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The first alerts about this environmental fact were made by the inhabitants of Aquitaine, Cuítiva and Tota, who say they have seen thousands of these animals, which are not a native species of the bodies of water in this area, reports Blu Radio.
According to the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Cundinamarca CAR, these crustaceans come from the southern United States and constitute an aggressive and highly invasive species, especially where they have been detected in Colombia, since there they do not have enough predators to control their proliferation.
Being invasive, they affect the fauna of fish and other endemic (native) crustaceans.
The invasive species, found natively between the Gulf of Mexico and Florida, USA, has a high rate of adaptability due to its ability to reproduce and grow in seasonal water sites and survive in dry periods. for more than 4 months.
The species arrived in the country in 1985, but escaped from captivity
Jhon Cesar Neita, a researcher at the Humboldt Institute, assures that 36 years ago the species, also known as red lobster, was introduced to the country through the expedition of a sanitary registry that cataloged it as an experimental species for cultivation for commercial purposes in the department of Valle.
As is to be expected, this species came to the country to commercialize and consume it in markets and restaurants, but the authorities warn about trying to manipulate them in these bodies of water in Boyacá, where they were seen for the first time in 2004.
The red crab is a potential carrier of a deadly fungus
A study led by researchers from the Doñana Biological Station (Spain), of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), found evidence that procambarus clarkii, as this crab is scientifically known, is a potential carrier of the chytridium fungus, that ends with the amphibian population (frogs, salamanders, lizards, caecilians), points out El Ágora Diario.
Experts in Spain detected the presence of the fungus in the digestive tract in 20% of the samples collected in a stream in the province of Andalusia and up to 26% in ponds in the Doñana National Park.
“The presence of the fungus in the American red crab, as well as its ability to disperse by land, could represent a serious problem for the conservation of amphibians in a system that includes more than 3,000 temporary lagoons, such as the Doñana National Park” , says Francisco J. Oficialdegui, CSIC researcher at the Doñana Biological Station, which represents an additional alert in the case of these crabs in Colombia.
The following video of a Spanish farmer delves into the consequences of the aforementioned invasive species:
