Invasion
Invasion Description
1st Record: Koror/Palau/Pacific Ocean (P. Colin, personal communication, Chad Hewitt, personal communication) 'Information gathered from theCoral Reef Research Foundation indicates that the only introduced marine species that is showing invasive behaviour is a recently introduced hydroid, Eudendrium carneum. The hydroid was introduced in July 1997 when a floating bridge was brought over from Guangzhou City in Southern China to be used to temporarily connect Koror and Babeldaob after the KB Bridge collapsed in September 1996. Since its introduction, the hydroid has spread rapidly (approximately 3-4 kilometers in each direction in the channel).' (Shine et al. 2003)
Geographic Extent
Koror/Palau/Pacific Ocean (P. Colin, personal communication, Chad Hewitt, persaonal communication; Shine et al. 2003)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Probable | Hull Fouling |
Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Competition | |
| None | ||
| Ecological Impact | Habitat Change | |
| 'It lives on rocky bottoms, where it forms a tangle of branches that tend to accumulate sediment, making it a fairly unattractive "weed" species' (Shine et al. 2003) | ||
| Economic Impact | Aesthetic | |
| 'These masses of hydroid tend to make the rocky surfaces of the reef less visible, and tend to make the reef look 'dirty'. (Shine et al. 2003) | ||