First record of the epibiont barnacle Platylepas hexastylos (Crustacea: Cirripedia: Platylepadidae) from Galician coast
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1
Grupo de Estudo do Medio Mariño (GEMM), Spain
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2
Oceanographic Center of Vigo, Spanish Institute of Oceanography, Spain
The presence of organisms growing over any kind of surfaces is common, especially in marine environments, where the larvae are transported by the currents long distances searching for suitable conditions to settle. These communities, known generally as fouling, are frequently composed by a complex assemblage of species living together.
A special type of fouling communities are those associated with other living organisms, which adds to the equation the variable of displacement and migration between areas that are sometimes very distant.
Sea turtles provide a suitable substrate for the settlement of many organisms, especially on the hard parts of the body, providing numerous advantages in relation to other types of inanimate surfaces, and being in occasions considered as "floating ecosystems". As pelagic organisms travelling through long distances, Sea turtles could hence function as a vector for transfer and introduction of foreign species in new habitats.
On May 18, 2017, a male of loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta, was found trapped in a gill net near the locality of Aguiño in the Ría de Arousa estuary, Galicia, Spain. The specimen was recovered alive and transferred to the facilities of the Grupo de Estudio do Medio Mariño (GEMM) to check his health condition and posterior release in a safe zone. On examination of the specimen, tens of specimens of the barnacle Platylepas hexastylos were found attached to the turtle.
The barnacle genus Platylepas is represented by eight living species worldwide. These all have a large distribution in world’s ocean and have often been found as epibionts on marine turtles, manatees and sea snakes. In the former case, its ability to attach to any part on the turtle has been reported, with a frequency of occurrence ranging from 10 to 70 percent.
Platylepas hexastylos is a cosmopolitan species, and has been reported in Japan, Australia, Netherlands, Aegean sea, Senegal, Malta, Algeria to Balearic Islands, USA, Brazil, Levantine Basin, South China Sea, Mexico, Uruguay, Hawaii, Mediterranean sea and Gambia.
Herein, we report the occurrence of Platylepas hexastilos for the first time in Galician coasts as epibiont of Caretta caretta.
During the examination of the turtle, a sample of the barnacle species was taken in order to identify them in the laboratory. The barnacles were removed from different parts of the turtle using a scalpel blade, focusing on the adherence zone of the epibiont, enabling it to be detached in its entirety without suffering morphological damage. Once collected, all the specimens were identified and preserved by immersion in alcohol 70º. All collected specimens were studied under a stereomicroscope, then photographed and measured with digital caliber. The turtle was also measured (standard carapace length and width 55.4 cm x 52.1 cm) before being immediately released.
Barnacles were found attached mainly in the plastron, but also on the carapace, flippers, head, neck and cloacal region of the specimen of Caretta caretta (Fig 1). Their size ranged from 5 to 20 mm in diameter in the longest side and agreed with the description of P. hexastylos, being this species the only barnacle species present (Fig 2). This species present the capability of producing serrated striations that allows the barnacle to penetrate on the skin and hard parts tissue, burrowing the surface. Many of the specimens where in this case deeply incrusted in the tissue of the turtle.
Moreover, other taxa were also identified in the samples as fart of the fouling community associated with the barnacles, being the most manifest those belonging to the Algae, Hydrozoa and Caprellida. The algae and hydrozoa were too damage for identification, but over the seaweed carpet, several specimens of the caprellid Caprella andreae Mayer, 1890, were found.
C. andreae is also a well-known epibiont of Caretta caretta and has been recorded in different areas attached to a variety of floating objects on high sea.
Turtles represent a refuge for the epibiont fauna against predation; it could be the reason for the many associations between epibionts and their host. This kind of association allows the study of the ecological and evolutionary factors involved, thus obtaining more information about the structure of these communities.
Hence, the occurrence of P. hexastylos is reported in Galicia for the first time associated with Loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta.
Keywords:
epibiont,
Platylepas hexastylos,
Caretta caretta,
Caprella andreae,
Barnacle
Conference:
XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) , Braga, Portugal, 9 Sep - 12 Sep, 2019.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Ecology, Biodiversity and Vulnerable Ecosystems
Citation:
Almón
B,
Ariza
PR and
Dieste
JP
(2019). First record of the epibiont barnacle Platylepas hexastylos (Crustacea: Cirripedia: Platylepadidae) from Galician coast.
Front. Mar. Sci.
Conference Abstract:
XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) .
doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2019.08.00098
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Received:
14 May 2019;
Published Online:
27 Sep 2019.
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Correspondence:
Mx. Bruno Almón, Grupo de Estudo do Medio Mariño (GEMM), Galicia, Spain, brunoalmon2@yahoo.es