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In-water and dry-dock hull fouling assessments reveal high risk for regional translocation of nonindigenous species in the southwestern Atlantic

  • INVASIVE SPECIES III
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Abstract

To assess the potential of domestic traffic for the regional spread of nonindigenous species (NIS), we surveyed the hull of an oceanographic vessel serving routes in the southwestern Atlantic and Southern Ocean. Sampling was performed while the vessel was in the water and in dry-dock in the Port of Mar del Plata, Argentina. We found 120 taxa belonging to 14 different invertebrate groups, including 53 species, 47 morphospecies, and 20 taxa identified at higher taxonomic levels. Ten of these species have not been reported for the Port of Mar del Plata and adjacent areas prior to the present study, and eight are new records for the entire Argentine coast. While both in-water and dry-dock sampling allowed for the detection of native, non-native, and cryptogenic fauna, more samples and species were obtained in dry-dock. Dry-dock richness estimates amounted to up to ~ 110 hull fouling species. Despite specific logistic challenges, dry-dock sampling should be considered by managers assessing vector strength due to its greater species detection power. The present results highlight the potential for domestic vessel spread of hull fouling marine NIS, and pinpoint likely future additions to the non-native fauna inventory in the southwestern Atlantic.

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the Argentine Navy (Armada Argentina, Ministerio de Defensa de la Nación Argentina), R/V Puerto Deseado’s crews and divers for their assistance and support during planning and conduction of sampling. Rosana Rossini, Aurora Matsubara, Silvia Rivero, and Claudia Bremec helped with sample processing and taxonomic identification of organisms. We thank Anne Chao for kindly making freely available the statistical programs used in this work and providing statistical advice. Demetrio Boltovskoy and two anonymous reviewers provided most valuable suggestions to the original study design and to earlier versions of this manuscript. Funding was provided by PICT 0729 research grant from the Argentine Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica to F. S. and an Estímulo research scholarship from Universidad de Buenos Aires awarded to M. M. during the conduction of the present work.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Marco Meloni

    Present address: Sofies, One Crown Square, Church Street East, Woking, GU21 6HR, UK

  2. Clara B. Giachetti

    Present address: Grupo de Ecología en Ambientes Costeros, Instituto de Biología de Organismos Marinos (IBIOMAR-CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Argentina

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Marco Meloni

  2. Servicio de Hidrografía Naval (Ministerio de Defensa) and Escuela de Ciencias del Mar (Instituto, Universitario Naval), Av. Montes de Oca 2124, 1271, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Nancy Correa

  3. Escuela de Ciencias del Mar, Sede Educativa Universitaria, Facultad de la Armada, UNDEF, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Nancy Correa

  4. Departamento de Biologia Marinha, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Brazil

    Fabio Bettini Pitombo

  5. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC-CONICET), Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

    Ignacio Luis Chiesa

  6. CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada (IBBEA), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Brenda Doti & Daniel Roccatagliata

  7. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Brenda Doti, Clara B. Giachetti & Daniel Roccatagliata

  8. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), FCEyN, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata-CONICET, CC1260, 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Rodolfo Elías & Gabriel Genzano

  9. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Ecología Marina, Córdoba, Argentina

    Diego Giménez & Marcos Tatián

  10. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Juan López-Gappa

  11. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Juan López-Gappa & Diego Gabriel Zelaya

  12. Laboratorio de Meiofauna Marina (LAMEIMA) - Instituto de Diversidad y Evolución Austral (IDEAus-CONICET), Blvd. Alte. Brown 2915, U9120ACF, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina

    Catalina Pastor

  13. Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Avenida Professor Moraes Rego, 1235, Cidade Universitária, Recife, Pernambuco, 50670-901, Brazil

    Adriane Pereira Wandeness

  14. Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP), Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Fernando César Ramírez

  15. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA), Córdoba, Argentina

    Marcos Tatián

  16. Departamento Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 2, 4° Piso, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Diego Gabriel Zelaya

  17. Instituto para el Estudio de la Biodiversidad de Invertebrados, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Salta, Av. Bolivia 5150, 4400, Salta, Argentina

    Maria Schulze-Sylvester & Francisco Sylvester

  18. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Salta, Argentina

    Maria Schulze-Sylvester & Francisco Sylvester

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  1. Marco Meloni
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  2. Nancy Correa
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  3. Fabio Bettini Pitombo
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Correspondence to Francisco Sylvester.

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Meloni, M., Correa, N., Pitombo, F.B. et al. In-water and dry-dock hull fouling assessments reveal high risk for regional translocation of nonindigenous species in the southwestern Atlantic. Hydrobiologia 848, 1981–1996 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-020-04345-4

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