Hiding in plain sight: invasive coral Tubastraea tagusensis (Scleractinia:Hexacorallia) in the Gulf of Mexico

Figueroa, Diego F.; McClure, Amelia; Figueroa, Nicole J.; Hicks, David W.

doi:10.1007/s00338-019-01807-7

Cited by 22 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…) and has recently been reported from the Gulf of Mexico (Figueroa et al. ). Both species form clumps of polyps with dark‐ and light‐orange calyces, respectively (Mantelatto et al.…”

mentioning

confidence: 57%

The rise of a native sun coral species on southern Caribbean coral reefs

2019

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In contrast with a general decline of Caribbean reef corals, a previously rare sun coral is increasing in abundance within shallow coral communities on Curac ßao. This azooxanthellate scleractinian was identified as Cladopsammia manuelensis, which has an amphi-Atlantic distribution. Over the last decade, C. manuelensis has increased abundance along the leeward coast of Curac ßao (southern Caribbean) between depths of 4 and 30 m. This species was initially not noticed because it resembles the invasive coral Tubastraea coccinea, which was introduced to Curac ßao from the Indo-Pacific around 1940. However, in contrast to T. coccinea, C. manuelensis was previously only present on deeper reef sections (>70 m) of Caribbean reefs. Our observations illustrate how the sudden increase in abundance of a previously unnoticed, apparently cryptogenic species could result from natural dynamics on present-day reefs, but also could easily be mistaken for an invasive species. The finding that deep reef sections can harbor species capable of colonizing shallower reef zones highlights the importance of thorough inventories of reef communities across large depth ranges, which can help us to discriminate between range increases of native species and the arrival of invasives.

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“…) and has recently been reported from the Gulf of Mexico (Figueroa et al. ). Both species form clumps of polyps with dark‐ and light‐orange calyces, respectively (Mantelatto et al.…”

mentioning

confidence: 57%

The rise of a native sun coral species on southern Caribbean coral reefs

2019

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“…T. tagusensis similarly has been reported as cryptogenic in the Persian Gulf (Creed et al 2017a), nonnative in the Brazilian southwest Atlantic (De Paula and Creed 2004, Mantelatto et al 2011, Sampaio et al 2012, Creed et al 2017a, de Oliveira Soares et al 2018, in GOM on artificial reefs and oil platforms (Figueroa et al 2019), and in the Canary Islands (López et al 2019). T. tagusensis has likely been in the Caribbean and GOM for > 15 years and historically overlooked (Joel Creed pers.…”

Section: Hard and Soft Coralsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…The third species, T. micranthus, is thus far only found on oil and gas platforms operating in the (extra-tropical) northern GOM -with reports of colonies at depths ≤183 m (Sammarco et al 2010(Sammarco et al , 2013(Sammarco et al , 2014. Interestingly, a fourth, yet unidentified clade of Tubastraea (with intermediate characteristics) has also been recognized in the GOM (Figueroa et al 2019) and Brazil (Joel C. Creed, pers. obs.…”

Section: Hard and Soft Coralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the diversity and impact of invasive non-native species in tropical marine ecosystems

et al. 2021

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Tropical marine ecosystems are biologically diverse and economically invaluable. However, they are severely threatened from impacts associated with climate change coupled with localized and regional stressors, such as pollution and overfishing. Non-native species (sometimes referred to as ‘alien’ species) are another major threat facing these ecosystems, although rarely discussed and overshadowed by the other stressors mentioned above. NNS can be introduced accidentally (for example via shipping activities) and/or sometimes intentionally (for aquaculture or by hobbyists). Understanding the extent of the impacts NNS have on native flora and fauna often remains challenging, along with ascertaining when the species in question actually became ‘invasive’. Here we review the status of this threat across key tropical marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, algae meadows, mangroves, and seagrass beds. We aim to provide a baseline of where invasive NNS can be found, when they are thought to have been introduced and what impact they are thought to be having on the native ecosystems they now inhabit. In the appended material we provide a comprehensive list of NNS covering key groups such as macroalgae, sponges, seagrasses and mangroves, anthozoans, bryozoans, ascidians, fishes, and crustaceans.

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“…Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-020-01043-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. mitochondrial markers such as mtCOI, have been used to identify cryptic species in numerous marine organisms, including copepods (Lee 2000;Rocha-Olivares et al 2001;Dawson and Jacobs 2001;Lee and Frost 2002;Caudill and Bucklin 2004;Holland et al 2004;Hare 2008, 2011;Johnson et al 2008;Dippenaar et al 2010;Marrone et al 2010;Blanco-Bercial et al 2014;Cornils and Held 2014;Oyama et al 2019;Govender et al 2019;Han et al 2019;Hupało et al 2019;Figueroa et al 2019;Chan et al 2019). A comprehensive review of DNA barcoding of copepods based on mtCOI is presented by Blanco-Bercial et al (2014), where they show that this marker was able to accurately identify to species level 1381 sequences for 195 species of copepods, showcasing the utility of this marker for taxonomic research.…”

Section: Communicated By R R Hopcroftmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylogeography of Acartia tonsa Dana, 1849 (Calanoida: Copepoda) and phylogenetic reconstruction of the genus Acartia Dana, 1846

Figueroa

Hicks

2020

Mar. Biodivers.

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The calanoid copepod, Acartia tonsa Dana, 1849 is one of the most abundant and well-studied estuarian species with a worldwide distribution. In this research, we use the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene to study the phylogeography of A. tonsa by analyzing sequences from specimens collected in the western Gulf of Mexico (GOM) along with all sequences from previous research. We reconstruct the phylogeny for the genus Acartia Dana, 1846 and highlight numerous potential misidentifications of Acartia species deposited in GenBank. The incorrect taxonomy assigned to some of these sequences results in apparently paraphyletic relationships. This study demonstrates that A. tonsa is a species complex with multiple, deeply diverging, lineages of varying geographic affinities. Multiple new lineages are found in the Texas GOM that is basal to northwestern Atlantic lineages with phylogenetic connectivity also observed between Brazil and the Texas GOM. Results show two major phylogeographic breaks in the North American continent, one at the border between the Gulf of Mexico and the Northwest Atlantic, and the other at about 35°N. One of the major clades in the A. tonsa species complex shows a clear pattern of divergence that follows the prevailing currents. Within this clade, older lineages are found in the western GOM while newer lineages are found in the eastern GOM and the southern coast of the northwest Atlantic, with the youngest lineages diversifying in the north. The results show that A. tonsa can be used as a model species for observing phylogeographical structuring of coastal plankton along the American continent.

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Hiding in plain sight: invasive coral Tubastraea tagusensis (Scleractinia:Hexacorallia) in the Gulf of Mexico

Cited by 22 publications

References 29 publications

The rise of a native sun coral species on southern Caribbean coral reefs

The rise of a native sun coral species on southern Caribbean coral reefs

A review of the diversity and impact of invasive non-native species in tropical marine ecosystems

Phylogeography of Acartia tonsa Dana, 1849 (Calanoida: Copepoda) and phylogenetic reconstruction of the genus Acartia Dana, 1846

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