“Adults have never been observed north of North Carolina.”
Dr. Rom Lipcius, a professor at William & Mary’s Batten School & Virginia Institute of Marine Science, has documented the first case of adult stone crabs in the Chesapeake Bay. A tropical species, the stone crab has never before been observed in Virginia waters.
“It’s not unexpected,” said Lipcius.
Tropical species are periodically seen traveling and establishing themselves this far north, such as the white shrimp. Stone crabs are common in Florida and Caribbean waters and have slowly crept their way up the coast over time. According to Lipcius, these crabs began to establish themselves as far north as North Carolina about 15 years ago.
“I think the temperatures are a key driver,” said Lipcius about the stone crabs’ movement. “It’s originally a tropical marine species.”
Stone crab larvae had been found in Virginia waters decades ago, but the water temperature had been too cold for any to survive to adulthood.
In 2013, a...