Ficopomatus miamiensis ( Treadwell, 1934 )

Bastida-Zavala, J. Rolando, McCANN, Linda D., Keppel, Erica & Ruiz, Gregory M., 2017, The fouling serpulids (Polychaeta: Serpulidae) from United States coastal waters: an overview, European Journal of Taxonomy 344, pp. 1-76 : 19-21

Ficopomatus miamiensis ( Treadwell, 1934)

Figs 2 I–K, 3

Sphaeropomatus miamiensis Treadwell, 1934: 339–341 ; figs 1–5 (type locality: Miami River, Florida, United States).

Mercierellopsis prietoi Rioja, 1945: 413–417 , pl. I, figs 1–20, pl. II, figs 21–23 (type locality: Larios Estuary, Tecolutla and Carmen Lagoon, Veracruz, eastern Mexico; also from Barra de Nautla, Veracruz; in brackish water, on mangrove roots, Ostrea and other bivalves).

Ficopomatus miamiensis – ten Hove & Weerdenburg 1978: 106 –109, figs 1f–i, 3c, 4h–i, q, v–w, eeii, xx, 5a–b (revision of the genus and specimens from Florida, Louisiana, Jamaica, Barbados, Cura ҫao, Belize, and Canal Zone of Pacific Panama; in brackish water, 2.5–31‰, intertidal to 1 m, on the carapace of Macrobrachium jamaicensis Gundlach, 1887 , now M. carcinus (Linnaeus, 1758) , shell of Isognomon alatus (Gmelin, 1791) , pebbles, limestone boulders on sandy mud and Caulerpa ). — Perkins 1998: 95 (checklist of shallow-water polychaetes from Florida). — Bastida-Zavala & Salazar-Vallejo 2000a: 813, fig. 4i–s (eastern Mexico: Tecolutla, Veracruz and Chetumal Bay, Mexican Caribbean; on oysters and docks). — Bastida-Zavala & ten Hove 2003: 92 (probably from Costa Rica; on mangrove oysters, Ostrea iridiscens , now Striostrea prismatica (Gray, 1825) and Crassostrea columbiensis (Hanley, 1846) , with Hydroides humilis ( Bush, 1905) and Spirobranchus minutus ( Rioja, 1941b)) . — Bastida-Zavala 2008: 19 –21, fig. 5B–D (Sinaloa, Mexican Pacific and Canal Zone of Pacific Panama). — Tovar-Hernández et al. 2009: 327 – 328, figs 3g–i, 6a, 7a–c (as an invasive species in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexican Pacific). — Tovar-Hernández et al. 2012: 12, figs a–e (Gulf of California: La Paz, Baja California Sur).

Material examined

224 specimens: JX (4) Aug. 2001, IR (92) Aug. 2005, BB (65) Aug. 2004, TB (10) Jul. 2002, PB (24) Aug. 2002, GB (27) Sep. 2002, CC (2) Sep. 2002.

Additional material

More than 160 specimens: ECOSUR s.n., 129+ specimens (Chetumal Bay, pier, 1990–1996, coll. S.I. Salazar-Vallejo et al.); UMAR-Poly 51, 10+ specimens (23°09' N, 106°19' W, Urias estuary, Mazatlán, Mexico, 1999, coll. N. Méndez); USNM 58659, 20+ specimens (approx. 8°59'40" N, 79°35'20" W, Miraflores Spillway, Canal Zone, Panama City, Panama, sta. 130–5, “on bottom, standing water”, 2 Apr. 1973, coll. M.L. Jones et al.).

Diagnosis

This species is gregarious and can form colonies. Tube white, with small peristomes; without transverse ridges, longitudinal ridges or alveoli ( Fig. 2I ). Opercular peduncle smooth, white. Operculum spherical or with a flat end-plate, never with spines ( Fig. 2 J–K). Thoracic membranes not fused dorsally. Special collar chaetae coarsely serrated.

