Maria A. Haddad

Substrate type as a selective tool against colonization by non-native sessile invertebrates

Substratos de diferentes materiais, cores, texturas e orientacao podem influenciar seletivamente no recrutamento de invertebrados sesseis e, assim, influenciar a comunidade resultante. Deste modo, o substrato pode funcionar como barreira contra o estabelecimento de especies nao nativas (NIS, na sigla em ingles). No sul do Brasil, o granito e a principal rocha formadora de costoes rochosos naturais disponiveis para organismos incrustantes. Nesta investigacao, nos testamos se o granito seleciona o recrutamento de especies e se poderia, assim, impedir a colonizacao de especies introduzidas ou criptogenicas ja estabelecidas em substratos artificiais na regiao. Placas nao polidas de granito e de polietileno foram submersas a cada mes em um pier de um iate clube na Baia de Paranagua. Ha uma comunidade ja estabelecida sobre colunas de concreto e sobre flutuadores de fibra de vidro presentes no iate clube. Depois de um, dois e doze meses, as especies presentes nas placas de diferentes materiais foram comparadas entre si e tambem com outros substratos. O granito foi colonizado por todas as sete especies introduzidas encontradas na regiao, e por 18 das 26 especies criptogenicas, sendo entao ineficaz como barreira contra a colonizacao de NIS.

Podocoryna loyola, n. sp. (Hydrozoa, Hydractiniidae): a probably introduced species on artificial substrate from southern Brazil.

Podocoryna loyola, a new hydractiniid species, has been found on artificial substrates in Baía de Paranaguá, southern coast of Brazil, since April 2007. Its main morphological characteristics are: (1) polymorphic colonies with reticular stolons or encrusting hydrorhiza not covered by periderm and smooth chitinous spines; (2) newly-released medusae with eight tentacles and small interradial gonads; (3) mature medusae with eight tentacles and unbranched oral lips; gastric peduncle absent. Molecular data show that P. loyola is distinct from all other examined species of Podocoryna, and from P. hayamaensis Hirohito (1988), its sister species from Japan. As the polyps having been noted only quite recently, and in having been found only on man-made objects in port areas and estuaries, the species is most likely exotic to the region.

Faunistic survey of Hydromedusae (Cnidaria, Medusozoa) from the coast of Paraná State, Southern Brazil.

This study is the first faunistic inventory of hydromedusae from the inner continental shelf of Paraná State. We describe the composition of hydromedusae species, collected with bottom-trawl and Hensen nets, in campaigns carried out from 1997 to 2006. We analyzed 17,797 specimens from 578 samples, and provide descriptions, photographs, and information about the biology of the 22 species found. All species had previous records from the Brazilian coast; however, this is the first record of Bougainvillia frondosa, Ectopleura dumortieri, Cirrholovenia tetranema, Eucheilota maculata, Gossea brachymera, Solmaris corona, and Amphogona apsteini for the coast of Paraná. Most species are typical of tropical and subtropical coastal waters from the South Brazilian Bight. However, Turritopsis nutricula, Niobia dendrotentaculata, Solmaris corona, and Aglaura hemistoma are abundant in oceanic waters, and Olindias sambaquiensis and Solmaris corona are associated with colder waters (<20°C). The current number of species known for the state is 26. Additional collection effort is needed in regions not sampled in this work, such as bays and offshore waters.

Seasonal recruitment of the hydroid Podocoryna loyola (Hydractiniidae) in the Paranaguá Bay, South of Brazil

ABSTRACT Knowledge about the seasonal patterns of recruitment and growth of a non-native species is a precondition to forecast its effect on the native community. The aim of this study was to analyse the seasonality of the hydrozoan Podocoryna loyola, a possible non-native hydroid species in southern Brazilian estuaries, on sets of polyethylene plates, submerged every three months over four years (April 2009 to April 2013), in the Paranaguá Bay. The species’ abundance was measured as cover, area and number of colonies. These measures showed the same pattern of variation over the seasonal cycles, with higher values occurring in the warmer seasons. A high percentage of colonies with gonozooids also occurred in the warmer seasons, except in the first year, explaining the reduction in the number and cover of colonies at the beginning of the second year. Atypical salinity conditions in the summer/autumn of the second year may have caused the absence of P. loyola until the spring of the next year. Beyond the influence of temperature and salinity on P. loyola seasonality, negative correlations between bryozoans and the hydroid in warmer seasons indicated a mutual influence on the growth of these sheet-like species over the plates.

