Invasion History
First Non-native North American Tidal Record: 2001First Non-native West Coast Tidal Record:
First Non-native East/Gulf Coast Tidal Record: 2001
General Invasion History:
Arbopercula bengalensis was first described from West Bengal, India (Stoliczka 1896, cited by Rao and Ganapati 1978) and is native throughout India and perhaps the warm-temperate and tropical coast of China. The status of this species in China is currently unknown and it may have been introduced there. Its type locality was 'only 1/5 as saline as sea-water’ (Stoliczka 1869, cited by Rao and Ganapati 1978), and it is considered a characteristically brackish-water species (Winston 1977; Rao and Ganapati 1978). However, it is also abundant at sites with salinities above 30 PSU (Menon and Nair 1972). In India, it occurs along the shores of the Arabian Sea from Mumbai (Pillai and Madhaven 1981; Udhayakumar and Karande 1989) to Cochin (Menon and Nair 1972), and on the shores of the Bay of Bengal at Visakhapatnam (Rao and Ganapati 1978) and Port Canning (Calcutta area, Stoliczka 1869, cited by Rao and Ganapati 1978 ). On the coast of China, it has been found from Hainan Island (Huang et al. 2001) to Xiamen on the Taiwan Straits (Liu et al. 2001). Outside the southern coasts of Asia, A. bengalensis has been introduced to Australia, West Africa, Panama, and Florida (Osburn 1950; Powell 1971; Cook 1968; Saenger et al. 1979; Hall 1984; McCann et al. 2007). Arbopercula bengalensis has planktotrophic cyphonautes larvae (Udhayakumar and Karande 1989), which may have sufficient duration for ballast water transport.
North American Invasion History:
Invasion History on the East Coast:
In 2001, Arbopercula bengalensis was found on SERC fouling plates in the St. Johns River estuary, near Jacksonville, and in 2005, it was collected on plates in the Fort Pierce Inlet, Indian River Lagoon, both in Florida (McCann et al. 2007). It was abundant in both estuaries. In 2007, A. bengalensis was found on fouling plates in Puerto Rico (Ruiz et al., unpublished data).
Invasion History Elsewhere in the World:
Arbopercula bengalensis was collected near Balboa, on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal by Osburn before 1950 (Osburn 1950; Osburn 1953), and by Powell (1971). It was not collected by the 'St. George' expedition of 1924 (Powell 1971). Powell described it as 'one of the two dominant fouling bryozoans in Balboa Harbor and Panama Bay, the colonies forming large bushy lumps on the navigation buoys' (Powell 1971). He found it only on the Pacific side of the canal. During SERC fouling plate collections in 2004, Ruiz et al. (unpublished data), found this species at most stations sampled on the Caribbean side of the canal, as well as on the Pacific side. The Panama Canal seems a likely route for the transport of A. bengalensis into the Atlantic.
In West Africa, it was collected in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1959 (Cook 1968). In Australia, A. bengalensis has been collected at Townsville Harbor (Hall 1984), and the Calliope River (Saenger et al. 1979).
Description
Arbopercula bengalensis forms encrusting colonies. Its zooids are moderately large, about 0.60 mm long by 0.25-0.30 mm wide, and elongate-rectangular in shape, with an elongate ovoid membranous area that covers most of the frontal surface and is edged by smooth gymnocrystal calcification (calcification deposited on the outside of the body wall). From the lateral and proximal margins of zooids, 11-14 slender, flattened spines arch over the frontal membrane. A distinct proximal spine, sometimes forked, may be present. A pair of distal spines occurs on either side of the operculum. They may bifurcate at the tips, and may overlap, but do not fuse. The most striking feature of the species is the pair of long, branching, chitinous spines which project outward from the outer surface of the D-shaped operculum. The zooids have no avicularia and no specialized ovicells (Description from McCann et al. 2007; Nikulina 2010).
