Description
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animalia | Annelida | Polychaeta | Canalipalpata | Spionidae | Boccardiella |
Synonyms
Invasion History
Chesapeake Bay Status
| First Record | Population | Range | Introduction | Residency | Source Region | Native Region | Vectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Established | Expanding | Introduced | Regular Resident | Eastern Atlantic | Eastern Atlantic | Shipping(Ballast Water, Fouling Community) |
History of Spread
The spionid polychaete Boccardiella ligerica is believed to be native to the North Sea and Atlantic coasts of France and Germany. It was first reported from Newport Bay CA in 1935, and was found in San Francisco Bay in 1953, where it is now very abundant (Cohen and Carlton 1995). It is also apparently introduced to the Baltic Sea (Eliason and Haahtella 1969).
In the Western Atlantic, B. ligerica was collected from Mar Chiquita Argentina in 1968, and the Rio Espiritu Santo estuary in Puerto Rico in 1978 (US National Museum of Natural History collections). On the Gulf coast of North America, B. ligerica was first found in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge TX, San Antonio Bay. It was later collected in TX estuaries north to Sabine Lake on TX-LA border (Wern 1985), and in FL in the vicinity of Crystal River (Kravitz 1987). It has been reported from the Chesapeake Bay (Chesapeake Bay Program 1998-2001) and from the Mullica River NJ (Angradi et al. 2001).
In Chesapeake Bay, Boccardiella ligerica was reported in 1990 benthic sampling data from the Chesapeake Bay Program (Chesapeake Bay Program 2001), but not in earlier data. This worm has been found in several oligo-mesohaline sites: James River (Swann's Point); Pamunkey River; Rappahannock River; MD/Patuxent River, Nanticoke River (Penknife Point/MD); Potomac River (Route 301 Bridge); Patuxent River (Chesapeake Bay Program 2001).
History References- Angradi et al. 2001; Chesapeake Bay Program 1998-2001; Cohen and Carlton 1995; Eliason and Haahtella 1969; Kravitz 1987; US National Museum of Natural History collections; Wern 1985
Invasion Comments
Invasion Status- Geoffrey Read, in an email posting, considered B. ligerica, and spionids in general, to be ' very poor examples of introduced species', because of taxonomic difficulties (Read 1998 ). We decided to continue regarding California populations of B. ligerica as introduced, but Gulf and East Coast populations were treated as cryptogenic (Carlton 1998).
Ecology
Environmental Tolerances
| For Survival | For Reproduction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Maximum | Minimum | Maximum | |
| Temperature (ºC) | ||||
| Salinity (‰) | 0.0 | 30.0 | ||
| Oxygen | ||||
| pH | ||||
| Salinity Range | oligo-poly |
Age and Growth
| Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Typical Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Maximum Adult Size (mm) | 16.0 | 26.0 |
| Maximum Longevity (yrs) | ||
| Typical Longevity (yrs |
Reproduction
| Start | Peak | End | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive Season | |||
| Typical Number of Young Per Reproductive Event |
|||
| Sexuality Mode(s) | |||
| Mode(s) of Asexual Reproduction |
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| Fertilization Type(s) | |||
| More than One Reproduction Event per Year |
|||
| Reproductive Startegy | |||
| Egg/Seed Form |
Impacts
Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay
Boccardiella ligerica appears to be a common resident of brackish estuarine sediments in Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere on the East and Gulf Coasts, but its economic impacts are unknown.
Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay
Boccardiella ligerica appears to be a common resident of brackish estuarine sediments in Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere on the East and Gulf Coasts, but its economic impacts are unknown. It is an abundant component of the benthic community in San Francisco Bay (Cohen and Carlton 1995).
References- Cohen and Carlton 1995
Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species
Boccardiella ligerica appears to be a common resident of brackish estuarine sediments in Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere on the East and Gulf Coasts, but its impacts on native biota are unknown.
Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species
Boccardiella ligerica appears to be a common resident of brackish estuarine sediments in Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere on the East and Gulf Coasts, but its impacts on other exotic and cryptogenic biota are unknown.
References
Angradi, T.R.; Hagan, S. M.; Able, K. W. (2001) Vegetation type and the intertidal macroinvertebrate fauna of the brackish marsh: Phragmites vs. Spartina., Wetlands 21: 75-92Blake, James A.; Kudenov, Jerry D. (1978) Spionidae (Polychaeta) from southeastern Australia and adjacent areas with a revision of the genera, Memoirs of the National Museum in Victoria 39: 171-280
Blake, James A.; Woodwick, Keith H. (1971) A review of the genus Boccardia Carazzi (Polychaeta: Spionidae) with descriptions of two new species, Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 70: 31-42
1998 <i>Boccardiella ligerica</i>. email. jcarlton@williams.edu Williams College-Mystic Seaport Marine Program
1998-2001 Benthic Database.. http;//www.chesapeakebay.net/data/type.cfm?DB=CBP_BEN
Cohen, Andrew N.; Carlton, James T. (1995) Nonindigenous aquatic species in a United States estuary: a case study of the biological invasions of the San Francisco Bay and Delta, , Washington DC, Silver Spring MD.. Pp.
Eliason, A.; Haahtela, I. (1969) Polydora (Boccardia) redeki Horst from Finland., Annales Zoologici Fennici 6: 215-218
Hildebrand, Samuel F.; Schroeder, William C. (1928) Fishes of Chesapeake Bay, Unites States Bureau of Bisheries Bulletin 53: 1-388
Kravitz, Michael J. (1987) First record of Boccardiella ligerica (Ferronniere) (Polychaeta: Spionidae) from the east coast of North America, Northeast Gulf Science 9: 39-42
Kudenov, Jerry D. (1983) First record of Boccardia ligerica (Polychaeta: Spionidae) from Imperial County, California., Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 82: 144-148
Posey, Martin H.; Hines, Anson H. (1991) Complex predator-prey interactions within an estuarine benthic community, Ecology 72: 2155-2169
Rullier, Francois (1960) Morphologie et developpement du Spionidae (annelide polychete) Polydora (Boccardia) redeki Horst., Cahiers de Biologie Marine 1: 231-244
Wern, Judy O. (1985) First record of the spionid polychaete Boccardiella ligerica (Ferronniere, 1898) from the Gulf of Mexico, Contributions in Marine Science 28: 125-128