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Kappaphycus alvarezii (Rhodophyta): New Record of an Exotic Species for the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica

Kappaphycus alvarezii, a red macroalgal 
species native to South-East Asia, has been introduced for commercial purposes 
to more than 20 tropical countries. In 2000, Panama became the first Central 
American country to develop its cultivation following a pilot-commercial approach. Twelve years after his 
introduction to Panama, the species was found to the south Caribbean coast. In 
the present study, we report the first record of K. alvarezii collected in 
Costa Rican waters. Genetic identification of the sample was performed with the 
mitochondrial marker cox2-cox3 intergenic spacer, and phylogenetic analyses 
showed that the sample collected grouped into a monophyletic clade with GenBank 
sequences from Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brazil and Venezuela. Here 
we provide further description of its position with respect to other strains of K. alvarezii collected 
globally. Its possible route of 
entry to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica is discussed. To date, it is 
possible to locate K. alvarezii in different areas away from 
the production fields which show its dispersion, and that the species is 
expanding; but more studies are needed to know the phase of colonization in 
which it is located because it is a combination of natural factors and human 
exploitation that determines the invasive potential of the species.