Fouling assemblages associated with off-coast aquaculture facilities: an overall assessment of the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Aquaculture facilities provide a suitable habitat for a wide group of marine species that are able to colonise and settle on artificial structures. This study aims to determine the composition of fouling communities in off-coast facilities, with special emphasis on motile epifauna and amphipods as a main group. Seventeen aquaculture sites were sampled along the Mediterranean coast, collecting samples by scraping fouling organisms directly from the ropes. Additionally, thirty publications were reviewed, in order to assess the similarity of aquaculture fouling with other fouling communities. Our results reflect that amphipods accounted for more than 80% of the epifauna associated with farms fouling communities. This characteristic epifauna was defined by seven amphipod species well-adapted to colonise and survive in these off-coast habitats. Most species common in farms have also been commonly found in harbours, marinas, and/or offshore on turtles, buoys or platforms etc., showing a great resistance to polluted areas but also to dispersal via rafting on floating objects. In this study, two exotic species were identified: Caprella scaura and Stenothoe georgiana, the latter being the first report from the Mediterranean Sea. The presence of Jassa slatteryi was also confirmed, underestimated until now in the Mediterranean.

Description, systematics and ecology of a new tanaidacean (Crustacea, Peracarida) species from mediterranean fish farms

“…Macroinvertebrate species associated with fish farms have been shown to assimilate the organic matter derived of uneaten feed pellets and fish faeces [10], and tanaidaceans may also take advantage of this new trophic resource. Specifically, tanaidaceans represent between 0.03 and 15.9 % of the mobile epifauna associated with fish farms fouling in the Mediterranean Sea, being the third group in importance after amphipods and polychaetes [11]. Hexapleomera robusta, previously reported from turtles in the Mediterranean [12][13][14][15], has been also observed associated to fish farm fouling in this study.…”

“…Hexapleomera robusta, previously reported from turtles in the Mediterranean [12][13][14][15], has been also observed associated to fish farm fouling in this study. According to [15], H. robusta may be found associated to the algae Polysiphonia sp, which is also part of fish farms fouling [11]. It is feasible that H. bultidactyla will be found in other natural habitats containing similar algae or hydroids species than those found in fish farm fouling.…”

A Hitchhiker's guide to Mediterranean marina travel for alien species

“…Many of these NIS are widespread across the Mediterranean (Tab. 2), some of which have been known for decades, i.e., A. verticillata and H. elegans, and some of which have only recently appeared, i.e, Watersipora arcuata Banta, 1969and Stenothoe georgiana Bynum & Fox, 1977(Fernandez-Gonzalez & Sanchez-Jerez, 2017Ferrario et al, 2017). However, special attention should also be paid to rare NIS only found here in just one or a few localities, such as the ascidians Phallusia nigra Savigny, 1816 and Polyandrocarpa zorritensis (Van Name, 1931), the molluscs Chama asperella While there are many NIS recorded in marinas, it is not yet understood how these hot-spots affect the natural biodiversity on a broader-scale (i.e., outside the marinas).…”

Harmful Fouling Communities on Fish Farms in the SW Mediterranean Sea: Composition, Growth and Reproductive Periods

“…The succession patterns and qualitative/quantitative composition of biofouling on floating cages may differ from those described for hard substrates or seabed communities because net cage material differs from natural substrates [5]. The most common macrofouling taxa found on aquaculture structures originate from planktonic propagules of macroalgae and larvae of benthic invertebrates such as sponges, hydrozoans, bryozoans, barnacles, bivalves, polychaetes and ascidians [6][7][8]. In most cases, biofouling is deleterious to shellfish stocks and farmed fish cultures by acting as reservoirs of pathogens or by clogging net mesh, thus reducing water exchange in the cages.…”