Caulerpa prolifera

March 13, 2003
From: Rob Brown

I am researching the invasive Mediterranean strain of Caulerpa taxifolia and the possible biological control of it using Elysia subornata, and have recently been curious about another Mediterranean Caulerpa. Caulerpa prolifera is not invasive in the Mediterranean, however its name surely implies that was invasive whenever/wherever it was first described. I know this is tangentially related to sea slugs, however I was hoping someone out there might know why C. prolifera is called prolifera.
Thanks,
Rob Brown

robertb@princeton.edu

Brown, R., 2003 (Mar 13) Caulerpa prolifera. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/9390

Dear Rob,
Your question is definitely very tangential to sea slugs but it does involve scientific names so I'll have a go. Basically you should try and see if the original description explains the origin of the name.
You have to be very careful in trying to interpret or 'translate' scientific names as they don't always mean what they seem. For example the nudibranch Noumea haliclona does not feed on the sponge Haliclona after which it was mistakenly named. Similarly, although prolifera sounds as though it may have something to so with being prolific I suspect it is based on the word proliferous which in botany refers to plants which freely reproduce vegetatively - by budding, sometimes from unusual places, such as shoots appearing from flowers.

Both prolific and proliferous come from a Latin word for offspring.

I am concerned to hear people are still seriously considering using non-native sacoglossans as biological control agents in the Mediterranean. I thought there had been considerable work done in recent years to show that the sacoglossan feeding behaviour probably increases the spread of C. taxifolia by causing bits to break off the plant and grow. Also there are plenty of examples worldwide now to show that, just as on land, introducing marine organisms to new oceans can cause massive ecological damage. Also, there is no evidence anywhere in the world to show that any sacoglossan species controls the population of its natural food algae, so why should we think they would do it if we shifted them to another ocean and put them on a new food plant?
Best wishes
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2003 (Mar 13). Comment on Caulerpa prolifera by Rob Brown. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/9390

Factsheet

Caulerpa taxifolia in the Mediterranean

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