Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
for all aquarium and water garden flora/fauna. The US Postal Service now prohibits
mailing the aquarium strain of
C. taxifolia
by designating the alga as a “nonmaila-
ble plant pest.” As with eBay, the burden of identification resides with the sender.
Common names are used so often in the marine aquarium trade that the seller/buyer
may not even know that they are distributing a banned species. From e-commerce
purchases, Walters et al. (2006) learned that eBay, internet, and local retailers fre-
quently do not identify products scientifically; only 14.1% used genus species
names and sellers correctly identified algae only 10.6% of the time at the species
level. None identified macroalgae by strain. Walters et al. (unpublished data) found
that common names that may be the aquarium strain of
C. taxifolia
included feather
Caulerpa
, feather algae, aquacultured
Caulerpa
algae,
Caulerpa
algae, marine
macroalgae, assorted
Caulerpa
species, coral reef algae, fern
Caulerpa
, and green
Caulerpa
tang heaven. Common names greatly reduce the ability of agencies to
remove a species from the market.
Although the origin of
C. taxifolia
in NSW, Australia remains unclear, scientists
hypothesize that it was associated with the aquarium industry (Creese et al. 2004).
Australia's initial response was much less aggressive than in the USA, in part
because
C. taxifolia
is native to Queensland. Eventually,
C. taxifolia
was declared
a noxious weed in NSW and South Australia. Sandwiched between the two invaded
states, uninvaded Victoria declared
C. taxifolia
a noxious weed in 2004. After a 90-
day amnesty period, it was illegal to bring into Victoria, or take, hatch, keep, pos-
sess, sell, transport, put in any container, or release
C. taxifolia
. While total
eradication of
C. taxifolia
from NSW waterways is unlikely, hopefully resource
managers will be able to prevent further spread of
C. taxifolia
. Both Australia and
NZ have established national systems of port baseline surveys using standardized
methods (Hewitt and Martin 2001; Ruiz and Hewitt 2002).
The response of countries surrounding the Mediterranean documents how dif-
ficult it can be to create multinational regulations. In 1994, 10 years after the
Monaco invasion, the Barcelona Appeal was a call by scientists to list the spread
of
C. taxifolia
as a major threat to Mediterranean ecosystems. In 1996, Article 13
of the Barcelona Convention Protocol on Specially Protected Areas provided
legislation regarding the introduction of nonnative species. In 1998, a delegation
recommended that all affected countries establish regulations to limit the inva-
sion. Several governments and regional entities have since banned selling, buy-
ing, using, and dumping this seaweed. Currently, however, there is no coordinated,
multinational effort underway to eradicate
C. taxifolia
in the Mediterranean.
15.7
Problems with Other Species in the Genus
Caulerpa
and Final Concerns with
C. taxifolia
As little as we know about controlling and managing
C. taxifolia
, we know even
less about other species of
Caulerpa
that may cause ecological and economic
problems. Included is
Caulerpa racemosa
var.
cylindracea
(Sonder) Verlaque,
Huisman et Boudouresque, a southwestern Australian variety, that is expanding
