The need of more rigorous assessments of marine species introductions: A counter example from the Brazilian coast

Brazil has an extensive coast spreading along three biogeographical provinces and eight ecoregions (Spalding et al., 2007), comprising many distinct marine ecosystems (Migotto and Marques, 2006). Most areas of the Brazilian continental shelf have a recent history of biodiversity surveys, or have never been studied at all (cf. Marques and Lamas, 2006; Migotto and Marques, 2006; Rocha and Boeger, 2009). Brazilian coast has experienced significant transoceanic ship traffic as early as the 16th century, but awareness on the consequences of maritime transport to biological introductions in regional aquatic ecosystems is recent.