Invasion
Invasion Description
1st Established Record: British Columbia/Boundary Bay (1895, Carlton 1979) 1st Record: WA/Puget Sound (1870-1880s,Townsend 1893, cited by Carlton 1979, 'two sacks' planted). The only established reproducing population in the NE Pacific is in the Nicomekl River, flowing into Boundary Bay, near Langley, British Columbia (Carlton 1992). This population persists- a local website shows a Boy Scout troops' efforts to restore habitat for the Eastern Oyster http://www.1stsemiscouting.org/photos.htm#Oyster%20Beds. A phtograph of aan Eastern Oyster, taken in 2009 by Brian Klinkenberg, and identified by Rick Harbo Univeristy of British Columbia, , is posted at http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/efauna/photoGallery/ShowStandardMobile.aspx?index=6222.
Geographic Extent
British Columbia/Pacific Ocean (1st plantings 1883, Newcombe 1893, cited by Carlton 1979); Vancouver Island/British Columbia/Nanoose Bay (Extinct in 1905, Doane 1905, extinct, cited by Carlton 1979); Vancouver Island/British Columbia/Ladysmith Harbor, Straits of Georgia (1905, Doane 1905, extinct, cited by Carlton 1979); Vancouver Island/British Columbia/Esquimalt Harbor (1906, Carlton 1979); British Columbia-WA/Boundary Bay (1895, Carlton 1979, additional planting in 1905, plantings continued to 1940, persistent population in the Nicomekl River, British Columbia, Quayle 1969; Carlton 1979; Carlton 1992); Vancouver Island/British WA/Puget Sound (1870-1880s,Townsend 1893, cited by Carlton 1979, 'two sacks' planted, 1899-1900, more extensive and successful plantings, occasional spawning, fishery declined by 1920s, failed, Carlton 1979)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Probable | Oyster-Intentional |
Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Parasite/Predator Vector | |
| While C. virginica has not become established in British Columbia and Puget sound waters, exept for a tiny population in boundary Bay, Eastern Oyster introductions have been a probable/possible vector for many fouling organisms and predators including Cliona sp. (boring sponges) and other sponges, polychaetes [Alitta (=Neanthes, Nereis), Clymenellla torquata, Streblospio benedicti], slippershells (Crepidula convexa, C. plana, C. fornicata), Atlantic Oyster Drill (Urosalpinx cinerea), and tunicates (Botryllus schlosseri, Molgula manhattensis) (Quayle 1969; Carlton 1979; Cohen et al. 2001; de Rivera et al. 2005; Gillespie et al. 2007). | ||
References
Carlton, James T. (1979) History, biogeography, and ecology of the introduced marine and estuarine invertebrates of the Pacific Coast of North America., Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Davis. Pp. 1-904Mach, Megan E.; Levings, Colin D.; McDonald, P. Sean; Chan, Kai M. A. (2012) An Atlantic infaunal engineer is established in the Northeast Pacific: Clymenella torquata (Polychaeta: Maldanidae) on the British Columbia and Washington Coasts, Biological Invasions 14: 503-507
Quayle, D. B. (1969) Pacific oyster culture in British Columbia, Canadian Fisheries Research Board Bulletin 169: 1-192
Smith, Hugh M. (1895) A review of the history and results of the attempts to acclimatize fish and other water animals in the Pacific states., Bulletin of the U. S. Fish Commission 15: 379-472