Gobbles!

Bits of turkey from an invasive species perspective:

• The Windsor Star is reporting that the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) has been discovered in Turkey Point, the furthest east the beetle has even been seen in the province of Ontario, Canada.
• Turkeyfish (Pterois volitans, also known as lionfish) are establishing off the coast of Georgia. LiveScience has more, plus a pretty picture.
• invasive.org has got the scoop on turkey berry (Solanum torvum), an invasive plant from the West Indies that has spread into tropical areas around the globe.
  
  
• Get even more turkeyfish over at the cephalopodcast blog, where Jason is serving up some tasty Turkey Day morsels.

Worm Woods

Holy Jumping Wormies, Batman! Sounds like Georgia has got some serious problems with Asian earthworms. Affectionately known as "Alabama jumpers" (Amynthas agrestis), these worms are known for their ability to jump right out of a bait cup. They are also known by scientists for their aggressive behavior, raising concerns that they could be having an impact on native earthworm species. Now the worms have recently been observed moving into forested areas in the Smoky Mountains, as evidenced by patches of the forest floor now completely devoid of any leaf litter. The Athens Banner-Herald has the full story, or you can read a paper on the subject here. Bonus points to the Banner-Herald for using the worm's scientific name.

Praying To The Porcelain Crab Gods

Georgia's got a crab problem...or at least they think they might...well actually, they're not quite sure. This report from newswise describes recent research on the impact of the introduced green porcelain crab (Petrolisthes armatus) on Georgia's oyster and mussel beds. While these tiny crabs are not oyster predators, they are filter feeders, so there is concern that they could be negatively impacting oysters and mussels by stealing away their food source. On the other hand, the crabs are providing a food source for larger crabs as well as fish, and this is altering the dynamics of the food web, possibly meaning less predation on oysters (but wait, won't that lead to more fish and predator crabs...and then???). The long-term impacts of the porcelain crab invasion have yet to be understood, but this three-year investigation has brought a lot of new information to light. To read more about it, check out the original research in the journal Biological Invasions...if you have a subscription. Or you can just download Amanda Hellebone's thesis (pdf) on the subject, no strings attached.

Thanks to budak for sending in a link to this story, and bonus points to newswise for keeping the scientific name of the crab in the article.

Shock Value

Interesting story at Jacksonville.com about Georgia's plans to manage populations of flathead catfish (Pylodictus olivaris) in the Satilla River. Teams from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources will be spending this summer and fall shocking catfish-infested waters and scooping out the stunned flatheads where they find them. This might be disappointing news to some sport fisherman in the area, since lately they've been catching flatheads in the 50- 70 pound range.

Flatheads are native to the Central U.S. but are considered invasive in the Southeast, where wild populations were most likely started from intentional introductions. The catfish are "poisson non grata" there because they eat just about everything they see.

The article notes that if you're in the Satilla River area and you've got a boat or flatbed truck, the flathead catfish removal project could use your help! Contact Gordon at the Satilla RiverKeepers for more info.

New and Notable

Some interesting new arrivals in the USA, courtesy of the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Alert System:

• Congratulations to Georgia, the recipient of the Australian tubeworm Ficopomatus enigmaticus - only the second record of this species on the East Coast of the US (discovered May 2006).
• As of August 2006, Maine's got yellow floating heart (Nymphoides peltata) - a whole ton of it covering a pond in Rockport. I guess it's not that surprising since until this record, Maine was the only state in the Northeast US without this aquatic plant.
• Wyoming's got an established population of red-rim melania (Melanoides tuberculatus) in Grand Teton National Park (since June 2006). The mollusk was apparently introduced to the US via the aquarium industry.
• Finally, and as usual, Puerto Rico brings us some new country-level records from the aquarium world:
  • Leopard plecos (Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps) - pretty sure we used to have these in the family fish tank when I was growing up.
  • Chinese algae eaters (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri) - definitely had these, I remember they were jumpers too (used to find them dried up in the carpet - yech!)

Blind Boys of Georgia?

The Ledger-Enquirer is reporting that Brahminy blind snakes (Ramphotyphlops braminus, also known as Brahminy worms) are now established in Georgia. No cause for alarm though, since, as the article proclaims, the snakes are not poisonous and "are considered harmless" - that of course means harmless to humans. Since it lives under the soil, my guess is that no one has a clue what kind of impact this Asian species is are having where it has become established. Besides being nearly sightless, Brahmniny blind snakes are also unusual in that they reproduce parthenogenetically (i.e. they don't need partners!), which certainly wouldn't hurt their chances of becoming established from sporadic introductions.