A new PCR-based method shows that blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus (Rathbun)) consume winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus (Walbaum)).

ABSTRACT: Winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) once supported robust commercial and recreational fisheries in the New York (USA) region, but since the 1990s populations have been in decline. Available data show that settlement of young-of-the-year winter flounder has not declined as sharply as adult abundance, suggesting that juveniles are experiencing higher mortality following settlement. The recent increase of blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) abundance in the New York region raises the possibility that new sources of predation may be contributing to juvenile winter flounder mortality. To investigate this possibility we developed and validated a method to specifically detect winter flounder mitochondrial control region DNA sequences in the gut contents of blue crabs. A survey of 55 crabs

SUBMITTER: Collier JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3890304 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature