GFID : A Global Fish Invasion Database

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been highlighted as a means toward effective conservation of coral reefs. New strategies are required to more effectively select MPA locations and increase the pace of their implementation. Many criteria exist to design MPA networks, but generally, it is recommended that networks conserve a diversity of species selected for, among other attributes, their representativeness, rarity, or endemicity. Because knowledge of species' spatial distribution remains scarce, efficient surrogates are urgently needed. We used five different levels of habitat maps and six spatial scales of analysis to identify under which circumstances habitat data used to design MPA networks for Wallis Island provided better representation of species than random choice alone. Protected-area site selections were derived from a rarity-complementarity algorithm. Habitat surrogacy was tested for commercial fish species, all fish species, commercially harvested invertebrates, corals, and algae species. Efficiency of habitat surrogacy varied by species group, type of habitat map, and spatial scale of analysis. Maps with the highest habitat thematic complexity provided better surrogates than simpler maps and were more robust to changes in spatial scales. Surrogates were most efficient for commercial fishes, corals, and algae but not for commercial invertebrates. Conversely, other measurements of species-habitat associations, such as richness congruence and composition similarities provided weak results. We provide, in part, a habitat-mapping methodology for designation of MPAs for Pacific Ocean islands that are characterized by habitat zonations similar to Wallis. Given the increasing availability and affordability of space-borne imagery to map habitats, our approach could appreciably facilitate and improve current approaches to coral reef conservation and enhance MPA implementation.

Although ballast water has received much attention as a source of aquatic invasive species, aquariums and trade in aquarium and ornamental species are emerging as another important source for species likely to invade aquatic habitats. These species are spread throughout the world in a generally unregulated industry. The recent focus on the aquarium trade as a possible mechanism for environmentally sustainable development poses an especially dangerous threat, although this has so far escaped the attention of most environmentalists, conservationists, ecologists, and policy makers.

Although ballast water has received much attention as a source of aquatic invasive species, aquariums and trade in aquarium and ornamental species are emerging as another important source for species likely to invade aquatic habitats. These species are spread throughout the world in a generally unregulated industry. The recent focus on the aquarium trade as a possible mechanism for environmentally sustainable development poses an especially dangerous threat, although this has so far escaped the attention of most environmentalists, conservationists, ecologists, and policy makers.

Biological invasions often result from transfers of organisms during trade activities. In coastal ecosystems, commercial ships are a dominant source of species transfers globally, and ships’ ballast water (BW) is a major focus of biosecurity management and policy to reduce invasions. While trade drives shipping patterns, diverse vessel types and behaviors exist such that the quantitative relationship between trade and BW dynamics is still poorly resolved, limiting both science and management. Here, we evaluated a new method to predict BW discharge using trade data, by explicitly considering known BW practices according to vessel and commodity type. Specifically, we estimated the relationship between tonnage of overseas exports and BW discharge volume for San Francisco Bay (SFB), California, as a model system to demonstrate this approach. Using extensive datasets on shipborne exports and BW discharge, we (a) evaluated spatial and temporal patterns across nearly 20 ports in this estuary from 2006 to 2014 and (b) developed a predictive model to estimate overseas BW discharge volume from foreign export tonnage for the whole estuary. Although vessel arrivals in SFB remained nearly constant from 2006 to 2014, associated tonnage of exported commodities more than doubled and BW discharge more than tripled. Increased BW volume resulted from increased frequency and per capita discharge of bulk carriers from Asia and tankers from western Central America and Hawaii, reflecting shifts in direction of commodity movement. The top 11 export commodities (59% of total export tonnage) were transported on bulk carriers or tankers. In a multivariate linear model, annual tonnage of these top 11 export commodities by vessel type were strong predictors of total bay-wide overseas BW discharge (adjusted R2 = 0.92), creating the potential to estimate past or future BW delivery in SFB. Bulk export tonnage provides valuable insights into BW flux, since most BW discharge to ports is driven by trade of bulk commodities and the behavior of bulk and tank ships. BW discharge data are unavailable for many regions and time periods, whereas trade data are widely available and can provide a reliable proxy estimate of BW volume and geographic source, which are both critical to evaluate invasion risk.

