Halophila stipulacea, a seagrass native to the Indian Ocean, spread to the Caribbean in 2002. Few studies have explored the spatiotemporal distribution of H. stipulacea throughout the Caribbean and whether native invertebrates utilize this non-native seagrass as habitat. We surveyed the shallow, nearshore subtidal zones of four bays in St. John, US Virgin Islands over a two-year period to assess the abundance of both H. stipulacea and native seagrass species. We then surveyed macroinvertebrate communities in one bay with large areas of H. stipulacea, native seagrasses, and bare substrate to assess how macroinvertebrate species composition varied in these habitats. Our survey of the benthic macroinvertebrates revealed that: (1) native invertebrate species utilize H. stipulacea beds and (2) the density and richness of invertebrates was significantly higher in H. stipulacea beds compared to both native seagrass beds and bare substrate. Our results show that H. stipulacea is a common component of nearshore communities in St. John, USVI and that native invertebrates use H. stipulacea beds as habitat — results that agree with findings from other recent studies. While these findings indicate that native macroinvertebrate species can be abundant in non-native seagrass, further investigation, including experimental manipulations, preference tests, and surveys across broad spatial scales, are required to develop a robust understanding of the ecological impacts of this non-native grass.

Halophila stipulacea是一种原产于印度洋的海草，于 2002 年传播到加勒比海。很少有研究探讨H. stipulacea在整个加勒比海地区的时空分布以及本地无脊椎动物是否利用这种非本地海草作为栖息地。我们在两年内调查了美属维尔京群岛圣约翰四个海湾的浅水近岸潮下带，以评估H. stipulacea和本地海草物种的丰度。然后，我们调查了一个海湾中的大型无脊椎动物群落，那里有大面积的H. stipulacea、天然海草和裸露基质，以评估大型无脊椎动物物种组成在这些栖息地中的变化情况。我们的底栖无脊椎动物的调查显示：（1）本地无脊椎动物物种利用H. stipulacea床和（2）无脊椎动物的密度和全面地了解顾客是显著更高H. stipulacea床相比，无论天然海草和裸衬底。我们的结果表明H. stipulacea是 USVI 圣约翰近岸社区的常见组成部分，本地无脊椎动物使用H. stipulacea床作为栖息地——结果与其他近期研究的结果一致。虽然这些发现表明本地大型无脊椎动物物种在非本地海草中可能很丰富，但需要进一步调查，包括实验操作、偏好测试和广泛空间尺度的调查，以深入了解这种非本地海草的生态影响。草。