Boccardiella ligerica, an exotic polychaete in a Southwestern Atlantic coastal lagoon: morphology and abundance variations.

MARÍA LOURDES JAUBET; MARTINEZ LORENA EVANGELINA; MARIA ANDREA SARACHO BOTTERO ; MARIA CIELO BAZTERRICA

ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH

SPRINGER TOKYO

Lugar: Tokyo; Año: 2020 vol. 36 p. 57 - 69

0912-3814

Boccardiella ligerica (Ferronniere, 1898) is an exotic polychaete introduced tothe southwestern Atlantic Ocean. The species was described for the region36 years ago, and no updating revision was reported to date. Here, weaddressed a detailed study on morphology and abundance variations ofB. ligerica in the Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon. We found that B. ligerica fromMar Chiquita shares the diagnostic characters with specimens from the originaldescription (France), and was associated with the reef-like structures(?reefs?) of the invader polychaete Ficopomatus enigmaticus (Fauvel, 1923).B. ligerica was not found in sediments, and its distribution in reefs was independentof certain habitat features (i.e., deep or macroalgae), but seasonally,reaching the highest abundances in warm seasons (December). Our resultssuggest that environmental features might drive the B. ligerica populationdynamic, while the substrate offered by F. enigmaticus might supportB. ligerica population abundance. The present study updates the known geographicdistribution of this nonindigenous species in brackish waters from theSW Atlantic Ocean and shows its association with an invasive habitat-formingspecies