Description
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animalia | Chordata | Ascidiacea | Stolidobranchia | Styelidae | Styela |
Synonyms
Invasion History
Chesapeake Bay Status
| First Record | Population | Range | Introduction | Residency | Source Region | Native Region | Vectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Established | Unknown | Introduced | Regular Resident | Western Atlantic | Unknown-Marine | Shipping(Fouling Community) |
History of Spread
Styela canopus (Rough Sea Squirt) is now widely distributed in temperate and tropical coastal waters of the world. It was described from the Red Sea in 1816, and was later found on both sides of the North Atlantic, Ascension Island in the South Atlantic, the northwest Pacific, the tropical Indo-Pacfic, and temperate waters of Australia. (Kott 1998). In the Atlantic, it was first reported (as Cynthia partita) from Boston Harbor in 1852 (Stimpson 1852) and then from the English Channel (as Styela variabilis) in 1868, and from the Mediterranean (as S. canopoides) in 1877 (Kott 1998). In the northwest Pacific, where it is a recent introduction, S. canopus was first reported from San Diego Bay CA in 1972. It has been collected north to Alamitos Bay, but is rare outside San Diego Bay (Lambert and Lambert 1998).
James Carlton considers Styela canopus to be a native of the Indo-West Pacific (Carlton 2000 personal communication), introduced to the Atlantic (possibly a century or more before its description), a judgment which we have adopted here. However, Gretchen Lambert, noting that early records are from apparently natural habitats (~7m depth, 'stones and shells' in Boston Harbor- Stimpson 1852) rather than from ships or docks, has considered S. canopus to be native to both sides of the Atlantic ( Lambert 2000, personal. communication). Kott (1985) considers S. canopus to be the only species of Styela native to the Indo-West Pacific region.
The published distribution of Styela canopus in the northwest Atlantic is somewhat disjunct, with records from the Bay of Fundy to Long Island Sound, and from Beaufort NC south into the Gulf of Mexico, but a puzzling absence from Delaware and Chesapeake Bays (Van Name 1945; Gosner 1978). We have collected several specimens from lower Chesapeake Bay in 2000 and 2001. It is possible that S. canopus has been overlooked due to the high abundance of Molgula manhattensis (Sea Grapes) in the Mid-Atlantic coastal waters.
[We have found two records of tunicates identified as 'S. partita', a synonym of S. canopus, collected in the Atlantic off VA in 1883 by the ship 'Albatross (U.S. National Museum of Natural History collections). These specimens were collected in the Atlantic off VA in 1883 and 1885 (at 37 degrees 36 minutes N; 74 degrees 15 minutes W, and 37 degrees 07 minutes N, 74 degrees, 04 minutes W, respectively) by the ship 'Albatross' (U.S. National Museum of Natural History collections). These positions were ~60-80 km offshore, at 327m and 117 m depth, respectively These specimens need to be re-examined. They could represent a deep-water styelid tunicate (James T. Carlton, personal communication.]
Northwest Atlantic records are summarized below, from north to south:
Gulf of Maine- Styela canopus was first collected in 1852 Boston Harbor (MA) in ~7m of water (Stimpson 1852). It is reportedly also found in the Bay of Fundy (Nova Scotia-New Brunswick) (Gosner 1978).
Buzzards Bay-Vineyard Sound- Styela canopus was found to be abundant at Woods Hole MA and at Edgartown and Vineyard Haven MA, on Vineyard Sound (Sumner et al. 1913; Van Name 1945; Verrill and Smith 1874).
Long Island Sound- A. E. Verrill examined specimens of S. canopus (as S. stellifer) from New Haven CT before 1871 (Van Name 1912). Styela canopus is apparently common in Long Island Sound (Gosner 1978; Weiss et al. 1995).
Chesapeake Bay- Ferguson and Jones (1949) reported 'Styela sp.' from pilings at Little Creek and Lynnhaven Inlet, Virginia Beach VA, but the identity of these animals is unknown. Two specimens of S. canopus was found on a fouling plate at Cape Charles VA in the summer of 2000 (Lambert and Lambert pers. comm.; Ruiz et al. unpublished data). Additional specimens, from the lower Bay, have been tentatively identified from the Naval Station, Newport News, on the western shore, and Nassawaddox VA, on the Eastern Shore. We consider this species to be established in lower Chesapeake Bay.
North Carolina- Styela canopus was reported to be very abundant in the sounds in the vicinity of Fort Macon NC (Coues and Yarrow 1878).
South Carolina- Specimens from the SC coast were examined by Van Name (1921).
Bermuda- Specimens of S. canopus were initially described (in 1902) as 'S. partita bermudensis' (Van Name 1912), but do not deserve separate taxonomic rank (Kott 1998).
