Gorilla Ogo
Gorilla Ogo (Gracilaria salicornia)
Description:
- Small, cylindrical branches with segmentation on each branch
- Grows intertwining together and with neighboring plants to create a thick mats and clumps up to 30 cm or more across
- Yellow to bright orange in clear water, dark brown in muddy turbid water
Habitat:
- Grows on reef flats in shallow waters
- Very successful in brackish waters like fishponds and intertidal pools
- Can be found intertidal to subtidal, up to 4 meters deep
Reproduction:
- Widespread dispersal mainly through fragmentation
- Fragments are quite heavy and tend to sink rapidly but can remain viable after more than 6 hours dessication
- Has been found to propagate sexuallyand asexually
Native Range:
- Wide spread throughout the warm temperate seas around the Indian Ocean, and in the central western Pacific.
- Not documented in the Atlantic
- Not seen from the central Pacific Basin east of Micronesia before its introduction to Hawaii
Introduction:
- First found in 1971 in Hilo Bay, Hawai‘i
- Origin uncetiran, but a possibility is unintentional transport by shipping into Hilo Bay from the Philippines in the early twentieth century
- In April 1971, the species was transported intentionally from Hilo to Waikiki, and in September 1978 to Kaneohe Bay on Oahu for aquaculture projects that were later abandoned
Impacts:
- Out-competes native alga and coral
- Grows over coral, shading it from sunlight
- Causes shift in ecosystem; what was once coral dominated is now algae dominated with low diversity
- Habitat loss greatly affects recreational and commercial fisheries
Distribution in Hawaii:
- Kauai: Unknown
- Oahu: Waikiki, Pearl Harbor, Maunalua Bay, and Kaneohe Bay
- Molokai: Unknown
- Lanai: Unknown
- Maui: Unknown
- Big Island: First discovered in Hilo Harbor, now spread south along the coast
Related AIS Team Management Projects:
- Invasive Algae Project (link)
References: