Diver and artisanal fisherman Daniel Caniullán recalls with frustration the day he went to collect shellfish from a natural bank in northern Chile, only to find hundreds of the plumose anemones covering the seabed. “I found an anemone plague where there used to be locos [edible sea snails]. It is upsetting, because these are places we protect, where we feel safe,” says the Indigenous leader from the Guaitecas archipelago in northern Chilean Patagonia. This invasive anemone species (Metridium senile), also known as the frilled anemone, is native to the Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. In 2005, a group of researchers, including marine biologist Vreni Häussermann, recorded M. senile for the first time in central Patagonia. In 2011 and 2015, its presence was confirmed in northern and southern Patagonia, respectively. These anemones occupy large areas of the seabed, displacing species such as sponges, bivalves and barnacles. Experts are therefore concerned about the “devastating” impact this species could have on Chile’s marine ecosystems. In addition, there are warnings about the loss of commercially significant resources, such as the locos (Concholepas concholepas), red sea urchin (Loxechinus albus) and the giant barnacle (Austromegabalanus psittacus), on which artisanal fishing communities depend. The laceration of the anemone’s base leads to asexual reproduction. Image courtesy of Vreni Häussermann. Häussermann, a principal investigator at San Sebastian University, explains that the anemone could have arrived in Chile in ballast water, used to stabilize ships when they are partially loaded or under different loading conditions. Upon arrival, the water is…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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