On the other hand, efforts to establish desirable invertebrates from other waters have been on the whole unsuccessful. The most spectacular failure was that of the Atlantic lobster, which was brought across the continent in the 1870s, and dumped into the Pacific off the Golden Gate. It has since been determined that the larvae of this lobster require a minimum temperature of about 15C., although the adults can do very well in low temperatures and sometimes stray into theh waterss around Iceland. Since ...
A number of "neutral immigrants" from Japan have probably arrived with oysters ...
Although San Francisco Bay no longer produces market oysters, there are several souvenirs of the halcyon days of Jack London, the oyser pirates, and French restauraunts of San Francisco living in the Bay. The Virginia Oyseter, Crassostrea virginica,was once well naturalized in San Francisco Bay, and there are probably still a few stragglers, as tehre are in Tomales Bay; but progress and pollution have destroyed the commercial fishery in San Francisco Bay. Since the early transplantations were made in days of ecological innocence, all sorts of animals came with the eastern oysters. Today there are dense stands of the horse mussel Volsella demissa (Modiolus demissus) in theh southern part of San Francisco Bay, and consideration has been given to harvesting these mussels for pet food, chicken meal, or even some extract for space travelers. Shore birds are apparently fond of dining on this mussel at low tide, and the mussel sometimes protects itself the only way it can - by gripping the bird by the foot until the tide comes in and the bird is drowned. Clapper Rails seem to be especially easy victims of this tactic...
The most recent unwelcome invader to come to notice is the Atlantic green crab, Carcinides maenas,which turned up in Willapa Bay in 1961. This crab attacks young oysters and could become a serious pest. Its progress is being watched with apprehension.
It is pleasant to conclude our roster of undesirable and indifferent invaders with a mention of two of some value, at least by our homocentric standards. First is the Japanese "littleneck" clam, Protothaca semidecussata,now widespread and common enough in Puget Sound to appear on the market. It was first noticed in British Columbian waters about 1939,when it was described as a new species, Paphia bifurcata. It has become abundant in Puget Sound within the last 10 or 12 years....
An unexpected result of the Korean War (apparently) is the naturalization in San Francisco Bay of Palaemon macrodactylus,a brackish water shrimp about 2 inches long. It was first noticed about 1954 in San Francisco Bay, and is now common in small streams in Marin County flowing into San Francisco Bay and in the main river as far as Collinsville and Antioch. It now seems to be more abundant than the native Cragon,from which is may esily be distinguished by its longer and apparently more numerous antennae and its long, toothed rostrum. Introductions can rareley be dated as closely as this one has been, and its progress into the Delta is being followed with interest. Its obvious vigor and success may make it an important food resource for the fish populations of the region. It appears to have been introduced in ballast water from ships returning from the Korean pininsula, its native haunts. It thrives well in captivity, and will probably become an important experimental animal in our halls of learning.
