Invasion
Invasion Description
1st Record? Isle Au Haut/ME/Penobscot Bay (1897, USNM 450194, US National Museum of Natural History 2007)
Geographic Extent
Rockland/ME/Penobscot Bay (1912, USNM 435413, US National Museum of Natural History 2007); Isle Au Haut/ME/Penobscot Bay (1897, USNM 435408, US National Museum of Natural History 2007); Vinalhaven Island/ME/Penobscot Bay (MCZ 343693, Museum of Comparative Zoology 2007); Little Brewster Cove, Little Brewster Island (near Isle au Haut/ME/Gulf of Maine (Lubchenco 1978)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Alternate | Dry Ballast |
| Alternate | Natural Dispersal |
| Alternate | Hull Fouling |
Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Herbivory | |
| Littorina littorea is the most abundant herbivorous intertidal invertebrate on rocky shores in the Gulf of Maine. Removal experiments indicated that L. littorea did not graze significantly on the dominant alga, Chondrus crispus, when it was already established, but did affect algal succession by grazing on emphemeral algae which compete with Chondrus, damping variation in Chondrus abundance. Impacts of L. littorea were greatest at sheltered sites such as Little Brewster Island, ME, since L. littorea was rare or absent at sites with heavy wave action (Lubchenco 1978). | ||