Taxonomy
Taxonomic Tree
| Kingdom: | Animalia | |
| Phylum: | Bryozoa | |
| Class: | Gymnolaemata | |
| Order: | Cheilostomata | |
| Suborder: | Anasca | |
| Family: | Electridae | |
| Genus: | Arbopercula | |
| Species: | bengalensis |
Synonyms
Electra anormata (Huang et al., 1990)
Membranipora bengalensis (Stoliczka, 1860)
Electra bengalensis ((Stoliczka), 1860)
Potentially Misidentified Species
Ecology
General:
Life History- Arbopercula bengalensis is an encrusting, calcified bryozoan colony composed of many individual zooids. The zooids feed by extending the ciliated tentacles of the lophophore as a funnel, creating a current, and driving food particles into their mouths. The food is guided along the tentacles and through the pharynx by the cilia. Larger food particles can be moved or captured by flicking or contracting the tentacles (Barnes 1983). Larvae of A. bengalensis have a planktotrophic cyphonautes larva, but may have a fairly short planktonic period. Fouling plates placed in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida, in September, had developing colonies after two weeks in the water (McCann et al. 2007). Larvae settle on a substrate and metamorphose into the first zooid of a colony, an ancestrula. (Barnes 1983).
Ecology- Arbopercula bengalensis is known from mangroves, rocky areas, pilings, and buoys (Powell 1971; McCann et al. 2007). It is characteristic of brackish water, but also occurs at marine salinities (Menon and Nair 1972; Rao and Ganapati 1978; McCann et al. 2007).
Trophic Status:
Suspension Feeder
SusFedHabitats
| General Habitat | Coarse Woody Debris | None |
| General Habitat | Marinas & Docks | None |
| General Habitat | Rocky | None |
| General Habitat | Mangroves | None |
| Salinity Range | Mesohaline | 5-18 PSU |
| Salinity Range | Polyhaline | 18-30 PSU |
| Salinity Range | Euhaline | 30-40 PSU |
| Tidal Range | Subtidal | None |
| Vertical Habitat | Epibenthic | None |
Tolerances and Life History Parameters
| Minimum Depth (m) | 0 | None |
| Maximum Depth (m) | 10 | None |
| Maximum Temperature (ºC) | 31.6 | Cochin Backwater (Menon and Nair 1972) |
| Minimum Salinity (‰) | 7 | Type locality "only 1/5 as saline as sea-water" (Stoliiczka 1869, cited by Rao and Ganapati (1978) |
| Maximum Salinity (‰) | 33.6 | Cochin Backwater (Menon and Nair 1972) |
| Broad Temperature Range | None | Warm temperate-Tropical |
| Broad Salinity Range | None | Mesohaline-Euhaline |
General Impacts
Economic ImpactsShipping- Arbopercula bengalensis is an abundant fouling organism in its native and introduced waters and a frequent fouler of ships and buoys (Powell 1971; Menon and Nair 1972; Rao and Ganapati 1974; Rao and Ganapati 1978). 'Electra' spp. in Mumbai Harbor were resistant to copper antifouling compounds (Rao and Ganapati 1975). However, the economic importance of A. bengalensis as a fouling organism has not been studied.
Ecological Impacts
Competition- Arbopercula bengalensis is considered to be a competitive, fast-growing member of the fouling community in Indian waters, owing to its year-round breeding, early maturity, and tolerance of varied salinity and pollution, although it rarely overgrows or displaces colonies of other species (Udhayakumar and Karande 1989; Karande and Udhayakumar 1992). It was considered one of two dominant fouling species in Balboa Harbor and Panama Bay, by 1971 (Powell 1971). In many areas it is the dominant bryozoan, occupying more than 70% of the space covered by bryozoans and most of the available substrate (Udhayakumar and Karande 1989; Ruiz, unpublished data). However, experimental studies of its effects on other fouling species have not been conducted in invaded waters.
