Abstract
The role of ballast water in the introduction of exotic species has recently received extensive attention. The aim of this study is to assess the importance of ballast water discharge as a vector for the introduction of exotic species into Hong Kong waters. Twelve ballast water samples were collected from 5 container ships entering Hong Kong between June 1994 and October 1995. The ballast water originated from ports on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. At least 81 species from 8 animal phyla and 5 protist phyla were found. Most of the major marine taxonomic groups were represented and many planktonic larval stages were included. Species richness in the ballast tanks decreased with the age of ballast water. Copepoda was the most diverse and abundant taxonomic group. The density of calanoid and cyclopoid copepods decreased with the age of ballast water, but that of harpacticoid copepods did not change significantly with time. Bivalve, crustacean, polychaete and ascidian larvae from ballast water samples were observed to settle in laboratory culture tanks. The mussel Mytilopsis sallei which was introduced to Hong Kong in 1980, was one of the bivalves that settled readily. Results of this study indicate that ballast water can be a major source for the introduction of exotic species to Hong Kong waters. Regulatory guidelines on the discharge of ballast water should be established.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Baltz, D. M., 1991. Introduced fishes in marine systems and inland seas. Biol. Conserv. 56: 151–177.
Buttermore, R. E., E. Turner & M. G. Morrice, 1994. The introduced northern Pacific seastar Asterias amurensis in Tasmania. Mem. Queensland Mus. 36: 21–25.
Carlton, J. T., 1979. Introduced invertebrates of San Francisco Bay. In Canomos, T. J. (ed.), San Francisco Bay: The Urbanized Estuary. Pacific Division, American Association for the Advancement of Science, San Francisco (CA): 427–444.
Carlton, J. T., 1985. Transoceanic and interoceanic dispersal of coastal marine organisms: the biology of ballast water. Oceanogr. mar. Biol. ann. Rev. 23: 313–371.
Carlton, J. T. & J. B. Geller, 1993. Ecological roulette: The global transport of nonindigenous marine organisms. Science 261: 78–82.
Chang, K. M., 1985. Newly introduced false mussel to Taiwan (Bivalvia: Dreissenidae). Bull. Malacol. R.O.C. 11: 61–67.
Chen, Q. C., 1982. The marine Zooplankton of Hong Kong. In Morton, B. S. & C. K. Tseng (eds), The Marine Flora and Fauna of Hong Kong and Southern China. Vol. 1. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong: 789–799.
Cone, D., T. Eurell & V. Beasley, 1994. A report of Dactylogyrus amphibothriwn (Monogenera) on the gills of European ruffe in western Lake Superior. J. Parasitol. 80: 476–478.
Cordell, J. R., C. A. Morgan & C. A. Simenstad, 1992. Occurrence of the Asian calanoid copepod Pseudodiaptomus inopinus in the Zooplankton of the Columbia river valley. J. Crust. Biol. 12: 260–269.
Elton, C. S., 1958. The Ecology of Invasions by Plants and Animals. Chapman & Hall, London: 181 pp.
Fukui, Y., K. Wada & C. H. Wang, 1989. Ocypodidae, Mictyridae and Grapsidae (Crustacea: Brachyura). J. Taiwan Mus. 42: 225–238.
Gosliner, T. M., 1995. Introduction and spread of Philine auriformis (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia) from New Zealand to San Francisco Bay and Bodega Harbor. Mar. Biol. 122: 249–255.
Griffiths, R. W., D. W. Schloesser, J. H. Leach & W. P. Kovalak, 1991. Distribution and dispersal of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorphs) in the Great Lakes region. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 48:1381–1388.
Grindley, J. R. & G. D. Grice, 1969. A redescription of Pseudodiaptomus marinus Sato (Copepoda, Calanoida) and its occurrence at the Island of Mauritius. Crustaceana 16: 125–134.
Ganapati, P. N., M. V. Lakshmana Rao & R. Nagabhushanam, 1971. On Congeria sallei Recluz, a fouling bivalve mollusc in the Visakhapatnam harbour. Curr. Sci. 40: 409.
Hallegraeff, G. M. & C. J. Bolch, 1991. Transport of toxic dinoflagellate cysts via ships’ ballast water. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 22: 27–30.
Hallegraeff, G. M. & C. J. Bolch, 1992. Transport of diatom and dinoflagellate resting spores in ships’ ballast water: implications for plankton biogeography and aquaculture. J. Plankton Res. 14: 1067–1084.
Hardy, B.L.S., 1978. A method for rearing sand-swelling harpacticoid copepods in experimental conditions. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 34:143–149.
Hebert, P. D. N., C. C. Wilson, M. H. Murdoch & R. Lazar, 1991. Demography and ecological impacts of the invading mollusc Dreissena polymorpha. Can. J. Zool. 69: 405–409.
