The Asian Green Mussel Perna viridis (Linnaeus 1758): 20 Years after Its Introduction in Trinidad and Tobago

Judith Gobin, John Agard, Janette Madera, Azad Mohammed

Department of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
Laboratories of Analytical Biology, Smithsonian Institution, Suitland, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/ojms.2013.32007                

Abstract

Invasive species are often characterised by the introduction of low numbers of individuals and a small genetic pool which could give rise to a population with a lower genetic diversity than the original population. Perna viridis was first reported on the west coast of Trinidadin1990 inthe Point Lisas Industrial estate. They may have been first introduced either as juvenile free floating mussels (spat) or as adults attached to the hulls of ships. This gregarious species spread rapidly throughout the Caribbean toVenezuela,KingstonHarbor(Jamaica) and by 1999 was reported inTampaBay(Florida). Genetic analysis was done on tissue samples fromTrinidadto determine the genetic similarity of newly collected specimens (2009) with archived specimens (collected 1994). Results suggest that there may not be any genetic variation in the population of Perna viridis, even approximately 20 years after initial colonization. These results suggest that there was no evidence of genetic bottlenecks in the population of P. viridis fromTrinidad.

Keywords

Perna viridis; Green Mussels; Trinidad and Tobago; Invasive Species

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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