GalNEMO, New Online Database, Tracks Non-Native Species in the Galápagos

Posted by Kristen Goodhue on December 12th, 2022

by the SERC Marine Invasions Lab and the Charles Darwin Foundation

Crab with blue and yellow head, yellow front claws and red legs on a patch of gray dirt. — _{Blue land crab Cardisoma crassum, a non-native species in the Galapagos. Its first documented appearance on the islands was in 1993, but it may have arrived as early as the 1960s. (Credit: Gaell Mainguy via iNaturalist. CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0)}

The Marine Invasions Research Laboratory of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in the United States and the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) of the Galápagos, Ecuador are pleased to announce the launch of the Galápagos Non-Native Estuarine and Marine Organisms database portal (GalNEMO).

Though long treasured as a refuge for biodiversity—and its critical role in Darwin’s theory of evolution—the Galápagos is not immune to invasion. In fact, more than 50 nonnative species have already found their way to the Galápagos Islands, SERC and CDF reported in 2019—more than 10 times the number scientists previously thought.

GalNEMO creates a baseline of introduced marine species in the Galápagos Marine Reserve by synthesizing ongoing field research conducted by CDF and SERC scientists in the Galápagos with extensive literature review. It then documents the results as part of an online, searchable database available to the public. This online platform will facilitate the exchange of information between researchers, decisionmakers and other stakeholders involved in conservation, management and public policy aimed to develop effective strategies for the conservation of the biodiversity of the Galápagos.

Scientist iholds a sponge attached to a rope in front of a young girl in a red dress n the Galápagos. — _{Smithsonian marine biologist Greg Ruiz shows a Callyspongia sponge to a young girl in the Galápagos. (Kristen Larson/SERC)}

“GalNEMO represents a model for future collaborations to document non-natives with other partners and countries throughout the Americas and Eastern Tropical Pacific,” said Dr. Greg Ruiz, principal investigator of SERC’s Marine Invasions Lab.

The GalNEMO portal is built upon NEMESIS, a similar online database the Marine Invasions Lab runs. Short for “National Estuarine and Marine Exotic Species Information System,” the original NEMESIS portal documents non-native marine and estuarine invertebrates and algae introduced in the United States.

Starting in 2015, SERC scientists traveled to the Galápagos to conduct standardized fouling surveys of local marine organisms alongside Dr. Inti Keith, principal investigator of CDF’s Marine Invasive Species Programme, and her team. These surveys allow scientists to establish a baseline look of the marine fouling community’s diversity and structure, as well as monitor for non-native introductions that could arrive in this fragile ecosystem via the hulls of ships, ballast water or other human methods. As the Galápagos Marine Reserve is one of the largest Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and rich in habitat and biodiversity—with some species endemic only to these islands—monitoring non-native species populations for changes and detecting newcomers is an important aspect of Galápagos conservation efforts.

Although the Galápagos represents a unique habitat, the spread of non-native species can happen anywhere.

“Together we are working on replicating this platform with the other MPAs, to improve marine bioinvasion knowledge and help advance biosecurity programs throughout the region,” said Dr. Inti Keith of the Charles Darwin Foundation. To that end, GalNEMO will be part of a broader database network, joining NEMESIS and its counterpart in Panama (PanNEMO). The three sites track the spread of non-native species so that MPAs like the Galápagos Marine Reserve are better prepared and protected in the future.

Special thanks for this project go to Dr. Inti Keith of the CDF, Paul Fofonoff, Brian Steves and Dr. Greg Ruiz of SERC’s Marine Invasions Research Laboratory, and Dr. James Carlton, Director Emeritus, Ocean and Coastal Studies Program of Williams College.

The following organizations funded or sponsored this project: Charles Darwin Foundation; The Galápagos National Park, Republic of Ecuador; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Galápagos Conservancy; and Blue Action Fund.

Learn more:

Galápagos Islands Have 10 Times More Alien Marine Species Than Once Thought