Abstract
Two unique bays, Great Salt Pond system of Block Island, Rhode Island and Lagoon Pond and adjacent portions of Vineyard Haven Harbor, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, undergoing bay scallop Argopecten irradians irradians restoration had similar tunicate faunas. We found that Great Salt Pond and Lagoon Pond contained similar tunicate fauna dominated by invasive species, Ascidiella aspersa, Botrylloides violaceus, Botryllus schlosseri, Didemnum vexillum and Styela clava, along with native species Aplidium constellatum and Molgula manhattensis and cryptogenic species Ciona intestinalis. In both regions, most tunicate fouling was on artificial surfaces. Tunicate fouling occurred but at lower biomass on natural benthic surfaces including marine plants and algae Ulva lactuca, Sargassum filipendula, Fucus spp., Zostera marina and Codium fragile tomentosoides especially near docks. Tunicates were absent on rocks, free-living scallops, the sedentary snail Crepidula fornicata and open meadows of marine plants.
Highlights
Lagoon Pond is located on the north side of Martha's Vineyard, an island in the North Atlantic (Fig. 1a) off southern Cape Cod, Massachusetts
At Station Great Salt Pond (GSP)-1, we found B. violaceus, Botryllus schlosseri, Didemnum sp., M. manhattensis, and S. clava attached to the sides and bottom of a wooden floating platform
At Station GSP-3, we found B. violaceus, C. intestinalis, Didemnum sp., and S. clava attached to aquaculture bags and to the external shell of live oysters and to the internal shell of dead oysters Crassostrea virginica (Table 1) (Figs. 5, 6)
Summary
Lagoon Pond is located on the north side of Martha's Vineyard, an island in the North Atlantic (Fig. 1a) off southern Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Lagoon Pond is a northsouth trending, elongate, full marine salinity embayment within Vineyard Haven Harbor, which is exposed to Vineyard Sound. The tunicate fauna at the Steamship Authority dock in Vineyard Haven Harbor is composed of Botrylloides violaceus, Botryllus schlosseri, Didemnum sp., Diplosoma listerianum, and Styela clava (Carman et al, 2007). Lagoon Pond is accessible by a narrow channel under Beach Road bridge. The shoreline of Lagoon Pond is somewhat developed with residential homes, a shipyard, and small private docks. Recreational boaters and commercial shellfish boaters frequent the scallop-rich marine pond
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