Invasion
Invasion Description
1st record: Poland/Baltic Sea (1988, Zmudzinski, 1996) Some of these records may refer to M. neglecta (Sikorski and Bick 2004; Bastrop and Blank 2006)
Geographic Extent
Poland/Baltic Sea (Bastrop and Blank 2006; Lithuania/Baltic Sea (Bastrop and Blank 2006); Poland/Vistula estuary (Ezhova et al. 2005); Kalinigrad district/Russia/Curonian Lagoon (Ezhova and Spirido 2005)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Alternate | Ballast Water |
| Alternate | Natural Dispersal |
Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Competition | |
| Some community impacts in Vistula Lagoon (Zaiko et al. 2011). Marenzellaria is now dominant in Vistula Lagoon infauna (Ezhova et al. 2005). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Habitat Change | |
| Some habitat impacts (Zaiko et al. 2011). After the invasion of M. viridis, the benthos became more deeply distributed in the sediment, due to the deeper burrowing of M. viridis. Increased abundance of M. viridis was accompanied by a decline in corophiid amphipods, possibly due to bioturbation by the burrowing worms (Ezhova et al. 2005). Marenzelleria sp. increased oxygen penetration along its burrows, but did not effect pore water nutrient concentrations. However, at high densities, they did increase ammonium efflux. The worms did not affect total meiobenthic abundance, but did alter vertical distribution, allowing colonization deeper in the sediment (Urban-Malinga et al. 2013). | ||