Taxonomic diversity and geographic distributions of aquarium-traded species of Caulerpa (Chlorophyta: Caulerpaceae) in southern California, USA

Abstract

We identified 14 taxa (10 species) of Caulerpa from retail aquarium outlets in southern California, USA, suggesting that the aquarium industry has the potential to be an important vector for transporting these non-native seaweeds into distant geographic regions. Seaweeds were sold in 58% and species of Caulerpa in 52% of the 50 stores visited between November 2000 and August 2001. C. serrulata var. hummii (18%), C. taxifolia (14%), C. racemosa (14%), and C. racemosa var. lamourouxii (14%) were the most commonly encountered taxa. The 14 aquarium-traded Caulerpa taxa were distributed from tropical to temperate waters. Only 3 (C. ashmeadii, C. serrulata var. hummii and C. microphysa) were confined to the tropics, whereas 12 had distributions extending into temperate seas. These temperate components to their distributions indicate that, if introduced, several other taxa of aquarium-traded Caulerpa besides C. taxifolia might be capable of establishing populations in southern Californian or other temperate waters.

Performance of a Potentially Invasive Species of Ornamental Seaweed Caulerpa sertularioides in Acidifying and Warming Oceans

“…Furthermore, since their habitats are expanding to high latitudes due to global warming, it is very important to evaluate the possibility of invasion into temperate regions due to future climate change. In particular, the performance of potentially invasive species of Caulerpa is very high because it overcomes geographical barriers very easily and is commercially traded in aquariums [30,31]. Therefore, studies evaluating the performance of a potentially invasive species based on ecophysiological (e.g., photosynthesis and growth) and biological (e.g., propagule density, dispersal, settlement capabilities, and interactions with native species) characteristics under elevated temperature and high CO 2 concentrations, which are predictable coastal conditions in the future, are very important for understanding the regime shift of future seaweed communities.…”

Diversity of tropical macroalgae in the New Zealand marine aquarium trade

“…As the alga grows it is fragmented and sections are discarded to remove the nutrients from the aquarium. Species kept include Caulerpa racemosa (Forsskål) J.Agardh, Caulerpa serrulata (Forsskål) J.Agardh and C. taxifolia (Zaleski and Murray 2006). The filamentous green alga Chaetomorpha sp.…”