Abundance and distribution of<i>Pontodrilus litoralis</i>in the shores of the Cabo Rojo Lighthouse, Puerto Rico

Carlo, Eduardo Boothby; Borges, Sonia; Alfaro, Mónica

doi:10.1080/09397140.2012.10648987

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The habitats of P.litoralis in Japan are similar to those reported in Western Australia coastal areas, where the earthworms were recorded in high density within the wrack material, seaweed, and debris deposited on arid beaches, which provided a rich food resource and resulted in a high abundance of earthworms (Blakemore 2007; Coupland and McDonald 2008). Carlo et al (2012) reported the preference of P.litoralis to inhabit sites with an accumulation of macrodetritic matter that provided abundant organic matter contents and shade that helped to keep the soil surface cool during daytime. Moreover, the salinity of the P.litoralis habitats recorded in this study indicated that P.litoralis can survive a wide range of salinity between 1–33‰ (Seesamut et al 2018), the upper bound of which is near the salinity of seawater in general (35‰; Schmidt et al 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Size variation and geographical distribution of the luminous earthworm Pontodrilus litoralis (Grube, 1855) (Clitellata, Megascolecidae) in Southeast Asia and Japan

Seesamut

Jirapatrasilp

Chanabun

et al. 2019

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The luminous earthworm Pontodriluslitoralis (Grube, 1855) occurs in a very wide range of subtropical and tropical coastal areas. Morphometrics on size variation (number of segments, body length and diameter) and genetic analysis using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene sequence were conducted on 14 populations of P.litoralis from Southeast Asia and Japan. Statistical inference on morphometric data revealed significantly different size variations in the body length and diameter among these 14 populations of P.litoralis. However, discordance between the morphometric and mitochondrial COI gene-based phylogenetic analyses was evident, where the size variations in P.litoralis showed a different pattern from the COI genetic differences. The update on the current distribution of P.litoralis is reported and revealed different aspects of the littoral habitat characteristics between Southeast Asia and Japan.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Size variation and geographical distribution of the luminous earthworm Pontodrilus litoralis (Grube, 1855) (Clitellata, Megascolecidae) in Southeast Asia and Japan

Seesamut

Jirapatrasilp

Chanabun

et al. 2019

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“…Pontodrilus litoralis, a euryhaline earthworm, is one such example. It was first reported to be present in tropical coasts in South India, Australia and New Zealand [11] and was later found along the coasts of the Mediterranean, North America, the Caribbean, Taiwan, Pacific islands, Thailand, Malaysia and the Sea of Oman [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. The wide and disjunct distribution, especially on oceanic islands, suggests the existence of an effective long-distance dispersal mechanism.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to cross the sea: testing the dispersal mechanisms of the cosmopolitan earthwormPontodrilus litoralis

2021

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Dispersal capability often decides the geographical distribution and long-term success of a species. In this investigation, Pontodrilus litoralis , a widely distributed species along shores throughout mid- and low latitudes of the world, was investigated. We tested three hypotheses explaining its dispersal: helped by humans, transported by birds and carried by currents. Although the earthworms seemed to be associated with artificially planted wind-breaking woods and mangroves along the west coast of Taiwan, they were also found on isolated beaches in the Pescadores Islands without such plantings. They are approximately 2 mm wide, making them too small for use as fishing bait. These two mechanisms invoking human help were not supported. In a laboratory experiment, we moved the earthworms to the plumage of various body parts of pigeons, and they dropped off or died within a short time, a result incompatible with the bird hypothesis. The earthworms stayed alive and grew when immersed in freshwater or seawater for at least a month. They also survived on floating wood in an in situ experiment lasting approximately two months. Thus, the current hypothesis was the only one we were unable to falsify; driftwood and perhaps wooden vessels could provide both food and transport on long journeys. Wood boats exist for a short time on an evolutionary time scale, but it may be long enough to disperse the earthworm around the world. The phase-out of wood boats, thus, may start the divergence of P. litoralis populations around the world.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Taxonomy and systematics of earthworm genus Pontodrilus Perrier, 1874 in Thailand

Seesamut

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A taxonomic study of the littoral earthworm genus Pontodrilus Perrier, 1874 was critically conducted based on material collected from marine sandy coasts along the east and west sides of the Thai-Malay Peninsula (Thailand and Malaysia) and selected localities in Japan. Comparative material from other parts of Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, were also collected. Morphological examination identified almost all of the specimens as Pontodrilus litoralis, but as two morphotypes with some character differences in the diverticulum between them. A combined morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses supported one of these morphotypes as a new species, P. longissimus. Statistical inference on morphometric data revealed significantly different size variations in the body length and diameter among the 14 populations of P. litoralis from Southeast Asia and Japan. One-way analysis of variance revealed significant difference in the body length and diameter among specimens from the different geographical sites. However, this distinction was not congruent with the phylogenetic relationship based on mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (mtCOI) gene sequence analysis. In addition, molecular analysis of 136 samples of P. longissimus using the 658 bp DNA fragment of COI revealed that the most frequent haplotype was present in four populations from the Andaman Sea, with a greater degree of genetic variation than in the Gulf of Thailand (GOT) clade. Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood and haplotype network analyses clearly showed that there were two geographically isolated populations of the P. longissimus lineages, one restricted to the GOT and the other to the Andaman Sea. The divergence and distribution of the worms are probably restricted by tidal circulation patterns around the peninsula and vicinities.

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Abundance and distribution ofPontodrilus litoralisin the shores of the Cabo Rojo Lighthouse, Puerto Rico

Cited by 3 publications

References 10 publications

Size variation and geographical distribution of the luminous earthworm Pontodrilus litoralis (Grube, 1855) (Clitellata, Megascolecidae) in Southeast Asia and Japan

Size variation and geographical distribution of the luminous earthworm Pontodrilus litoralis (Grube, 1855) (Clitellata, Megascolecidae) in Southeast Asia and Japan

How to cross the sea: testing the dispersal mechanisms of the cosmopolitan earthwormPontodrilus litoralis

Taxonomy and systematics of earthworm genus Pontodrilus Perrier, 1874 in Thailand

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