Anthropogenic disturbance facilitates a non‐native species on offshore oil platforms

Influence of coating type, colour, and deployment timing on biofouling by native and non-native species in a marine renewable energy context

Biofouling on marine renewable energy devices presents engineering challenges for this developing sector, and has implications for the spread of marine non-native species (NNS) in coastal waters. This is particularly true at sites with abundant energy resource, little existing infrastructure, and few established NNS. Device coatings, such as antifouling paints, could reduce the risk of NNS spread. Settlement on coatings of various types and colours, representing those likely to be used on renewable energy devices, was assessed in the Orkney Islands, northern Scotland. Assemblage composition, but not overall biofouling cover, varied initially among different coloured surfaces, although differences decreased over time. Different coating types (an anticorrosive paint, a biocidal paint and a fouling-release coating) differed in biofouling abundance and composition for the full duration of the experiment. NNS were mostly, but not completely, absent from antifouling surfaces. These results can help informing antifouling strategies for the marine renewable energy industry.

Invasive species fouling Perna perna (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) mussel farms

Invasive, fouling species increase management costs and reduce mussel growth, which jeopardizes mariculture. We studied the distribution of eight invasive species in Santa Catarina, the leading mussel producer in Brazil. Our goals were to determine their spatial distribution and prevalence on farm structures (buoys, long lines, and mussel socks), as well as understand the relevance of propagule pressure (recruitment), port distance, and area of the farm in this distribution. Although present in all sites, adult and recruits distribution were spatially restricted, showing that species might have a metapopulation structure. The most prevalent species were the ascidian Styela plicata, the barnacle Megabalanus coccopoma, the bryozoan Schizoporella errata, and the polychaete Branchiomma luctuosum. Recruitment was the main driver of three species distribution while distance to port explained only one species distribution. Based on those results, we discuss policy options, management, and regulation enforcement, that can be used in the mussel aquaculture elsewhere.

Watersiporidae (Bryozoa) in Iberian waters: an update on alien and native species

Species of the genus Watersipora comprise an important invasive fouling group but are difficult to identify up to species level. This problem, in conjunction with the recent re-description of several member species, requires the revision of previous records and newly collected material in order to more precisely determine their actual presence and distribution. Here, we revise the identity and distribution of alien and native species of Watersiporidae in Iberian waters based on newly collected material, historical collections, and bibliographic data. Four species of Watersipora are now known from here. Watersipora cucullata is the only native species, present in the Spanish Mediterranean. Watersipora subatra seems to have been introduced relatively recently in Iberian and European Atlantic waters and has been expanding to other Atlantic localities. Watersipora arcuata was collected for the first time in Europe at the SW Spanish Atlantic coast in 1990 and recently in Mediterranean marinas. Watersipora souleorum is known in Iberian waters from two localities in the Gulf of Cadiz and in Gibraltar. With the recent redescription of the genus Watersipora, W. complanata is no longer a member. A new watersiporid genus, Terwasipora gen. nov., is described for this species. In Iberian waters, T. complanata comb. nov. is considered a native species, frequent and abundant in shallow waters along the Atlantic coast.