Relações de tamanho e peso das grandes medusas (Cnidaria) do litoral do Paraná, Sul do Brasil

Size-weight relationships are important for population stock estimates, continuous and large-scale population monitoring, as well as permitting the estimation of population biomass from size-class distribution. While these data are basic and useful for ecological and economical analyses, such estimates for Brazilian jellyfish do not exist. Here we present size-weight relationships for the six most common species of large medusae in the coast of Parana, southern Brazil: Tamoya haplonema Muller, 1859 and Chiropsalmus quadrumanus (Muller, 1859) – Cubozoa; Olindias sambaquiensis Muller, 1861 – Hydrozoa; Chrysaora lactea Eschscholtz, 1829, Lychnorhiza lucerna Haeckel, 1880 and Phyllorhiza punctata von Lendenfeld, 1884 – Scyphozoa. A regression of the form Y = aX b was used, in which Y = wet weight, X = umbrellar diameter (except for T. haplonema , in which umbrellar height was used), a and b are fitted parameters for each population. The majority of species showed negative allometry, since b was usually less than 3, and varied between 2.415 and 3.028.

First record of the hydromedusa Aequorea macrodactyla (Leptothecata: Aequoreidae) in Brazilian waters

Three Aequorea macrodactyla (Brandt 1835) medusae were found along the São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro coasts. The specimens clearly match the diagnosis of the species, as they have tentacular bulbs with a large abaxial keel and a prominent excretory pore and papilla. The number of tentacles is approximately three times smaller than the number of radial canals. In the southwestern Atlantic, this species was previously known from Patagonian waters and this is the first record from the non-temperate southwestern Atlantic. Additionally, a thorough review of meristic data is provided for this hydrozoan species.

Fauna de hidroides (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) da região de Bombinhas, Santa Catarina, Brasil

The benthic hydroid fauna from shallow subtidal zone of six localities in the municipality of Bombinhas (state of Santa Catarina, Brazil) was surveyed and its morphology analysed. Cnidome was also examined when it was necessary for species identification. Twenty five morphospecies were found, from which five (20%) were recorded for the first time in Santa Catarina State and three (12%) were recorded for the first time in the south region of Brazil. There was a 12% and 5.5% increase in the records of benthic hydroid species for Santa Catarina and southern Brazilian coast, respectively.

Organic contamination as a driver of structural changes of hydroid's assemblages of the coral reefs near to Havana Harbour, Cuba

Hydroid assemblages responses to organic contamination were evaluated using sedimentary sterols as explanatory variables. At seven coral reef sites in the Havana west coast, hydroids were collected along three 10 m × 1 m, 10 m deep transects. Five sterols were analysed, i.e., coprostanol, an indicator of faecal contamination, and cholestanol, cholesterol, stigmasterol and brassicasterol, indicators of biogenic organic matter inputs. The sampling sites were classified by level of contamination. A total of 65 species comprised the hydroid assemblages. Hydroids community abundance and richness decreased in the contaminated sites. Coprostanol had the highest relative importance for these variables and also for Plumularia floridana and Clytia gracilis abundances. Obelia dichotoma and Halecium bermudense were relatively abundant in the contaminated sites. The results indicate that faecal contamination negatively affected the hydroid assemblages, highlighting the importance of integrated biological and chemical indicators to evaluate the environmental conditions of the Havana coral reef.

Craspedacusta cf. sowerbii Lankester, 1880 (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Limnomedusae): new record for the middle plateau region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

This study reports a new record of Craspedacusta cf. sowerbii for the Municipality of Passo Fundo, located in the central plateau region of the State of Rio Grande do Sul. The C. cf. sowerbii specimens were collected in May 2010 in an artificial lake formed by the flooding of a former basaltic quarry. The lake is 665 m above sea level and its surface area measures around 25.000 m 2 . Its crystalline water is linked by the Miranda creek to the Passo Fundo River, part of the Uruguay River basin.