Persistence and differential distribution of nonindigenous ascidians in harbors of the Southern California Bight

The Southern California Bight covers a region of about 300 km of coastline from northern Baja California to Point Conception. The present study includes ascidian species abundance data from 1994 to 2000 from 29 sites within the 12 major harbors of the Bight north of the Mexico/US border, plus 2 sites in Ensenada (Baja California, Mexico) sampled in August 2000. Nonindigenous ascidians form a major part of the fouling community biomass on floating docks in these harbors. Nine solitary and 5 colonial species are present, 13 of them in San Diego Bay, the largest bay in this region. The most northerly and among the smallest bays, Santa Barbara, contains 8 nonindigenous species. This study reports additional surveys to our 1998 paper (Lambert & Lambert 1998, Mar Biol 130:675-688) for fall 1997, spring 1998 and summer 2000, documents the newly arrived Botrylloides perspicuum, and corrects the records of 2 species. A main focus is the listing and abundance of species at each survey site within each major harbor and an attempt to analyze the differences between sites and between seasons within a single harbor with reference to variations in water movement, temperature, salinity, pollution factors and competition. Several species appeared for the first time in southern California during 1994 to 1997, apparently correlated with the influx of warmer water during the El Nino of that time. Subsequent surveys show that all of these species have persisted, several have dramatically increased in abundance and distribution, and an additional species has successfully invaded.

[1]  J. Stachowicz,et al.  Linking climate change and biological invasions: Ocean warming facilitates nonindigenous species invasions , 2002, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[2]  S. Connell,et al.  Why do floating structures create novel habitats for subtidal epibiota , 2002 .

[3]  G. Lambert,et al.  Distaplia alaskensis sp.nov. (Ascidiacea, Aplousobranchia) and other new ascidian records from south-central Alaska, with a redescription of Ascidia columbiana (Huntsman, 1912) , 2001 .

[4]  R. Hughes,et al.  The ultimate opportunists: consumers of seston , 2001 .

[5]  S. Connell,et al.  Urban structures as marine habitats: an experimental comparison of the composition and abundance of subtidal epibiota among pilings, pontoons and rocky reefs. , 2001, Marine environmental research.

[6]  J. Carballo,et al.  Distribution and abundance of ascidian assemblages in Caribbean reef zones of the Golfo de Batabanó (Cuba) , 2001, Coral Reefs.

[7]  Yasunori Saito,et al.  Phylogeny of Botryllid Ascidians , 2001 .

[8]  F. Monniot,et al.  Ascidians from the tropical western Pacific , 2001 .

[9]  G. Lambert.  A Global Overview of Ascidian Introductions and Their Possible Impact on the Endemic Fauna , 2001 .

[10]  Connell,et al.  Floating pontoons create novel habitats for subtidal epibiota. , 2000, Journal of experimental marine biology and ecology.

[11]  C. Lambert,et al.  Mechanism of the block to hybridization and selfing between the sympatric ascidians Ciona intestinalis and Ciona savignyi , 2000, Molecular reproduction and development.

[12]  I. Goodbody.  Diversity and Distribution of Ascidians (Tunicata) in the Pelican Cays, Belize , 2000 .

[13]  Osman,et al.  Species Diversity and Invasion Resistance in a Marine Ecosystem. , 1999, Science.

[14]  S. Gilman,et al.  CLIMATE‐RELATED CHANGE IN AN INTERTIDAL COMMUNITY OVER SHORT AND LONG TIME SCALES , 1999 .

[15]  Tim M. Glasby,et al.  Do urban structures influence local abundance and diversity of subtidal epibiota? A case study from Sydney Harbour, Australia , 1999 .

[16]  Jason D. Toft,et al.  The 1998 Puget Sound Expedition: A Shallow Water Rapid Assessment Survey for Nonindigenous Species, with Comparisons to San Francisco Bay. , 1999 .

[17]  K. Sanamyan.  ASCIDIANS FROM THE NORTH-WESTERN PACIFIC REGION , 1999 .

[18]  Tim M. Glasby,et al.  Urban structures as marine habitats , 1999 .

