Orchestia gammarellus

Invasion History

First Non-native North American Tidal Record: 1864
First Non-native West Coast Tidal Record:
First Non-native East/Gulf Coast Tidal Record: 1864

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General Invasion History:

Orchestia gammarellus has a wide native distribution in the Northeast Atlantic, from southern Norway to the Mediterranean and Black Seas, as well as the Azores. Madeira, and the Canary Islands (Dahl 1967; Lincoln 1979; Bellan-Santini et al. 1993; Sezgun et al. 2001). It has a much narrower range in the Northwest Atlantic, from northern Newfoundland to Casco Bay, Maine (Bousfield 1973), and is thought to be introduced here (Chapman 2000). Patterns of genetic diversity and abundance are consistent with a spread from east to west (Norway, Scotland, and Baltic to Iceland and North America) (Henzler and Ingolfsson 2008). Introduced populations are also known from South Africa, Argentina, and Chile (Orensanz et al. 2002; Lopez Gappa et al. 2006; Mead et al. 2011b; Pérez-Schultheiss 2014). Likely vectors for transport are dry ballast and cargo, given the littoral habitat and air-breathing nature of these amphipods.

North American Invasion History:

Invasion History on the East Coast:

The timing of the introduction of Orchestia gammarellus to Northeastern North America is not known, but one museum specimen was collected in Passamaquoddy Bay, Maine in 1864 (Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History 2016). Bousfield (1973) gave the range as: 'from eastern and southern Newfoundland to Cape Breton Island; from the western end of Nova Scotia and throughout Bay of Fundy along coast of Maine to Casco Bay.' Steele (1961) reported one record each from the western shore (Port au Port) and the northern shore (Notre Dame Bay) of Newfoundland. Henzler and Ingolfsson (2008) commented on the scarcity and patchy distribution of this amphipod in Atlantic Canada, in contrast to its abundance in Europe.

Invasion History Elsewhere in the World:

Orchestia gammarellus was first collected in Iceland in 1968, near Reykjavik. In southwest Iceland, it occurs along the coast from Reykjavík to Strandarkirkjar. In northwest Iceland, during 2000-2002, it was found at 12 sites from Gjorvidalur to Skaro, but with a very limited distribution in intertidal hot springs (Henzler and Ingolfsson 2008). In South Africa, O. gammarellus was collected in 1949 at Langebaan, north of Cape Town, and at the Knysna Estuary, on the southern coast. It was found near Table Bay, Cape Town, in 2008 (Mead et al. 2011b). On the other side of the Atlantic, this amphipod was collected in Rio Negro Province, Argentina before 1978, and later found near Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz in 1986 (Orensanz et al. 2002). In Chile, it has been found at three widely separated sites, Playa Changa, Coquimbo at 30°S in 2005; Concón, Reg. de Valparaíso at 36°S in 2005; and Puerto Montt at 41.5°S in 2013 (Pérez-Schultheiss 2014). The pattern of invasion at many of these locations seems very patchy, possibly reflecting this amphipod's poor ability to disperse by rafting (Henzler and Ingolfsson 2008), making it dependent on many independent local transport events on ships, small boats, fishing gear, bait wrapped in seaweed, etc.

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Description

Orchestia gammarellus is an amphipod of the family Talitridae. General features of this family include a laterally compressed, arched body; a short Antenna 1 and long Antenna 2; well-developed eyes and pereiopods (walking legs); hopping locomotion; and the ability to survive exposure to air in beach wrack-lines and debris. Orchestia gammarellus has a squarish-oval, medium-sized eye. Antenna 1 is short, with its tip reaching the distal end of peduncle segment 2 of Antenna 2. The peduncle of Antenna 1 has 4 segments, and the flagellum has 4-5 segments. Antenna 2 is about 1/3 body-length. The peduncle is more robust in the male than female, and the flagellum is slightly shorter than the peduncle. In both sexes, Gnathopod 1 is much smaller than Gnathopod 2. The dactyl (segment 7) of Gnathopod 1 barely overlaps the palm. The propodus of Gnathopod 2 is greatly inflated, especially in the male. The dactylus is shorter than the palm. Pereiopods 3 and 4 are relatively short. Perieopods 5-7 are progressively longer, and their coxal plates larger. The abdominal side plates 2 and 3 have angular corners. The urosome segments are distinct. Uropods 1 and 2 are biramous, while Uropod 3 is uniramous, with the distal segment blunt and spine-like. The telson is spade-like, formed of two medially fused lobes with stout lateral and apical spines. Adult males reach 16-18 mm, while females reach 14 mm. The color ranges from greenish brown to reddish brown. This description is based on: Bousfield 1973 and Lincoln 1979.

