Macrorhynchia philippina

Invasion History

First Galapagos Record: 1934

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General Invasion History:

The 'Stinging Bush Hydroid' (Macrorhynchia philippina) is a large (50–400 mm) conspicuous, feather-like hydroid with a circum-tropical distribution. It was described from the Philippines, and is found from South Africa to Japan, Hawaii, and Australia, and Polynesia (Ansín Agis and Vervoort 2001; Schuchert et al. 2003). In the Western Atlantic, they range from Brazil to North Carolina and Bermuda (Calder 2019). In the Eastern Atlantic, there are early records from the Cape Verde Islands (1907) and Guinea-Bissau (1931), but recent records from Madeira (1976) and the Canary Islands (2014), where it considered a recent invader. There are multiple recent records from Portugal since 2014, and one from Brittany (2021).  In the Mediterranean, it was found in Turkey and Lebanon by 2005, where it is considered to be introduced via the Suez Canal. There are recent records from Corsica (2020) and Antibes (2018), France, in the Western Mediterranean (GBIF 2023).

Populations of Macrorhynchia philippina from the Atlantic and Pacific are genetically very similar, but general patterns of genetic and species diversity in plumulariod hydroids suggest an origin of this species in the Indo-Pacific (Moura et al. 2008; Calder et al. 2022). Macrorhynchia philippina was first collected in the Eastern Pacific in the Galapagos Islands in 1934 (Fraser 1938).  It  has been reported from Gull Island, in the California Channel Islands, to Peru (Fraser 1938; Fraser 1948).  In 2018, one colony was collected on fouling plates on a dock on Cocos Island, Costa Rica (Calder et al. 2022). Calder et al. (2022) considered this species to be a likely introduction to the Eastern Pacific, based on the limited dispersal of its medusoids and its occurrence on vessel hulls. 'The absence of a planktonic stage that would permit natural long-distance transoceanic dispersal, combined with genetically identical populations in the Atlantic and Pacific, suggests that ship-mediated transport has likely played an important role in the distribution of this species. We regard it as likely native to either the Atlantic or Indo-West Pacific waters, and introduced into the Tropical Eastern Pacific' (Calder er al. 2022).

Invasion History in the Galapagos:

Macrorhynchia philippina was first collected in the Eastern Pacific in Sullivan Bay of Isla Santiago (James Island), in the Galapagos Archipelago in 1934 (as Lytocarpus philippinus). It is now known from Isla Espanola (Hood Island), Isla Santiago, and Isla Isabela (Fraser 1938; Calder et al. 2003; Charles Darwin Foundation 2023). In the Galápagos, it is one of the most conspicuous hydroids in the upper 10m on exposed coastal bottoms of the warmer eastern islands, usually occurring with Pennaria disticha (Goldfuss, 1820) (D. Calder, personal observations, 16–22 June 2001; Calder et al. 2022). Calder et al. (2022) now consider M. philippina to be an introduced species in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.

 

Invasion history elsewhere in the world:

The 'Stinging Bush Hydroid' (Macrorhynchia philippina) is a large (50–400 mm) conspicuous, feather-like hydroid with a circum-tropical distribution. It was described from the Philippines, and is found from South Africa to Japan, Hawaii, and Australia, and Polynesia (Ansín Agis and Vervoort 2001; Schuchert et al. 2003). In the Western Atlantic, they range from Brazil to North Carolina and Bermuda (Calder 2019). In the Eastern Atlantic, there are early records from the Cape Verde Islands (1907) and Guinea-Bissau (1931), but recent records from Madeira (1976) and the Canary Islands (2014), where it considered a recent invader (Riera et al. 2016; Espino et al. 2020). There are multiple recent records from Portugal since 2014, and one from Brittany (2021; GBIF 2023). In the Mediterranean, it was found in Turkey and in the Levant region (Syria, Israel, Lebanon) by 2005 (Morri et al. 2009), where it is considered to be introduced via the Suez Canal. There are recent records from Corsica (2020) and Antibes (2018), France, in the Western Mediterranean (GBIF 2023).

