Species Regional Summary
Ciona robusta
Northern California to Mid Channel Islands ( NEP-V )

Invasion History Vectors Impacts References

Invasion

Invasion Description

1st record: Oakland/CA/Lake Merritt, San Francisco Bay (Rodholm 1932, cited by Carlton 1979)

Geographic Extent

Mason's Marina/CA/Bodega Harbor (2004, de Rivera et al. 2005a; 2011, California Department of Fish and Wildlife 2014); CA/Tomales Bay (2000, Fairey et al. 2002); Clark/CA/Tomales Bay (de Rivera et al. 2005); Marshall/CA/Tomales Bay (de Rivera et al. 2005a); Sacramento Landing/CA/Tomales Bay (de Rivera et al. 2005a); Thomas Station/CA/Tomales Bay (de Rivera et al. 2005a); Oakland/CA/Lake Merritt, San Francisco Bay (Rodholm 1932, 1960s-1970s, Carlton unpublished, cited by Carlton 1979); CA/San Francisco Bay (2000, Ruiz et al., unpublished data); Richmond Marina/CA/San Francisco Bay (Chang 2009; 2010, Marrafini et al. 2017)); 1960s-1970s, Carlton unpublished, cited by Carlton 1979); Sausalito/CA/San Francisco Bay (Nydam and Harrison 2007, molecular ID); Alameda/CA/Ballena Bay, San Francisco Bay (2005, Foss 2009); small marinas, Oakland/CA/Oakland Inner Harbor (2005, Foss 2009); Coast Guard Island/CA/San Francisco Bay (2005, Foss 2009); San Francisco Marina/CA/San Francisco Bay (2010, Marrafini et al. 2017); San Leandro Marina/CA/San Francisco Bay (2010, Marrafini et al. 2017); Coyote Pt Marina/CA/South San Francisco Bay (2005, Foss 2009); Sierra Point Marina/CA/South San Francisco Bay (2005, Foss 2009); CA/Half Moon Bay (Caputiu et al. 2007, molecular ID, Nydam and Harrison 2007, molecular ID); CA/Monterey Harbor (Haderlie 1974, cited by Carlton 1979); Monterey Marina/CA/Monterey Harbor (2003, de Rivera et al. 2005a; 2011, California Department of Fish and Wildlife 2014); CA/Morro Bay (Needles 2007, Needles and Wendt 2012, present in 1968-86 surveys, but absent in 2005-2006 surveys; 2011, California Department of Fish and Wildlife 2014, present)

Vectors

Level Vector
Alternate Hull Fouling
Alternate Oyster Accidental
Alternate Ballast Water

Regional Impacts

Ecological ImpactCompetition
In San Francisco Bay, this tunicate appears to strongly compete with other fouling organisms, both native and introduced (Blum et al. 2007). Fouling community diversity was negatively correlated with C. robusta abundance, and experimental removal of this tunicate resulted in increased diversity (Blum et al. 2007).
 
Ecological ImpactHabitat Change
The tunics of C. intestinalis provided a poor substrate for settlement of other organisms when this organism dominated fouling plates (Blum et al. 2007).
 

References

Full Reference List for Ciona robusta

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