ABSTRACT. Invasion by marine species, often considered a grave threat to marine ecosystems, occurs throughout the world as a consequence of many anthropogenic activities. In coastal Paraná, many factors including shipping, aquaculture and the use of artificial substrates provide suitable environments for the establishment and rapid spread of introduced marine species. To better understand this process, the encrusting community was studied on polyethylene plates (n = 120, 10 x 10 cm) that were placed seasonally at fixed locations on the inner continental shelf to detect non-native species. Of the 62 taxa found, 40 were identified to species, 14 of which were native, 9 introduced and 17 cryptogenic.

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This study describes the biodiversity of benthic invertebrates on hard substrates in the Currais Marine Protected Area (Currais MPA), in the state of Paraná. The benthic community was sampled during 2012 to 2015, in winter and summer, at two islands and four groups of artificial reefs (ARs). Samples were collected along shallow (2-4 m) and deep (6-8 m) transects at the islands and ~18 m transects at the ARs. We also searched the literature to review all published records of benthic invertebrates on hard substrates in the Currais MPA. We recorded 176 taxa in the phyla Annelida (class Polychaeta), Arthropoda (class Maxillopoda, order Sessilia), Bryozoa, Cnidaria, Chordata (class Ascidiacea), Echinodermata, Mollusca and Porifera, in 13 classes, 40 orders and 75 families. With these 102 new records, our list comprises 58% of all recorded species. Of these, 58 taxa were first records for the state of Paraná. This remarkable number of new records highlights that biodiversity studies are lacking in Paraná. Fifteen non-indigenous species and one endangered species, the sea star Coscinasterias tenuispina (Lamarck, 1816), are included. This is an important transitional area to monitor expansion or constriction of the latitudinal distributions of species, in the context of climate change, that may influence the geographical distribution of species (both native and invasive). This study is the first inventory of marine hard substrate habitats of the Currais MPA with a surprisingly diverse community.