Sargassum muticum (Yendo) Fensholt

Davidson, Alisha D., Campbell, Marnie L., Hewitt, Chad L. & Schaffelke, Britta, 2015, Assessing the impacts of nonindigenous marine macroalgae: an update of current knowledge, Botanica Marina (Warsaw, Poland) 58 (2), pp. 55-79 : 64

Sargassum muticum

Several of the case studies of the impacts of Sargassum muticum introductions showed negative effects, such as being an undesirable food source for herbivores ( Monteiro et al. 2009), suppression of native algal assemblages ( Olabarria et al. 2009), and space monopolization ( Thomsen et al. 2006). However, several of the studies had ambiguous results, with some taxonomic groups showing increased abundance and some showing decreased abundance ( Lang and Buschbaum 2010, Gestoso et al. 2012). Sargassum muticum also enhanced epibiotic diversity in soft-bottom environments ( Buschbaum et al. 2006), and at time scales of <1 week after colonization ( Rodil et al. 2008). This species was a preferred forage material for the snail Lacuna vincta Montagu ( Britton-Simmons et al. 2011) , and its presence increased overall faunal abundance ( Strong et al. 2006).