Measurements: Total length = 6.2 mm (n = 10, r: 2.6–11.9, SD = 2.9); thorax length = 1.6 mm (n = 13, r: 0.7–3.2, SD = 0.6), thorax width = 0.6 mm (n = 13, r: 0.4–0.9, SD = 0.2); peduncle and operculum length = 1.3 mm (n = 13, r: 0.6–2.8, SD = 0.6); operculum length = 0.6 mm (n = 13, r: 0.3–0.9, SD = 0.2); operculum diameter = 0.4 mm (n = 13, r: 0.2–0.7, SD = 0.2).

Taxonomic remarks

Ficopomatus miamiensis has a spherical ( Fig. 2J ), slightly convex ( Fig. 2K ) or flat operculum that lacks spines, while, the other two species of Ficopomatus recorded as NIS in the United States have spines on the operculum ( Fig. 2G , M–N).

The native distribution of F. miamiensis is assumed to be the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. The NIS records from Urías Estuary, Sinaloa, Mexican Pacific ( Salgado-Barragán et al. 2004; Tovar-Hernández et al. 2009), were likely due to the accidental introduction of larvae included in the water with shrimp transported from the Gulf of Mexico for aquaculture, or as adults encrusting bivalves moved from the Gulf of Mexico to Sinaloa, Mexican Pacific, with oysters for oyster culture, while the specimens recorded from Pacific Panama ( Bastida-Zavala 2008) and Costa Rica ( Bastida-Zavala & ten Hove 2003: 92) presumably invaded following transport by ballast water or by oyster translocation. Recently, F. miamiensis was found in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Gulf of California ( Tovar-Hernández et al. 2012).

Ecology

Intertidal to sublittoral (3 m). On mangrove roots, oysters, shrimp carapace, algae, and rocky and artificial substrates ( ten Hove & Weerdenburg 1978).

Distribution

Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, in tropical brackish water lagoons and the mouth of rivers. Also recorded from the Pacific side of the Canal Zone of Panama ( Bastida-Zavala 2008) and Urías Estuary, Sinaloa, Mexican Pacific, as an invasive species ( Tovar-Hernández et al. 2009). In this work, Ficopomatus miamiensis was found abundantly on fouling plates from the Indian River, Biscayne Bay and Pensacola Bay, Florida, and Galveston Bay, Texas; and occasionally from Jacksonville and Tampa Bay, Florida, and Corpus Christi, Texas ( Fig. 3 ). This species extends its westward range from Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana ( ten Hove & Weerdenburg 1978) to Galveston Bay, Texas (500 km).

Figures

Fig. 2. Serpulids from United States fouling plates. Crucigera websteri. A. Operculum, juvenile from Humboldt Bay, California. B. Operculum, adult from San Pedro, California (LACMNH-N8819). – C. zygophora. C. Operculum, juvenile from Alaska (SERC). D. Operculum, adult from Canoe Bay, Alaska (LACMNH-N2128). – Ficopomatus enigmaticus. E. Tubes from Lake Merritt, California (LACMNH-N5141). F. Body, from Chesapeake Bay, Virginia (SERC-59327). G. Operculum, from Chesapeake Bay, Virginia (SERC-60530R). H. Colonies in Long Beach, California (photo by Bruno Pernet).– F. miamiensis. I. Tubes, from Chetumal Bay, Mexican Caribbean (ECOSUR). J–K. Operculum, from Galveston Bay, Texas (SERC-88344RF). – F. uschakovi. L. Tube, from Corpus Christi, Texas (SERC-88883). M. Thorax and operculum, from Galveston Bay, Texas (SERC-86995). N. Operculum, from La Encrucijada, Chiapas (UMAR-Poly 113). O. Thorax and operculum, from Corpus Christi, Texas (SERC-88883).

Fig. 3. Distribution of serpulids (Crucigera and Ficopomatus spp.) from United States fouling plates (closed symbols) and literature records (open symbols).