Bankia gouldi

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:

Bankia gouldi is native to the East Coast of North America and south to the Gulf of Mexico. Shells of Bankia gouldi were found in wood of a 5,000-year-old fish weir in Boston during a post-glacial warm period, where other southern mollusks (e.g., Marsh Periwinkle, Littoraria irrorata) also ranged further north and later died out (Johnson 1942). The northern range of limits on the East Coast is unclear because some collectors identified all shipworms as Teredo navalis, while others distinguished the species, recognizing T. navalis as a species then found mostly in foreign ships, while B. gouldi was recognized under the former name of a tropical species, Xylotrya fimbriata (now Bankia fimbriatula), and found occurring mostly south of New York City (Tryon 1862; Sigerfoos 1907). Its northern limit in published literature is Barnegat Bay, New Jersey (Clench and Turner 1945; Richards et al. 1984). To the south, it ranges to the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Panama and Colombia, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Surinam (Clench and Turner 1946; Wallour 1960; Museum of Comparative Zoology 2010). 
 
An isolated population of Bankia gouldi occurs in southern Brazil; we consider this population cryptogenic. The earliest record that we have of Bankia gouldi in southern Atlantic South America was collected in 1935, in Sao Sebastiao, Sao Paulo State, (MCZ Malacology 297554, Museum of Comparative Zoology 2010). Bankia gouldi has been collected from Cabo Frio south to Para State, and Uruguay (Calvo et al. 1972; Maldonado and Skinner 2016; Museum and Comparative Zoology 2021). 

North American Invasion History:

Invasion History Elsewhere in the World:

Invasion history for Elsewhere in the World has not been summarized for this species at this time.

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Description

Bankia gouldi (Cupped Shipworm) belongs to the family Teredinidae (shipworms), which are highly modified mollusks, hardly recognizable as bivalves, adapted for boring into wood. The shell is reduced to two small, ridged valves, which cover the head and are used for grinding and tearing wood fibers. The shell of Bankia gouldi, like those of other shipworm species, has three subglobular lobes. The smallest of these is the auricle, which is semicircular and subtriangular. The interior of the shell has a long, curved process (styloid apophysis). The body is naked and elongated, and ends with two siphons, protected by elaborate calcareous structures called 'pallets'. The pallets are elaborate plume-like structures, consisting of nested cones at the end of a long stalk. The cones are funnel-shaped, shallow-cupped, with blunt, smooth edges. The cups are crowded at the tip of the pallet and covered with a cap of periostracum. The pallets are ~0.8 mm in length (Description from: Turner 1966; Turner 1971; Abbott 1974; Coan et al. 2000). Identification of shipworms to species requires a specialist.

Potentially misidentified species – The diversity of shipworms in tropical waters is very great but decreases at higher latitudes. Most of the species listed below have been reported in Florida, Caribbean, West Coast, or Hawaiian waters. However, in temperate waters, many collectors historically identified all or most shipworms as T. navalis.

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Taxonomy

Ecology

General:

Shipworms dig long burrows in submerged wood in marine environments. They burrow by rocking and abrading the wood fibers. The mantle covers most of the length of their body and secretes a calcareous lining along the interior of the burrow. They normally have their anterior end with head and shells inside the burrow, and their siphons protruding outwards. The pallets plug the burrow when the siphons are retracted (Barnes 1983). 
 
Shipworms are protandrous hermaphrodites, beginning life as male and transforming to female, but they have no capacity for self-fertilization. Both males and females release their gametes into the water column, where fertilization occurs. The female’s eggs are small, ~45 um. The eggs develop into bivalve veligers, which settle after about 25 to 30 days (Sigerfoos 1907; Culliney 1975). Breeding occurs at temperatures of 16–32 C and 17.5 PSU (Scheltema and Truitt 1954; Culliney 1975). 
 
Bankia gouldi is known from driftwood, pilings, vessels, and other wooden structures (Bartsch 1908; Bartsch 1922). Adults tolerate water temperatures from near zero to 33°C and salinities of 9 to 35 PSU (Scheltema and Truitt 1954; Richards et al. 1984). Bankia gouldi tolerates high concentrations of humic substances in the water derived from soil and vegetation while for Teredo navalis larvae humic substances may cause premature settlement and interfere with site selection. This may be one factor accounting for the scarcity of T. navalis in southeastern US estuaries, and the dominance of the more tolerant Bankia gouldi (Culliney 1975). If their piece of wood is intact, shipworms have few predators, but when the riddled wood disintegrates, they are rapidly eaten by fishes, crabs, and other predators (Sigerfoos 1907). 

Food:

Phytoplankton; Wood

Trophic Status:

Suspension Feeder

SusFed

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Habitats

General Habitat	Coarse Woody Debris	None
General Habitat	Marinas & Docks	None
General Habitat	Mangroves	None
General Habitat	Vessel Hull	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

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Life History

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Tolerances and Life History Parameters

Minimum Depth (m)	305	1 feet (crowded, Sigerfoos 1907
Minimum Temperature (ºC)	5	Richards et al. 1984; Schelterm and Truitt 1954
Maximum Temperature (ºC)	33	Richards et al. 1984; Schelterm and Truitt 1954
Minimum Salinity (‰)	9	Schelterm and Truitt 1954; Richards et al. 1984;
Maximum Salinity (‰)	35	Schelterm and Truitt 1954; Richards et al. 1984;
Minimum Reproductive Temperature	16	Culliney 1975
Maximum Reproductive Temperature	32	Culliney 1975
Minimum Reproductive Salinity	17.5	Culliney 1975
Maximum Reproductive Salinity	30	Culliney 1975
Minimum Duration	25	Culliney 1975, Lab,
Maximum Duration	30	Sigerfoos 1908, Field, 25 C, 30 PSU
Maximum Length (mm)	610	2 feet (Sigerfoos 1907
Broad Temperature Range	None	Warm temperate-Tropical
Broad Salinity Range	None	Mesohaline-Euhaline

General Impacts

Bankia gouldi is a major woodborer on the Atlantic Coast of the US from New Jersey to the Gulf of Mexico, damaging wooden boats, docks, and pilings (Sigerfoos 1907; Atwood 1920; Richards et al. 1984). Improving water quality in harbors is likely to increase damage by borers in US harbors (Abood et al. 1995). In Barnegat Bay, New Jersey,thermal effluents increased the breeding seasons of Bankia gouldi, Teredo navalis, and exotic shipworms. Climate change is likely to favor northward range expansion of B. gouldi.

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References

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