TITLE:
Kappaphycus alvarezii (Rhodophyta): New Record of an Exotic Species for the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica
AUTHORS:
Rubén Cabrera, Schery Umanzor, Jhoana Díaz-Larrea, Patricia G. Araújo
KEYWORDS:
Carrageenophytes, Cultivation, Costa Rica, Dispersion, Exotic, Introduction
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.10 No.10,
October
30,
2019
ABSTRACT: Kappaphycus alvarezii, a red macroalgal
species native to South-East Asia, has been introduced for commercial purposes
to more than 20 tropical countries. In 2000, Panama became the first Central
American country to develop its cultivation following a pilot-commercial approach. Twelve years after his
introduction to Panama, the species was found to the south Caribbean coast. In
the present study, we report the first record of K. alvarezii collected in
Costa Rican waters. Genetic identification of the sample was performed with the
mitochondrial marker cox2-cox3 intergenic spacer, and phylogenetic analyses
showed that the sample collected grouped into a monophyletic clade with GenBank
sequences from Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brazil and Venezuela. Here
we provide further description of its position with respect to other strains of K. alvarezii collected
globally. Its possible route of
entry to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica is discussed. To date, it is
possible to locate K. alvarezii in different areas away from
the production fields which show its dispersion, and that the species is
expanding; but more studies are needed to know the phase of colonization in
which it is located because it is a combination of natural factors and human
exploitation that determines the invasive potential of the species.