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Assessment of the effects of Percnon gibbesi in taxocenosis decapod crustaceans in the Iberian southeast (Alicante, Spain).

Juan E. Guillén1*, Santiago Jiménez Gutiérrez1, Alejandro Triviño1, Gabriel Soler1, Joaquín Martínez Vidal1 and David Gras1
  • 1 Instituto de Ecología Litoral, Marine Area, Spain

Problem statement Percnon gibbesi is an alien species in the Mediterranean, its origin is from Tropical Atlantic or from Eastern Pacific Ocean [1]. The first observations occurred in 1999 in Italy and Spain [2] [3]. The Mediterranean habitat of preference for the species seems to be the shallow infra-littoral rocky shore, more frequently around 1-2 m depth characterized by the occurrence of boulders. Although boulders - with or without macroalgal cover - are considered as an important habitat feature for the newly established Mediterranean populations [4, 5, 6]. Their presence in the eastern Mediterranean basin has been observed in all countries. The only areas where this species has not been observed yet, are the Ligurian and the Adriatic Sea, probably due to the lower temperature of these seas [7]. Because of its rapid spread, P. gibbesi has been proposed to be included in the 100 worst invasive marine species at the European level [8]. However, other studies have indicated that P. gibbesi has a strong character herbivorous, living in the upper infralittoral levels. In fact, in these levels only few other decapods occur, most of which are not strictly herbivorous or they are small-sized. The morphology of chelae, the feeding adaptations of the gastric mill and the results of the analysis of stomach contents indicate that P. gibbesi is a strictly herbivorous species, able to take both soft and tough algal meals. This characteristic, confirmed by the finding of a very coriaceous algal fraction in its stomach, may represent another reason of its success, since this crab apparently exploits food that other herbivorous decapods can not [9]. The alimentary preferences of P. gibbesi suggest that further studies on the ecological position of this new infralittoral herbivore should be carried out. For this reason, in this work we study the possible variations in the composition and diversity of decapod crustaceans taxocenosis before and after the colonization of this species. Methodology Three locations, with decapods data of 1988, before P. gibbesi's colonization in the Southeastern of Spain [10]. In two of these: El Albir and El Cabo de Huertas, there was a colonization of Percnon gibbesi in the period 2001 - 2003, while in the third zone (La Illeta), has not yet been produced. Data on decapod's taxocenoses were taken at two sampling levels: one for megafauna through transects, and the other for decapods smaller, by quantitative sampling in Mediterranean submerged fucoids, green or red seaweeds on full salinity infralittoral rock habitat (EUNIS A3.33). Samples has been approached through the benthic sampling procedure [11, 12]. At each sampling site, three underwater transects were laid beween 0 a 5 m depth (18 transects total). Underwater visual census counts were carried out by SCUBA divers in transects 50 m long and 2 m wide by setting a metric tape. Quantitative samples were obtained by scraping off all organisms from 20 x 20 cm quadrats (18 samples total). These samples were fixed with formaldehid (2%), and after, decapods were separated and indetifying with binocular microscope. Data were included in the corresponding matrix, and analysis of variance between stations and times were performed to determine the signficance of the interaction P. gibbesi × decapod diversity index (Shannon Weaver), abundance, and positive or negative correlations between the dominant decapod species Results The analysis of variance revealed that there have been no significant differences between diversity and abundance of decapod, or in localities where Percnon gibbesi has been implanted, or in the locality where it is not already present. In fact, the dominant species groups are, except for minor differences, the same: in C. Huertas: Pilumnus hirtellus, Pirimela denticulata, Clibanarius erythropus, Pisidia longimana, Cestopagurus timidus, Acanthonyx lunulatus and Achaeus gracilis; in El Albir: Calcinus tubularis, P. longimana, Xantho hydrophilus and Pagurus cuanensis; and in La Illeta: C. tubularis and P. cuanensis. The Shannon Weaver index was also similar, without significant differences (C. Huertas:1.63 in 1988 to 1.58 in 2015; El Albir: 1.27 in 1988 to 1.44 in 2015; and La Illeta: 0.66 in 1988 to 0.78 in 2015). The difference between these rates is due to the higher spatial heterogeneity of C. Huertas, compared with the least variation of habitats in La Illeta. In areas where Percnon gibbesi has been implanted, decapod's diversity has not experienced significant changes. No significant correlations were found between dominant species and P. gibbesi, because of the low density lower than recorded in all cases to 1 specimen/m2. Conclusions The data suggest that the ecological niche of P. gibbesi does not interfere with other decapods represented in the shallow infralittoral hard bottoms in the southeastern of Spain.

Acknowledgements

To Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment for supporting this research, and to the Data Bank of Biodiversity of the Valencian Country for their support in the monitoring of biodiversity in the Valencian coast.

References

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Keywords: Decapoda, invasive species, Mediterranean, Percnon gibbesi, decapod taxocenoses

Conference: XIX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies, Porto, Portugal, 5 Sep - 9 Sep, 2016.

Presentation Type: Oral Presentation

Topic: 2. GLOBAL CHANGES, INVASIVE SPECIES AND CONSERVATION

Citation: Guillén JE, Jiménez Gutiérrez S, Triviño A, Soler G, Martínez Vidal J and Gras D (2016). Assessment of the effects of Percnon gibbesi in taxocenosis decapod crustaceans in the Iberian southeast (Alicante, Spain).. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: XIX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies. doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2016.05.00019

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Received: 29 Apr 2016; Published Online: 02 Sep 2016.

* Correspondence: Dr. Juan E Guillén, Instituto de Ecología Litoral, Marine Area, El Campello, Alicante, 03560, Spain, j.guillen@ecologialitoral.com