Invasion
Invasion Description
1st record: Oakland/CA/San Francisco Bay (1977, Marelli 1981; Cohen and Carlton 1985)
Geographic Extent
CA/Morro Bay (2001, as C. acanthogaster, Fairey et al. 2002; Needles 2007; Needles and Wendt 2012; (011, California Department of Fish and Wildlife 2014); Oakland/CA/San Francisco Bay (1977, Marelli 1981; Cohen and Carlton 1985); Sierra Point Marina/CA/South San Francisco Bay (2004, Cohen et al. 2005); Coast Guard Island, Oakland/CA/Oakland estuary (2004, Cohen et al. 2005); Richmond Marina/CA/San Francisco Bay (2004, Cohen et al. 2005); Pete's Harbor/CA/South San Francisco Bay (2004, Cohen et al. 2005); Brisbane/CA/Brisbane Lagoon, South San Francisco Bay (2004, Cohen et al. 2005); Presidio Yacht Club/CA/Golden Gate (2004, Cohen et al. 2005); Coyote Point Marina/CA/San Francisco Bay (2004, Cohen et al. 2005); CA/South San Francisco Bay (2012-2013, mostly fouling communities, rare in infauna, Jimenez et al. 2017); CA/Tomales Bay (2001, as C. acanthogaster, Fairey et al. 2002; 2011, California Department of Fish and Wildlife 2014); CA/Bodega Bay (2001, Fairey et al. 2002; 2011, California Department of Fish and Wildlife 2014)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Alternate | Oyster Accidental |
| Alternate | Ballast Water |
| Alternate | Hull Fouling |
Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Predation | |
| In Bodega Harbor, caging experiments and feeding trials showed that Caprella mutica was a significant predator on recruits of Ciona intestinalis (Rius et al. 2014). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Competition | |
Caprella mutica was less tolerant of low salinity (LC50 of 17-21 PSU) than C. californica (LC50 of 16 PSU), and died out more quickly after low-salinity events in San Francisco Bay, but recolonized more rapidly due to faster marity and higher fecundity (Desmet 2011). | ||