Florida and the Caribbean- Specimens from both coasts of FL (1879), Cuba (1914), and Puerto Rico were collected as early as 1879 (U.S. National Museum of Natural History collections and examined by Van Name (1921). In Guanica Harbor, Puerto Rico, it was collected 'from the piles of wharves and mangrove roots' (Van Name 1921).
References- Coues and Yarrow 1878; Ferguson and Jones 1949; Gosner 1978; Kott 1985; Kott 1998; Lambert and Lambert 1998; Lambert and Lambert 2000 pers. comm.; Ruiz et al. unpublished data; Stimspon 1852; Sumner et al. 1913; U.S. National Museum of Natural History collections; Van Name 1912; Van Name 1921; Van Name 1945; Verrill and Smith 1874; Weiss et al. 1995
Invasion Comments
None
Ecology
Environmental Tolerances
| For Survival | For Reproduction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Maximum | Minimum | Maximum | |
| Temperature (ºC) | ||||
| Salinity (‰) | 23.0 | 43.0 | ||
| Oxygen | ||||
| pH | ||||
| Salinity Range | poly-eu |
Age and Growth
| Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Typical Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Maximum Adult Size (mm) | 30.0 | 30.0 |
| Maximum Longevity (yrs) | ||
| Typical Longevity (yrs |
Reproduction
| Start | Peak | End | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive Season | |||
| Typical Number of Young Per Reproductive Event |
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| Sexuality Mode(s) | |||
| Mode(s) of Asexual Reproduction |
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| Fertilization Type(s) | |||
| More than One Reproduction Event per Year |
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| Reproductive Startegy | |||
| Egg/Seed Form |
Impacts
Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay
Economic impacts of Styela canopus (Rough Sea Squirt) have not been reported in the Chesapeake Bay region.
Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay
Styela canopus (Rough Sea Squirt) is a very widespread member of the fouling community in the world's coastal waters. However, we have not found this species reported as one of the more serious marine foulers.
Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species
The abundance of Styela canopus (Rough Sea Squirt) in the Chesapeake Bay region is uncertain, as are impacts on native biota.
Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species
Establishment of Styela canopus (Rough Sea Squirt) in the Chesapeake Bay region is uncertain, as are impacts on exotic biota. Competition with the cryptogenic Molgula manhattensis is possible, but M. manhattensis is far more abundant than S. canopus, at least in the Bay proper.
References
Coues, Elliott; Yarrow, H.C. (1878) Notes on the natural history of Fort Macon, N.C. and vicinity (No. 5), Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 30: 297-330Ferguson, F. F.; Jones, E. R. (1949) A survey of the shoreline fauna of the Norfolk Peninsula., American Midland Naturalist : 436-446
Gosner, Kenneth L. (1978) A field guide to the Atlantic seashore., In: (Eds.) . , Boston. Pp.
Kott, P. (1998) Tunicata, Zoological Catalogue of Australia 34: 51-252
Kott, Patricia (1985) The Australian Ascidiacea Part 1, Phlebobranchia and Stolidobranchia., Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 23: 1-440
Salgado-Barragan, Jose; Mendez, Nutria; Toledano-Granados, Arturo (2004) Ficopomatus miamiensis (Polychaeta: Serpulidae) and Styela canopus (Ascidiacea: Styelidae), non-native species in Urias estuary, SE Gulf of California, Mexico., Cahiers de Biologie Marine 45: 167-173
Stimpson, William (1852) Several new ascidians from the coast of the United States, Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 4: 228-238
Sumner, Francis B.; Osburn, Raymond C.; Cole, Leon J.; Davis, Bradley M. (1913b) A biological survey of the waters of Woods Hole and vicinity Part II. Section III. A catalogue of the marine fauna Part II. Section IV. A catalogue of the marine flora, Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries 31: 539-860
Van Name, Willard G. (1912) Simple ascidians of the coasts of New England and neighboring British provinces., Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 34: 439-619
Van Name, Willard G. (1921) Ascidians of the West Indian region and southeastern United States., Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 44: 283-494
Van Name, Willard G. (1945) The North and South American ascidians, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 84: 1-462
Verrill, A.E.; Smith, S.I. (1873) VIII. Report upon the invertebrate animals of Vineyard Sound and the adjacent waters, with an account of the physical characters of the region., 1 , . Pp. 1-757
Weiss, Howard M.; Bennett, Don; Dawley, Ellen; Jokinen, Eileen; Klemens, Michael W.; O'Donnell, Jane; Pondick, Jeffrey S.; Rubega, Margaret (1995) Marine animals of southern New England and New York., Bulletin of the State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut 115: 1-19.16