ORCID

Abstract

The solitary ascidian Styela clava Herdman, 1882 is considered to be native to Japan, Korea, northern China and the RussianFederation in the NW Pacific, but it has spread globally over the last 80 years and is now established as an introducedspecies on the east and west coasts of North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In eastern Canada it reachessufficient density to be a serious pest to aquaculture concerns. We sequenced a fragment of the cytochrome oxidasesubunit I mitochondrial gene (COI) from a total of 554 individuals to examine the genetic relationships of 20 S. clavapopulations sampled throughout the introduced and native ranges, in order to investigate invasive populationcharacteristics. The data presented here show a moderate level of genetic diversity throughout the northern hemisphere.The southern hemisphere (particularly New Zealand) displays a greater amount of haplotype and nucleotide diversity incomparison. This species, like many other invasive species, shows a range of genetic diversities among introducedpopulations independent of the age of incursion. The successful establishment of this species appears to be associated withmultiple incursions in many locations, while other locations appear to have experienced rapid expansion from a potentiallysmall population with reduced genetic diversity. These contrasting patterns create difficulties when attempting to manageand mitigate a species that continues to spread among ports and marinas around the world.

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0016755

Publication Date

2011-02-22

Publication Title

PLoS ONE

ISSN

1932-6203

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