Limnoria tripunctata

Invasion History

First Galapagos Record: 1966

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General Invasion History:

Limnoria tripunctata is a cosmopolitan wood-boring isopod, found through most of the warmer waters of the world. This species was lumped with L. lignorum, a cold-water, high-latitude species, until they were separated by Menzies (1957). The native region of L. tripunctata is not clear—it may have an Indo-Pacific origin (Kensley, personal communication; Schotte, personal communication), and is widely distributed there, from South Africa to Japan, Polynesia, and Australia (Wallour 1960; Cookson 1990). It is also widespread on both sides of the Atlantic, from Cape Cod to Argentina, and from Portugal to Ghana (Kensley and Schotte 1987). The history of this species in the Atlantic is uncertain, since it was only recognized in 1952. However, Menzies (1957) identifies records and descriptions of ‘L. lignorum’ from the Southeastern US, as early as 1899, as L. tripunctata. Limnoria tripunctata may have been present in the Atlantic for centuries before its description. We regard it as cryptogenic on both sides of the Atlantic, except around the British Isles, where it seems to be a recent arrival, often associated with thermal effluents (Jones 1963).

In the Pacific, Limnoria tripunctata was first reported in Los Angeles Harbor, California (CA) in 1871 (Carlton 1979), and San Diego Bay in 1876 (USNM 2286, collected by R. Hemphill, re-identified as L. tripunctata by Menzies, U.S. National Museum of Natural History 2007). By 1960, it was known from Balboa, Peru (Wallour 1960); the Gulf of California and Bahia San Quintin, Mexico (Menzies 1957); and San Diego Bay, Mission Bay, La Jolla, Santa Catalina Island, Newport Bay, Los Angeles-Long Beach Harbors, and Port Hueneme, California (Menzies 1957; Wallour 1960; Carlton 1979).

Invasion History in the Galapagos:

Limnoria tripunctata was first reported from Santa Cruz Island by Miller (1966), as Limnoria spp. on the wreck of a wooden boat. Torres (1990) and Cruz (1996) reported Limnoria spp. in Puerto Baltra, Puerto Ayora, and Puerto Baquerizo and attributed its occurrence to heavy tourist trade (Torres 1990).

Invasion history elsewhere in the world:

The native region of Limnoria tripunctata is unknown, because of its late description and distinction from L. lignorum. Limnoria tripunctata is now widespread on the East Coast of North America from Boston Harbor to the Panama Canal, and in South America from Uruguay and Argentina. It is widespread in Europe from La Rochelle, France to Portugal and the Azores, and through the Mediterranean (Bourdillon 1958; Jones 1972, Sen et al. 2010; Borges et al. 2014c; Borges and Costa 2014). In British waters, L. tripunctata appears to be a recent colonist, becoming established in thermal effluents, and colonizing adjacent waters (Jones 1963; Eltringham and Hockley, 1963; Coughlan 1977). In England, it was first found in 1958 in Southampton Water, on the English Channel, and was subsequently found in the Welsh ports of Burry and Swansea on the Irish Sea (Jones 1963). It was reported from Ghana, in the Gulf of Guinea (Cookson 1990), where we consider it cryptogenic. In Cape Town, South Africa, it was first reported from the docks of Table Bay in 2008 (Mead et al. 2011b).

Limnoria tripunctata is widespread in the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific, from China and Japan to Australia and Fiji (Wallour 1960; Nair 1984; Cookson 1990; Huang 2001; US National Museum of Natural History 2015). This gribble is considered nonindigenous in New Zealand, and was first reported in 1964 (McGuire 1964, cited by Cookson 1990; Cranfield et al. 1998).

Description

Limnoria tripunctata is a gribble, a small, marine, wood-boring isopod. Limnoria tripunctata has a small, nearly cylindrical body. The cephalon (head region) is compressed and ovoid, with lateral eyes. The cephalon is distinct from the pereion (thoracic region) and freely rotates. Antennas 1 and 2 are equally anterior, with an obvious scale on Antenna 1. The flagellum of second antenna has 4 segments.The left mandible incisor lacks teeth, instead forming a projecting rasp-and-file device. Uropods are greatly reduced, with the exopod much shorter than the endopod, and bearing an apical claw.

