Invasive Seagrass and its effects on Juvenile Queen Conch

As invasive seagrass continues to expand and replace native species, populations such as the queen conch are seeing significant changes to their habitat and subsequent negative impact in food source availability. With potential consequence for the resilience of such species in a changing world. A recently published study from St. Barthelemy, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten, worked to understand how native and invasive seagrasses influence juvenile queen conch’s development by studying both dietary composition and growth rate.

This article was published in BioNews29

More information: Boman, E.M., Bervoets, T., de Graaf, M., Dewenter, J., Maitz, A., Meijer Zu Schlochtern, M.P., Stapel, J., Smaal, A.C., Nagelkerke, L.A.J., 2019. Diet and growth of juvenile queen conch Lobatus gigas (Gastropoda: Strombidae) in native, mixed and invasive seagrass habitats. MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES. Vol. 621: 143–154, 2019 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12990