAWAGMVGTSLSLIIRAELGQPGTLIGNDQIYNVVVTAHAFVMIFFMVMPIMIGGFGNWLVPLMLGGPDMAFPRMNNMSFWLLPPSLTLLLMSGMVESGVGTGWTVYPPLAGAIAHAGASVDLGIFSLHLAGVSSILGAVNFMTTIINMRSFGMTMDQMPLFVWAVFITAILLLLSLPVLAGAITMLLTDRNLNTSFFDPAGGGDPVLYX—

Learn more about it’s BIN (Barcode Index Number): BOLD:AAA7687

Title Image: Specimen BBGCO142-14 – Fundy National Park, Alma Beach – 7-Jul-2013 – Free Hand
Photo Credit: CBG Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics