Invasion
Invasion Description
1st record: East Marion/NY/Gardiner's Bay (1957, Bouck and Morgan 1957)
Geographic Extent
Chatham/MA/Oyster Pond River, Nantucket Sound, on oysters (1961, Carlton and Scanlon 1985); Cotuit/MA/Cotuit Bay (Nantucket Sound) on oysters from Mystic (Carlton and Scanlon 1985); Easton/MA/Salt Pond (1974, Carlton and Scanlon 1985) West Falmouth/MA/Buzzards Bay (1967, Carlton and Scanlon 1985); Scraggy Neck/MA/Bourne (1968, Carlton and Scanlon 1985); Bourne/MA/Cape Cod Canal (1969, Carlton and Scanlon 1985); Tripps Marina, Westport/MA/Westport River (2000, 2003, MIT Sea Grant 2003; 2010, Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management 2013); Woods Hole Coast Guard Station/MA/Little Harbor, Vineyard Sound (2000, 2003, MIT Sea Grant 2003); Massachusetts Maritme Academy (2000, 2003, MIT Sea Grant 2003; 2010, Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management 2013); Popes Island Marina, New Bedford (2010, Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management 2013); Warwick/RI/Narragansett Bay (MIT Sea Grant 2003); Allens Harbor, North Kingstown/RI/Narragansett Bay (2000, 2003, MIT Sea Grant 2003); Warwick Cove Marina, Warwick/RI/Narragansett Bay (MIT Sea Grant 2003); Fort Getty Pier, Jamestown/RI/West Passage, Narragansett Bay 2000, 2003, MIT Sea Grant 2003); Warwick Cove Marina, Warwick/RI/Narragansett Bay (MIT Sea Grant 2003); Newport Shipyard, Newport/RI/East Passage, Narragansett Bay (2000, 2003, MIT Sea Grant 2003);Warwick Cove Marina, Warwick/RI/Narragansett Bay (MIT Sea Grant 2003);; Coasters Harbor Island, Newport/RI/East Passage, Narragansett Bay 2000, 2003, MIT Sea Grant 2003); Brenton Point Sate Park, Newport/RI/Narragansett Bay (2005, Jones and Thorber 2010); Fort Adams St. Park, Newport/RI/Narragansett Bay (7/26/2010, MacIntyre et al. 2011; Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management 2013); Warwick Cove Marina, Warwick/RI/Narragansett Bay (MIT Sea Grant 2003); Pt. Judith Marina/RI/Rt. Judith Pond (2010, Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management 2013); 2019, Pederson et al. 2019 Mystic/CT/Fishers Island Sound (Carlton and Scanlon 1985); Niantic/CT/Niantic River (1968, Carlton and Scanlon 1985); Cove Island, Stamford,/CT/Long Island Sound (2000-2002, Pedersen et al. 20081°2.644?N, 73° 30.133?W); East Marion/NY/Gardiner's Bay (1957, Bouck and Morgan 1957); Stirling Harbor Shipyard, Greenport/NY/Peconic Bay (MIT Sea Grant 2003); Long Island/NY/Shinnecock Bay (1961, Carlton and Scanlon 1985)); Long Island/NY/Great South Bay (1961, Carlton and Scanlon 1985); Moonbeam Gateway Marina, Brooklyn/NY/Jamaica Bay (2019, Pederson et al. 2021); Sandy Hook/NJ/New York Bight (1972, Carlton and Scanlon 1985); 'now distributed thoughout the bay'/NJ/Barnegat Bay (Taylor et al. 1969; 1972, Loveland and Shafto1984); DE/Indian River Bay (Miller and Brown 2004) http://www.dnr.state.md.us/coastalbays/publications/Chapter8.9.pdf; MD/Assawoman Bay (Miller and Brown 2004 http://www.dnr.state.md.us/coastalbays/publications/Chapter8.9.pdf); Black Point Landing/VA/Assateague Channel; 6 sites in Chincoteague Bay (Miller and Brown http://www.dnr.state.md.us/coastalbays/publications/Chapter8.9.pdf); VA/Hog Island Bay ((Thomsen 2004; Thomsen and McGlathery 2006); It was the fourth most abundant macroalga in Hog Island BayVA, just north of the Chesapeake Bay's entrance (Thomsen 2004; Thomsen and McGlathery 2006).; Poquoson Neck/VA/Hampton Roads (L. Scott Godwin, personal communication)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Probable | Hull Fouling |
| Alternate | Oyster Accidental |
| Alternate | Ballast Water |
Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Habitat Change | |
| Research in the 1970s suggested that Codium fragile may have the potential to change a sandy beach to a gravel beach (Nobska Beach, Woods Hole) by attaching and transporting stones onto shore (with it's buoyant fronds) (Ben-Avraham 1971). However this beach was still mostly sand in 2015 (Paul Fofonoff, personal observation). Codium fragile is believed to have affected the growth and mortality of Bay Scallops (Argopecten irradians), Blue Mussels (Mytilus edulis), and Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea virginica). Attached C. fragile can inhibit the movement of scallops, by attaching to their shells, causing them to float in the water column and possibly be washed ashore by waves (Ramus 1971). Survival of young Bay Scallops (Argopecten irradians) did not differ greatly between Eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds and patches of Codium fragile in Sag Harbor, Long Island. A longer term study in Sag Harbor and Shinnecock Inlet found some evidence for impacts for differences in growth rates and condition between scallop populations in eelgrass and Codium beds, but this appeared to vary among bays and years (Carroll and Peterson 2013). Codium fragile supports a diverse community of native and introduced epiphytic algae, year-round. The latter include Antithamnion hubbsii, Bonnemaisonia hamifera, and Neosiphonia harveyi. Epiphyte communities on C. fragile were denser and more abundant than those on the native Fucus vesiculosus (Jones and Thorber 2010). The epiphytes N. harveyi(introduced) and C. virgatum (native) also provided an important food source for the native snail Lacuna vincta (Northern Lacuna) (Jones and Thornber 2005). | ||
| Economic Impact | Fisheries | |
| Codium fragile is believed to have contributed to the mortality of Bay Scallops in Long Island Sound. However, the role of C. fragile is difficult to determine, since the seaweed also attaches to dead shells (Ramus 1971). Mortality caused by Codium fragile is believed to have raised the priced of local oysters on Cape Cod. Codium fragile also interfered with oyster-harvesting equipment (Galtsoff 1965; Ramus 1971). | ||
| Economic Impact | Aesthetic | |
| Accumulations of Codium fragile on Cape Cod beaches are unattractive and unpleasant to walk on, perhaps more so than most seaweeds (Fofonoff personal observation). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Food/Prey | |
| The Asian Shore Crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus preferred C. fragile and Ulva spp. to Chondrus crispus, Fucus spp., and Ascophyllum nodossum (Bourdeau and O'Connor 2003). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Competition | |
| In Long Island Sound, Codium fragile cannot invade established Eelgrass (Zostera marina) or native algal communities, but if an area is disturbed and cleared C. fragile can establish (Malinowski and Ramus 1971). In Hog Island Bay, Virginia, C. fragile was competitive on hard substrates where sediment and drift algae did not accumulate, and had moderate growth rates but a long growing season. It was the fourth most abundant algae in Hog Island Bay (Thomsen 2003). | ||