Bugula neritina ( Linnaeus, 1758 ) Introduced

Ruiz-Velasco, Sofía, Ros, Macarena, Guerra-García, José M. & López-Fé, Carlos M., 2025, Fouling bryozoans in recreational marinas of the Canary Islands (North-Eastern Atlantic) with new records of non-indigenous and cryptogenic species, Zootaxa 5656 (1), pp. 1-63 : 13-15

Bugula neritina ( Linnaeus, 1758) Introduced

( Fig. 3 ; Table 3)

Sertularia neritina Linnaeus, 1758: 815 .

Bugula neritina : Lichtschein de Bastida & Bastida 1980: 380, fig. 6; Gordon & Mawatari 1992: 21, pls 2G, 5F; Hayward & Ryland 1998: 220, fig. 68; Ramalho et al. 2005: 232, fig. 2; Ramalhosa et al. 2017: 5, fig. 2; Giachetti et al. 2020: Table S1; López-Gappa et al. 2022: 384 , fig. 15.

Figured material. Garachico (20/06/23) (1C on rope) ( MNCN 25.03/4451).

Other material examined. Las Galletas (19/06/23) (1C on rope), Taliarte (26/06/23) (1C on floating pontoon), Morro Jable (27/06/23) (1C on floating pontoon), Puerto Calero (29/06/23) (1C on floating pontoon), Playa Blanca (29/06/23) (1C on buoy), Marina Lanzarote (29/06/23) (1C on rope).

Description. Colonies reddish-brown, erect and branching. Branches biserial with large, elongated autozooids with almost the entire frontal wall membranous ( Fig. 3A , Table 3). Autozooids show sharply pointed distal corners with a well-marked margin but no distal spines.Avicularia also absent ( Fig. 3B, C ). Ooecia large and globular linked by a peduncle to the maternal zooid ( Fig. 3D ).

Remarks. Bugula neritina represents a species complex which includes three cryptic species known as types (type S, type N, and type D) ( Fehlauer-Ale et al. 2014). There are no clear morphological differences between each type, although the endosymbiotic composition seems to differ between species ( McGovern & Hellberg 2003; Lim-Fong et al. 2008; Fehlauer-Ale et al. 2014).

Distribution and status. Bugula neritina is a very widespread species complex. Particularly, type S (known as “Shallow”) is the most widely distributed cryptic species from the complex, occurring in temperate, subtropical and tropical waters globally, in association with anthropogenic introductions ( Mackie et al. 2006; Fehlauer-Ale et al. 2014). Although the native origin of B. neritina type S remains unclear, it seems native to the North-Eastern Pacific (California) or the South-Western Atlantic ( Brazil) ( Fehlauer-Ale et al. 2014). Bugula neritina was first recorded in Macaronesia in Madeira Island by Norman (1909), and was later observed in the Azores ( Tempera et al. 2001; Ryland et al. 2011; Micael et al. 2019), the Canary Islands ( Arístegui 1984b; Moro et al. 2018) and more recently in Cape Verde ( Castro et al. 2023), mostly associated with ports and marinas. The status of B. neritina in Macaronesia is conflicted. While NEMESIS (2024) considers this species as NIS in Azores and Madeira, it is regarded as cryptogenic in the Canary Islands in the same database, the status being also supported by Png-Gonzalez et al. (2023). Nevertheless, despite the specific type has not been addressed in the present study, we consider it introduced in the Canary Islands based on the relatively recent report of the species in this region, its affinity to port environments, and the confirmed occurrence of the widespread type S in other Spanish locations (i.e. Galicia, Fehlauer-Ale et al. 2014), which is frequently interconnected through maritime traffic with the Canarian Archipelago ( Conradi et al. 1997; Guerra-García et al. 2011; Revanales et al. 2023; Souto & Reverter-Gil 2024).

Genus Bugulina Gray, 1848

Figures

FIGURE 3. Bugula neritina (Linnaeus, 1758) (MNCN25.03/4451). A. View of the colony through SEM. B. Close-up of the ramification C. View of autozooids. D. Ovicells through stereomicroscope. Scale bars: A = 400 µm; B, D = 200 µm; C = 100 µm.