WEST LONG BRANCH – An invasive species that originates from Europe has now found a new home at the Jersey Shore.
Student and faculty researchers at Monmouth University discovered the Actinia equina, also known as the beadlet anemone, on a half-dozen beaches from Long Branch to Manasquan in Monmouth County. The species is native to the rocky coastlines of the British Isles and northern Europe, officials said.
“We don’t really have the kind of rocky ecosystems where they thrive here in the Mid-Atlantic, but they have invaded the human-made groins that were constructed decades ago for sand retention,” said Diederik Boonman, a senior marine and environmental biology and policy student at Monmouth. “The boulders provide the shelter, structure and food that make for a hospitable habitat in an otherwise sandy environment where they wouldn’t survive.”
He first encountered the beadlet anemones while cataloging marine life as part of a homework assignment. Boonman, along with his marine science professor Jason Adolf, did not recognize the wildlife.
During this time, some local beachgoers had posted pictures of similar specimens on a crowdsourcing website where nature enthusiasts and scientists can share information. However, none were sure what they had found.
Adolf and Boonman received help from researches James Carlton of Williams College and Craig Wilding of Liverpool John Moores University. The group was able to identify the anemones by comparing DNA samples of the New Jersey anemones to a native specimen in Europe, confirming a match.
Beadlet anemones shown on a jetty, their tentacles retracted due to low tide. (Photo courtesy Diederik Boonman)
The anemones found in New Jersey have a blue ring at their bottom, pale green bodies, and matching green tentacles with blue tips. They use their tentacles, which produce a toxin to stun prey, to capture small fish, crabs and mollusks. This does not pose a serious threat to humans as it can’t penetrate the skin, Boonman said.
According to scientists, anemones will retract their tentacles and close up during low tide in order to retain moisture.
“It is a privilege to work with motivated and enthusiastic students like Diederik to document important changes to the marine fauna of our region like this,” Adolf said. “The next step is to expand what we know about this anemone’s distribution and how it fits in with the local ecosystem.”
Researchers believe the anemones most likely arrived as hitchhikers aboard an international ship traveling to the Port of New York and New Jersey. The juvenile organisms could have been discharged in a ship’s ballast water or from an anemone living on a hull, then carried by the currents ending in the area to northern Monmouth County.
Researchers recently published their discoveries in the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.
Currently, Boonman and Adolf are creating a GIS map showing the locations of sightings in the area to track their spread. Anyone who sees the anemones is asked to email jadolf@monmouth.edu with the date and location of the observation.
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