Caulibugula cf. dendrograpta

Invasion History

First Galapagos Record: 2016

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General Invasion History:

Caulibugula dendrograpta is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of the world's oceans. It was described by Waters in 1914 off Zanzibar, and later found in Indonesia, Australia, North Carolina, the Caribbean, Brazil, West Africa, and the South China Sea (Osburn 1940; Maturo 1966; Fransen 1986; Vieira et al. 2008). It is considered a definite introduction in Hawaii (Zabin 1999). This bryozoan has not been reported from the Eastern Pacific, except for the recent records from the Galapagos Islands. 
 

Invasion History in the Galapagos:

A bryozoan closely resembling C. dendrograpta was collected from Academy Bay, Santa Cruz Island in 2016. The morphological differences from the typical form could refect environmnetal or intraspecific genetic variation.

Invasion history elsewhere in the world:

Invasion history elsewhere in the world is not summarized for this species at this time.

Description

Colonies of Caulibugula dendrograpta form bushy tufts. The colonies grow as stalks of elongate, cylindrical zooids. Bushy branches arise just below the joints between zooids.  Stalk segments are up to 2 mm long.  The proximal end can bear radicles, while the distal end can bear fan-like branches. The branch zooids are biserial and alternate, and curve outwardly. The first zooid of a branch has 6–8 spines about its border and has no avicularium. The other zooids on the branch bear 1 to 4 spines. Avicularia are small and are near the proximal end of the zooid on proximal zooids but become increasingly distal on the outward zooids. Ovicells are globular and attached to the distal corner (Osburn 1940; Maturo 1966). 
 
Galapagos specimens differ from typical C. dendrograpta in several ways. The proximal zooid has 1–3 spines on each side, whereas typical C. dendrograpta has 5 spines on one side and 3 on the other. Zooids face outward in the fan cup, and avicularia are located at the proximal end of the zooid, whereas they migrate towards the distal end of the zooid in the typical form. Zooids are shorter, and the avicularia are longer in the Galapagos specimens than in the specimens described by Maturo (1966) (McCann et al. 2019). These variations could represent genetic variation within the C. dendrograpta, or a cryptic species. 

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Taxonomy

Ecology

General:

The bryozoan Caulibugula dendrograpta reproduces asexually through fission of colonies, and sexually through the production of eggs and sperm. Larvae have not been described but probably are lecithotrophic. After a brief time in the plankton the larva settles to become the first zooid of colony, the ancestrula (Barnes 1983).

Caulibugula dendrograpta is widespread in tropical and subtropical marine waters. Like other bryozoans, the animals feed on suspended particles, mostly phytoplankton. It is known from coral reefs, rocky reefs, mangroves, sponges, and marinas and docks (Fransen 1986; Zabin 1999; McCann et al. 2019).

Food:

Phytoplankton, detritus

Trophic Status:

Suspension Feeder

SusFed

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Habitats

General Habitat	Marinas & Docks	None
General Habitat	Coarse Woody Debris	None
General Habitat	Rocky	None
General Habitat	Coral reef	None
General Habitat	Mangroves	None
Salinity Range	Polyhaline	18-30 PSU
Salinity Range	Euhaline	30-40 PSU
Tidal Range	Subtidal	None
Vertical Habitat	Epibenthic	None

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Life History

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Tolerances and Life History Parameters

Broad Temperature Range	None	Warm temperate-Tropical
Broad Salinity Range	None	Polyhaline-Euhaline

General Impacts

Impacts are unknown.

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References

Aviz, Daiane; Da Silva, Roseanne Figueira; Filho, José Souto (2018) Sabellaria wilsoni (Polychaeta: Sabellariidae): an ecosystem engineer and promoter of zoobenthos diversity in the Brazilian Amazon coast, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 99(5): 1099-1109
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025315418001157

Barnes, Robert D. (1983) Invertebrate Zoology, Saunders, Philadelphia. Pp. 883

Carlton, James T.; Eldredge, Lucius (2009) Marine bioinvasions of Hawaii: The introduced and cryptogenic marine and estuarine animals and plants of the Hawaiian archipelago., Bishop Museum Bulletin in Cultural and Environmental Studies 4: 1-202

Carlton, James T.; Keith, Inti; Ruiz, Gregory M. (2019) Assessing marine bioinvasions in the Galápagos Islands: implications for conservation biology and marine protected areas, Aquatic Invasions 14(1): 1-20

Coles S. L., DeFelice R. C., Eldredge, L. G. (1999a) Nonindigenous marine species introductions in the harbors of the south and west shores of Oahu, Hawaii., Bishop Museum Technical Report 15: 1-212

Coles, S. L.; DeFelice, R. C. : Eldredge, L. G. (2002a) Nonindigenous marine species in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawai`i, Bishop Museum Technical Report 24: 1-364

Coles, S. L.; DeFelice, R. C.; Minton, D. (2001) Marine species survey of Johnston Atoll, Central Pacific Ocean, June 2000, Bishop Museum Technical Report 19: 1-59

Cubit, John; Williams, Suelynn (1983) The invertebrates of Galeta Reef (Caribbean Panama): A species list and bibliography, Atoll Research Bulletin 269: 1-45

Fransen, C. H. J. M. (1986) Caribbean Bryozoa:, Anasca And Ascophora Imperfecta of the inner bays of Curaçao And Bonaire, Studies of the Fauna of Curacao and other Caribbean Islands 210: 1-119

Lira, Simone Maria de Albuquerque ; Farrapeira, Cristiane Maria Rocha (2010) Sessile and sedentary macrofauna from the Pirapama Shipwreck, Pernambuco, Brazil, Biota Neotropica 10(4): published online

Maturo, Frank J. S. (1966) Bryozoa of the southeast coast of the United States: Bugulidae and Beaniidae (Cheilostomata: Anasca), Bulletin of Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean 16(3): 556-583

McCann, Linda D.;; McCuller, Megan I., Carlton, James T.[ ,Keith, Inti; Geller, Jonathan B.; Ruiz, Gregory M. (2019) Bryozoa (Cheilostomata, Ctenostomata, and Cyclostomata) in Galapagos Island fouling communities, Aquatic Invasions 14: 85-131

Osburn, Raymond C. (1940) Bryozoa of Porto Rico, N. Y. Academy of Sciences - Scientific Survey of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 16(3): 321-486

Ostrovsky, A. N.; Cáceres-Chamizo, J. P.; Vávra; N. ; Berning, B. (2011) Bryozoa of the Red Sea: history and current state of research, Annales of bryozoology 3: 67-89

U.S. National Museum of Natural History 2002-2021 Invertebrate Zoology Collections Database. http://collections.nmnh.si.edu/search/iz/



Vieira, Leandro M.; Migotto, Alvaro E.; Winston, Judith E. (2008) Synopsis and annotated checklist of Recent marine Bryozoa from Brazil, Zootaxa 1810: 1-39

Zabin, Chela J. (1999) New records of introduced fouling Bryozoa from O'ahu, Hawaii., Bishop Museum, Occasional Papers 59: 46-47

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