* Corresponding author Abstract The worldwide transfer and introduction of non-indigenous invasive aquatic organisms via ships' ballast water has been amply demonstrated to cause significant ecological, economic and human health impacts. Possible solutions to the problem include: 1) treating ballast water to remove or destroy unwanted organisms; 2) re-designing new vessels to eliminate the need to discharge ballast water; and 3) retaining ballast water onboard. Ballast water exchange is currently the only widely acceptable and suggested (sometimes even required) procedure to minimise the risk of ballast water mediated invasions but the variable efficacy and operational limitations of this approach have led to significant financial investment in the last two decades in the research and development of more effective shipboard and shore based ballast water treatment technologies. Specific technologies under consideration include mechanical separation, heat treatment, UV irradiation, cavitation, de-oxygenation and active substances. To date, no single treatment option has proved to be universally effective and increasing attention has focused on multi- component treatment systems. The high flow rates and volumes of ballast water that must be treated pose significant technological challenges, and the presence of sediment in ballast tanks reduces the efficacy of many treatment options as this provides a habitat for resistant organisms such as resting stages of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Mechanical separation devices would best be used as a primary stage of a treatment system comprising multiple technologies because free-living organisms and sediment below a certain size are likely to be largely unaffected. UV treatment systems are unlikely to eliminate all ballast water organisms, as they are not able to deliver a stable lethal dose across a wide range of water quality conditions and many organisms are resistant to UV exposure or can recuperate after treatment. At the current stage of development, cavitation would not be considered appropriate for the shipboard treatment of ballast water due to high capital and operating costs and high power requirements. The heating of ballast water using waste heat from ships' engines has been claimed to be a practical and cost effective treatment options for eliminating ballast water zooplankton and phytoplankton (including resting stages) but concerns have been expressed that attainable temperatures may not eliminate all bacterial pathogens, that this approach does not apply to ships traversing colder seas and may impact on the integrity of vessel structures. Promising research has been conducted on several systems that are able to achieve temperatures capable of eliminating bacteria but these technologies are still under development. De-oxygenation by the addition of glucose or reducing agents are not effective treatment options, however de- oxygenation technologies based on the injection of an inert gas are more promising (notably against larval and adult zooplankton) as they could be cost effective and do not impact on the aquatic environment as ballast water is re-oxygenated prior to discharge. Biocide dosing systems have low capital costs and power requirements but the costs of active substances are significant. Chemical treatment costs and space requirements can be significantly reduced by using onboard chemical generators but the capital cost of these systems is significant and all have biological efficacy, safety, operational and environmental (poor biodegradation) concerns. Treatment systems that produce free hydroxyl radicals would be favourable over other chemical treatments as they are claimed to produce less or no toxic by-products at ballast discharge but these technologies have high power requirements. Each treatment option requires further research on their biological and operational efficacy and safety under full-scale shipboard conditions. As of July 2009, 16 promising systems using active substances had received basic approval and 8 systems final approval from IMO, with 4 systems receiving type approval certification and 2 systems receiving national approval certification. Effectively eliminating the risk of ballast water mediated invasions still remains a monumental technological and economical challenge.

