Distribution of the invasive bryozoan Schizoporella japonica in Great Britain and Ireland and a review of its European distribution

Abstract

The bryozoan Schizoporella japonica Ortmann (1890) was first recorded in European waters in 2010 and has since been reported from further locations in Great Britain (GB) and Norway. This paper provides a new earliest European record for the species from 2009, a first record from Ireland and presence and absence records from a total of 231 marinas and harbours across GB, Ireland, the Isle of Man, France and Portugal. This species is typically associated with human activity, including commercial and recreational vessels, aquaculture equipment, and both wave and tidal energy devices. It has also been observed in the natural environment, fouling rocks and boulders. The species has an extensive but widely discontinuous distribution in GB and Ireland. Although found frequently in marinas and harbours in Scotland, it inhabits only a few sites in England, Wales and Ireland, interspersed with wide gaps that are well documented as genuine absences. This appears to be a rare example of a southward-spreading invasion in GB and Ireland. The species has been reported from the Isle of Man and Norway but has not been found in France or Portugal. In the future we expect S. japonica to spread into suitable sections of the English, Welsh and Irish coasts, and further within Europe. The species’ capability for long-distance saltatory spread and potential for negative impact on native ecosystems and economic activity suggests that S. japonica should now be considered invasive in GB and Ireland. As such, it is recommended that biosecurity procedures alongside effective surveillance and monitoring should be prioritised for regions outside the species’ current distribution.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10530-017-1440-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Skeletal carbonate mineralogy of Scottish bryozoans

“…A sub-group of cheilostomes that feature both a wide geographical range and a corresponding wide range in mineralogy are those that have become successful as non-native (alien) species. An example from this study is Schizoporella japonica a species which was first found in Scotland in 2011 [ 94 ] and has since been found to inhabit marinas and harbours across Scotland and further afield [ 95 ]. This species has been reported from Norway to Malaysia and has highly plastic skeletal mineralogy ( Table 1 ).…”

Biodiversity characterisation and hydrodynamic consequences of marine fouling communities on marine renewable energy infrastructure in the Orkney Islands Archipelago, Scotland, UK

“…During this study, six NNS were identified at marinas and harbours; none were recorded at wave and tidal testing sites. However, NNS have been recorded on MREDs moored in harbour settings (Ryland et al 2014;Loxton et al 2017; Want, personal observations [ Figure 5]). This suggests that M 0 , zeroth moment is the area under the spectrum; M 1 , 1st moment is the mean; M 2 , 2nd moment is the SD; M 3 , 3rd moment is the skewness; M 4 , 4th moment is the kurtosis (Sokal & Rohlf 1995).…”

Setting an agenda for biofouling research for the marine renewable energy industry

“…The category was further divided into the sub-categories: invasive species and biosecurity, relating to the risk of invasive species presence and spread on fouled MRE devices and gaps and issues relating to biosecurity (13); the gaps in ecological knowledge of biofouling species and communities (9); and the gaps in understanding of potential positive and negative artificial reef effects of fouled MRE devices (5).…”

“…Non-native species are a known component of the biofouling assemblages on marine renewable energy device prototypes [52,13,12], and some non-native species are tolerant to biocidal antifouling coatings [53,54]. The fact that devices can provide habitat for fouling non-native species highlights the potential for devices to aid their spread to new locations through larval dispersal via the stepping stone effect [55] and through the wet movement of devices [12].…”

“…Increased structural loading caused by biofouling can often have consequences for the structural integrity, efficiency, maintenance and functioning of marine structures [7,8,9]. Artificial structures can also be colonised by non-native species [10,11,12,13], making biofouling a potential biosecurity risk and devices possible vectors for species introduction.…”