Invasion
Invasion Description
1st Record: CA/San Francisco Bay (1954, Carlton 1979)
Geographic Extent
CA/Tomales Bay (1969, Carlton 1979; 2001, Fairey 2002); 2011, California Department of Fish and Wildlife 2014); CA/Bolinas Lagoon (1971, Carlton 1979); CA/San Francisco Bay (1954, Carlton 1979, most abundant invertebrate in mesohaline and polyhaline zones, Gillett et al. 2012)); CA/South Bay to Carquinez Straits and Suisun Bay (San Francisco Bay) (Cohen and Carlton 1996); Sierra Point Marina/CA/South San Francisco Bay (2004, Cohen et al. 2005); Adjacent To Public Boat Launch Facilities, Vallejo/CA/Mare Island Strrait (1973, USNM 235005, U.S. National Museum of Natural History 2015); Port Sonoma/CA/San Pablo Bay (2004, Cohen et al. 2005); Richmond Marina/CA/San Francisco Bay (2004, Cohen et al. 2005); Port San Pablo/CA/San Pablo Bay (2004, Cohen et al. 2005); CA/San Pablo Bay (1987-2003, Peterson et al. 2010, one of 3 dominant organisms); Pete's Harbor/CA/South San Francisco Bay (2004, Cohen et al. 2005); Coyote Point Marina/CA/South San Francisco Bay (2004, Cohen et al. 2005); Fresh-Brackish-Estuarine Transition (Suisun-San Pablo, mean salinity 4.9 PSU, Lee et al. 2003); Sherman Island/CA/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Hopkins 1986); CA/Elkhorn Slough 1998, Wasson et al. 2001)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Alternate | Ballast Water |
| Alternate | Oyster Accidental |
| Alternate | Hull Fouling |
| Alternate | Discarded Bait |
| Alternate | Fisheries Accidental (not Oyster) |
Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Competition | |
| Nichols and Thompson (1985) observed that settlement of Macoma petalum (as M. balthica) was reduced during peak abudances of A. abdita, suggesting competition for food or space. | ||
| Ecological Impact | Herbivory | |
| Nichols and Thompson (1985) suggested that an upstream movement of abundant suspension-feeding benthos, including A. abdita, was responsible for a decline in phytoplankton biomass in Suisun Bay during 1976-1977, a dry period of high salinity (Nichols and Thompson 1985). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Food/Prey | |
| Tube-dwelling and free-living gammarid amphipods were important food items for several native (Tule Perch- Hysterocarpus traskii, Prickly Sculpin- Cottus asper, Starry Flounder- Platichthys stellatus) and introduced fishes (Acanthogobius longimanus, Yellowfin Goby) (Feyrer et al. 2003). | ||