The anterior dorsal surface of the pleotelson bears three symmetrically arranged tubercles anteriorly. The lateral and posterior edges are lined with tubercules. Adults are up to 3.4 mm long, white to pink when alive, and yellow when preserved in alcohol. Description based on information from: Menzies 1957; Cookson 1990; Brusca et al. 2007; and Castelló 2011.

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Taxonomy

Ecology

General:

Limnoria tripunctata has separate sexes, and copulation is internal. Typically, in Limnoria spp., a single pair occupies a boring tunnel, with the female closer to the opening. Brood sizes of L. tripunctata range from 5 to 15 eggs per female. The young are brooded by the female (Becker 1971). Adults and juveniles swarm seasonally, and colonize new pieces of wood. They prefer rough surfaces of relatively soft wood, preferably infected by fungi (Becker 1971).

Limnoria tripunctata inhabits warm-temperate to tropical climates and marine salinities. It tolerates winter temperatures as low as 2 °C (Menzies 1957) and experimental temperatures as high as 30 °C (Beckman and Menzies 1960). Reproduction occurs at 15-30 °C, but development was optimum at 25 °C (Beckman and Menzies 1960). In experiments, this gribble had good survival at salinities of 36-50 PSU, but poor survival (15-50%) at 18 and 24 PSU (Eltringham 1961; Lum 1981). In Southampton Water, England, migration began in June at about 18 °C (Eltringham and Hockley 1963). Limnoria tripunctata digests non-cellulosic carbohydrates in wood, together with some cellulose, and excretes lignin in pellets—all without the aid of gut microflora (Becker 1971; Sleeter et al. 1978). Limnoria spp. host a variety of protozoan epibionts and crustacean symbionts. At least one epibiont, the ciliate Mirofolliculina limnoriae slows the feeding, swimming and growth of Limnoria tripunctata, and so can be regarded as an ectoparasite (Delgery et al. 2006).

Food:

Wood and associated microbiota

Trophic Status:

Herbivore

Herb

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Habitats

General Habitat	Coarse Woody Debris	None
General Habitat	Marinas & Docks	None
General Habitat	Grass Bed	None
General Habitat	Mangroves	None
General Habitat	Vessel Hull	None
Salinity Range	Polyhaline	18-30 PSU
Tidal Range	Subtidal	None
Vertical Habitat	Epibenthic	None

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Life History

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Tolerances and Life History Parameters

Minimum Temperature (ºC)	2	Field data (Menzies 1957)
Maximum Temperature (ºC)	30	(Beckman and Menzies 1960)
Minimum Salinity (‰)	19	Experimental data (Lum 1981).
Maximum Salinity (‰)	50	Experimental data (Lum 1981).
Minimum Reproductive Temperature	15	Experimental data (Beckman and Menzies 1960)
Maximum Reproductive Temperature	30	Highest tested (Beckman and Menzies 1960)
Minimum Length (mm)	2	Minimum adult size (Menzies 1957; Cookson 1990)
Maximum Length (mm)	4	Minimum adult size (Menzies 1957; Cookson 1990)
Broad Temperature Range	None	Cold temperate-Tropical
Broad Salinity Range	None	Polyhaline-Euhaline

General Impacts

Limnoria tripunctata, a gribble (wood-boring isopod) is a major wood-borer, damaging wooden pilings and ship hulls in warm-temperate to tropical marine waters around the world. It is rare or absent in ports where salinity drops much below 20 PSU (Becker 1971; Lum 1971). Damage to pilings by L. tripunctata has been reported from Boca Grande, Florida (Atwood 1922), Los Angeles (Quayle 1992), San Francisco Bay (Carlton 1979; Cohen and Carlton 1995), British Columbia (Quayle 1992), and England (Jones 1963). Replacement and treatment of pilings, and the effects of toxic compounds, such as creosote and other wood treatments, add to the impacts of Limnoria (Becker 1971).

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