Ecological Risk Screening Summary - Cardisoma armatum (a crab, no common name) - Uncertain Risk

Species that are considered uncertain risk need a more in-depth assessment beyond the Risk Summary to better define the species’ risk to U.S. environments.

Cardisoma armatum is a terrestrial crab species native to Cape Verde and the West Coast of Africa from Senegal to Angola. In its native range, it is consumed and sold as a food source, and it is in the pet trade in the United States. C. armatum has never been reported as introduced or established outside of its native range, so the history of invasiveness is uncertain. It has a low climate match with the contiguous United States overall, with a medium match only in southern Florida. C. armatum requires water of at least 15‰ salinity to reproduce successfully; although this concentration is less saline than ocean water, it is unlikely that C. armatum would be able to establish widely in the predominantly oligohaline waters of the interior United States. There is relatively little information available from which to assess the risk C. armatum poses to the contiguous United States, so the certainty of this assessment is low. The overall risk assessment category is uncertain.