Could secondary flows have made possible the cross-strait transport and explosive invasion of Rugulopteryx okamurae algae in the Strait of Gibraltar?

ABSTRACT: Presently, the Strait of Gibraltar is undergoing an unprecedented invasion of the alien alga Rugulopteryx okamurae of North Pacific origin. According to the scarce literature, the algae first settled in the south shore, probably following commercial exchanges with French ports where it was accidentally introduced together with Japanese oysters imported for mariculture. There is no certainty, however, that the algae first colonized the south shore of the Strait and, from there, spread to the north. It could well have been the opposite. Whatever the case, it spread all over the Strait and surrounding areas with amazing rapidity. Human-mediated vectors (algae attached to ship hulls or fishing nets, for example) can be behind the spread from the shore initially settled to the algae-free shore

SUBMITTER: Garcia-Lafuente J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10204996 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature