Bougainvillia muscus

Invasion History

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

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General Invasion History:

None

North American Invasion History:

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Description

Bougainvillia muscus is a widely distributed hydrozoan, with a sessile asexual reproducing hydroid, and a pelagic sexually reproducing medusa..

The hydroids of Bougainvillia muscus are erect, and irregularly branched, with a single or multiple stalks, with a few, or with densely bushy branches. The surfaces of the stalks and branches are often densely covered with detritus. The branches are corrugated at the base, but not distinctly annulated. The hydranths have 10-18 tentacles, protuding from a rounded to conical hypostome. Gonophores (which bud off medusae), are pear-shaped, and are borne on stalks of variable length. Hydroid colonies vary from a few mm to 1200 mm. The hydranths can be pink, red, orange, or grayish purple, depending on food types (Schuchert 2007; Mills et al. 2007).

The medusa of Bougainvillia muscus is bell-shaped. Newly released medusae have a thin umbrella, with four radial canals leading from the manubrium to tentacle bulbs, each of which have two tentacles and two ocelli. Mature medusae have gonads growing around the manubrium, and two-six tentacles per bulb. The mamubrium bears four oral tentacles, which are each divided dichotomously two to four times. Adult medusae are 1-4 mm in height and width Schuchert 2007; Mills et al. 2007).

The distribution of B. muscus is confused by the presence of many similar related speces, and the potential for misidentification (Schuchert 2007). Most Mediterranean records may be actually B. nana (Denitto et al. 2007). However,

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Taxonomy

Ecology

General:

Bougainvillia muscus has an epibenthic hydroid and a planktonic medusa (Calder 1988).. Hydroids reproduce asexually by stolons, and vary greatly, from monosiphonic and sparsely branched colonies, as small as 1 mm, to complex bushy structures up to 120 mm high (Schuchert 2007). Medusae are budded off from gonophores, and have separate sexes. For a related species, B. nana, male medusae live for an anverage of 15 days, while females live for an average of 30 days (Denitto et al. 2007). Sperm and eggs are released into the water, and fertilized eggs develop into planula larvae, which settle, and develop into hydroids (Barnes 1983).

Bougainvillia muscus ranges from tidepools to depths of 100 m, from cold-temperate to tropical regions, and from oceanic waters to the Black Sea and western Baltic, with polyhaline salinities (Schuchert 2007). The medusae feed on zooplankton.

Food:

Zooplankton

Trophic Status:

Carnivore

Carn

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Habitats

General Habitat	Marinas & Docks	None
General Habitat	Rocky	None
General Habitat	Vessel Hull	None
Salinity Range	Polyhaline	18-30 PSU
Salinity Range	Euhaline	30-40 PSU
Tidal Range	Subtidal	None
Vertical Habitat	Epibenthic	None
Vertical Habitat	Planktonic	None

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Tolerances and Life History Parameters

Minimum Salinity (‰)	13	None
Minimum Height (mm)	1	Schuchert 2007
Maximum Height (mm)	120	Schuchert 2007
Broad Temperature Range	None	Cold temperate-Tropical
Broad Salinity Range	None	Polyhaline-Euhaline

General Impacts

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References

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