Caprellid amphipods: An overlooked marine finfish aquaculture resource?

SUMMARY:Caprella scaura is an epifaunal amphipod crustacean that originates in the western Indian Ocean and has spread throughout the world, but very little is known about fundamental aspects of its biology. This paper is the first presentation of its life history traits in an invaded region. The study was conducted in the Mar Piccolo basin (southern Italy, Ionian Sea), over a one-year period. All biological parameters showed a strong seasonal pattern, breeding peaked twice during the year and the number of eggs in the ventral brood pouch ranged from 5 to 72. The sex ratio was generally close to 1:1. A strong correlation between total length of ovigerous females and number of eggs was observed. The mean length of both mature males and mature females was 10.63 and 7.70 mm, respectively. The results of this study showed that the population dynamics of this species was not dissimilar to that of other caprellids or marine epifaunal Crustacea. This caprellid has given rise to a stable population in the Mar Piccolo; it was present all year round in the study area but its density suggests that it is not yet a strong invader.

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“…Indeed, the species is an important source of food for other benthic animals and fishes of commercial value (Beare and Moore, 1996;Woods, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal fluctuations of some biological traits of the invader <i>Caprella scaura</i> (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Caprellidae) in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea, southern Italy)

Prato¹,

Parlapiano²,

Biandolino³

2013

Sci. Mar.

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“…pusilla is commonly reported from anthropogenic disturbed habitats where it has colonized a variety of artificial structures such as ropes, buoys, pontoons and oil platforms (Table 1). Lewbel et al (1987) report the highest population density for this species, with 7948 caprellids/m 2 on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico (Woods, 2009). This ability to colonize a wide range of substrates suggests that this species may be capable of disperse by rafting on floating substrates.…”

Section: Remarks On Distribution and Possible Mechanism Of Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here they form an important trophic link between primary producers and higher trophic levels (Woods, 2009). Paracaprella pusilla, originally described by Mayer (1890) from Brazil (type locality: Rio de Janeiro), is one of the most abundant caprellid species found along the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and Colombia (Díaz et al, 2005;Guerra-García, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the occurrence of the tropical caprellid Paracaprella pusilla Mayer, 1890 (Crustacea: Amphipoda) in Europe

Ros

Guerra-Garcı́a

2012

Medit. Mar. Sci.

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Paracaprella pusilla Mayer, 1980 is a tropical caprellid amphipod species. It was first described from Brazil and is found to be very common along the Atlantic coast of Central America. Since its original description, P. pusilla has been found in prolific volumes at numerous widespread locations in tropical and subtropical seas around the world, and is primarily associated with fouling communities in harbors. A well established population of P. pusilla was recently found in Cádiz, southern Spain, which is both the northernmost collection and the first recorded finding of this species in European coastal waters. Ship fouling is the most probable vector for its introduction. The species was always found in association with the native hydroid Eudendrium racemosum (Cavolini, 1785) and appeared to display a mutualistic relationship with this host.

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“…Our results suggest that the caprellid C. acanthifera suffers from fish predation more than other amphipod species, probably because caprellids are exposed on the surfaces and tips of leaves (Virnstein et al 1984) and are usually associated with epiphytes (Aoki 1999). They are important prey items for many coastal fishes (Caine 1989(Caine , 1991Woods 2009). C. acanthifera can grow to a large size (13 mm) and moves over the substratum with an inchworm-like movement (Guerra-García et al 2002), which probably makes it more easily detectable by a predator than other, smaller caprellids such as C. tavolarensis (2-6 mm) (Sturaro and Guerra-García 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Effects of fish predation on Posidonia oceanica amphipod assemblages

et al. 2016

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and biomass were unchanged. In the inclusion cages, a size-frequency analysis revealed that predators mainly targeted large A. spinicornis and Apherusa chiereghinii individuals. Our results suggest that predation by fish may be an important factor in controlling amphipod abundances and biomasses in P. oceanica meadows. Overall, amphipod community composition was not affected by exclusion or inclusion of fish predators. However, some significant effects at the species level point to more complex interactions between some amphipods and fish.

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Caprellid amphipods: An overlooked marine finfish aquaculture resource?

Cited by 81 publications

References 132 publications

Seasonal fluctuations of some biological traits of the invader <i>Caprella scaura</i> (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Caprellidae) in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea, southern Italy)

Seasonal fluctuations of some biological traits of the invader <i>Caprella scaura</i> (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Caprellidae) in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea, southern Italy)

On the occurrence of the tropical caprellid Paracaprella pusilla Mayer, 1890 (Crustacea: Amphipoda) in Europe

Effects of fish predation on Posidonia oceanica amphipod assemblages

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