Invasion
Invasion Description
1st record: Caribou Habor/Nova Scotia/Northumberland Straits (1996, Garbary et al. 1997)
Geographic Extent
Caribou Habor/Nova Scotia/Northumberland Straits (1996, Garbary et al. 1997; 1999, Hubbard and Garbary 2002; Kim and Garbary 2007); Chance Harbour/Nova Scotia/Gulf of St. Lawrence (2001, Garbary 2004); New Brunswick-Nova Scitia-Prince Edward Island/Northumberland Straits (Garbary et al. 1997; 1999, Hubbard and Garbary 2002); Prince Edward Island/Egmont Bay, Northumberland Straits (1999, Hubbard and Garbary 2002); Prince Edward Island/Malpeque Bay (1999, Hubbard and Garbary 2002, 2 morphs seen, 'normal' C. fragile' and small, thin plants, with less pointed utricles, resembling C. fragile> subsp. atlanticum (Hubbard and Garbary 2002). îles de la Madeleine/Quebec/Gulf of St. Lawrence (2003, Simard et al. 2005; Drouin et al. 2011).
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Alternate | Hull Fouling |
| Alternate | Ballast Water |
| Alternate | Fisheries Accidental (not Oyster) |
Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Habitat Change | |
| In the Magdalen Islands, Quebec, Zostera marina seagrass beds had greater diversity and abundance of invertebrates, and greater abundance of fishes, when invaded by Codium fragile (Drouin et al. 2011). | ||
| Economic Impact | Fisheries | |
| Codium fragile fouled about 80% of the space on mussel aquaculture lines (Garbary et al. 2004). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Competition | |
| In Caribou Harbour, Nova Scotia, a distinct horizontal growth form of Codium fragile was attaching to rhizomes of Eelgrass, potentially competing with the grass (Garbary et al. 2004). However, in the Magdalen Islands, experiments indicated that negative effects on eelgrass occurred only at high Codium densities (Drouin et al. 2013). Disturbance and exposure, of Eelgrass rhizomes by storms, ice scour, and boat traffic, appears to be a major factor controlling invasion of the grass beds by C. fragile (Gagnon et al. 2014). | ||