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Over the past three decades the colonial ascidian  Didemnum vexillum  has been expanding its global range, significantly impacting marine habitats and aquaculture facilities. What biological features make  D. vexillum  so highly invasive? Here, we show that juxtaposed allogeneic  D. vexillum  colony fragments (‘ramets’) may, initially, form chimeric entities. Subsequently, zooids of the differing genotypes within such chimeras coordinately retreat away from fusion zones. A few days following such post-fusion retreat movements there is further ramet fission and the formation of zooid-depauperate tunic zones. Using polymorphic microsatellite loci to distinguish between genotypes, we found that they were sectorial at the fusion zones and the subsequent ramet movements resulted in further spatial separation of the paired-genotypes indicating that the fusion events observed did not lead to formation of long-term, stable chimeras. Thus, movements of  D. vexillum  colony ramets from initial fusion zones lead to progressive segregation of genotypes probably minimizing potential somatic/germ-cell competition/parasitism. We speculate that relatively fast (≤10 mm/day) movement of  D. vexillum  colonies on substrates along with frequent, and perhaps unrestrained, transient allogeneic fusions play significant roles in this species’ striking invasiveness and capacity to colonize new substrates.

Efficient dispersal and substrate acquisition traits in a marine invasive species via transient chimerism and colony mobility