Effects of substratum type and orientation on the recruitment of bryozoans in an artificial area of the Western Atlantic

Abstract

Bryozoans are commonly associated with various artificial structures in marine environments and have been responsible for several bioinvasion events worldwide. Understanding the interactions between bryozoans and artificial structures is therefore essential to prevent the establishment and spread of potential bioinvaders. This study investigated bryozoan recruitment on four different substrates (PET, nautical ropes, metal, and PVC) placed in three orientations (vertical, horizontal facing down and facing up) in an area of the Western Atlantic. In total, 15 species of bryozoans were found. The results revealed significant variations in assemblages’ richness, with bryozoans showing a preference for settling on PVC (14 species found) and on the underside of horizontal substrates (15 species found), resulting in the higher representativity observed in this study. Cryptogenic (nine species) and exotic (five species) bryozoans dominated the assemblages in all treatments, indicating that the type of substrate (especially artificial) and its orientation can favor the settlement of bryozoans, particularly non-native species. Therefore, the availability of multiple types of artificial substrates in marine environments should be treated as a cause for concern.

Keywords:

• Bioinvasion
• exotic
• fouling
• non-native species
• marine litter

Acknowledgments

This study is part of the E. A. Xavier’s Ph.D. thesis through the Post-Graduate Program in Animal Biology (Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal) of the Departamento de Zoologia, UFPE. Thanks to the members of Iate Clube do Natal for their support during the fieldwork for this study. The authors acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions and comments that improved the quality of this work. This is a contribution of the NP-Biomar/USP.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - Brazil [CNPq n. 440620/2015-5, n. 152608/2018-4, n. 308768/2018-3 and n. 311523/2021-8], Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco, Brazil [FACEPE BFP-0092-2.04/19], Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil [FAPESP 19/17721-9] and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Brasil [CAPES].