Regional Impacts
| SEP-H | None | Ecological Impact | Competition | ||
| Arbopercula bengalensis was considered one of two dominant fouling species in Balboa Harbor and Panama Bay, by 1970 (Powell 1971). | |||||
Regional Distribution Map
| Bioregion | Region Name | Year | Invasion Status | Population Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIO-III | None | 1869 | Native | Estab |
| CIO-I | None | 0 | Native | Estab |
| CIO-II | None | 0 | Native | Estab |
| AUS-XII | None | 1977 | Def | Estab |
| WA-II | None | 1936 | Def | Estab |
| SEP-H | None | 1950 | Def | Estab |
| CAR-VII | Cape Hatteras to Mid-East Florida | 2001 | Def | Estab |
| NWP-2 | None | 0 | Crypto | Estab |
| S180 | St. Johns River | 2001 | Def | Estab |
| NWP-3a | None | 0 | Crypto | Estab |
| CAR-I | Northern Yucatan, Gulf of Mexico, Florida Straits, to Middle Eastern Florida | 2005 | Def | Estab |
| S190 | Indian River | 2005 | Def | Estab |
| CAR-IV | None | 2007 | Def | Estab |
| CAR-III | None | 2004 | Def | Estab |
| S080 | Charleston Harbor | 2004 | Def | Estab |
| PAN_PAC | Panama Pacific Coast | 1950 | Def | Estab |
| PAN_CAR | Panama Caribbean Coast | 2004 | Def | Estab |
| SA-III | None | 1997 | Def | Estab |
| EAS-VI | None | 2010 | Crypto | Estab |
| SA-II | None | 0 | Def | Estab |
| AG-5 | None | 0 | Def | Estab |
Occurrence Map
| OCC_ID | Author | Year | Date | Locality | Status | Latitude | Longitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6112 | Udhayakumar and Karande 1989 | None | 9999-01-01 | Bombay (Mumbai)/ | Native | 18.9750 | 72.8258 |
| 6113 | Menon and Nair 1971 | None | 9999-01-01 | Cochin | Native | 9.9667 | 76.2333 |
| 6114 | Rao and Ganapati 1978 | None | 9999-01-01 | Visakhapatnam/ | Native | 17.7000 | 83.3000 |
| 6115 | Stolickza 1869, cited by McCann et al. 2007 | 1869 | 1869-01-01 | Port Canning, Calcutta | Native | 22.3189 | 88.6714 |
| 6116 | Huang et al. 2001 | 2001 | 2001-01-01 | None | Native | 22.9624 | 113.4874 |
| 6117 | Huang et al. 2001 | 2001 | 2001-01-01 | Hainan Island | Native | 18.9394 | 109.4842 |
| 6118 | Liu et al., 2001, cited by McCann et al. 2007 | 2001 | 2001-01-01 | Xiamen | Native | 24.4675 | 118.0931 |
| 6119 | Hall 1984, cited by McCann et al. 2007 | 1984 | 1984-01-01 | Townsville | Def | -19.4450 | 146.9110 |
| 6120 | Saenger et al. 1977, cited by McCann et al. 2007 | 1977 | 1977-01-01 | None | Def | -23.8333 | 151.2167 |
| 6121 | Cook 1968 | 1959 | 1959-01-01 | Lagos | Def | 6.4531 | 3.3958 |
| 6122 | Osburn 1950, Powell 1971 | None | 9999-01-01 | Balboa | Def | 8.9500 | -79.5667 |
| 6130 | Raveendran and Wagh 1993 | 1993 | 1993-01-01 | Mormugao | Native | 15.4000 | 73.8000 |
| 6159 | Ruiz et al. Unpublished Data | 2004 | 2004-01-01 | Colon Container Terminal | Def | 9.3733 | -79.8837 |
| 6229 | Ruiz et al. Unpublished Data | 2005 | 2005-09-01 | Little Jim Marina | Def | 27.4800 | -80.3100 |
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