Rapid assessment of marine non-native species in the Shetland Islands, Scotland

The Shetland Islands, northern Scotland, have a highly active and diverse maritime environment, and local marine industries form an important part of the local economy. The potential for damage caused by non-native species is high. As part of an assessment of the current status of non-native species in Shetland, a series of rapid assessment surveys, coupled with a settlement panel monitoring programme, were carried out at 18 sites between May 2012 and October 2014. Eight non-native species were detected in our surveys, three of which (Corella eumyota Traustedt, 1882; Bugulina simplex Hincks, 1886;
and Dasysiphonia japonica (Yendo) Kim, 2012) had not been previously
recorded. Observations by SCUBA also reported the first UK record of Schizoporella japonica Ortmann 1890 growing on natural substrate.
A literature review revealed three additional non-native species that have been documented in Shetland but were not detected in our survey
work. The results from this study highlight the speed at which non-native species can spread over regional scales, and that more active harbours contain greater numbers of non-native species, indicating the potential of hull
fouling and ballast water exchange for transporting non-native species.