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Temperature resilience facilitates invasion success of the solitary ascidian Herdmania momus

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Abstract

The tropical ascidian Herdmania momus (Savigny 1816) has been rapidly expanding its distribution in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin. To examine the role of temperature resilience on its invasion success, we conducted monthly field surveys for two years at Achziv (Israel) Marine Protected Area, and examined the survival of adult individuals from native (Red Sea) and invasive (Mediterranean) populations under different temperature treatments. In addition, temperature effects on fertilization and larval development were examined in controlled laboratory conditions. Results indicate that temperature has a significant effect on H. momus from its early life stages through adulthood. Field surveys revealed a significant decline in H. momus abundance in the Mediterranean with the decrease in seawater temperature. Low temperature inhibited development of early life stages, and individuals from both populations demonstrated low survivability under low temperature treatment. All the above may be derived from the tropical origin of H. momus, and may further limit its dispersal into colder areas. However, adult individuals from the invasive population demonstrated significantly higher survivability to the high temperature treatment in comparison to the native population from the Red Sea. Larvae development, metamorphosis and settlement were enhanced and with higher rates of success under the high temperature conditions. The high-temperature adaptation of the Mediterranean population of H. momus from fertilization to adulthood may thus contribute to its expanding distribution in the Eastern Mediterranean.

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Acknowledgements

We deeply thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions and criticism that greatly improved the manuscript. We are grateful to M. Novosolov for her constructive comments and advice, and to N. Paz for editorial assistance. We thank the Israel Nature and Parks Authority for their technical assistance in the field. Funding was provided by The FP7 Marie Curie CIG grant number 321547 to NS, and by the Israel Science Foundation Grant Number 993/15 to NS, by a student fellowship from the Mediterranean Sea Research Center of Israel to MG, and by the Caroline von Humboldt award to NS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, 69978, Israel

    Mey-Tal Gewing, Eyal Goldstein, Yehezkel Buba & Noa Shenkar

  2. The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel

    Noa Shenkar

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  1. Mey-Tal Gewing
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  2. Eyal Goldstein
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  4. Noa Shenkar
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Correspondence to Noa Shenkar.

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Gewing, MT., Goldstein, E., Buba, Y. et al. Temperature resilience facilitates invasion success of the solitary ascidian Herdmania momus. Biol Invasions 21, 349–361 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-018-1827-8

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