Species Regional Summary
Gracilaria vermiculophylla
_CDA_M128 (Eastern Lower Delmarva) ( M128 )

Incorporated into tubes of Diopatra cuprea, tube-building polychaete; reduced biodiversity of mobile fauna in drift masses of A. vermiculophyllum (Thomsen et al. 2009). Mats of G. vermiculophylla had increased concentrations of Vibrio bacteria compared to surrounding sediments (Gonzalez et al. 2014). Fouling of the tubes is causing high mortality of D. cuprea, and altering the topography of mudflats (Berke et al. 2014). In 2013, an exceptional 'superbloom' of A. vermiclophyllum covered extensive areas of mudflats in Burton's Bay, Virgnia, leading to anoxia and sulfide production, and extensive mortality of D. cuprea. Outside of this exceptional event, a long-term decline of D. cuprea is occurring in Virignia Coastal Bays, but not in Cape Cod mudflats. where A. vermiculophylla is a recent invader (Keller et al. 2019); The algal mats reduced water flow, increasing sediment stability, favoring further deposition (Volaric et al. 2023).