Kappaphycus alvarezii

Invasion History

First Non-native North American Tidal Record: 1991
First Non-native West Coast Tidal Record:
First Non-native East/Gulf Coast Tidal Record: 1991

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General Invasion History:

North American Invasion History:

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Description

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Taxonomy

Ecology

General:

In Hawaii, populations of Kappaphycus alvarezi reproduce only vegetatively (Smith 2002), but sexual reproduction has occurred under laboratorry conditions (Bulboa et al. 2008, cited b Chandrasekaran 2008)

Consumers:

Humans (cultured for carrageenan)

Trophic Status:

Primary Producer

PrimProd

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Habitats

General Habitat	Oyster Reef	None
General Habitat	Coral reef	None
General Habitat	Mangroves	None
Salinity Range	Polyhaline	18-30 PSU
Salinity Range	Euhaline	30-40 PSU
Tidal Range	Subtidal	None
Vertical Habitat	Epibenthic	None

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Life History

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Tolerances and Life History Parameters

Maximum Temperature (ºC)	31	Water of this temperature caused ~70% mortality of cultured Kappaphycus in Fiji (Ask 2001).
Broad Temperature Range	None	Subtropical-Tropical
Broad Salinity Range	None	Polyhaline-Euhaline

General Impacts

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Regional Impacts

CIO-II	None		Ecological Impact	Competition
Overgrowing coral reefs, smothering corals (Acropora sp.), and depriving them of light (Chandrasekaran et al. 2008,)
CIO-II	None		Ecological Impact	Habitat Change
Overgowing and killing corals (Chandrasekaran et al. 2008)
SP-XXI	None		Ecological Impact	Competition
In Kane'ohe Bay, 'In some areas this organism is clearly competitively dominant, occupying up to 80% of the substrate. Because of its large stature, Kappaphycus also appears to be competing with coral and may be able to overgrow live coral colonies.' (Smith et al. 2002).
SP-XXI	None		Ecological Impact	Food/Prey
Kappaphycus spp. is a less preferred item for herbivorus fishes in Kane'ohe Bay, which may contribute to its competitiveness. However, it is preferentially grazed by native sea urchins, providing a possible means of biocontrol (Conklin and Smith 2005).
SP-VII	None		Economic Impact	Fisheries
Seaweed farming of Kappaphycus alvarezi was started in 1966 or 1975, and continued on a small scale, but collapsed in 1993 because of excessive costs and low porduction. The program was redsigned and restarted in 1997 (Ask et al. 2003; Pickering et al. 2007)
CAR-III	None		Ecological Impact	Habitat Change
Smothering seagrasses, corals, and mangroves in Bocas del Toro, Panama (Sellers et al. 2015)
HI	Hawaii		Ecological Impact	Competition
In Kane'ohe Bay, 'In some areas this organism is clearly competitively dominant, occupying up to 80% of the substrate. Because of its large stature, Kappaphycus also appears to be competing with coral and may be able to overgrow live coral colonies.' (Smith et al. 2002).
HI	Hawaii		Ecological Impact	Food/Prey
Kappaphycus spp. is a less preferred item for herbivorus fishes in Kane'ohe Bay, which may contribute to its competitiveness. However, it is preferentially grazed by native sea urchins, providing a possible means of biocontrol (Conklin and Smith 2005).

References

Albright , Sarah L.; Sellers, Andrew J.; Davidson, Timothy M. (2021) Native urchins as potential agents of biotic resistance to the introduced alga Kappaphycus alvarezii in a tropical lagoon, Biological Invasions Published online: <missing location>

Areces, Arsenio Jose, Mallea; Villaneuva, Felipe Carlos Alvarez; Bernardi, Juliane; Cabrera, Ruben (2014) Ecological risk assessment of the introduction of exotic carageenophytes in the tropical Western Atlantic, Journal of Applied Phycology 26: 2055-2066

Ask, E. I.; Ledua, E.; Batibasaga, A.; Mario, S (2003) Proceedings of the 17th International Seaweed Symposium, Oxford University Press, Oxford UK. Pp. 81-85

Carlton, James T.; Eldredge, Lucius (2009) Marine bioinvasions of Hawaii: The introduced and cryptogenic marine and estuarine animals and plants of the Hawaiian archipelago., Bishop Museum Bulletin in Cultural and Environmental Studies 4: 1-202

Castelar, Beatriz; Reis, Renata Perpetuo; Bastos, Marcos (2009) [Contribution to the environmental monitoring protocol for Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) Doty ex P.C. Silva (Areschougiaceae - Rhodophyta) cultivation at Sepetiba bay, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil).], Acta Botanica Brasilica 23(3): 613-617

Chandrasekaran, S.; Arun Nagendran N.; Pandiaraja, D.; Krishnankutty, N.; Kamalakannan, B. (2008) Bioinvasion of Kappaphycus alvarezii on corals in the Gulf of Mannar, India., Current Science 94(9): 1167-1172

