Recent discovery of non-indigenous bryozoans in the fouling assemblage of Quequén Harbour (Argentina, Southwest Atlantic)

Abstract

The non-indigenous bryozoans Aspidelectra melolontha (Landsborough) and Amathia verticillata (Delle Chiaje) (= Zoobotryon verticillatum) are recorded for the first time in Argentina. They were found on experimental substrata submerged to study the fouling assemblage of Quequen Harbour (38°34.310′S, 58°42.814′W), an estuarine environment. Biflustra puelcha (d’Orbigny) comb. nov., Conopeum reticulum (Linnaeus), Conopeum seurati (Canu), Cryptosula pallasiana (Moll), Electra monostachys (Busk) and Schizoporella cf. errata (Waters) were also found in this association. Aspidelectra melolontha, a species native to Europe with only one record for San Francisco Bay (United States) based on unpublished data, is here reported for the first time for South America, and the affinity between this species and A. zhoushanica (Wang) is discussed. The presence of C. seurati in brackish water habitats of Argentina is confirmed. B. puelcha was previously unknown as a fouler in harbours. A. verticillata is a well-known marine fouler in many harbours and marinas worldwide. The southernmost record of this species on the Atlantic coast of South America was in Brazil. Thus, its distribution is herein expanded by 14° of latitude towards the south. In view of its great invasive potential, A. verticillata seems to have the ability to continue its dispersal and to become a stable component of this and neighbouring harbours.