Marine biological invasions have been regarded as one of the major causes of native biodiversity loss, with shipping and aquaculture being the leading contributors for the introductions of alien species in aquatic ecosystems. In the present study, five aquatic alien species (one mollusk, three crustaceans and one fish species) were detected during dives, shore searches and from the fisheries on the coast of the Delta do Parnaíba Environmental Protection Area, in the States of Piauí and Maranhão, Northeastern Brazil. The species were the bicolor purse-oyster Isognomon bicolor, the whiteleg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei, the giant river prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii, the Indo-Pacific swimming crab Charybdis hellerii and, the muzzled blenny Omobranchus punctatus. Ballast water (I. bicolor, C. hellerii, and O. punctatus) and aquaculture activities (L. vannamei and M. rosenbergii) in adjacent areas are the most likely vectors of introduction. All exotic species found have potential impact risks to the environment because they are able to compete against native species for resources (food and habitat). Isognomon bicolor share the same habitat and food items with the native bivalve species of mussels and barnacles. Litopenaeus vannamei share the same habitat and food items with the native penaeids such as the pinkspot shrimp Farfantepenaeus brasiliensis, the Southern brown shrimp Farfantepenaeus subtilis, and the Southern white shrimp Litopenaeus schmitti, and in the past few years L. vannamei was responsible for a viral epidemics in the cultivation tanks that could be transmitted to native penaeid shrimps. Charybdis hellerii is also able to cause impacts on the local fisheries as the species can decrease the populations of native portunid crabs which are commercialized in the studied region. Macrobrachium rosenbergii may be sharing natural resources with the Amazon River prawn Macrobrachium amazonicum. Omobranchus punctatus shares habit with the native redlip blenny Ophioblennius atlanticus and other fishes, such as the frillfin goby Bathigobius soporator Some immediate remedial measures to prevent further introductions from ballast water and shrimp farm ponds should be: (i) to prevent the release of ballast water by ship/vessels in the region; (ii) to reroute all effluent waters from shrimp rearing facilities through an underground or above-ground dry well; (iii) to install adequate sand and gravel filter which will allow passage of water but not livestock; (iv) outdoor shrimp pounds located on floodable land should be diked, and; (v) to promote environmental awareness of those directly involved with ballast water (crews of ship/vessels) and shrimp farms in the region.

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 235:289-297 (2002) - doi:10.3354/meps235289 Biological invasion of the Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans along the Atlantic coast of North America Paula E. Whitfield1,*, Todd Gardner2, Stephen P. Vives3, Matthew R. Gilligan4, Walter R. Courtenay Jr.5, G. Carleton Ray6, Jonathan A. Hare1 1NOAA Beaufort Laboratory, 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort, North Carolina 28516, USA 2Biology Department, 130 Gittleson Hall, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York 11549-1140, USA 3Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, PO Box 8042, Statesboro, Georgia 30460-8042, USA 4Marine Science Programs, Savannah State University, PO Box 20467, Savannah, Georgia 31404, USA 5Florida Caribbean Science Center, US Geological Survey, 7920 NW 71st Street, Gainesville, Florida 32653, USA 6Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, 291 McCormick Rd, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA *E-mail: paula.whitfield@noaa.gov ABSTRACT: The occurrence of lionfish Pterois volitans is reported from the western Atlantic Ocean. Adults were collected off the coasts of North Carolina, Georgia and Florida, and juveniles were collected along the shore of Long Island, New York. They have also been found around Bermuda. Lionfish are indigenous to tropical waters of the western Pacific and their occurrence along the east coast of the United States represents a human-induced introduction. Distribution of adults suggests lionfish are surviving in the western Atlantic and capture of juveniles provides putative evidence of reproduction. The most likely pathway of introduction is aquarium releases, but introduction via ballast water cannot be ruled out. The ecosystem of the southeastern United States continental shelf is already undergoing change: reef fish communities are becoming more tropical and many fish species are overfished. These ongoing changes, along with limited information regarding the biology of P. volitans, make predictions of long-term effects of the introduction difficult. This discovery represents the first, apparently successful introduction, of a marine fish from the western Pacific to Atlantic coastal waters of the United States. KEY WORDS: Biological invasions · Nonindigenous species · Marine fish · Scorpaenidae · Marine introductions · Lionfish · Pterois volitans · Invasive species · Pteroinae Full text in pdf format PreviousNextExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 235. Online publication date: June 19, 2002 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2002 Inter-Research.

