Non-indigenous species in Puget Sound, Washington, USA

Following are a series of Tables about non-indigenous marine species known to be in Puget Sound, Washington (defined for these purposes as inland marine waters of Washington east of Cape Flattery). In order from top to bottom of this web page they are:

Non-indigenous species collected by the 1998 Puget Sound Expedition
Non-indigenous species NOT collected by the 1998 Puget Sound Expedition, but known to be established in Puget Sound
Cryptogenic species collected by the 1998 Puget Sound Expedition
Cryptogenic species NOT collected by the 1998 Puget Sound Expedition, but known to be established in Puget Sound

Origins, First Records and Mechanisms of Introduction of
40 Non-indigenous Species Collected by the 1998 Puget Sound Expedition

This list of species is provisional pending further taxonomic work and review by expedition members and associates. It is similar to that published on p. 8 of the Puget Sound Expedition Report (November, 1998) by Cohen, Mills, Berry, et al. but corrections or additions to that Table are indicated here with an asterisk (*).

Native ranges, dates of first record (planting, collection, observation or report) in Puget Sound and on the Pacific Coast of North America, and possible initial mechanisms of introduction to the Pacific Coast are given. First records consisting of written accounts that do not state the date of planting, collection or observation are preceded by the symbol "<". Mechanisms given in parentheses indicate less likely mechanisms. Mechanisms are listed as:

OA - with shipments of Atlantic oysters
OJ - with shipments of Japanese oysters
SF - in ship fouling or boring
SB - in solid ballast
BW - in ship ballast water or seawater system
MR - planted for marsh restoration or erosion control

General Taxon	Native Range	First Pacific Coast Record	First Puget Sound Record	Possible Mechanism of Introduction
Seaweed Sargassum muticum	Japan	1944	* 1948	OJ
Seagrass Spartina anglica	England	1961-1962	1961-62	MR
Seagrass Zostera japonica	W Pacific	1957	* 1974	OJ
Foraminifera Trochammina hadai	Japan	* 1971	* 1971	BW, SF, OJ
Cnidaria - hydroid Cordylophora caspia	Black Sea and Caspian Sea	ca. 1920	ca. 1920	BW, SF
Cnidaria - anemone Diadumene lineata	probably Asia	1906	< 1939	OA, SF
Annelida Hobsonia florida	NW Atlantic	1940	1940	?
*Annelida Pseudopolydora paucibranchiata	* Japan	* 1950	* 1993	* BW, SF
Mollusca - snail Batillaria attramentaria	Japan	1924	1924	OJ
Mollusca - snail Crepidula fornicata	NW Atlantic	1905	1905	OA
Mollusca - snail Myosotella myosotis	Europe?	1871	1927	OA (SB, SF)
Mollusca - bivalve Crassostrea gigas	Japan	1875	1875	OJ
*Mollusca - bivalve Mytilus galloprovincialis	* NE Atlantic Mediterranean	* 1940s	* 1980s	* SF
Mollusca - bivalve Mya arenaria	NW Atlantic	1874	1888-1889	OA
Mollusca - bivalve Nuttallia obscurata	Japan, Korea (China?)	* 1991	* 1993	BW
Mollusca - bivalve Ruditapes philippinarum (=Tapes japonica, = Venerupis philippinarum)	NW Pacific	1924	1924	OJ
Copepoda Choniostomatid copepod	?	?	1998	?
Cumacea Nippoleucon hinumensis	Japan	1979	* mid-1990s	BW
Isopoda Limnoria tripunctata	?	1871 or 1875	* 1962	SF
Amphipoda Ampithoe valida	NW Atlantic	1941	* 1966	BW, OA, SF
Amphipoda Caprella mutica	* Sea of Japan	1973-1977	1998	BW, OJ
Amphipoda Corophium acherusicum	* N Atlantic	1905	1974-1975	OA, SF
Amphipoda Corophium insidiosum	N Atlantic	1915	* 1949	OA, SF
Amphipoda Eochelidium sp.	Japan or Korea ?	* 1993?	1997	BW
Amphipoda Grandidierella japonica	Japan	1966	* 1977	BW, OJ, SF
Amphipoda Jassa marmorata	NW Atlantic	1941	* 1990?	BW, SF
Amphipoda Melita nitida	NW Atlantic	1938	* 1998	BW, OA, SB, SF
Amphipoda Parapleustes derzhavini	* W Pacific	1904	1998	SF
Entoprocta Barentsia benedeni ?	Europe	1929	1998	OJ, SF
Ectoprocta (Bryozoa) Bowerbanki gracilis	NW Atlantic?	<1923	<1953	OA, SF
Ectoprocta (Bryozoa) Bugula sp. 1	?	?	1993	?
Ectoprocta (Bryozoa) Bugula sp. 2	?	?	1998	?
Ectoprocta (Bryozoa) Bugula stolonifera	NW Atlantic	<1978	1998	SF
Ectoprocta (Bryozoa) Cryptosula pallasiana	N Atlantic	1943-1944	1998	OA, SF
Ectoprocta (Bryozoa) Schizoporella unicornis	NW Pacific	1927	1927	OJ, SF
Urochordata (Tunicata) Botrylloides violaceus	Japan	1973	1977	OJ, SF
Urochordata (Tunicata) Botryllus schlosseri	NE Atlantic	1944-1947	* 1970s	OA, SF
Urochordata (Tunicata) Ciona savignyi	* Japan	1985	1998	BW, SF
Urochordata (Tunicata) Molgula manhattensis	NW Atlantic	1949	1998	BW, OA, SF
Urochordata (Tunicata) Styela clava	China to Sea of Okhotsk	1932-1933	1998	BW, OJ, SF

