THE CAULERPA INFORMATION CENTER
The Southern California Caulerpa Action Team - Working to prevent Caulerpa invasions through education and preparedness
Caulerpa is a group of seaweeds that occurs naturally in tropical waters worldwide. Prized for their beauty and ability to uptake excess nutrients, many species of Caulerpa are now widely used in saltwater aquarium systems. In the 1980s, a cold-tolerant and fast-growing strain of Caulerpa taxifolia was cultivated in Germany and distributed worldwide. Its prolific growth allows it to rapidly overtake aquariums, with routine thinning required to control it.
In 1984, this invasive strain was released from the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco into the Mediterranean Sea, where it formed one small patch that rapidly grew into a large bed and continued to spread. It now blankets more than 30,000 acres of seafloor off of six countries. Dense carpets of Caulerpa have smothered diverse natural communities and dramatically reduced biodiversity by displacing native seaweeds and animals. Fishing, tourism, boating and other recreational industries have suffered economic damage.
A second non-native species, Caulerpa racemosa, has been introduced and spread to at least 11 countries in the Mediterranean Sea. Numerous infestations have also resulted from releases of Caulerpa taxifolia into Australian waters. (how to identify Caulerpa)
Small infestations in California’s Agua Hedionda Lagoon in Carlsbad, near San Diego, and in Huntington Harbour, near Los Angeles, took six years and over $7 million to eradicate. Infestations have been found nowhere else in the United States to date.
The mission of the Southern California Caulerpa Action Team is to prevent future invasions and to rapidly respond to any discovered infestations. Aquarists, aquarium retailers and service providers, divers and boaters can help protect the coastal waters of all states from this non-native, introduced species. Use this site to find out how, to learn about Required Caulerpa Surveys, and to access the database of past Caulerpa surveys.
