Abstract
We report the invasion of the Gulf of Maine, in the northwest Atlantic Ocean, by the largest red seaweed in the world, the Asian Grateloupia turuturu. First detected in 1994 in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, south of Cape Cod, this alga had expanded its range in the following years only over to Long Island and into Long Island Sound. In July 2007 we found Grateloupia in the Cape Cod Canal and as far north (east) as Boston, Massachusetts, establishing its presence in the Gulf of Maine. Grateloupia can be invasive and may be capable of disrupting low intertidal and shallow subtidal seaweeds. The plant's broad physiological tolerances suggest that it will be able to expand possibly as far north as the Bay of Fundy. We predict its continued spread in North America and around the world, noting that its arrival in the major international port of Boston may now launch G. turuturu on to new global shipping corridors.
Department
New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, Jackson Estuarine Laboratory
Publication Date
10-1-2008
Journal Title
Biological Invasions
Publisher
Springer Verlag
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1007/s10530-007-9176-z
Scientific Contribution Number
2339
Document Type
Article
Rights
Copyright © 2007, Springer Science+Business Media B.V. The final published version can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10530-007-9176-z.
Recommended Citation
Mathieson, Arthur C.; Dawes, Clinton J.; Pederson, Judith; Gladych, Rebecca A.; and Carlton, James T., "The Asian red seaweed Grateloupia turuturu (Rhodophyta) invades the Gulf of Maine" (2008). Biological Invasions. 18.
https://scholars.unh.edu/nhaes/18