Abstract
Altamirano, M., Andreakis, N., Souza-Egipsy, V., Zanolla, M. & De la Rosa, J. 2014. First record of Caulerpa cylindracea (Caulerpaceae, Chlorophyta) in Andalusia (Southern Spain). Anales Jard. Bot. Madrid 71(2): e007 Three different species of Caulerpa (Caulerpaceae, Chlorophyta) cooccur in the Mediterranean Sea: two of them are found at the centraleastern basin and are typically considered non aggressive components of the Lessepsian flora [(C. chemnitzia (Esper) J.V. Lamouroux and C. racemosa var. lamourouxii (Turner) Weber-van Bosse f. requienii (Montagne) Weber van Bosse)]; a third taxon, C. cylindracea Sonder has aggressively expanded its range since its first observation in 1990, and it is nowadays reported from nearly all the Mediterranean countries. We report a population of C. cylindracea from Almeria (Andalusia, Southern Iberian Peninsula) at −30 m depth as to be the westernmost record of the invasive variety on the Mediterranean European coast. Therefore, we made use of morphological description and molecular phylogenetics to provide a complete identification of this invasive seaweed in Southern Spain. Our findings are discussed in light of the composition of the receptor communities, such as maerl bed, edges of Posidonia oceanica (Linnaeus) Delile, and their ecology. Our results confirmed the suggested directionality of the invasive pathway to be westward to the Strait of Gibraltar, mainly supported by sea currents and vectors of anthropogenic origin.
Highlights
Populations of an invasive Caulerpa taxon have been systematically reported from most Mediterranean countries since the early nineties. (Nizamuddin, 1991; Klein &Verlaque, 2008, Rivera-Ingraham & al., 2010), genetically related to populations of southwestern Australia (Verlaque & al., 2003)
Plants found in Villaricos, exhibited morphological features (Table 2) that fit the description given by several authors for the invasive species C. cylindracea from different populations in the Mediterranean Sea (Verlaque & al., 2000; Verlaque & al., 2003; Klein & Verlaque, 2008; Cebrián & Ballesteros, 2009; Guillén & al., 2010)
Morphological identification coupled with molecular phylogenetic analysis provides neat evidence that isolates of Caulerpa collected from Almería (Andalusia, Southern Spain) correspond to the invasive species C. cylindracea
Summary
Populations of an invasive Caulerpa taxon have been systematically reported from most Mediterranean countries since the early nineties. (Nizamuddin, 1991; Klein &Verlaque, 2008, Rivera-Ingraham & al., 2010), genetically related to populations of southwestern Australia (Verlaque & al., 2003). (Nizamuddin, 1991; Klein &Verlaque, 2008, Rivera-Ingraham & al., 2010), genetically related to populations of southwestern Australia (Verlaque & al., 2003) This taxon was identified as C. racemosa var. Requienii (Montagne) Weber-van Bosse), both confined at the central-eastern Mediterranean Sea and considered as typical seaweed components of the Lessepsian flora, with a non-aggressive character (Verlaque & al., 2000). All these varieties were accepted on the basis of morphological identification and molecular phylogenetic analyses (Famà & al., 2000; Durand & al., 2002; Verlaque & al., 2000, 2003)
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