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Aim For over 80 years, the Maine baitworm trade has shipped live polychaete worms and packing algae 'wormweed' to distributors world-wide, while also consistently transferring a wide diversity and abundance of hitchhiking organisms of all life stages to numerous recipient communities. Here, we investigate this potent, yet underestimated, invasion vector using an important recipient region (the Mid-Atlantic) to examine the stepwise species transfer and survival along four stages of the vector. Location Maine and Mid-Atlantic region (New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina), USA. Methods We quantified taxonomic identities and abundances of organisms associated with packing algae at four stages along the vector pathway during summer 2011: (1) Maine source habitats; (2) bait boxes from Maine distributors; (3) bait boxes from distributors in five Mid-Atlantic States; and (4) bait bags from retailers in five Mid-Atlantic States. We also examined functional diversity based on significant physical and life history characteristics and assessed genetic diversity for two common hitchhiking snail species. Results We identified 17,798 live macro-organisms across 58 taxa, including marine macro-invertebrates, macroalgae, vascular plants and semi-terrestrial or aquatic invertebrates, present in bait boxes and bags. In all measures of diversity and abundance, we observed decreases of live marine macro-invertebrates across sequential stages of the vector from source to recipient regions. Significant differences in community composition were also observed between stages and were driven by isopods (taxonomic diversity) and isopods, amphipods and some gastropods (functional diversity). Main conclusions The lack of management in the face of the sheer magnitude and diversity of organisms that are transported via the live marine bait trade underscores how this is an underappreciated vector that could be a considerable source of successful invasions globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the Panama Canal is one of the major corridors for shipping and potential dispersal of marine invaders in the tropics, little is known about the effect that the Canal has had on the distribution of marine biota. In this study, we (a) document the existence of established populations of the Western Atlantic caprellid amphipod Paracaprella pusilla , Mayer, 1890 for the first time at the Pacific entrance to the Canal, (b) review its distribution in the Pacific Ocean, and (c) evaluate possible mechanisms of introduction. The confirmed distribution of P. pusilla in the Pacific Ocean is limited to Australia, Hawaii, and Panama, despite earlier published reports from Chile and China. Laboratory experiments demonstrated intolerance of P. pusilla to freshwater, causing 100% mortality, and suggest invasion of the Pacific coast of Panama occurred through the Canal via ships' ballast water or by secondary spread via ships (ballast water or hull fouling) from another Pacific region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Several lines of evidence were combined to delimit three species of shipworm with entangled taxonomy. • We redescribe, Psiloteredo megotara , P. pentagonalis , and Nototeredo edax. • The analyses exposed more cryptic species in Bankia carinata and Lyrodus pedicellatus. Cryptic species are a common phenomenon in cosmopolitan marine species. The use of molecular tools has often uncovered cryptic species occupying a fraction of the geographic range of the original morphospecies. Shipworms (Teredinidae) are marine bivalves, living in drift and fixed wood, many of which have a conserved morphology across cosmopolitan distributions. Herein novel and GenBank mitochondrial (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) and nuclear (18S rRNA) DNA sequences are employed to produce a phylogeny of the Teredinidae and delimit a cryptic species pair in the Psiloteredo megotara complex. The anatomy, biogeography, and ecology of P. megotara , Psiloteredo sp. and Nototeredo edax are compared based on private and historic museum collections and a thorough literature review. Morphological and anatomical characters of P. megotara from the North Atlantic and Psiloteredo sp. from Japan were morphologically indistinguishable , and differ in pallet architecture and soft tissue anatomy from N. edax. The two Psiloteredo species were then delimited as genetically distinct species using four molecular-based methods. Consequently, the Northwest Pacific species, Psiloteredo pentagonalis , first synonymized with N. edax and then with P. megotara , is resurrected. Nototeredo edax, P. megotara and P. pentagonalis are redescribed based upon morphological and molecular characters. Phylogenetic analysis further revealed cryptic species complexes within the cosmopolitan species Bankia carinata and possibly additional cryptic lineages within the cosmopolitan Lyrodus pedicellatus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a dramatic growth in research on biological invasions over the past 20 years, but a mature understanding of the field has been hampered because invasion biologists concerned with different taxa and different environments have largely adopted different model frameworks for the invasion process, resulting in a confusing range of concepts, terms and definitions. In this review, we propose a unified framework for biological invasions that reconciles and integrates the key features of the most commonly used invasion frameworks into a single conceptual model that can be applied to all human-mediated invasions. The unified framework combines previous stage-based and barrier models, and provides a terminology and categorisation for populations at different points in the invasion process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ocean warming is impacting marine systems directly and indirectly via intensifying multiple stressors such as hypoxia, acidification and kelp forest collapse potentially exacerbating neoextinctions. Abalones are extremely vulnerable to both ocean warming and fishing stressors making them marine "canaries in the coal mine". The rare flat abalone, Haliotis walallensis, has been subject to a targeted commercial fishery and then exposed to an extreme marine heat wave. We examine the current status of flat abalone before and after a marine heat wave of 2014-2016 and the concomitant collapse of the bull kelp (Nereocystis leutkeana) forest in 2015. We find that flat abalone density (as assessed in surveys) and abundances (inside deployed "abalone modules") in the core of the range dropped to near zero after the marine heat wave and have not recovered. Further, we examine the status of flat abalone in southern Oregon after both overfishing and the kelp forest collapse and find dramatic declines, especially in former fishery hot spots. Our results show that flat abalone have experienced a major decline and may be an example of a neoextinction in the making. A standardized and well funded status review and proactive restoration plan, if not too late, are both critically needed for flat abalone throughout its range., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.)

We show that the high seas are colonized by a diverse array of coastal species, which survive and reproduce in the open ocean, contributing strongly to its floating community composition. Analysis of rafting plastic debris in the eastern North Pacific Subtropical Gyre revealed 37 coastal invertebrate taxa, largely of Western Pacific origin, exceeding pelagic taxa richness by threefold. Coastal taxa, including diverse taxonomic groups and life history traits, occurred on 70.5% of debris items. Most coastal taxa possessed either direct development or asexual reproduction, possibly facilitating long-term persistence on rafts. Our results suggest that the historical lack of available substrate limited the colonization of the open ocean by coastal species, rather than physiological or ecological constraints as previously assumed. It appears that coastal species persist now in the open ocean as a substantial component of a neopelagic community sustained by the vast and expanding sea of plastic debris., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

We provide the first report of the role of marine debris in transporting native and introduced species in the temperate Northwest Atlantic Ocean. Plastic was the most frequent biofouled material. Thirty-three attached species (five non-native) were found on rafted debris, 16 of which have not been previously reported as rafters. Forty-six percent of the attached invertebrate rafters (including three of the introduced species, the bryozoans Fenestrulina delicia and Tricellaria inopinata and the spirorbid Janua heterostropha) detected in this study reproduce by either direct development or produce larvae of short-term planktonic existence, suggesting that rafting on long-term, non-biodegradable debris may enhance their dispersal potential. We suggest that a prominent non-native species, the green alga Codium fragile fragile, may play a previously undetected role in the transport of marine debris and associated biofouling. Marine debris may further be a potentially significant source of biodiversity records; we detected two bryozoan species in our study region that were either previously unknown or had not been found for >75 years., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Recent global trade disruptions, due to blockage of the Suez Canal and cascading effects of COVID-19, have altered the movement patterns of commercial ships and may increase worldwide invasions of marine non-indigenous species. Organisms settle on the hulls and underwater surfaces of vessels and can accumulate rapidly, especially when vessels remain stationary during lay-ups and delays. Once present, organisms can persist on vessels for long-periods (months to years), with the potential to release propagules and seed invasions as ships visit ports across the global transportation network. Shipborne propagules also may be released in increasing numbers during extended vessel residence times at port or anchor. Thus, the large scale of shipping disruptions, impacting thousands of vessels and geographic locations and still on-going for over two years, may elevate invasion rates in coastal ecosystems in the absence of policy and management efforts to prevent this outcome. Concerted international and national biosecurity actions, mobilizing existing frameworks and tools with due diligence, are urgently needed to address a critical gap and abate the associated invasion risks., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestsThe authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose., (© This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply 2022.)

Widespread non-native species tend to demonstrate an apparent lack of selectivity in habitat requirements, feeding regimes, and reproductive needs, while displaying a tendency to thrive in human-modified habitats. The high phenotypic plasticity typical of sessile, substrate-attached marine species may enhance their chances of survival and spread in a new region. Anthropogenic activities have changed marine habitats over a wide range of phenomena, including water temperature, community species composition, and the types of available substrates, creating new physical and biotic regimes that may contribute to the potential for successful species introduction. Here we examine ten species of sea anemones that have been introduced outside of their native range, and elucidate specific characteristics that are common among globally introduced sea anemones. Various life history strategies enable these species to survive and flourish through transport, introduction, establishment and spread, leading to the successful colonization of a new geographic area. Considering life history strategies and weighing of vector potential, we suggest conditions that facilitate introduction of these species, and identify species of sea anemones that may be introduced in the future in the face of changing climate and increased anthropogenic activities., (© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.)

The 2011 East Japan earthquake generated a massive tsunami that launched an extraordinary transoceanic biological rafting event with no known historical precedent. We document 289 living Japanese coastal marine species from 16 phyla transported over 6 years on objects that traveled thousands of kilometers across the Pacific Ocean to the shores of North America and Hawai'i. Most of this dispersal occurred on nonbiodegradable objects, resulting in the longest documented transoceanic survival and dispersal of coastal species by rafting. Expanding shoreline infrastructure has increased global sources of plastic materials available for biotic colonization and also interacts with climate change-induced storms of increasing severity to eject debris into the oceans. In turn, increased ocean rafting may intensify species invasions., (Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.)