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Hoeksema BW, Samimi-Namin K, McFadden CS, Rocha RM, van Ofwegen LP, Hiemstra AF, Vermeij MJA. Non-native coral species dominate the fouling community on a semi-submersible platform in the southern Caribbean. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2023; 194:115354. [PMID: 37573671 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 07/29/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
A coral community was examined on a semi-submersible platform that was moored at the leeward side of Curaçao, in the southern Caribbean, from August 2016 until August 2017. This community included several non-native or cryptogenic species. Among them were two scleractinian corals (Tubastraea coccinea and T. tagusensis) and two octocorals (Chromonephthea sp. and an unidentified Nephtheidae sp.). This is the first reported presence of T. tagusensis in the southern Caribbean, and the genus Chromonephthea in the Caribbean region. An ascidian, Perophora cf. regina, is also reported from the southern Caribbean for the first time, as well as a coral-associated vermetid gastropod, Petaloconchus sp., first recorded in the Caribbean in 2014. Lack of biofouling management could potentially harm indigenous marine fauna through the introduction of non-native species. Therefore monitoring communities associated with semi-submersible platforms is essential to track the presence and dispersal of non-native, potentially invasive species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bert W Hoeksema
- Marine Evolution and Ecology Group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands; Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 11103, 9700 CC Groningen, the Netherlands; Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9505, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands.
| | - Kaveh Samimi-Namin
- Marine Evolution and Ecology Group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands; Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxfordshire, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK; Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | | | - Rosana M Rocha
- Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, CP 19020, 81531-980 Curitiba, Brazil
| | - Leen P van Ofwegen
- Marine Evolution and Ecology Group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Auke-Florian Hiemstra
- Marine Evolution and Ecology Group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands; Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9505, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Mark J A Vermeij
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94248, 1090 GE Amsterdam, the Netherlands; CARMABI Foundation, P.O. Box 2090, Piscaderabaai z/n, Willemstad, Curaçao
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Host Range of the Coral-Associated Worm Snail Petaloconchus sp. (Gastropoda: Vermetidae), a Newly Discovered Cryptogenic Pest Species in the Southern Caribbean. DIVERSITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/d14030196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The presence of associated endofauna can have an impact on the health of corals. During fieldwork on the southern Caribbean island of Curaçao in 2021, the presence of an unknown coral-dwelling worm snail was discovered, which appeared to cause damage to its hosts. A study of photo archives revealed that the species was already present during earlier surveys at Curaçao since 2014 and also in the southern Caribbean island of Bonaire in 2019. It was not found in St. Eustatius, an island in the eastern Caribbean, during an expedition in 2015. The vermetid snail was preliminarily identified as Petaloconchus sp. Its habitat choice resembles that of P. keenae, a West Pacific coral symbiont. The Caribbean species was observed in 21 host coral species, more than reported for any other vermetid. Because Petaloconchus sp. is a habitat generalist, it is possible that it was introduced from an area with another host-coral fauna. The unknown vermetid is considered to be cryptogenic until future studies reveal its actual identity and its native range.
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