Marine Invasive Species Program - What's New

What's New?

New Sea Squirts Arrived in San Francisco

According to SERC’s Marine Invasions Lab, three new non-native sea squirts traveled over 500 kilometers north of their previously recorded range. Marine biologists discovered three new non-native species (Microcosmus squamiger, Styela canopus and Molgula ficus), in San Francisco Bay, that where previously established in Southern California estuaries. The lab suspects these sea squirts (a.k.a. ascidians or tunicates) hitched a ride on boats that were traveling up the coast of California. A multiyear marine heat wave called “The Blob” might have given them the perfect conditions to establish in their new home. Going forward, we will watch closely to see how these species fare and what (if any) havoc they wreak. Read more about the new invaders in an article in BioInvasions Records (PDF).

Reports, Publications, and Studies

• NEW Dry and wet periods drive rapid shifts in community assembly in an estuarine ecosystem (HTML) by Chang, A.L., et al. 2017. Global Change Biology. Abstract.
• NEW Invasions in Marine Communities: Contrasting Species Richness and Community Composition Across Habitats and Salinity (PDF) by Jimenez, H., Keppel, E., Chang, A.L., Ruiz, G.M., Estuaries and Coasts pg 1-11, July 25, 2017.
•  Settlement plates as monitoring devices for non-indigenous species in marine fouling communities (PDF) byMarraffini, M.L.,et al.2017. Management of Biological Invasions Vol 8, pg 1-8.
• Northward range expansion of three non-native ascidians on the west coast of North America (PDF), by Tracy, B.M., et al.2017. BioInvasions Records 6: 1-7 [PDF] from reabic.net
• 2016 Summary of Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Marine Invasions in California: Morphological and Molecular Comparisons Across Habitats (PDF) by Greg Ruiz and Jon Geller for CDFW, MISP.
• 2016 Spatial and temporal dynamics of ascidian invasions in the continental United States and Alaska (PDF) by Christina Simkanin et al.
• 2016 N.E.M.O. (PDF) by San Francisco Estuary Partnership
• 2016 Contribution of Non-Native Species to Soft-Sediment Marine Community Structure of San Francisco Bay, California (PDF), by Haizea Jimenez, Greg Ruiz, Biological Invasions, April 26, 2016.

In the News

• NEWOne wet winter can shake up San Francisco Bay's invasive species by Kristen Minogue, EurekAlert!, December 7, 2017.
• How 'white blobs' and other species invaded California's waters by Emily Dugdale, 89.3 KPCC, Environment and Science, September 1, 2017.
• What's the best weapon for battling species invading California waters? by Rachel Uranga, Long Beach Press Telegram, August 19, 2017.