Henry, D. P. & P. A. McLaughlin, 1975. The barnacles of the Balanus amphitrite complex (Cirripedia, Thoracica). Zool. Verh., Leiden 141:3–254.
Huang, Z. G. & B. Morton, 1983. Mytilopsis sallei (Bivalvia: Dreissenoidea) established in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong. Malacol. Rev. 16: 99–100.
Hutchings, P., 1992. Ballast water introductions of exotic marine organisms into Australia — current status and management options. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 25: 5–8.
Jones, E. C., 1966. A new record of Pseudodiaptomus marinus Sato (Copepoda, Calanoida) from brackish waters of Hawaii. Crustaceana 10: 316–317.
Kelly, J. M., 1993. Ballast water and sediments as mechanisms for unwanted species introductions into Washington State. J. Shellfish Res. 12: 405–410.
Kim, I. H., 1992. Invasion of foreign barnacles into Korean waters. Korean J. syst. Zool. 8: 163–175. (in Korean with English abstract).
Locke, A., D. M. Reid, H. C. van Leeuween, W. G. Sprules & J. T. Carlton, 1993. Ballast water exchange as a means of controlling dispersal of freshwater organisms by ships. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 50: 2086–2093.
MacLeod, L., 1995. Risks associated with the uncontrolled discharge of ships’ ballast and the legislative controls available in Scotland. J.CIWEN 9: 173–178.
McCarthy, S. A. & F. M. Khambaty, 1994. International dissemination of epidemic Vibrio cholerae by cargo ship ballast and other nonpotable waters. Appl. envir. Microbiol. 60: 2597–2601.
Mak, P. M. S., 1982. The coral associated polychaetes of Hong Kong, with special reference to the serpulids. In Morton, B. S. & C. K. Tseng (eds), The Marine Flora and Fauna of Hong Kong and Southern China. Vol. 2. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong: 595–617.
Morton, B., 1980. Mytilopsis sallei (Recluz) (Bivalvia: Dreissenacea) recorded from Hong Kong: An introduction by Vietnamese refugees? Malacol. Rev. 13: 90–92.
Morton, B., 1981. The biology and functional morphology of Mytilopsis sallei (Recluz) (Bivalvia: Dreissenacea) fouling Visakhapatnam Habour, Andhra Pradesh, India. J. moll. Stud. 47: 25–42.
Morton, B., 1987. Recent marine introductions into Hong Kong. Bull. mar. Sci. 41:503–513.
Morton, B., 1989. Life-history characteristics and sexual strategy of Mytilopsis sallei (Bivalvia: Dreissenacea), introduced into Hong Kong. J. Zool., Lond. 219: 469–485.
Morton, B. & J. Morton, 1983. The Sea Shore Ecology of Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong: 350 pp.
Nalepa, T. F. & D. W. Schloesser (eds), 1993. Zebra Mussels: Biology, Impacts, and Control. Lewis Publishers, CRC Press, Boca Raton (FL), 810 pp.
Newman, W. A. & A. Ross, 1976. Revision of the babanomorph barnacles including a catalogue of the species. San Diego Soc. nat. Hist. Mem. 9: 1–108.
Orsi, J. J. & T. C. Walter, 1991. Pseudodiaptomus forbesi and R marinus (Copepoda: Calanoida), the latest copepod immigrants to California’s Sacramento-San-Joaquin estuary. Bull. Plankton Soc. Jap., Special vol.: 553–562.
Pratt, D. M., W. H. Blust & J. H. Selgeby, 1992. Ruffe, Gymnocephalus cernuus newly introduced in North America. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 49: 1616–1618.
Ricketts, E. F. & J. Calvin, 1968. Between Pacific Tides. 4th ed. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California: 614 pp.
Shin, P. K. S., 1977. A quantitative and qualitative survey of the benthic fauna of the territorial waters of Hong Kong. M. Phil. Thesis, University of Hong Kong: 195 pp.
Shin, P. K. S., 1982. Some polychaetous annelids from Hong Kong waters. In Morton, B. S. & C. K. Tseng (eds), The Marine Flora and Fauna of Hong Kong and Southern China. Vol. 1. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong: 161–172.
Williams, R. J., F. B. Griffiths, E. J. Van der Wal & J. Kelly, 1988. Cargo ship ballast water as a vector for the transport of non-indigenous marine species. Estuar. coast. Shelf Sci. 26: 409–420.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1997 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this paper
Cite this paper
Chu, K.H., Tam, P.F., Fung, C.H., Chen, Q.C. (1997). A biological survey of ballast water in container ships entering Hong Kong. In: Wong, YS., Tam, N.FY. (eds) Asia-Pacific Conference on Science and Management of Coastal Environment. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 123. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5234-1_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5234-1_20
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6203-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-5234-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive