Bimeria vestita

Invasion History

First Non-native North American Tidal Record: 2004
First Non-native West Coast Tidal Record: 2004
First Non-native East/Gulf Coast Tidal Record:

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General Invasion History:

Bimeria vestita was first described from the Firth of Forth, Scotland (Calder 1988), but is known from both sides of the Atlantic (from South Carolina-Argentina and Scotland-South Africa), the Mediterranean and Black Seas, the Indian Ocean, and the East Pacific from Mexico to Chile (Fraser 1938; Calder and Hester 1978; Calder 1988; Migotto 1996; Rajagopal et al. 1997; Calder and Kirkendale 2005; Vervoort 2006; Oliveira and Marques 2007; Morri et al. 2009). Most records are temperate, but it was collected from Heard Island (53⁰S) in the Southern Ocean by the HMS 'Challenger' in 1888 (Marques et al. 2000), and is also known from fjords of southern Chile. It has been found in buoy fouling (as Bimeria humilus, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 1952), but the degree to which its range has been extended by shipping is unknown. We regard it as cryptogenic over almost all of its worldwide range. Given the range of climates and habitats from which it is known, it is possible that 'B. vestita' represents a widespread species complex. Introduced specimens of B. vestita were collected in 2004 from Oakland in San Francisco Bay, California (Cohen et al. 2005) and in 2009 from Oahu, Hawaii (Calder 2010).

North American Invasion History:

Invasion History on the West Coast:

Bimeria vestita was collected for the first time in US Pacific waters during a shore survey at Fruitvale Bridge, Oakland, California in 2004 (Cohen et al. 2005). We have no records of further collections, but presume that it is established. It was collected in Ecuador and subtropical Pacific Mexico (Navidad Head, Jalisco, Mexico, 19.2⁰N) in 1934 (Fraser 1938).

Invasion History in Hawaii:

Calder (2010) collected one colony of B. vestita in shallow water at the mouth of Kuapa Pond, an inlet in Hawaii Kai, Oahu. The hydroid was growing on an oyster shell on pilings. This is the first record of this species from Hawaii.

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Description

Bimeria vestita is a hydroid which lacks a planktonic medusa stage, undergoing sexual reproduction by means of attached gonophores. It forms erect, branching colonies arising from creeping stolons. The shoots have a central stalk with alternating branches. The ends of all of the branches bear hydranths. The perisarc around the hydranth, which extends onto the bases of the tentacles, is encrusted with detritus and fine sand. The hydranth is vase-shaped, 0.25-0.5 mm in size and merges gradually into the long pedicel. The hydranth has a conical hypostome and 9-16 tentacles, forming one whorl, or two very close whorls. The gonophores are pear-shaped sacs on stems and branches, lacking radial canals, and covered in loose, filmy perisarc, covered with detritus. The female gonophores bear only one egg, in which the planula is brooded before release. Each colony probably has a single sex, either all male or female. The colonies are yellowish, and range from 4-25 mm tall (description from: Calder 1988; Bouillon et al. 2004; Schuchert 2007; Calder 2010).

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Taxonomy

Ecology

General:

Bimeria vestita is a sessile hydrozoan which lacks a planktonic medusa stage. Colonies grow on a solid substrate and produce gonophores, which produce either eggs or sperm. Once fertilized the egg develops into a ciliated non-feeding planula larva which is released into the water column (Calder 1988; Schuchert 2007). Planula larvae settle on a suitable substrate and develop into hydroid colonies (Barnes 1983). They can settle on a variety of substrates, including seaweeds, other fouling organisms, rocks, shells, pilings, and buoys (Genzano and Zamponi 1999; Galea 2007; Genzano et al. 2009; Calder 2010). The colonies feed on zooplankton by extending their tentacles into the water column and trapping prey with their nematocysts (Barnes 1983). This hydroid is known mostly from high-salinity marine habitats, but it does occur in the Black Sea (Schuchert 2007). In South Carolina estuaries, it occurs at 20-34 PSU (Calder 1976).

Food:

Zooplankton, Epibenthos

Trophic Status:

Suspension Feeder

SusFed

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Habitats

General Habitat	Coarse Woody Debris	None
General Habitat	Grass Bed	None
General Habitat	Marinas & Docks	None
General Habitat	Rocky	None
General Habitat	Coral reef	None
General Habitat	Vessel Hull	None
Salinity Range	Polyhaline	18-30 PSU
Salinity Range	Euhaline	30-40 PSU
Tidal Range	Subtidal	None
Tidal Range	Low Intertidal	None
Vertical Habitat	Epibenthic	None

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Tolerances and Life History Parameters

Minimum Salinity (‰)	18	Typical Black Sea Salinity. Found at 20-34 PSU in south Carolina (Calder 1976).
Maximum Salinity (‰)	38	Typical Mediterranean Salinity Found at 20-34 PSU in South Carolina (Calder 1976).
Minimum Height (mm)	25	Calder 1988; Bouillon et al. 2004; Schuchert 2007; Calder 2010
Maximum Height (mm)	25	Schuchert et al. 2007
Broad Temperature Range	None	Cold temperate-Tropical
Broad Salinity Range	None	Polyhaline-Euhaline

General Impacts

There are no reported impacts of the hydrozoan Bimeria vestita.

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References

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