Relative contributions of domestic and foreign sourced ballast water to propagule pressure in Puget Sound, Washington, USA

The movement of ballast water by commercial shipping is a prominent pathway for aquatic invasions. Ships' ballast water management is now transitioning from open ocean exchange to a ballast water performance standard that will effectively require use of onboard treatment systems. Neither strategy is perfect, therefore, combined use of ballast water exchange plus treatment has been suggested to provide greatest protection of aquatic ecosystems. This study compared the performance of exchange plus treatment against treatment alone by modeling establishment rates of nonindigenous zooplankton introduced by ballast water across different habitat types (fresh, brackish, and marine) in Canada. Treatment was modeled under two efficacy scenarios (100% and 50% of ship trips) to consider the possibility that treatment may not always be successful. The model results indicate that exchange plus treatment will be more effective than treatment alone at reducing establishments when recipient ports are freshwater (58 140 vs 11 338 trips until ≥1 establishment occurs, respectively). Exchange plus treatment also serves as an important backup strategy if treatment systems are partially effective (50% of trips), primarily for freshwater recipient ecosystems (1442 versus 585 trips until ≥1 establishment occurs, respectively).

Effects of holding time on the diversity and composition of potential pathogenic bacteria in ship ballast water

Ballast water represents a significant vector for the transfer of aquatic organisms and chemical pollutants. Although various groups of transported microorganisms can have a negative impact on native species of aquatic fauna, the available literature usually focuses on larger organisms. This is important because microorganisms cause changes in the balanced aquatic environment, including a stable trophic pyramid. The objectives of this study were twofold: (i) to determine the seasonal changes in the microbiota of the ballast water of long- and short-range ships entering the southern Baltic port, with a focus on fish pathogenic microorganisms and (ii) to potentially assess the threat to the ichthyofauna caused by the introduction of these microorganisms into the aquatic environment. The analytical results demonstrated notable variability in microbial density across the samples, contingent on the distance traversed by the ships. The samples of ballast water collected in autumn exhibited the highest microbial density compared to those collected in spring and summer. The samples contained yeast (1.00–2.98 log cfu/mL), mold (1.30–3.26 log cfu/mL), and bacteria (2.18–4.61 log cfu/mL), including amylolytic bacteria (0.95–3.53 log cfu/mL), lipolytic bacteria (0.70–2.93 log cfu/mL), and proteolytic bacteria (0.70–2.39 log cfu/mL). The most prevalent were the Pseudomonas bacteria (0.48–4.40 log cfu/mL), including Pseudomonas fluorescens (0.20–2.60 log cfu/mL. The port waters in spring and summer were primarily characterized by the presence of bacteria belonging to the genus Bacillus. Additionally, the samples exhibited the presence of Intestinimonas, Oceanobacillus, and Virgibacillus bacteria. The short-range vessel samples were populated primarily by bacteria belonging to the genus Bordetella, accompanied by Oligella, Brackiella, and Basilea oraz Derxia, while the ballast water of long-range ships contained mainly Acholeplasma and Clostridium, accompanied by Bacillus, Peptosteptococcus, Intestinibacter, Terrisporobacter, Anaerobacillis, Anaerofustis, Oxobacter, and Listeria. A phylogenetic analysis of the bacteria recorded in the ballast water revealed the presence of species, including Bordetella and Acholeplasma, which can facilitate the colonization of aquatic organisms by pathogenic entities. The results of this study showed that despite the use of water treatment systems on ships, ballast waters carry microorganisms that can negatively impact new environments, including local fish populations (e.g., P. fluorescens). These observations point to the need for further research on the effectiveness of ballast water management systems used to date to minimize the environmental impact of organisms carried in ships’ ballast water to preserve natural resources and environmental sustainability in port waters.

