TITLE:
The Asian Green Mussel Perna viridis (Linnaeus 1758): 20 Years after Its Introduction in Trinidad and Tobago
AUTHORS:
Judith Gobin, John Agard, Janette Madera, Azad Mohammed
KEYWORDS:
Perna viridis; Green Mussels; Trinidad and Tobago; Invasive Species
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Marine Science,
Vol.3 No.2,
April
29,
2013
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.