Abstract
The massive irruption of the invasive bryozoan Membraniporopsis tubigera (Osburn) in sandy beaches of southern Brazil and Uruguay is reported. The species, originally described from Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida, has also been recorded for Brazilian beaches from 21°S to 26°S as well as for harbours of Australia, New Zealand and the Sea of Japan. The southward spreading rate of this bryozoan along the Brazilian and Uruguayan coasts can be estimated in approximately 183–195 km year−1. The chances that this invasion could proceed southwards in the Southwest Atlantic and the possible impacts that it may be causing are discussed. The case of M. tubigera seems to be qualitatively and quantitatively different from those of other alien bryozoans previously recorded for this region, since it appeared massively in exposed sandy beaches, a habitat regarded to date as apparently free from the pervasive ecological impact of invasion by exotic species in the Southwest Atlantic.
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Acknowledgments
The fieldwork was done with the kind collaboration of the crew of the F/V “Dommy”, Karumbé, M. Laporta, A. Estrades, A. Fallabrino, C. Fagúndez, A. Segura, L. Rubio and S. Horta. Financial support from CONICET, The Rufford Small grants for Nature Conservation and British Petroleum to J.L.G., A.C. and Karumbé, respectively, is acknowledged. We also thank S. Sauco for logistic support, C. Romero and P. Laporta for comments on the strandings, C. Fagúndez for the photograph of Fig. 3d and Dennis Gordon for driving our attention to Allen’s paper.
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López Gappa, J., Carranza, A., Gianuca, N.M. et al. Membraniporopsis tubigera, an invasive bryozoan in sandy beaches of southern Brazil and Uruguay. Biol Invasions 12, 977–982 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-009-9522-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-009-9522-4