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Nova Scotia: McMillen-Jackson and Bert, 2004 and literature cited), high fecundity
(females produce 2 to 8 million eggs per spawn: Jivoff et al., 2007), large body size
(individuals may attain a maximum carapace width of 225 mm and a wet weight of
550 g: Millikin and Williams, 1984) coupled with aggressive behaviour (Reichmuth et
al., 2011; Weis, 2010), are considered key ecological and biological determinants of
its invasion success (Nehring, 2011). Noticeably, with the only exception of the
Aegean Sea (Pancucci-Papadopoulou et al., 2005; Tureli Bilen et al., 2011) the
majority of the reports in Mediterranean and, in general, European waters refers to
episodic catches, limited in the number of collected specimens and the temporal
period considered (Dulcic et al., 2010; Nehring, 2011).

Figure 11. Female of Callinectes sapidus caught in German Weser estuary on 20th of July 2007.
Pphotos by Jörg Albersmeyer. (Nehring, 2012)

In its native habitats, Callinectes sapidus has omnivorous, opportunistic trophic
habits, feeding on plants, invertebrates, conspecifics and carcasses (Dittel et al.,
2006; Seitz et al., 2011) and represents an important functional component of
benthic food webs (Baird and Ulanowicz, 1989; Dittel et al., 2000).

Figure 12. Distribution of Callinectes sapidus in Mediterranean Sea (CIESM, 2014).