Sea Grant Aquatic Nuisance Species Research Program
Overview * Presentation * Poster * Fact Sheet* Video Clips * Photos * Links
Sea Grant Aquatic Nuisance Species Research Program
Principal Investigators: Douglas Miller, University of Delaware Graduate College of Marine Studies, Lewes, Delaware and John W. Ewart, University of Delaware Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service, Lewes, Delaware
Project Period: June 1, 2003 to May 31, 2005
Nuclear worms are large, pink, semi-aquatic polychaetes imported from Vietnam and sold as fish bait. Import and sale of this species is unregulated and has received much media attention recently focused on the worms¡¦ vivid coloration, unusual size (up to 2 m long), and the potential exposure of fisherman to pathogens associated with packing material.
"While many believe the nuclear worm poses little environmental risk to temperate coastlines, this assertion is lacking any rigorous scientific basis, and certainly is not a valid extrapolation to warmer, subtropical regions of the U.S. coast," says Doug Miller, an oceanographer at the UD College of Marine Studies.
In this study funded by the National Sea Grant Aquatic Nuisance Species Program, Miller and John Ewart, aquaculture/fisheries specialist for the UD Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service, will conduct laboratory experiments to evaluate the risk of survival and establishment of nuclear worms in Mid-Atlantic waters and particularly in states farther south where warmer subtropical climates are found. Temperature and salinity experiments will be conducted in the first year. In the second year, the scientists will conduct aquarium experiments at optimal temperature and salinity to identify species of freshwater and estuarine invertebrates consumed as prey, the worm¡¦s ability to regenerate when cut for bait, and their reproductive seasonality and success (if any) in the lab. Coastline regions at risk for nuclear-worm establishment (i.e., with tolerable temperature regimes) will be identified using electronically available temperature data. This approach also will be assessed for application to other tropical imported and invasive species.
The scientists will share their research findings with the public through Web pages, a fact sheet, and lectures. The project should benefit a range of audiences, from federal agencies, state resource managers, and invasive species working groups, to bait shop owners and local fishermen.
Temperature
and Salinity Tolerance of Vietnamese Bait Worms, Namalycastis Sp.: Implications
for Establishment of a Tropical Import in the Southeastern USA
Miller, D. C.1, R. K. Dale1, J.
R. Brown1 and P. D. Huggins2. 1Graduate
College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware, Lewes, DE 19958; 2Fairmont
State College, Fairmont, WV 26554.
Presented at the The 33rd Annual Marine Benthic Ecology Meeting, Mobile, Alabama, March 25-28, 2004
Abstract
Large rag worms (Family Nereididae) of an undescribed
species of the genus Namalycastis are imported from Vietnam and sold as
fishing bait in the mid-Atlantic region of the USA. To determine where
this tropical species could potentially become established, we investigated
the temperature and salinity tolerances for comparison with coastal environmental
data. Worms were maintained for several months in mud and plant detritus
collected from mid-Atlantic salt marshes. Short-term laboratory experiments
show that worms, while sluggish, survive temperatures as low as 13oC
for 5 days and die quickly near 10oC. This lower limit is 7-10oC
below that previously estimated for this species. Worms display a broad
tolerance to salinity, surviving well from 1 to over 30 parts per thousannd
(ppt) when kept at 29oC. We have observed worms to fragment
spontaneously under some conditions as well as the apparent regeneration
of tail ends of some individuals. We conclude that temperature represents
a strong determinant of their possible range. Moreover, these data greatly
increase the potential range of this species along vegetated coastlines
of the southeast USA.
Vietnamese Baitworms: Great Bait or Invasive Introduction? (PowerPoint poster)
Vietnamese Baitworms: Great Bait or Invasive Introduction? (Fact Sheet)
Vietnamese Baitworms:Video Clip 1; Video Clip 2
Photos (click on photo to enlarge)
Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force - An intergovernmental organization dedicated to preventing and controlling aquatic nuisance species. Co-chaired by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Invasivespecies.gov - the gateway to Federal efforts concerning invasive species
Sea Grant's NATIONAL AQUATIC NUISANCE SPECIES CLEARINGHOUSE
Sea Grant Aquatic Nuisance Species Research Program: Southeast Regional Strategic Outreach Network
Sea Grant Aquatic Nuisance Species Research and Outreach Program: Initiation of an Aquatic Nuisance Species Cooperative Education and Outreach Network in the Mid-Atlantic Region
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center MARINE INVASIONS RESEARCH LAB PO Box 28, Edgewater, Maryland 21037 - a national and international center for research on biological invasions in coastal marine ecosystems
Forget About the Snakehead Fish, Here Comes the Nuclear Worm
Exotic new bait worms import worries - by Molly Murray, Gannett News Service
Many unwittingly helping the spread of invasive species - Bay Journal The Chesapeake bay Newspaper. Vol 12 - Number 6, September 2002
Last Updated: 14 April 2005
Please direct all questions, comments or reports of broken links
to John W. Ewart ewart@udel.edu
