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 on the opposite side. But it could also have happened by means of hydrodynamic processes without direct human intervention. This possibility is assessed in this paper by revisiting historical current meter profiles collected in the Strait of Gibraltar searching for secondary cross-strait flows. All the stations present an intermediate layer of northward cross-strait velocity near the interface of the mean baroclinic exchange along with a surface layer above of southward velocity, whose lower part also overlaps the interface zone. The first one would back the south-to-north transport of algal fragments, the second one, the north-to south. In both cases, algae must reach the depth of the interface. The vertical velocity field in the area, which far exceeds the small sedimentation velocity of the algae, allows their vertical displacements throughout the water column. Its endurance to survive under the weak or no light conditions that will prevail during the cross-strait transport and its capability of reactivating the metabolism after this unfavorable period, offers chances for colonizing the opposite shore. Therefore, the propagation of the algae by hydrodynamic processes, without human intervention, cannot be ruled out.

The invasive brown seaweedRugulopteryx okamurae(Dictyotales, Ochrophyta) continues to expand: first record in Italy

“…The presence of R. okamurae in Sicily may have two explanations that are not exclusive, but rather, on the contrary, synergistic. On the one hand, the species may have arrived in the form of large accumulations of biomass transported by currents, as already observed in the Alborán Sea (García-Lafuente et al 2023;Mateo-Ramírez et al 2023) and suggested to explain the presence of the species in Madeira (Bernal-Ibáñez et al 2022). In other words, marine currents may be facilitating the longdistance dispersal of the species, allowing the arrival of large amounts of biomass that either have been detached from populations established in remote areas, or that have grown in suspension in the water column until it was dumped on the beach.…”

“…Its limit in the Mediterranean is currently found on the coast of Marseilles, in France (Ruitton et al 2021). The species has a high capacity for vegetative proliferation as well as for dispersal, which gives it a high capacity to produce large amounts of biomass that can be moved by currents (García-Lafuente et al 2023;Mateo-Ramírez et al 2023) or helped by human vectors such as fishing or maritime transport (MITECO 2022), and which can end up forming important wracks on the coasts. The seaweed's ability to fast proliferation is causing serious concern, because it greatly impacts both native natural communities (seagrasses and marine forests), reducing their extension and diversity (García Gómez et al 2020, and human activities such as fishing and tourism, with losses of millions of euros across various sectors (CIRCABC 2020; MITECO 2022).…”