Species Regional Summary
Mytilus galloprovincialis
None ( NWP-4a )

Invasion History Vectors Impacts References

Invasion

Invasion Description

1st Record: Japan/Sea of Japan (1941, Iwasaki 2005); Korea/Pacific Ocean (1936, Lee et al. 2010, location not given)

Geographic Extent

China/Bohai Sea (Huang 2002); China/YellowSea (Huang 2002); Western coast/South Korea/Yellow Sea (Daguin and Borsa 200; Park et al. 20170); Toyama, Honshu/Japan/Toyama Bay, Sea of Japan (1992, Suchanek et al. 1997); Russia/Poss'yet Bay (Sea of Japan) (1985, Skurikhina et al. 2004, most common in southern part of Bay, pure M. galloprovincialis absent in northern Bay, but ~ 9% of mussels were M. trossulus X M. galloprovincialis hybrids); Hamamasu-Fukushima, Hokkaido/Japan/Sea of Japan (2006, 100% M. galloprovincialis, Brannock et al. 2009); Po'Hang region/South Korea/Yeongil Bay (Lutaenko et al. 2006; Park et al. 2017)

Vectors

Level Vector
Alternate Hull Fouling
Alternate Ballast Water

Regional Impacts

Ecological ImpactCompetition
The invasion of M. galloprovincialis has reduced native species and altered benthic communities by the development of dense mussel beds. Among species which have been partially replaced are: Crassostrea gigas (Pacific Oyster), Septifer virgatus (a native mussel), Chthamalus challengeri, and the seaweed Sargassum fusiformis (Chavanich et al. 2010). In this bioregion, the native M. trossulus was once the sole mussel species of Mytilus, confined to the west coast of Hokkaido and the Russian coast (Skurikhina et al. 2004; Brannock and Hilbish 2010). In 2006, all of the mussels sampled by Brannock and Hilbish (2010) on the west coast of Hokkaido were M. galloprovincialis.
 
Ecological ImpactHabitat Change
Large beds of M. galloprovincialis have altered benthic communities through the mass deposition of pseudofeces in the sediment, creating hypoxic conditions (Chavanich et al. 2010).
 
Economic ImpactFisheries
The invasion of M. galloprovincialis has interfered with oyster culture (Chavanich et al. 2010).
 
Economic ImpactShipping/Boating

Greatly increased ship fouling due to M. galloprovincialis had resulted in a great increase in the use of toxic fouling paints, including TBT, with negative effects on native mollusks (Chavanich et al. 2010). A predatory snail, Reishia luteostoma (as Reishia bronni(, was tested as a potential biocontrol for Mytius galloprovincialis.  It cleared small areas  of  mussels effectively, but rearing large numbers of snails is limiting (Kim et al. 2022).

 
Ecological ImpactHybridization
In recent genetic surveys, purebred Mytilus galloprovincialis was the sole Mytilus species in most of the Sea of Japan, but in Pos'yet Bay near Vladivostok, although no purebred M. galloprovincialis were found, 9% of the mussels were M. trossulus X M. galloprovincialis hybrids (Skurikhina et al. 2004).
 

References

Full Reference List for Mytilus galloprovincialis

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