Recent discoveries of alien Watersipora (Bryozoa) in Western Europe, with redescriptions of species

Abstract

We report the introduction of the encrusting bryozoan Watersipora subtorquata to Atlantic coasts of Europe. This species is highly invasive, having become common on coastlines throughout cool-temperate areas of the world since the 1980s. Confusion exists over the identity of this and other Watersipora species, which lack characters that are conventionally used in bryozoan systematics. W. subtorquata has not been well distinguished from W. cucullata which, reports dating back to the mid 1800s suggest, is native to the Mediterranean Basin or represents an early shipping introduction. W. cucullata has been placed in synonymy with W. subovoidea, a taxon lacking a holotype. We designate a neotype for W. subovoidea, recognizing its conspecificity with W. cucullata, and demonstrate a simple morphometric means of separating this species from W. subtorquata using zooid feature ratios (operculum area versus total frontal shield). An orange watersiporid population that was first recognized in Guernsey, in the European-Atlantic, in 2007, is shown by morphometric and mitochondrial genetic analysis to match W. subtorquata. It contains the commonest, widely introduced COI haplotype that, along with other evidence, suggests recent transfer via shipping traffic to Europe. A second population (previously referred alternatively to W. aterrima or W. subovoidea) has been reported from Brittany and Bordeaux (Atlantic coastline, France). This population is also aligned with W. subtorquata based on morphometrics and COI haplotype. In contrast to the Guernsey introduction, the earlier French-Atlantic introduction appears related to oyster imports from Japan.

Taxonomic revision of some lepraliomorph cheilostome bryozoans (Bryozoa: Lepraliomorpha) from Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil

“…Watersipora subovoidea has triangular, tooth-like condyles, located distomedially, and a strongly pigmented operculum with a parallel-sided dark central band; W. subtorquata has condyles in the form of narrow shoulders and an operculum with a dark biconcave band proximally. Ryland et al (2009) added W. cucullata described by Marcus (1937Marcus ( , 1938 to the synonym of W. subtorquata, agreeing with Gordon (1989).…”

“…Comparing Rio de Janeiro specimens with the figures shown in Ryland et al (2009), it is evident that these specimens are very similar to W. subovoidea in having Downloaded by [141.214.17.222] at 16:39 02 November 2014…”

“…World: Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Ryland et al 2009). Brazil: Study area: Macaé, Arraial do Cabo (Forno Harbour and Farol Beach), Rio de Janeiro City (Guanabara Bay) and Sepetiba Harbour.…”

From the Pacific Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea:Watersipora arcuata, a new non-indigenous bryozoan in Europe

“…Species within this genus are difficult to identify because unlike other cheilostome bryozoans, they lack orificial spines, avicularia and external ovicells that are commonly used by taxonomists for diagnosis (Soule & Soule 1985;Ryland et al 2009). This has led to some historical misidentifications, with several Watersipora species having been erroneously attributed to a number of synonymies (Banta 1969a;d'Hondt 1984;Ryland et al 2009;Vieira et al 2014).…”

High-throughput Illumina sequencing and microsatellite design in Watersipora (Bryozoa), a complex of invasive species

“…Multiple species, which are difficult to distinguish morphologically are invading coastlines due in part to dispersal by vessels (Ryland et al 2009;Mackie et al 2012). As habitat forming species, Watersipora species are informative of many ecological processes including effects of biological invasion.…”