New Zealand-Caribbean

[john grehan]

Ken Kinman wrote:

>      If these mussels and corals have only been recently discovered around
>these western Pacific Islands, how do we know they weren't introduced there
>by whaling ships in the 19th Century?---or perhaps even more likely,
>warships of the 20th Century travelling through the Panama Canal from the
>Caribbean to the Western Pacific.  Didn't the zebra mussel get introduced
>into North America via ship ballast water?                 ------ Ken Kinman

In addition to Geoff's comments about the situation the newspaper article
referred to 'relations' in the Caribbean. I took this to mean (and possibly
incorrectly) that they were differentiated forms and that would tend to
preclude as a first consideration such rapid evolution within a few years.

John Grehan