Invasion
Invasion Description
1st Record: Tunisia/Lac de Tunis (1927, Vuiellemin 1965)
Geographic Extent
Italy/Tyrhennian Sea (ten Hove and Weerdenburg 1978); Italy/Lagune Orbetello, Tyrehnnian Sea (Bianchi and Morri 2001); Tunisia/Lac de Tunis (1927, Vuiellemin 1965; Amor et al. 2016)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Alternate | Hull Fouling |
| Alternate | Ballast Water |
Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Competition | |
| In the Orbetello lagoon, Italy, Ficopomatus enigmaticus tubes outnumbered and outgrew those of another introduced serpulid (Hydroides dianthus), which produces thicker and stronger tubes, but with slower growth (Bianchi and Morri 2001). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Habitat Change | |
| In the Lac du Tunis, Tunisia, F. enignmaticus constructed extensive reefs on formerly bare sediments, filling in the basin and reducing circulation. Filtration increased water clarity, stimulating growth of macroalgae. Decaying macroalgae can result in hypoxic conditions (Keene 1980). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Trophic Cascade | |
| Filtration by F. enigmaticus shifts biomass from the water column to the benthos. Filtration increases water clarity, stimulating growth of macroalgae (Keene 1980). | ||
References
Amor, Kounofi-Ben; Rifi, M.; Ghanem, R.; Draief, I.; Zouali, J.; Souissi, J. Ben (2016) Update of alien fauna and new records of Tunisian marine fauna, Mediterranean Marine Science 17(1): 124-143Bianchi, C. N.; Morri, C. (2001) The battle is not to the strong: Serpulid reefs in the lagoon of Orbetello (Tuscany: Italy)., Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 53: 215:220
Keene, William C. Jr. (1980) The importance of a reef-forming polychaete, Mercierella enigmatica in the oxygen and nutrient dynamics of a hypereutrophic subtropical lagoon., Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science 11: 167-178
Ten Hove, H. A.; Weerdenburg, J. C. A. (1978) A generic revision of the brackish-water serpulid Ficopomatus Southern 1921 (Polychaeta : Serpulinae) including Mercierella Fauvel 1923, Sphaeropomatus Treadwell 1934, Mercierellopsis Rioja 1945 and Neopomatus Pillai 196, Biological Bulletin 154: 96-120
Vuillemin, Simone (1965) Contribution a l'etude ecologique du lac de Tunis: Biologie de Mercierella enigmatica Fauvel, Theses a la Faculte des sciences de lUniversite de Paris A4622(5469): 1-276