Ballast water has been widely used by commercial vessels to control trim, draft and stability since the late 1870s. While the global transport of ballast water (and associated sediments) was first recognized as a potential dispersal mechanism for plankton in the late 1890s, quantitative research on the issue does not appear in the primary scientific literature until the mid-1980s. Following James T. Carlton's comprehensive review of the biology of ballast water in 1985, there was an explosion in research effort, with nearly 400 papers published in the last thirty years. This article provides a brief overview of the role that ballast water has played as a global vector for aquatic invasive species, summarizing the current state of ballast water research and emerging topics for future study, based on a review of articles in the primary scientific literature. Initially, the main research focus was to document the community composition of ballast water in ships arriving to ports around the world. In the late 1990s, risk ssessments examining shipping traffic patterns and environmental tolerances of species likely transported in ballast water dominated. By 2000, ballast water studies examining efficacy of various treatment strategies dominated, and papers exploring new tools and methods for more accurate/representative sampling and analysis of ballast water emerged as an important research topic. There is currently insufficient data to confidently quantify the probability of invasion associated with any particular inoculum density (or discharge standard), as a result, laboratory, field and modeling studies examining the relationship between invasion risk and the size of the initially released population (the ‘risk-release relationship’) are an emerging, high priority field of study.

High diversity and potential translocation of DNA viruses in ballast water

Biological invasions have the potential to cause extensive ecological and economic damage. Maritime trade facilitates biological invasions by transferring species in ballast water, and on ships' hulls. With volumes of maritime trade increasing globally, efforts to prevent these biological invasions are of significant importance. Both the International Maritime Organization and the Australian government have developed policy seeking to reduce the risk of these invasions. In this study, we constructed models for the transfer of ballast water into Australian waters, based on historic ballast survey data. We used these models to hindcast ballast water discharge over all vessels that arrived in Australian waters between 1999 and 2012. We used models for propagule survival to compare the risk of ballast-mediated propagule transport between ecoregions. We found that total annual ballast discharge volume into Australia more than doubled over the study period, with the vast majority of ballast water discharge and propagule pressure associated with bulk carrier traffic. As such, the ecoregions suffering the greatest risk are those associated with the export of mining commodities. As global marine trade continues to increase, effective monitoring and biosecurity policy will remain necessary to combat the risk of future marine invasion events.

Despite a long-standing debate about the utility of species-centered conservation approaches (Roberge & Angelstam 2004), surrogate species remain popular by providing useful—or even necessary—“shortcuts” for successful conservation programs (Caro 2010). Flagship species, as one prime example of surrogates, are primarily intended to promote public awareness and to raise funds for conservation (Verissimo et al. 2011). In contrast, the protection of umbrella species is expected to benefit a wide range of co-occurring species (Roberge & Angelstam 2004; Caro 2010). Accordingly, the main criteria for selecting flagships should be based on socio-cultural considerations, whereas umbrellas are principally chosen based on ecological criteria (Caro 2010; Verissimo et al. 2011; see Table 1). Since these two concepts are often confused or mistakenly used interchangeably, Caro (2010, p. 248) coined the term "flagship umbrellas" for those species that explicitly integrate both functions. Indeed, Li and Pimm (2016) recently demonstrated that the classic flagship species, the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), can simultaneously act as an umbrella species, as its protection benefits many co-occurring endemic mammals, birds and amphibians. This challenges the often held views that: (i) the umbrella concept has to be abandoned as it is not efficiently working at local scales (Caro 2015); (ii) most flagship species are weak predictors for efficient reserve planning (Caro 2010); and (iii) ecosystem- or landscape-based conservation approaches should consequentially be favored over species-based approaches whenever feasible (Roberge & Angelstam 2004; Caro 2010). Further commotion in the discussion is the increasingly demanded paradigm shift in conservation strategies to specifically target hidden or neglected biodiversity for its intrinsic value and its contribution to ecosystem processes (Dougherty et al. 2016). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved