Invasion
Invasion Description
1st Record: Curaçao/Caribbean Sea (USNM 69196, US National Museum of Natural History 2017)
Geographic Extent
Isla San Andrés/Colombia/Caribbean Sea (Kooistra and Verbruggen 2005); Cayo Nancy, Bocas del Toro/Panama (Kooistra and Verbruggen 2005); Devil's Beach, Colon Province/Panama/Caribbean Sea (USNM 28301, US National Museum of Natural History 2010); Fort Sherman/Panama/Panama Canal (1979, USNM 28289, US National Museum of Natural History 2010); Costa Rica/Caribbean Sea (Guiry and Donncha 2008); Trinidad and Tobago/Caribbean Sea (Guiry and Donncha 2008)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Probable | Hull Fouling |
Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Competition | |
| Halimeda opuntia can adversely affect coral recruitment by attracting large numbers of settling coral planulae, which do not survive after settlement (Nugues and Szmant 2006). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Habitat Change | |
| Halimeda opuntia can adversely affect coral recruitment by attracting large numbers of settling coral planulae, which do not survive after settlement (Nugues and Szmant 2006). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Parasitism | |
| Halimeda opuntia acts as a parasite reservoir by providing a reservoir for coral pathogens, such as the bacterium Aurantimonas coralicida which causes the White Plague II disease, which kills the dominant coral Montastraea faveolata (Nugues et al. 2004) | ||