This project is the result of research to determine the invasion threat to the NE Pacific Ocean from marine algae arriving on debris from the 2011 Japanese Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Researchers worked to identify the algal species on 42 of the most heavily fouled debris items that landed on the shores of Oregon and Washington between June 2012 and July 2016. Using both morphological and molecular methods, they identified 84 marine algal and cyanobacterial species and species complexes on these items and sequenced 51. Since many of these species are not well-described in the literature, a morphological account of the actual specimens has been prepared to assist in the detection of future invasions by these species in the NE Pacific Ocean.

Part 1 (here) of this research provides an introduction to the study and pictures and descriptions of 29 red algal species and one red algal unknown that they discovered.

Part 2 covers the brown algae identified, and Part 3 identifies the green algae and cyanobacteria identified. In addition to this morphological documentation series, the reader is referred to the two other papers in the study cited on page 2 of the text.

Image: Douglas Sprott, Flickr

Authors: 
Hansen, Gayle I.; Hanyuda, Takeaki; Kawai, Hirosh
How to Order : 
Product Number: 
ORESU-H-17-001
DOI Number (Journal Article): 
http://dx.doi.org/10.5399/osu/1110
Year of Publication: 
2017
Length: 
50 pages