Conklin, Eric J.; Smith, Jennifer E. (2005) Abundance and spread of the invasive red algae, Kappaphycus spp., in Kane’ohe Bay, Hawai’i and an experimental assessment of management options., Biological Invasions 7: 1029-1039

da Silva, Beatriz Nogueira Torrano; Amancio, Carlos Eduardo; Filho, Eurico Cabral de Oliveira (2010) Exotic marine macroalgae on the Brazilian coast: A revision, Oecologia Australis 14(2): 403-414

de Paula, Edison Jose; Pereira, Ricardo toledo Lima; Ohna, Masao (2002) Growth rate of the carrageenophyte Kappaphycus alvarezii (Rhodophyta, Gigartinales) introduced in subtropical waters of Sao Paulo State, Brazil., Phycological Research 50: 1-9.

Eldredge, L.G. (1994) Perspectives in aquatic exotic species management in the Pacific Islands Vol. I. Introductions of commercially significant aquatic organisms to the Pacific islands, South Pacific Commission. Inshore Fisheries Research Project, Technical Document 7: 1-127

Guiry, M. D.; Guiry, G. M. 2004-2023 AlgaeBase. https://www.algaebase.org/



Kamalakannan, B.; Jeevamani, J. Joyson Joe; Nagendran, N. Arun; Pandiaraja, D.; Chandrasekaran, S. (2014) Impact of removal of invasive species Kappaphycus alvarezii from coral reef ecosystem in Gulf of Mannar, India, Current Science 106: 1401-1408

Ku'ulei Rodgers, S.; Cox, Evelyn F. (1999) Rate of spread of introduced rhodophytes Kappaphycus alvarezii, Kappaphycus striatum, and Gracilaria salicornia and their current distributions in Kane'ohe Bay, O'ahu, Hawai'i., Pacific Science 53(3): 232-241

Lemus Castro, Andres J. (1999) Exotic seaweeds and its presence in Venezuelan seas, Acta Cientifica Venezolana 50: 11-14

Lopes, Rubens M. (Ed.) (2009) <missing title>, Ministry of the Environment, Brasilia, Brazil. Pp. 1-440

Mandal, Subir Kumar; Mantri, Vaibhav; Haldar, Soumya; Eswara, Karuppanan; Ganesan, Meenakshisundaram (2011) Invasion potential of Kappaphycus alvarezii on corals at Kurusadai Island, Gulf of Mannar, India, Algae 25: 205-216

Pickering, Timothy D.;Skelton, Posa; Sulu, Reuben J. (2007) Intentional introductions of commercially harvested alien seaweeds., Botanica Marina 50: 338-350

Sellers, Andrew J.; Ruiz, Gregory M.; Leung, Brian; Torchin, Mark E. (2015) Regional variation in parasite species richness and abundance in the introduced range of the invasive lionfish, Pterois volitans, PLOS ONE Published online: <missing location>

Sellers, Andrew; Saltonstall, Kristen; Davidson, Timothy M. (2015) The introduced alga Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty ex P. C. Silva, 1996) in abandoned cultivation sites in Bocas del Toro, Panama, Bioinvasions Records 4: in press

Silva, Paul C.; Menez, Ernani G.; Moe, Richard L. (1987) Catalog of the benthic marine algae of the Philippines, Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences 27: 1-179

Smith, Jennifer E.: Hunter, Cynthia; Smith, Celia M. (2002) Distribution and reproductive characteristics of nonindigenous and invasive marine algae in the Hawaiian Islands., Pacific Science 56(3): 299-315

Tavares, M. R.; .Franco, A. C. S. ; . Ventura, C. R. R.; .Santos, L. N. (2021) Geographic distribution of Ophiothela brittle stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea): substrate use plasticity and implications for the silent invasion of O. mirabilis in the Atlantic, Hydrobiologia 848: 2093-2103

Tsuda, Roy T. (2002) Checklist and bibliography of the marine benthic algae from the Marshall Islands, University of Guam Marine Labotarory Technical Report 106: 1-33

Tsuda, Roy T. (2006) Checklist and bibliography of the marine benthic algae within Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae states, Federated States of Micronesia, Bishop Museum Technical Report 34: 1-43

Wynne, Michael J. (2011) The benthic marine algae of the tropical and subtropical Western Atlantic: changes in our understanding in the last half century, Algae 26(2): 109-140

Zuccarello, Giuseppe C.; Critchley, Alan T.; Smith, Jennifer; Sieber, Volker; Lhonneur, Genevieve Bleicher; West, John A. (2006) Systematics and genetic variation in commercial Kappaphycus and Eucheuma (Solieriaceae, Rhodophyta), Journal of Applied Phycology 18: 643-651

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