Harbo, R.; Ott, B.; Reiswig, H.; McDaniel, N. (2021). First Canadian record (Ladysmith Harbour, British Columbia) of the non-native European sponge Hymeniacidon perlevis (Montagu, 1814) (Porifera, Demospongiae). BioInvasions Records. 10(2): 277-286.
First Canadian record (Ladysmith Harbour, British Columbia) of the non-native European sponge Hymeniacidon perlevis (Montagu, 1814) (Porifera, Demospongiae)
BioInvasions Records
10(2): 277-286
Publication
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The non-native European sponge Hymeniacidon perlevis (Montagu, 1814) (= H. sinapium
de Laubenfels, 1930) is established and abundant in the head of Ladysmith
Harbour, southern British Columbia, Canada, where it was first detected in 2008. In
the North Pacific Ocean, it was previously known with certainty from California,
Korea and Japan. It may have been introduced to Ladysmith from Asia between the
1950s and 1970s with importations of commercial oysters (Crassostrea gigas
(Thunberg, 1793)). Ladysmith Harbour supports some of the warmest marine
waters of Western Canada; should water temperatures increase in adjacent regions,
H. perlevis may expand its range and be an important indicator of climate change.
