Zeebrugge: Invasive species
Since a first visit to the pontoons of the marina in the Zeebrugge outer harbour area on 7 July 1999 I started to study the marine fauna and flora of this locality, together with Emmanuel Dumoulin and Marco Faasse. A survey was made of the organisms (for the algae only partly) living as fouling-species on the pontoons, or the occurrence in the surrounding water column, in the latter case often between growth of algae.
Numerous visits and sampling during the past ten years resulted in a comprehensive list of mainly macro-species. We found 101 species of marine invertebrates of which 18 species are exotic.
Click on a species for more information, or click here to see pictures.
| Group | Invasive species | First record | Origin |
| Algae | Sargassum muticum | 1999 | Asia |
| Undaria pinnatifida | 1999 | Asia | |
| Antithamnionella spirographidis | Before 1999 | North Pacific | |
| Porifera - Sponges | Haliclona xena | 1999 | Unknown |
| Protosuberites denhartogi | 2008 | Unknown | |
| Ctenophora - Comb jellies | Mnemiopsis leidyi | 2007 | America |
| Cnidaria - cndarians | Nemopsis bachei | 1999 | West-Atlantic |
| Mollusca - molluscs | Crepidula fornicata | Before 1999 | Eastcoast of North-America |
| Crassostrea gigas | Before 1999 | Asia | |
| Crustacea - crustaceans | Balanus improvisus | Before 1999 | North-America |
| Elminius modestus | Before 1999 | New-Zealand | |
| Hemigrapsus penicillatus | 2003 | Asia | |
| Palaemon macrodactylus | 2004 | Asia | |
| Caprella mutica | 1999 | Asia | |
| Bryozoa - moss animals | Bugula stolonifera | 1999 | NW-Atlantic |
| Bugula simplex | 2007 | Unknown | |
| Tricellaria inopinata | 2001 | W-Pacific | |
| Ascidiacea - sea squirts | Styela clava | 1999 | Asia |
| Molgula manhattensis | 1999 | Westcoast of North-America | |
| Botrylloides violaceus | 2004 | Asia | |
| Aplidium glabrum | 2000 | Unknown | |
| Diplosoma listerianum | 2002 | Unknown |