An invasive sea squirt is increasingly being found spread like batter on the ocean floor off New England, but new research shows that’s not all bad news, despite fears about damage the animal could cause.
The sea squirt rapidly expands on hard ocean bottom in rope-like chains or mats, and scientists worry it could crowd out valuable species that live on or near the sea floor, such as scallops.
But new evidence shows some sea life and the fish that eats it actually thrive in regions where the sea squirt has taken hold. It’s an unexpectedly positive spin to the intrusion of a species scientists acknowledge they don’t fully understand.
"This seems to be like the ecosystem is just sort of (saying): ’OK, if you’re able to withstand that and survive here, then you might actually find it favorable and benefit to some degree,’" said Brian Smith, a federal food web ecologist who’s studying how the sea squirts are affecting groundfish diets.
Read the complete story from The Boston Herald.