engleski

First record of the invasive turf-forming red algae Womersleyella setacea (Hollenberg) R.E. Norris in the Middle Adriatic

During last few decades a number of species have been introduced into the Mediterranean Sea mostly as a consequence of human activities. Among them a filamentous red alga Womersleyella setacea (Hollenberg) R.E. Norris, originally described for the tropical regions, is considered to be introduced into Mediterranean as a fouling organism on ship hulls. The species produce thick turfs completely covering large portions of subtidal bottoms and it was first recorded in 1998 for the Northern Adriatic. During our recent research of benthic communities in Brbinjšćica Cove on the Island Dugi Otok in the Middle Adriatic we discovered thick, dense turf of W. setacea covering both rock and sediment bottom between 17 and 25 m of depth. On rock the turf is replacing native hemisciaphilic algal community usually dominated by Flabellia petiolata and Peyssonnelia spp. The upper limit of W. setacea turf on 17 m is located in the border of Posidonia oceanica meadow – the alga covers the rhizomes of Posidonia at the meadow border but so far it does not enter inside the meadow. In the presentation we discuss possible reasons for noted vertical distribution of W. setacea turf.

Invasive algae ; Womersleyella setacea ; Adriatic Sea

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