Rogue algae may harm Mediterranean fish

摘要

Since it got loose in the mid-1980s, an aquarium-derived variant of a tropical seaweed has been spreading over the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea like a dense shag carpet. A new study now shows that this alien form of Caulerpa tax-ifolia may do damage beyond usurping floor space. The alga alters the activity of a fish's chemical-detoxification enzymes, even in fish that don't eat the weed.