[19]  C. Lambert,et al.  Non-indigenous ascidians in southern California harbors and marinas , 1998 .

[20]  Cohen,et al.  Accelerating invasion rate in a highly invaded estuary , 1998, Science.

[21]  J. Chapman,et al.  Report of the Puget Sound Expedition, September 8-16, 1998; A Rapid Assessment Survey of Nonindigenous Species in the Shallow Waters of Puget Sound , 1998 .

[22]  G. Zaniolo,et al.  Brood pouch differentiation in Botrylloides violaceus, a viviparous ascidian (Tunicata) , 1998 .

[23]  J. Geller,et al.  Zoogeographic Distributions of the Sibling Species Mytilus galloprovincialis and M. trossulus (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) and Their Hybrids in the North Pacific. , 1997, The Biological bulletin.

[24]  J. García-Gómez,et al.  Effects of environmental stress on ascidian populations in Algeciras Bay southern Spain Possible marine bioindicators , 1996 .

[25]  R. Bak,et al.  Long-term changes on coral reefs in booming populations of a competitive colonial ascidian , 1996 .

[26]  J. Carlton,et al.  Nonindigenous aquatic species in a United States estuary: a case study of the biological invasions of the San Francisco Bay and delta , 1995 .

[27]  K. Sanamyan.  Ascidians from the North-Western Pacific region. 2. Molgulidae , 1993 .

[28]  Jack W. Anderson,et al.  Ecology of the Southern California Bight : a synthesis and interpretation , 1993 .

[29]  C. Hurlbut.  The effects of larval abundance, settlement and juvenile mortality on the depth distribution of a colonial ascidian , 1991 .

[30]  I. Weissman,et al.  Morphologic and Genetic Verification That Monterey Botryllus and Woods Hole Botryllus are the Same Species. , 1990, The Biological bulletin.

[31]  H. Mukai,et al.  Viviparous development in Botrylloides (Compound Ascidians) , 1987, Journal of morphology.

[32]  R. Grosberg,et al.  The genetic control and consequences of kin recognition by the larvae of a colonial marine invertebrate , 1986, Nature.

[33]  T. Nishikawa,et al.  Taxonomic Studies of Ciona intestinalis (L.) and Its Allies , 1985 .

[34]  P. Kott.  The Australian Ascidiaceap Part 1c Phlebobranchia and Stolidobranchia , 1985 .

[35]  Willis H. Miller.  Where is Southern California , 1982 .

[36]  H. Mukai,et al.  STUDIES ON JAPANESE COMPOUND STYELID ASCIDIANS -II. A NEW SPECIES OF THE GENUS BOTRYLLOIDES AND REDESCRIPTION OF B. VIOLACEUS OKA- , 1981 .

[37]  J. A. Vallee,et al.  A Survey of the Littoral and Sublittoral Ascidians of Southern California, Including the Channel Islands , 1979 .

[38]  H. H. Plough,et al.  Sea Squirts of the Atlantic Continental Shelf from Maine to Texas , 1978 .

[39]  R. Seapy.  Distribution and abundance of the epipelagic mollusk Carinaria japonica in waters off Southern California , 1974 .

[40]  D. P. Abbott,et al.  The Ascidians Styela barnharti, S. plicata, S. clava, and S. montereyensis in Californian Waters , 1972 .

[41]  R. C. Fay,et al.  Observations on the Distribution and Ecology of the Littoral Ascidians of the Mainland Coast of Southern California , 1971 .

[42]  R. Millar.  The Biology of Ascidians , 1971 .

[43]  B. I. Dybern.  Distribution and ecology of ascidians in Kviturdvikpollen and Vågsböpollen on the west coast of Norway , 1969 .

[44]  Van Name,et al.  The North and South American ascidians , 1945 .

[45]  T. Morgan.  DO SPERMATOZOA PENETRATE THE MEMBRANE OF SELF-INSEMINATED EGGS OF CIONA AND STYELA? , 1942 .

[46]  G. Macginitie.  Some Effects of Fresh Water on the Fauna of a Marine Harbor , 1939 .

[47]  R. Forsyth,et al.  Ascidians of the littoral zone of southern California , 1917 .