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Taxonomy

Ecology

General:

In European waters, Orchestia gammarellus cannot survive prolonged immersion, but is tolerant of rain and sharp changes in salinity. Sexes are separate, the young are brooded, and development is direct. In New England and the Maritime Provinces, populations are annual, females are ovigerous from May through August, and have more than one brood per year (Bousfield 1973). Females in Morocco have a mean brood size of 15 eggs per female, and 4-5 broods per year, but only a 10-month life-span (Aksissou and Elkaim 1996). Females on the Swedish Baltic shores had 5-30 eggs, increasing with body size (Persson et al. 1999).

In the Northeast Atlantic, O. gammarellus ranges from cold-temperate zones (southern Norway, Faroe Islands) to subtropical regions (Morocco, Tunisia, Madeira, Canary Islands) and survives a wide range of temperature, from below freezing to 38°C (Dahl 1967; Aksissou and Elkaim 1994; Persson 1999; Morritt and Ingolfsson 2000; Henzler and Ingolfsson 2008). As an inhabitant of the upper shore, exposed to rainfall and evaporation, O. gammarellus tolerates a wide range of salinity (3.5-51 PSU), but has not colonized freshwater regions or the lowest salinity regions of estuaries (Persson 1999). Orchestia gammarellus appears to have a wider habitat range in its native habitat in the Northeast Atlantic, including rocky shores, salt marshes, sand-dunes, banks of freshwater streams, and springs on cliffs high above the sea (Dahl 1967; Persson 1999; Dias and Sprung 2004; Colombini et al. 2013). While in the Northwest Atlantic, it is found mostly on rocky and gravelly shores, and occasionally in marshes and estuaries (Bousfield 1973).

Orchestia gammarellus is a littoral scavenger, but primarily herbivorous, feeding on washed-up wrack and detritus. It is usually considered to prefer algal wrack, and cannot digest Eelgrass (Zostera marina), but does feed on attached microorganisms. Population characteristics did not differ between populations in algal and seagrass wrack (Persson 1999).

Food:

stranded seaweed, seagrasses

Consumers:

Shorebirds, insects

Competitors:

Platorchestia platensis

Trophic Status:

Herbivore

Herb

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Habitats

General Habitat	Unstructured Bottom	None
General Habitat	Salt-brackish marsh	None
General Habitat	Coarse Woody Debris	None
General Habitat	Rocky	None
Salinity Range	Mesohaline	5-18 PSU
Salinity Range	Polyhaline	18-30 PSU
Salinity Range	Hyperhaline	40+ PSU
Tidal Range	High Intertidal	None
Tidal Range	Supratidal	None
Vertical Habitat	Epibenthic	None

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Tolerances and Life History Parameters

Minimum Temperature (ºC)	0	Hibernates buried in sand and wrack.
Maximum Temperature (ºC)	37	Experimental, CTM (Critical temperature maxima) of 38 C for animals acclimated at 22 C (Morritt and Ingolfsson 2000) Tempreature tolerances for O. gammarellus in two populations, from Scotland and England, had upper thermal tolerances varying from 29.5 to 39.5 C, depending on geographical origin, and acclimation (5 and 25 C) (Gaston and Spicer 1998)/
Minimum Salinity (‰)	3.5	Morritt and Stevenson 1993, cited by Persson 2001
Maximum Salinity (‰)	51	Experimental, Persson 2001
Minimum Reproductive Temperature	10	Field, air temperature, Europe (Persson 1999).
Minimum Reproductive Salinity	3.5	Morritt and Stevenson 1993, cited by Persson 2001
Maximum Length (mm)	16	Males reach 16 mm, females 14 mm (Bousfield 1973)

General Impacts

No impacts have been reported for introduced populations of Orchestia gammarellus.

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References

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