In The Eastern Pacific. Macrorhynchia philippina was first collected in the Galapagos Islands in 1934 (Fraser 1938), and by 1948, was found from Gull Island, in the California Channel Islands to Peru (Fraser 1948).  Calder et al. (2023) consider M. philippina to be a likely introduction to the Eastern Pacific, from the Indo-Pacific (more likely) or the Atlantic, based on the genetic similarity of worldwide populations (Moura et al. 2008), the limited dispersal of its non-buoyant medusoids (Bourmaud and Gravier-Bonnet 2004),
and its occurrence on artificial structures and vessel hulls. In 2018, one specimen was identified from fouling plates on Cocos Island, Costa Rica (Calder et al. 2022). Puzzlingly, three other species of hydroids, Clytia linearis, Halecium sp., and Campanularia obliqua were reported as attached to M. philippina, suggesting that multiple specimens were seen. The wide establishment of this hydroid in the Eastern Tropical Pacific also supports its establishment on Cocos Island (Calder et al. 2022). 

 

 

Description

The 'Stinging Bush Hydroid' (Macrorhynchia philippina) is a large and conspicuous (50–400 mm) feather-like hydroid of the superfamily Plumularioidea. The colony is attached by irregularly branched root-like rhizoids with erect brown stalks (hydrocauli), giving rise to irregular branches with hydrocladia (segmented branchlets), bearing kidney-shaped hydrothecae; cup like capsules with a hypostome, or 'mouth' structure, surrounded by 8–10 tentacles. The stalks, branchlets, and tentacles bear numerous nematothecae (capsules containing nematocysts). Specialized hydrocladia, called phylactocarps, bear reproductive male and female gonozooids that are recognizable by their color; male gonozooids are yellowish-brown, and females are reddish brown. These contain sexual medusoids that detach and swim by pulsation away from the parent hydroid (Ansín Agis and Vervoort 2001; Schuchert  2003). The medusoids quickly release eggs or sperm after their release and die after a few hours (Bourmaud and Gravier-Bourmaud 2004).

 

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Taxonomy

Ecology

General:

Macrorhynchia philippina is a sessile hydroid, with a wide distribution in tropical and warm-temperate marine waters. It is known from a wide range of substrates such as coral reefs, rocky reefs, rhodolith beds, seagrass meadows, vessel hulls, and depths from 1 to 11m ( Ansin Agis et al. 2001; Chakraborty and Raghunathan 2020; Espino et al. 2020)

Food:

Zooplankton

Consumers:

Competitors:

Other hydroids

Trophic Status:

Suspension feeder; mobile invertebrates

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Habitats

General Habitat	Coral reef	None
General Habitat	Grass Bed	None
General Habitat	Marinas & Docks	None
General Habitat	Rocky	None
General Habitat	Vessel Hull	None
Salinity Range	Euhaline	30-40 PSU
Tidal Range	Subtidal	None
Vertical Habitat	Epibenthic	None

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Life History

Specialized hydrocladia (branchlets) called phylactocarps, bear reproductive gonozooids, which contain and release sexual medusoids (Ansín Agis and Vervoort 2001; Schuchert  2003).  Each phylactocarp bears male and female gonozooids; male gonozoids are yellowish-brown, females are reddish brown. The released medusoids swim by pulsation, but quickly expel eggs and sperm, and die within a few hours. Fertilized eggs develop into planula larvae, and settle within 1 day (Bourmaud and Gravier-Bourmaud 2004).  

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Tolerances and Life History Parameters

Minimum Height (mm)	50	Schuchert 2003
Maximum Height (mm)	400	Maximum height 400 mm (Schuchert 2003)

General Impacts

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References

Ansín Agís J.; Ramil F.; Vervoort. W. (2001) Atlantic Leptolida (Hydrozoa, Cnidaria) of the families Aglaopheniidae, Halopterididae, Kirchenpaueriidae and; Plumulariidae collected during the CANCAP and Mauritania-IIexpeditions of the National Museum of Natural History,Leiden, the Netherlands, Zoologische Verhandelingen 333: 1-268

Banagouro, Quaglio; Karine Cristie; Viana, Jefferson; Pereira de Lima, Leonardo; Coelho, Rocha, Thalita; Girardello, Guilherme Rabelo; Russi, Karolayne Larissa; Kitahara , Marcelo V.; Marcelo V. Sciani, Juliana Mozer ; (2021) Biochemical and Toxinological Characterization of Venom from Macrorhynchia philippina (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa), BioMed Research 2022: Published online
https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/8170252

Calder, D. R.; Mallinson, J. J.; Collins, K.; Hickman, C. P. (2003) Additions to the hydroids (cnidaria) of the Galapagos, with a list of species reported from the islands, Journal of Natural History 37: 1173-1218