 Origins, first records and mechanisms of introduction of additional
non-indigenous species known to be established in Puget Sound
(defined here as inland marine waters of Washington east of Cape Flattery),
but NOT collected by the 1998 Puget Sound Expedition

(this list is incomplete and is not intended to be an all-inclusive
final authority for all nonindigenous species found in Puget Sound)

General Taxon	Native Range	First Pacific Coast Record	First Puget Sound Record	Possible Mechanism of Introduction
Seagrass Spartina alterniflora	NW Atlantic	1910	1910	MR, SB
Seagrass Spartina patens	NW Atlantic	< 1930	?	MR
Cnidaria - hydroid Bougainvillia muscus ( = B. ramosa)	N Atlantic	1975	1981	SF
Cnidaria - hydroid Cladonema radiatum	NW Atlantic and Mediterranean	1988	1988	SF, BW
Platyhelminthes Pseudostylochus ostreophagus	Japan	1954	1954	OJ
Annelida Neanthes succinea	? (cosmopolitan)	1896	1998	OA, SF
Annelida Streblospio benedicti	N Atlantic	1932	1998	OA, BW, SF
Mollusca - snail Cecina manchurica	Japan, China	1961	1961	OJ
Mollusca - snail Ceratostoma inornatum	Japan	1924	1924	OJ
Mollusca - snail Crepidula plana	W Atlantic	1901	1930s	OA
Mollusca - snail Urosalpinx cinerea	NW Atlantic	1890	1929	OA
Mollusca - bivalve Musculista senhousia	Japan, China	1924	1924	OJ
Copepoda Mytilicola orientalis (= M. ostreae)	W Pacific	1938	1946?	OJ
Copepoda Pseudodiaptomus inopinus	Asian N Pacific	1990	1991	BW

Additional Cryptogenic Species collected by the 1998 Puget Sound Expedition

(31 species and still counting)

Cryptogenic species are those whose geographic origins are not clear; they are not likely to be native to Puget Sound, but we cannot be sure for a variety of reasons. Many of the species on this list have not yet been identified to species. Although we do not believe that they are native to Puget Sound, we are unable to further identify them at this time, and thus their origin cannot be established. It is likely that some of these species have never been formally described and it will therefore be difficult to ever localize their original geographic range.

This list is a modification of column D on pp. 6-7 of the Puget Sound Expedition Report (November, 1998) by Cohen, Mills, Berry, Wonham, Bingham, Bookheim, Carlton, Chapman, Cordell, Harris, Klinger, Kohn, Lambert, Lambert, Li, Secord and Toft. Additions to that Table are indicated here with an asterisk (*), representing further lab efforts by various members of the team.

Seaweeds - Chlorophyta
Enteromorpha sp.
Ulva sp.

Seaweeds - Rhodophyta
Chondria dasyphylla
Polysiphonia paniculata

Ciliata
Zoothamnion sp.
green folliculinids

Porifera (Sponges)
Halichondria sp.

Cnidaria (Hydroids, sea anemones and their relatives)
* Obelia dichotoma
* Obelia longissima
Alcyonium sp.

Annelida - Polychaete worms
Autolytinae sp. 1 (clear)
Autolytinae sp. 2 (transverse bars)
Autolytinae sp. 3 (transverse orange bars)
Autolytinae sp. 4 (mid-dorsal orange stripe)
Autolytinae sp. 5 (4 longitudinal lines)
Autolytinae sp. 6 (lemon-yellow)
Capitella sp.
* Cirratulus n. s.
* Clavodoce sp. A
* Eusyllinae genus A species A
* Eusyllis sp. 11
Harmothoe imbricata
* Neanthes sp. A
* Notomastus sp. C
* Platynereis sp. A
Polydora sp.
Proceraea sp. A (of Piltz, unpublished)
* Spio sp. A
Typosyllis sp.

Mollusca - Bivalvia (clams)
Mytilus sp.

Bryozoa
Alcyonidium polyoum 

Additional Cryptogenic Species known to be established in Puget Sound,
but NOT collected by the 1998 Puget Sound Expedition

Cnidaria - Sea anemones
Nematostella vectensis

Annelida - Polychaete worms
Pygospio elegans

Amphipoda
Monocorophium carlottensis

This site is maintained by C. .E. Mills
** This page was established March 1999; last updated 30 August 2001 **

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