Mobile epifaunal assemblages associated with <em>Cystoseira</em> beds: comparison between areas invaded and not invaded by <em>Lophocladia lallemandii</em>

Abstract

Summary:The study compared the structure of mobile epifaunal assemblages associated with Mediterranean Cystoseira beds between areas invaded and not invaded by Lophocladia lallemandii. A total of 150 taxa were identified: 42 Polychaeta, 78 Arthropoda, 26 Mollusca and 4 Echinodermata. Epifaunal assemblages differed between areas invaded and not invaded by Lophocladia lallemandii when the invasive species reached maximum values of cover and biomass, while differences between conditions were not significant in other periods of the year. The main differences were the greater abundance of amphipods, isopods and polychaetes in invaded areas and the greater abundance of molluscs and decapods in non-invaded areas, while richness and total abundance of organisms were not significantly different between conditions. The effects of Lophocladia lallemandii invasion on Cystoseira-associated assemblages seem to be limited to the period of vegetative growth of the alga and reversible during the period of its vegetative rest.Keywords: biological invasions; Cystoseira crinita; Lophocladia lallemandii; Mediterranean Sea; mobile epifauna. Comunidad de epifauna móvil asociada a las bosques de Cystoseira: comparación entre áreas invadidas y no invadidas por Lophocladia lallemandiiResumen: Este estudio compara la estructura de la comunidad de macroinvertebrados móviles asociada a bosques mediterráneos de Cystoseira entre áreas invadidas por Lophocladia lallemandii y áreas no invadidas. Se identificaron un total de 150 táxones: 42 Polychaeta, 78 Arthropoda, 26 Mollusca, 4 Echinodermata. La comunidad epifaunal difirió entre áreas invadidas por Lophocladia lallemandii y áreas no invadidas cuando la Rhodophyta introducida alcanzó valores máximos de cobertura y biomasa, mientras que no presentó diferencias entre condiciones en otros períodos del año. Estas diferencias fueron principalmente debidas a una mayor abundancia de anfípodos, isópodos y poliquetos en áreas invadidas, y de moluscos y decápodos en áreas no invadidas, mientras que la riqueza y abundancia total de organismos no presentaron diferencias significativas entre condiciones. Los efectos de la invasión de Lophocladia lallemandii sobre las comunidades asociadas a Cystoseira parecen estar restringidos al período de crecimiento vegetativo del alga, siendo reversibles durante el período de pausa de crecimiento.

Syntopic Cystoseira taxa support different molluscan assemblages in the Gulf of Naples (southern Tyrrhenian Sea)

“…The examined molluscan assemblage included a relatively high number of taxa 52belonging to three different classes and quite diverse trophic groups. These results are generally in agreement with previous studies (Zavodnik 1965;Bellan-Santini 1969;Kocatas 1978;Chemello 1986;Menioui 1992a;Chemello and Milazzo 2002;Lolas et al 2018), as the number of molluscan species reported as living within Cystoseira beds usually varied from ~20 (Bellan-Santini 1962, 1964, 1969Ergen and Çinar 1994;Russo 1997;Bedini et al 2014) to ~70-100 (Poulicek 1985;Pitacco et al 2014;Piazzi et al 2018), with extreme values of five taxa reported by Mačić and Svirčev (2014) and 161 taxa reported by Milazzo et al (2000). The former study, however, only investigated macro-epiphytes, whilst the latter one investigated photophilic assemblages as a whole, although largely dominated by Cystoseira.…”

“…Molluscan assemblages associated with Cystoseira beds have been the subject of studies in several regions from the western to the eastern Mediterranean since the mid-1900s, due to the recognized importance of these canopy-forming algae in shaping and supporting local biodiversity (Bellan-Santini 1962, 1964, 1969Zavodnik 1965;Kokataş 1978;Tiganus 1984;Poulicek 1985;Chemello 1986;Menioui 1992aMenioui , 1992bErgen and Çinar 1994;Russo 1997;Milazzo et al 2000;Chemello and Milazzo 2002;Bedini et al 2014;Mačić and Svirčev 2014;Pitacco et al 2014;Lolas et al 2018;Piazzi et al 2018). In the Gulf of Naples, however, the historically most investigated habitat-forming species were Posidonia oceanica (Linnaeus) Delile and Cymodocea nodosa (Ucria) Ascherson (Russo et al 1983;Mazzella et al 1989Mazzella et al , 1992; Gambi et al 1992Gambi et al , 1996Scipione et al 1996;Gambi 2002), with few recent exceptions represented by Corallinales taxa and Sargassum vulgare (Agardh) (Massa-Gallucci et al 2006; Chiarore and Patti 2013).…”

The Invasive Seaweed Asparagopsis Taxiformis Erodes the Primary Productivity and Biodiversity of Native Algal Forests in the Mediterranean Sea

“…Interestingly, our results highlight that A. taxiformis affected each component (molluscs, annelids and amphipods) of the epifaunal assemblages in the same way. This is in contrast with other studies that showed different responses among epifaunal components associated to invasive seaweeds (Schmidt and Scheibling, 2006;Gestoso et al, 2010;Guerra-García et al, 2012;Bedini et al, 2014;Veiga et al, 2018;Navarro-Barranco et al, 2019). For example, species richness, Shannon diversity and total abundance of isopods were signi cantly lower in A. armata compared to native algae (Guerra-García et al, 2012).…”

Cystoseira baccata meadows along the French Basque coast (Bay of Biscay) as a reference for the implementation of the Water Framework and Marine Strategy EU directives

“…ecological role of these foundation species is of major importance as they are autogenic engineers (Schiel and Foster, 1986;Thomsen et al, 2010;Wernberg et al, 2011) and provide much of the three-dimensional structure habitat and food resources for associated organisms (Mann, 1973;Dayton, 1985;Bedini et al, 2014). The main large brown canopy forming macroalgae belong to the orders Laminariales s.l.…”

“…A reduction of the frond size in Cystoseira abies-marina from Canary Islands has been recorded in the past decades analysing herbarium specimens from a long temporal series (Sansón et al, 2013). A decrease of C. baccata forest could impact the nursery value for littoral fishes, particularly during the recruitment period (Cheminée et al, 2013) and mobile fauna (Bedini et al, 2014).…”