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Eriocheir sinensis
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THE CRIMES: Stealing other marine organisms' homes, damaging fish nets, causing erosion of river banks and levees by burrowing into the ground, and clogging up water pumps and screens at fish salvage facilities. There is concern mitten crab preys on salmon and sturgeon eggs and juveniles. Carries the oriental lung fluke, which is hazardous to humans. DESCRIPTION: Light brown in color, having hairy claws with white tips, which are normally equal in size. There is a notch between the eyes and four spines on the carapace (body shell). The carapace is also smooth and round. The width (distance across the back) is approximately 80 mm (about a finger length). Has a catadromous life cycle, which means it lives in fresh water, but migrates downstream to estuaries and bays to breed. The Interrogation
Where are you from?
My family and I are native to the mainland of China and
coastal areas of the Yellow Sea. The Yellow Sea is located between China and
Korea. I was first found in the San Francisco Bay of California in 1992. Since
then I have spread many miles up river.
How did you get here?
Our main hang-out in the United States is the San Francisco
Bay and the neighboring rivers. There are several ideas about how my family and
I got here. Some say we were intentionally introduced into the San Francisco Bay
by a fisherman wanting to establish a mitten crab population for a food source.
(I am considered a delicacy, you know!) Other people think we came to the United
States by hopping a ride in the ballast water of a boat. Ballast water is water
large boats take on to keep them stable.
What’s your problem?
My favorite thing to do is steal other organisms' homes so I
don't have to pay rent. There are plenty of homes out there we can steal, too,
since we can survive in a variety of habitats - from the ocean, to estuaries, to
rivers, and from clean to polluted waters. For fun, my friends and I like to get
tangled in fishermen's nets and see who can cut their way out first without getting
caught. This causes the fishermen to lose lots of money due to escaped fish and
damages nets--too bad for them. Aren't we a clever menace!
When we get hungry we love to eat juvenile salmon and sturgeon,
and if we really want to treat ourselves we love fish eggs. After eating, my friends
and I get pretty tired so we go home and burrow into riverbanks for a nap. It causes
the banks to erode but what do we care? We can just steal another home. I can make
humans sick because of the oriental lung fluke I carry around with me. Don't even
think of trying to get rid of me, my family or my friends, because you can't. We
reproduce rapidly (a single female can carry 250,000 to 1 million eggs) and can travel
so quickly that it is impossible to contain us!
How can we control you?
Good news for us: no one has been able to find an effective method
of control. People have tried to physically remove us, but my family is just too big
and can live almost anywhere due to our high tolerance for various types of environments.
Chemical controls are not realistic either unless you want to kill a bunch of other marine
life. Too bad, in the places we have invaded, we are here to stay!
Good news for you: My family and I still haven't invaded Oregon,
Washington, and many parts of California and you can help keep us out! How? Well, your
best bet is to help educate people about us. Let them know that we are not wanted and why.
Otherwise we will have a free ticket to invade when some unknowing human introduces us as
a food source, sells us illegally in fish markets, or forget to clean us off their boat.
Remember, it just takes one of us, and before you know it, we're everywhere creating the
worst menace ever!
Reward:
The honor of protecting our water resources— A healthier environment
and more opportunities to enjoy our natural areas.
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