The colonial ascidian Didemnum sp. A: Current distribution, basic biology and potential threat to marine communities of the northeast and west coasts of North America

By Stephan G. Bullard, G. Lambert, M. Carman, Jarrett E. K. Byrnes, R. Whitlatch, G. Ruiz, Robert J. Miller, L. Harris, P. Valentine, J. Collie and 6 more. 2007

212 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Didemnum sp. A is a colonial ascidian with rapidly expanding populations on the east and west coasts of North America. The origin of Didemum sp. A is unknown. Populations were first observed on the northeast coast of the U.S. in the late 1980s and on the west coast during the 1990s. It is currently undergoing a massive population explosion and is now a dominant member of many subtidal communities on both coasts. To determine Didemnum sp. A's current distribution, we conducted surveys from Maine to Virginia on the east coast and from British Columbia to southern California on the west coast of the U.S. between 1998 and 2005. In nearshore locations Didemnum sp. A currently ranges from Eastport, Maine to Shinnecock Bay, New York on the east coast. On the west coast it has been recorded from Humboldt Bay to Port San Luis in California, several sites in Puget Sound, Washington, including a heavily fouled mussel culture facility, and several sites in southwestern British Columbia on and adjacent to oyster and mussel farms. The species also occurs at deeper subtidal sites (up to 81 m) off New England, including Georges, Stellwagen and Tillies Banks. On Georges Bank numerous sites within a 230 km 2 area are 50–90% covered by Didemnum sp. A; large colonies cement the pebble gravel into nearly solid mats that may smother infaunal organisms. These observations suggest that Didemnum sp. A has the potential to alter marine communities and affect economically important activities such as fishing and aquaculture.

Subfields: Global and Planetary Change, Ocean Engineering, Oceanography

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/789862a40b464cdf7764efe2d32ba9d62f045d05

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Global and Planetary Change

1. T. Therriault
2. G. Lambert
3. H. MacIsaac
4. I. Davidson
5. C. Simkanin
6. J. Dower
7. G. Jamieson
8. G. Ruiz

In Ocean Engineering

1. G. Lambert
2. T. Therriault
3. C. Simkanin
4. I. Davidson
5. J. Dower
6. G. Jamieson
7. H. MacIsaac
8. Aibin Zhan

In Oceanography

1. T. Therriault
2. G. Lambert
3. H. MacIsaac
4. I. Davidson
5. G. Ruiz
6. C. Simkanin
7. G. Jamieson
8. J. Dower

Citations in the corpus

• Genetic conspecificity of the worldwide populations of Didemnum vexillum Kott, 2002. (2009, background): “…three decades, previously unrecorded populations of superficially similar colonial tunicates of the genus Didemnum have been discovered in many temperate coastal regions throughout the world (Minchin and Sides 2006; Bullard et al. 2007; Coutts and Forrest 2007; Gittenberger 2007; Lambert 2009).”
• Recreational boating: a large unregulated vector transporting marine invasive species (2011, background): “Previous studies have linked D. vexillum introductions to slow-moving barges (e.g. Bullard et al., 2007), and this has been hypothesized as one of vectors for its introduction and spread in BC (Herborg et al., 2008).”
• Ascidians as models for studying invasion success (2015, background): “Besides sexual reproduction, colonial ascidians such as B. schlosseri and B. violaceus can increase colony size through the asexual production of zooids and disperse asexually through fragmentation (Lambert 2005; Bullard et al. 2007b).”
• Anthropogenic structures and the infiltration of natural benthos by invasive ascidians (2012, background): “Although not found on natural habitat during our field survey, D. vexillum was reported previously from natural habitats in B.C. (Bullard et al. 2007) and is widely reported from subtidal gravel and rock on the eastern coast of North America, including a 230-km2 area of Georges Bank (Bullard et al.…”
• Effects of small-scale disturbance on invasion success in marine communities (2007, background): “…subtidal hard substrate communities, another unidentified colonial didemnid species has also invaded in the past four years and currently ranges from (at least) the southern Gulf of Maine to the Chesapeake Bay (Bullard et al., 2007-this issue; L. Harris, G. Ruiz, A. Hines, personal communication).”
• Marine invasion history and vector analysis of California: a hotspot for western North America (2011, background): “This is exemplified by the foraminiferan Trochammina hadai Uchio 1962 and tunicate Didemnum vexillum Kott 2002, which may have been introduced with plantings of Japanese oysters in the 1930s but were not detected until the 1990s (McGann et al., 2000; Bullard et al., 2007 ).”