Download Invasive Species

Newport ,Oregon
Upogebia pugettensis
Blue Mud Shrimp
•Is a native species that lives in the
mud flats of estuaries in the Pacific
Northwest
•Can grow to 15 cm (about 6 in)
•Lives in Y-shaped burrows it
creates about 3 feet deep
• Many other organisms live with the shrimp in
the burrow
• The take advantage of the “home” created by
the mud shrimp
• The other organisms include phytoplankton
and clams
 Mud shrimp are commonly used by the
locals as fishing bait, but they are not
eaten by the people.
 Mud shrimp eat detritus and phytoplankton
Mud Flat in Yaquina Bay
(Newport, OR)
Blue Mud Shrimp
Burrow 
(Quarter for size reference)
 The isopod Orthione griffenis is an invasive
species that arrived in the Pacific Northwest
from Asia
 A more familiar isopod is a pill bug/rolly-polly
Isopod infecting
Blue Mud Shrimp
 Scientists believe the isopod was introduced to the
West Coast by dumping of ballast water of ships
 The isopod enters the shrimps gill chamber and
prevents the shrimp from reproducing by sucking
its blood/nutrients
 The shrimp is alive but in a zombie-like state
 A ballast is compartment
Dumping ballast water
in a boat or ship that
holds water. Filling the
ballast allows for
increased stability of a
ship.
 A ship will fill it’s ballast in
one area of the world
and dump that same
water in a different area
of the world.
 Any organisms within
that water are dumped
introducing a species into
a new ecosystem.
Isopod Population
Blue Mud Shrimp Population
6
ln(Upogebia density)
Orthione Prevalence
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
4
3
2
1
0
0%
1988
5
1993
1998
Year
2003
1988
1993
1998
Year
2003
Humans
Bears
Sun
Zooplankton
Salmon
Phytoplankton
Mud Shrimp
Larvae
Detritus
Critical Thinking Questions/
Notebook Entry
1) Predict the effects on the ecosystem/foodweb.
Please use at least three complete sentences.
2)
What are other possible ways invasive species
can be introduced? Please be thorough.
3) Explain one way that an invasive species affects
your daily life. (“It doesn’t” is not a correct answer!)
Environmental Sample Processor
 ESP is one way that scientists collect bio-data in the
field in real time over a sustained period
 ESP is a way to remotely collect information about
what organisms are present in an aquatic
environment
 ESP could be used to determine the number shrimp
and isopod larvae present by DNA signatures
ESP




Blue – Shrimp
Red – Isopods
Green – Plankton
Pink - Bacteria
ESP Data
showing few
shrimp larvae
present (blue)
and many
isopod larvae
present (red)