Invasive tunicates

[waterkitty]

It's rare to see much of anything hanging out on the actual tunicate mass. The reason is that the tunicate produces a toxin that gives its surface a pH of about 2! Now...some snails have been observed grazing on the tunicate as it dies back for the cold winter months...this, of course, makes all of us invasive marine ecologist-types rather curious and hopeful that there is some control for this nasty stuff (sorry, I'm a little biased...this stuff may be earning me my masters degree, but it's still ugly to look at, and may be negatively affecting our waters)...

Anywhoo, thanks for the great pics. I was at the Internation Invasive Sea Squirts Conference in Woods Hole, MA back in April, where I met Page Valentine. For those non-oceanographer types, Page is a scientist with USGS Woods Hole and he has put together a website documenting where the invasive stuff is found (the link is earlier in the thread, I believe). He mentioned seeing this specific thread when searching on Google and was impressed with the number of pictures. He expressed interest in receiving pictures from divers as well as scientists...check out the link at http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/stellwagen/didemnum/. Page's email is down near the bottom.

Happy diving! And keep us posted!

Internal strobe on a small Sony. The Blood Star may have been passing through. There's also an anemone growing through it. I did only saw this one patch but I can't say I was looking all the time.

 

[ScubaBabe22]

It's rare to see much of anything hanging out on the actual tunicate mass. The reason is that the tunicate produces a toxin that gives its surface a pH of about 2! Now...some snails have been observed grazing on the tunicate as it dies back for the cold winter months...this, of course, makes all of us invasive marine ecologist-types rather curious and hopeful that there is some control for this nasty stuff (sorry, I'm a little biased...this stuff may be earning me my masters degree, but it's still ugly to look at, and may be negatively affecting our waters)...

Anywhoo, thanks for the great pics. I was at the Internation Invasive Sea Squirts Conference in Woods Hole, MA back in April, where I met Page Valentine. For those non-oceanographer types, Page is a scientist with USGS Woods Hole and he has put together a website documenting where the invasive stuff is found (the link is earlier in the thread, I believe). He mentioned seeing this specific thread when searching on Google and was impressed with the number of pictures. He expressed interest in receiving pictures from divers as well as scientists...check out the link at http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/stellwagen/didemnum/. Page's email is down near the bottom.

Happy diving! And keep us posted!

Is it native? If not, how do you believe it got to the area? Ballast water?

 

[STOGEY]

Yes I see these al the time. To me it looks like someone really blew their nose and dropped the tissue right there if you know what I mean.

 

[waterkitty]

Is it native? If not, how do you believe it got to the area? Ballast water?

Hi! It is not native. As for how it got there, there are a few theories. Ballast water is a possibility BUT the larvae do NOT travel very far! It is more likely that hull fouling causes spreading as this is a hardy tunicate and spreads quickly when pieces of it are broken off and moved elsewhere.
So, Ship from Port A where there is a strong presence of tunicate steams out to Port B where the tunicate does not exist but pieces of said tunicate growing on ship's hull break off in Port B and if the conditions are suitable (temperate waters, spring/summer) this tunicate has a good chance of spreading.

 

[waterkitty]

Yes I see these al the time. To me it looks like someone really blew their nose and dropped the tissue right there if you know what I mean.

And i am the lucky one who gets to stare at pictures of it all day to analyze growth. Lucky lucky me. :shakehead

 

[ScubaBabe22]

Hi! It is not native. As for how it got there, there are a few theories. Ballast water is a possibility BUT the larvae do NOT travel very far! It is more likely that hull fouling causes spreading as this is a hardy tunicate and spreads quickly when pieces of it are broken off and moved elsewhere.
So, Ship from Port A where there is a strong presence of tunicate steams out to Port B where the tunicate does not exist but pieces of said tunicate growing on ship's hull break off in Port B and if the conditions are suitable (temperate waters, spring/summer) this tunicate has a good chance of spreading.

iiiiiiinteresting and somewhat concerning. There's alot of marine life that seems to be invasive. Are there any preventative measures being taken?

 

[waterkitty]

iiiiiiinteresting and somewhat concerning. There's alot of marine life that seems to be invasive. Are there any preventative measures being taken?

Well, unfortunately this species is not known well. In fact, there is still a huge conflict as to what the heck species this thing is. There is a nice little taxonomist war plus a little thing called politics getting in the way *sigh* BUT there have been attempts to see if it is possible to get rid of the stuff through vacuuming (yes, I said vacuuming!) the stuff of a barge in New Zealand to divers (yay!) isolating the tunicate-infested area and throwing some chlorine tablets on the population in Washington State. This is a tough job and the divers need to maintain it monthly and are working on a volunteer basis. If they decide not to do this anymore, there is no support given to actually continue this work and the tunicates will come back. A scientist in Connecticut is working on a hull fouling survey and I am working on establishing a clearer idea of what kind of environment these tunicates like, how they compete with native species and how we can predict at-risk areas. Careful monitoring of at-risk water sources plus monies targeted at decreasing hull fouling/transport can be most effective at preventing these guys.

Oh, and divers that clean off all their gear really well can help too. And those divers that take pics of the tunicate are also valuable to researchers because we can map this puppy.

 

[bikeflip22]

update:


i saw some on aug 14th at folly cove under neith some rock slabs at the wall on the west side..

 

[skywalk234]

i think i may have seen it but i usually busy looking at things other than mussels

 

[waterkitty]

i think i may have seen it but i usually busy looking at things other than mussels

It totally depends on where you are. Sometimes you can't miss it...it's everywhere (like the GSO dock) but some places, like in FT. Wetherill, it's more, uh, "subdued(?)."

I'd much rather look at other stuff than this, but alas, it's earning me a grad degree. :11ztongue