Boccardia proboscidea Hartman, 1940 (Annelida: Spionidae) a new alien on the coast of Argentine Patagonia

DIEZ M. E.; RADASHEVSKY V. I.; ORENSANZ J. M.

Mar del Plata

Congreso; 2ndWorld Conference on Biological Invasions and Ecosystem Functioning; 2011

Grupo de Investigación y Educación en Temas Ambientales (GrIETA)

Polydorine polychaetes, members of the family Spionidae, are capable of boring into a variety of hard substrates, including sedimentary rocks, mollusk shells, corals and coralline algae. Many members of this group are well documented in the literature as introduced species. The objective of this contribution is to report ecological impacts on the intertidal zone ofArgentine Patagonia caused by a recently identified alien polydorin, Boccardia proboscidea Hartman, 1940. In 2010 we found it in high densities in the intertidal zone of Golfo Nuevo, boring into intertidal cineritic sediments, and on a variety of man-made and natural hard substrates, smothering populations of native mussels Brachidontes spp. and of an alienbarnacle Balanus glandula. This species was reported for the first time from California, and in recent years reported in temperate waters world-wide. The alien B. proboscidea coexists with a closely related native species B. claparedei whose occurrence in the region is well documented in collections dating back to the 1920s. Here we present preliminary results on the taxonomic status of the two species, and document ecological effects of the invader on intertidal communities of the area of Puerto Madryn.