Calder, D.R.; Mayal, E.M. (1998) Dry season distribution of hydroids in a small tropical estuary, Pernambuco, Brazil., Zoologische Verhandelingen 323: 69-78

Calder, Dale R. (2019) On a collection of hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from the southwest coast of Florida, USA, Zootaxa 4689(1): 1-141

Calder, Dale R.; Carlton, James T.; Keith, Inti; Ashton, Gail V. ;Larson, Kristen; Ruiz, Gregory M.; Herrera, Esteban; Golfin, Geiner (2022) Biofouling hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from a tropical Eastern Pacific island, with remarks on their biogeography, Journal of Natural History 56(9-12): 565-606
https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2022.2068387

Calder, Dale; Faucci, Ansuschka (2021) Shallow water hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from the 2002 NOWRAMP cruise to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Zootaxa 5085(1): 1-73
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5085.1.1

California Academy of Sciences 2005-2015 Invertebrate Zoology Collection Database. <missing URL>



Chakraborty, Oishinee; Raghunathan, C. (2020) Notes on seven Aglaopheniids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Aglaopheniidae) from Andaman and Nicobar Islands with three new records to India, Zootaxa 4790(2): 291–317
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4790.2.6

Çinar, M. E.; Noglu, M. Bilece; Özturk, B.; Katagan, T. ; Aysel, V. (2005) Alien species on the coasts of Turkey, Mediterranean Marine Science 6/2: 119-146

Espino, Fernando; Otero-Ferrer, Francisco J. ; Bosch, Né stor E; Coca, Josep; Haroun , Ricardo; Tuya, Fernando (2014) Widespread demographic explosion of a non-indigenous hydrozoan on an oceanic island, Scientia Marina 84: 111-118,
https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.04949.09A

Fraser, C. McLean (1938) Hydroids of the 1934 Allan Hancock Pacific expediton., Allan Hancock Pacific Expeditions 4(1): 1-106

Fraser, C. McLean (1948) Hydroids of the Alan Hancock Pacific expeditions since 1938, Allan Hancock Pacific Expeditions 4-5: 179-343

GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) 2017-2023 GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility). https://www.gbif.org/



Gravier-Bonnet, Nicole; Bourmand, Chloe A. F. (2006) Hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) of coral reefs: Preliminary results on community structure, species distribution, and reproductive biology in Juan de Noiva Island (southwest Indian Ocean), Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science 5(2): 123-132

Hernández. José Carlos; Núñez, Jorge (2021) Macrorhynchia philippina Kirchenpauer, 1872: an invasive hydrozoan seen in the shallow rocky reefs of Tenerife island., Revista Scientia Insularum, 4: 215-217;
https://doi.org/10.25145/j.SI.2021.04.10

Migotto, Alvaro E.; Marques, Antonio C.; Morandini, André C.; da Silveira, Fábio L. (2002) Checklist of the Cnidaria Medusozoa of Brazil, Biota Neotropica 2(1): 1-31

Morri, Carla; , Puce. Stefania; Bianchi. Carlo Rike Bitar, Ghazi , Zibrowius, Helmut; Bavestrello, Giorgio (2009) Hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the Levant Sea (mainly Lebanon), with emphasis on alien species, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 89: 49-62
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025315408002749

Moura, Carlos J.; Cunha, Marina R.; Marina R.; Porteiro, Filipe M.; Rogers, Alex D. R (2012) A molecular phylogenetic appraisal of the systematics of the Aglaopheniidae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa, Leptothecata) from the north-east Atlantic and west Mediterranean, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 184: 717-727

Moura, Carlos J.; Collins, Allen G.; Santos, Ricardo S.; Lessios, Harilaos (2019) Predominant east to west colonizations across major oceanic barriers: Insights into the phylogeographic history of the hydroid superfamily Plumularioidea, suggested by a mitochondrial DNA barcoding marker, Ecology and Evolution 9: :13001–13016.
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5608

Riera, R.; Espina. F.; Moro, L., (2016) Progressing the invasion of the hydrozoan Macrorhynchia philippina (Kirchenpauer, 1872) in Atlantic archipelagos, Vieraea 44: 117-120

Schuchert, Peter (2003) Hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) of the Danish expedition to the Kei Islands, Steenstrupia 27(2): 137-256.

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