Invasion
Invasion Description
1st Records?: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia/Bay of Fundy (Huntsman and Sparks 1924, cited by Einfeldt and Addison 2015)
Geographic Extent
Nova Scotia-New Brunswick/Bay of Fundy (before 1934, 'taken by the Biological Board of Canada', Shoemaker 1934); Grande Anse/New Brunswick/Shepody Bay, Bay of Fundy (1999, Barbeau et al. 2010, 45 49.92'N, 64 30.83'W); Starrs Point mudflat/Nova Scotia/Minas Basin (Bay of fundy (Daborn et al. 1993); Minudie/Nova Scotia/Cumberland Basin, Bay of Fundy (Barbeau et al. 2010, 45 45.80'N, 64 23.40'W); Maitland/Nova Scotia/Shubencadie River (Shoemaker 1947, 'taken by the Biological Board of Canada'); Dgby/Nova Scotia/Annapolis Basin (2013, Einfeldt and Addison 2013); Eastport/ME/Cobscook Bay (Gilbert 1977, cited by Trott 2004); Addison/ME/Pleasant Bay (1976, Larsen and Doggett 1991); Tenants Harbor/ME/Penobscot Bay (1963, YPM IZ 030483, Yale Peabody Museum 2015); Mount Desert Island/ME/Gulf of Maine (Blake. In Procter 1933, 'abundantly on certain mud flats . . . 'new to New England' ); East Friendship/ME/Gulf of Maine (1975, Larsen and Doggett 1991); Walpole/ME/Lowes Cove, Damariscotta River, (Wilson and Parker 1996, 43 57’ 43, N, 69 33’ 21 W); ME/Boothbay Harbor (1975, Larsen and Doggett 1991); Falmouth/ME/Mussel Cove, Casco Bay (1975, Larsen and Doggett 1991); ME/Casco Bay (Bousfield 1973); Pine Point, 'near Portsmouth, Maine' (=Portland?) (Shoemaker 1934); Old Orchard Beach/ME/Scarborough River, Gulf of Maine (Shoemaker 1934); NH/Gulf of Maine (1970, YPM IZ 009230, Yale Peabody Museum 2016); Boston Harbor Islands/MA/Boston Harbor (2001, Bell et al. 2005; Eddy and Roman 2016)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Alternate | Dry Ballast |
| Alternate | Ballast Water |
Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Bioturbation | |
| On a Bay of Fundy mudflat, bioturbation by Corophium volutator decreases the cohesion of sediment during periods of submersion. The cohesion of sediments is primarily due to carbohydrates secreted by diatoms. Predation by huge flocks of migrating shorebirds (Semipalmated Sandpipers, Calidris pusilla) drastically reduces C. volutator populations, and results in increased diatom populations and increased sediment stability (Daborn et al. 1993). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Food/Prey | |
| In the Gulf of Fundy, Corophium volutator plays a major role as a food organism for birds and fishes, particularly 2-3 million migrating Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla), and other shorebirds, which feed on mudflats while migrating to the Arctic (Hawkins 1985; Percy 1999; Daborn et al. 2002; Hamilton et al. 2006; MacDonald et al. 2012). It is also a major food item for fishes (Atlantic Silverside, Menidia menidia and Atlantic Tomcod, Microgadus tomcod) in the Bay of Fundy, accounting for 29 to 94% of the fishes' gut contents in May-July (Salinas 1980, cited by Hawkins 1985). Its role in the carbon budget of Bay of Fundy mudflats is as link between the primary producers (benthic diatoms and phytoplankton) and larger consumers such a s birds and fishes (Hawkins 1985). Corophium volutator is a major prey item for the Clamworm Alitta virens in mudflats near Jonesboro, Maine. The predatory polychaete controls the abundance of C.volutator in this system (Comitto 1982). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Trophic Cascade | |
| Corophium volutator is part of a cascade of indirect effects, in which feeding by Semipalmated Sandpipers reduces the bioturbation and diatom grazing by the amphipods. The removal of the amphipods results in recovery of the diatoms and their secretions, which result in increased stability of the sediment (Percy 1999; Daborn et al. 2002)/ | ||
| Ecological Impact | Herbivory | |
| Corophium volutator is a major grazer in intertidal mudflats and shallow estuaries, feeding on benthic microalgae (mostly diatoms), suspended phytoplankton, and detritus (Percy 1999; Riisgard and Schotge 2007). This amphipod consumed an estimated 27% of microalgal production on the Peck's Cove mudflat, New Brunswick. Grazing by C. volutator lowers the chlorophyll content of the surface sediments until late summer, when bird and fish predation reduced the amphipod population (Hawkins 1985). | ||