The ecology of Lepas-based biofouling communities on moored and drifting objects, with applications for marine forensic science

Abstract

Pelagic biofoulers such as barnacles or bryozoans settle and raft on natural debris like pumice or seeds. Recent influxes of marine debris into the world's oceans, especially plastic, have increased habitat availability for these biofoulers. Goose barnacles in the genus Lepas are some of the most common biofouling taxa globally, and play an important role in biofouling communities as foundation species. We examined community succession, growth rates and isotopic composition in Lepas and their associated biofouling communities in coastal waters of eastern Australia. Community succession on a fixed surface mooring showed an increase in species diversity over 25 weeks. Using the abundances of L. anserifera, L. anatifera, and the amphipods Caprella danilevskii and Jassa slatteryi, we created an equation to estimate minimum duration at sea. Predators such as the polychaete Amphinome rostrata may influence the biofouling community, as can beach scavengers once floating debris is cast ashore. We report a new maximum growth rate for L. anserifera of 1.45 mm −1 , and our study is the first to report growth rates for any species of Lepas faster than 1 mm day −1 . Lepas were larger on moored floats than on smaller, free-floating drifters. δ 18 O content of Lepas shells was a robust predictor of sea surface temperatures during formation for L. anatifera and L. anserifera. Our findings have important applications for estimating drift duration and trajectories of marine debris.

Massive Drift of Pumice Stones Might Trigger Coastal Ecological Transitions

“…Lepas is a common biofouling taxon distributed globally and plays a role in biofouling as a foundation organism [26]. The shell growth rate is more than 1 mm/day in some Lepas species [27]. We found that Lepas on pumice stones had grown in two weeks.…”

Identifying Marine Sources of Beached Plastics Through a Bayesian Framework: Application to Southwest Netherlands

“…Using information on biofouling and degradation state, it is sometimes possible to estimate how long a plastic item has been in the ocean (Mesaglio et al., 2021 ). To investigate how this particle age, defined here as the time the plastic has spent in the ocean from source to final destination, can be used to further narrow the possible sources of plastic found, we have analyzed source probabilities as a function of particle age for any age between 0 and 24 months.…”

Coastal ecological impacts from pumice rafts

“…Lepas is a common biofouling taxon distributed globally and plays a role in biofouling as a foundation organism. The shell growth rate is more than 1 mm/day in some Lepas species 32 suggesting that the Lepas had been growing on the pumice for about two weeks. Measurements of the shell size of Lepas attached to the pumice collections conducted in the same area (Supplementary Video 2 ) showed a bias toward larger sizes in the second collection (5.92 ± 3.86 mm (average ± S.D.…”