Christine A. Wood

Alien species and other notable records from a rapid assessment survey of marinas on the south coast of England

Arenas, F., Bishop, J.D.D., Carlton, J.T., Dyrynda, P.J., Farnham, W.F., Gonzalez, D.J., Jacobs, M.W., Lambert, C., Lambert, G., Nielsen, S.E., Pederson, J.A., Porter, J.S., Ward, S., Wood, C.A. (2006). Alien species and other notable records from a rapid assessment survey of marinas on the south coast of England. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 86, (6), 1329-1337. Sponsorship: National Science Foundation grant IOB 0407527; Esme Fairbairn Foundation ALIENS project

Bearing the burden of boat harbours: Heavy contaminant and fouling loads in a native habitat-forming alga

Boat harbours are an increasingly common form of artificial habitat. This paper presents a comparative study of contaminants and foulers of a habitat-forming native kelp (Saccharina latissima) in four marinas and four reference locations along the south-west coast of the UK. Fouling of algal laminae was light (<2% cover) in reference locations, while epibiota cover ranged from 25% to 80% of laminae in marinas. Metals associated with antifouling paints were up to six times more concentrated in algal tissues from marinas than from the reference locations. Marinas also carried the greatest cover and diversity of non-indigenous epibiota on the kelp laminae. This indicates not only a potential stress to kelps in these environments, but also the possibility that detached laminae will act as vectors for the dispersal of non-indigenous species. The development of boat harbours creates habitats that are high risk source localities for pollution-tolerant fouling organisms.

The Southern Hemisphere ascidian Asterocarpa humilis is unrecognised but widely established in NW France and Great Britain

Non-native ascidians can be a major feature of sessile communities, particularly in artificial habitats, but may be overlooked because of poor understanding of species’ taxonomy and biogeographic status. The styelid unitary ascidian Asterocarpa humilis, up to now only reported in the Southern Hemisphere, has been found on the coast of NW France from St Malo to Quiberon, on the south coast of England from Falmouth to Brighton, and also in north Wales. The first documented occurrence was in 2005 in Brittany, but the species was found to be relatively widespread at a regional scale and common in many places during surveys in 2009, 2010 and 2011. It has possibly been present but overlooked for some time. The identification based on morphology was confirmed by comparison with specimens from New Zealand, within the species’ presumed native range, by molecular barcoding based on mitochondrial (COI) and nuclear (18S) genes.

Repeated rapid assessment surveys reveal contrasting trends in occupancy of marinas by non-indigenous species on opposite sides of the western English Channel.

Rapid assessment surveys of non-indigenous species (NIS) of sessile invertebrates were made at seven marinas in NW France and 10 marinas in SW England in 2010, and repeated in 2013. Fourteen NIS were recorded, 12 of which were seen on both coasts. Site occupancy differed between the opposite sides of the western English Channel. In Brittany, most species occurred at most sites in both 2010 and 2013. In 2010, site occupancy in Devon & Cornwall was distinctly lower; by 2013, the difference compared to Brittany had narrowed considerably, largely because of rapid colonisation of additional sites by species that were infrequent in 2010. Three more of the recent NIS are present in Devon & Cornwall but have still not become widespread. It is concluded that the recently introduced fouling animals studied here are longer established in NW France than in SW England, and have probably spread northwards across the Channel.

Telomerase deficiency in a colonial ascidian after prolonged asexual propagation.

In organisms that propagate by agametic cloning, the parental body is the reproductive unit and fitness increases with clonal size, so that colonial metazoans, despite lack of experimental data, have been considered potentially immortal. Using asexual propagation rate as a measure of somatic performance, and telomerase activity and relative telomere length as molecular markers of senescence, old (7-12 years) asexual strains of a colonial ascidian, Diplosoma listerianum, were compared with their recent sexually produced progeny. We report for the first time evidence for long-term molecular senescence in asexual lineages of a metazoan, and that only passage between sexual generations provides total rejuvenation permitting indefinite propagation and growth. Thus, this colonial ascidian has not fully escaped ageing. The possibility of somatic replicative senescence also potentially helps to explain why metazoans, with the capacity for asexual propagation through agametic cloning, commonly undergo cycles of sexual reproduction in the wild.

Laboratory Studies of Mating in the Aplousobranch Diplosoma listerianum

The didemnid Diplosoma listerianum exemplifies colonial ascidians in releasing sperm into the water to be captured by neighbours to fertilize brooded eggs. This mating process has been the subject of a series of studies using colonies in laboratory culture, and the findings are summarized here alongside those of published electron microscopy investigations of events in the female tract. Sperm travel through the oviduct of a zooid to reach the ovary, allowing true internal fertilization around the time of ovulation of a single oocyte into the colonial tunic, where the embryo is brooded. Cross-fertilization is the norm, but is selective: along with self sperm, non-self sperm from incompatible sources are blocked within the oviduct and prevented from reaching the ovary. The receipt of compatible sperm triggers vitellogenic egg growth, and sperm may be stored in the ovary for weeks for the fertilization of successive ovulations. Sequential mating by two males at an interval of eight days yields a succession of paternity within progeny arrays indicative of first-in-first-out utilization of stored sperm. With a shorter mating interval (24 h), this pattern is lost.

Distribution of the invasive bryozoan Schizoporella japonica in Great Britain and Ireland and a review of its European distribution

The bryozoan Schizoporella japonica Ortmann (1890) was first recorded in European waters in 2010 and has since been reported from further locations in Great Britain (GB) and Norway. This paper provides a new earliest European record for the species from 2009, a first record from Ireland and presence and absence records from a total of 231 marinas and harbours across GB, Ireland, the Isle of Man, France and Portugal. This species is typically associated with human activity, including commercial and recreational vessels, aquaculture equipment, and both wave and tidal energy devices. It has also been observed in the natural environment, fouling rocks and boulders. The species has an extensive but widely discontinuous distribution in GB and Ireland. Although found frequently in marinas and harbours in Scotland, it inhabits only a few sites in England, Wales and Ireland, interspersed with wide gaps that are well documented as genuine absences. This appears to be a rare example of a southward-spreading invasion in GB and Ireland. The species has been reported from the Isle of Man and Norway but has not been found in France or Portugal. In the future we expect S. japonica to spread into suitable sections of the English, Welsh and Irish coasts, and further within Europe. The species’ capability for long-distance saltatory spread and potential for negative impact on native ecosystems and economic activity suggests that S. japonica should now be considered invasive in GB and Ireland. As such, it is recommended that biosecurity procedures alongside effective surveillance and monitoring should be prioritised for regions outside the species’ current distribution.