{"id":12403,"date":"2021-05-28T09:50:05","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T08:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/marine-scotland\/?p=12403"},"modified":"2022-05-16T17:06:18","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T16:06:18","slug":"the-smothering-impact-of-didemnum-vexillum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/marine-scotland\/2021\/05\/28\/the-smothering-impact-of-didemnum-vexillum\/","title":{"rendered":"The smothering impact of Didemnum vexillum"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is it?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Didemnum vexillum, commonly known as \u2018Carpet Sea Squirt\u2019,\u00a0 is an invasive non-native marine organism that is now known to be established in the UK.<\/p>\n

In a suitable environment, D. vexillum can grow incredibly quickly, creating carpet-like colonies that can rapidly cover large areas, smothering native organisms and habitats. This prevents the ecosystem from functioning normally, for example by preventing fish and other marine organisms from feeding and successfully breeding. D. vexillum is also known to impact shellfish by growing over scallops, mussels or oysters within native beds or reared in commercial aquaculture settings.<\/p>\n

D. vexillum larval stages remain alive for only a short time in the water column,\u00a0 around 3-4 hours, but broken off pieces of the species colonies can be transported by the water current over large distances before settling in new areas.<\/p>\n

The main pathways for spread of D. vexillum in marine environment include shipping, recreational boating and via the movement of aquaculture stocks. Due to the rapid growth and potential significant impact of D. vexillum on native organisms and habitats it is essential to manage this species in such a way that minimises its spread.<\/p>\n

What does it look like?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

It is difficult to correctly identify D. vexillum and it may look like some native species, but the following features may aid the identification:<\/p>\n