Invasion
Invasion Description
1st Record: Gandia/Spain/Mediterranean Sea (1933, ten Hove and Weerdenburg 1978)
Geographic Extent
Gandia/Spain/Mediterranean Sea (1933, ten Hove and Weerdenburg 1978); France-Spain/Mediterranean Sea (ten Hove and Weerdenburg 1978, 4+ locations, probably introduced much earlier); Menorca, Balearic Islands/Spain/Albufera Lagoon (Fornos et al. 1997); Algeria/Gulf of Skikda (Grimes et al. 2018, 36.898060°;6.928808°); Livorno/Italy/Ligurian Sea (2016, Tempesti et al. 2020); 7 ports, Majorca. Balearic Islands/Spain/Meidterranean Sea (2017-2019, Grosse et al. 2021, 3 clades identified)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Alternate | Hull Fouling |
| Alternate | Ballast Water |
Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Habitat Change | |
| The reefs of Ficopomatus enigmaticus are major features in the Albufera Lagoon, forming calcareous reefs 2-3 m thick. The reefs have the potential to eventually fill up the lagoon (Fornos et al. 1997). | ||
References
Fornos, J.J.; Forteza, V.; Martinez-Taberner, A. (1997) Modern polychaete reefs in Western Mediterranean lagoons: Ficopomatus enigmaticus (Fauvel) in the Albufera of Menorca, Balearic Islands, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 128: 175-186Grosse, Maël; Pérez, Roberto; Juan-Amengual, Mateo; Pons; Joan; Capa, María (2021) The elephant in the room: first record of invasive gregarious species of serpulids (calcareous tube annelids) in Majorca (western Mediterranean), Scientia Marina 85(1): 15-28
Ten Hove, H. A.; Weerdenburg, J. C. A. (1978) A generic revision of the brackish-water serpulid Ficopomatus Southern 1921 (Polychaeta : Serpulinae) including Mercierella Fauvel 1923, Sphaeropomatus Treadwell 1934, Mercierellopsis Rioja 1945 and Neopomatus Pillai 196, Biological Bulletin 154: 96-120