Fouling assemblage of marine debris collected in a temperate South-western Atlantic coastal lagoon: A first report

Abstract

In the South-western Atlantic, studies dealing with the impacts of debris on marine species are focused mainly on vertebrates, being scarce the studies conducted to determine the association of fouling species to marine debris. A total of 33 marine debris items with fouling specimens were collected in Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon, Argentina. Species richness varied between one and five species per debris item, and dominant species included the barnacle Amphibalanus improvisus (93.94%), followed by the bryozoan Membranipora sp. (72.73%), undetermined polychaetes (36.36%), the mollusc Ostrea sp. (15.15%), the hydrozoan Amphisbetia operculata and the mollusc Brachidontes rodriguezii (3.45%, in both cases). We concluded that marine debris constitutes a suitable settlement site for sessile species inhabiting the lagoon, where hard-substratum are absent; while buoyancy analysis suggested that the initial colonization occurred both on marine debris suspended in the water column or at the sea surface, and in those laying on the seafloor.