Non-indigenous tunicate species in the Bay of Fundy, eastern Canada

Abstract

Abstract LeGresley, M. M., Martin, J. L., McCurdy, P., Thorpe, B., and Chang, B. D. 2008. Non-indigenous tunicate species in the Bay of Fundy, eastern Canada. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 770–774. The frequency of fouling tunicates is increasing in Atlantic Canada and along the New England coast of the US. Canadian shellfish industries in the Gulf of St Lawrence and along the south shore of Nova Scotia have been affected by the heavy infestation of fouling tunicates. Because little research on tunicates has been conducted in the Bay of Fundy, a Canadian monitoring programme was established to look for the non-indigenous tunicates Ciona intestinalis, Botryllus schlosseri, Didemnum sp. A, Botrylloides violaceus, and Styela clava, in southwest New Brunswick. Collectors were deployed at 11 stations in May/June 2006. Some were retrieved in August 2006; others remained until November of the same year. Ciona intestinalis had established at three survey sites, St Andrews Harbour, St Andrews Biological Station, and Fairhaven, Deer Island, but the heaviest infestation was in the Lime Kiln Bay–Charlie Cove area. The greatest settlement of B. schlosseri was at the Dipper Harbour site, with minimal settlements in St Andrews Harbour and Harbour de Loutre. The other species of interest were not detected during the survey.