Intra-regional transportation of a tugboat fouling community between the ports of recife and natal, northeast Brazil

Abstract

A B S T R A C TThis study aimed to identify the incrusting and sedentary animals associated with the hull of a tugboat active in the ports of Pernambuco and later loaned to the port of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte. Thus, areas with dense biofouling were scraped and the species then classified in terms of their bioinvasive status for the Brazilian coast. Six were native to Brazil, two were cryptogenic and 16 nonindigenous; nine of the latter were classified as established (Musculus lateralis, Sphenia fragilis, Balanus trigonus, Biflustra savartii, Botrylloides nigrum, Didemnum psammatodes, Herdmania pallida, Microscosmus exasperatus, and Symplegma rubra) and three as invasive (Mytilopsis leucophaeta, Amphibalanus reticulatus, and Striatobalanus amaryllis). The presence of M. leucophaeata, Amphibalanus eburneus and A. reticulatus on the boat's hull propitiated their introduction onto the Natal coast. The occurrence of a great number of tunicate species in Natal reflected the port area's benthic diversity and facilitated the inclusion of two bivalves -Musculus lateralis and Sphenia fragilis -found in their siphons and in the interstices between colonies or individuals, respectively. The results show the role of biofouling on boat hulls in the introduction of nonindigenous species and that the port of Recife acts as a source of some species. R E S U M OEste trabalho objetivou identificar os animais incrustantes e sedentários associados ao casco de um rebocador que atuava nos Portos de Pernambuco e foi cedido para o Porto de Natal, Rio Grande do Norte. Áreas com densa bioincrustação foram raspadas e as espécies foram posteriormente classificadas em relação ao status de bioinvasão no litoral brasileiro. Dentre as espécies identificadas, seis eram nativas do Brasil, duas criptogênicas e 16 exóticas. Destas, oito foram classificadas como estabelecidas (Musculus lateralis, Sphenia fragilis, Balanus trigonus, Biflustra savartii, Botrylloides nigrum, Didemnum psammatodes, Herdmania pallida, Microscosmus exasperatus, Symplegma rubra) e três como invasoras (Mytilopsis leucophaeta, Amphibalanus reticulatus e Striatobalanus amaryllis). A presença de M. leucophaeata, Amphibalanus eburneus e A. reticulatus no casco da embarcação, propiciou sua introdução na costa de Natal. A ocorrência de grande número de espécies de tunicados em Natal refletiu a biodiversidade bêntica da área portuária e facilitou a inclusão de dois bivalves, Musculus lateralis e Sphenia fragilis, encontrados em seus sifões e nos interstícios entre colônias ou indivíduos, respectivamente. Os dados obtidos indicam que a incrustação em cascos de embarcações tem um papel preponderante na introdução de espécies exóticas, e que o Porto do Recife atuou como fonte de algumas destas espécies.

Mytella strigata and Mytella guyanensis as an object of study: scientific and popular nomenclature review, morphological aspects and occurrence in Babitonga Bay-SC/ Mytella strigata e Mytella guyanensis como objeto de estudo: revisão da nomenclatura científica e popular, aspectos morfológicos e ocorrência na Baia da Babitonga-SC

“…However, the values found in the São Francisco do Sul, were higher than those mentioned by Nishida and Leonel, (1995) in the Paraíba do Norte estuary, located in the Northeast region, were the average annual density of M. guyanensis corresponded to 5.2 ind/m². As observed by several authors (Nishida & Leonel, 1995;Nishida et al, 2006;Farrapeira et al, 2010;Fuertes et al, 2021;) the organism collected in São Francisco do Sul presented an aggregated distribution. Narchi and Bueno (1983) emphasized these species are constantly found in groups of 3 to 4 individuals, connected to each other through the byssal threads.…”

The invasive Caribbean Mytilopsis sallei (Bivalvia: Dreissenidae): A short review

“…Nuttall (1990a) further suggested that M. domingensis and M. africana are synonyms of M. sallei, but he distinguished M. trautwineana based on its exceptionally large septum and rounded umbones. Mytilopsis leucophaeata (Conrad, 1831), the type species of the genus, has a subtropical to temperate distribution in the Gulf of Mexico and occurs natively along the Atlantic coastline of North America (Marelli and Gray 1983; see also review by Kennedy 2011), but has been introduced to Northern Europe (Oliver et al 1998;Rajagopal et al 2002;Oliver 2015;Brzana et al 2017) and also recently observed in the Black and Caspian Seas (Heiler et al 2010;Zhulidov et al 2015) as well as Brazil (Souza et al 2005;Farrapeira et al 2010;Fernandes et al 2018). It is also superficially similar to M. sallei (see Pathy and Mackie 1993) but they are generally recognized as separate species based on their dissimilar (but slightly overlapping) native geographical distribution.…”

Tetraclita (Cirripedia, Thoracica) tests as an important habitat for intertidal isopods and other marine and semi-terrestrial fauna on tropical rocky shores

“…These localities include the Galapalagos Islands at 0°S (Wirtz, 1983), Paitilla, Panama at 8°N (Birkeland et al, 1976;Reimer, 1976a, b), Barbados at 13°N (Lewis, 1992), and Hong Kong at 22°N (Cartwright & Williams, 2012). Although information on the utilization of empty barnacle tests by other animals is available for other tropical habitats in Singapore (Lee et al, 2009), Kenya (Pugh et al, 1990), Tanzania (Hartnoll, 1975), India (Erlanson, 1936;Raju, 1971;Rao & Rao, 1972); Venezuela (Lasso-Alcala et al, 2012), the Western Atlantic (Smith-Vaniz, 1980), northeastern Brazil (Farrapeira et al, 2010), Saint Helena (Den Hartog & Türkay, 1991;Wanless et al, 2010); Australia (Yonge, 1936;Holdich & Harrison, 1980), these are all primarily anecdotal accounts.…”