Record of Tubastraea coccinea on Xestospongia barrel sponge:
a new threat to Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico reefs?
Over the last 30 years, Tubas-
traea spp. has acquired the status
of one of the most effective
invasive species in the western
Atlantic Ocean causing impacts
in community structure, mortality
of native corals, and the predation
of both fish and invertebrate lar-
va, with presumed effects on
fishing yields (Creed et al. 2017;
Miranda et al. 2018).
During sampling for the Mar-
ine Biodiversity of Yucatan
(BDMY) project, seventy-nine
sites on six reef areas at Cayos
Oeste were surveyed during more
than 320 team dives. One 10 polyp colony of Tubastraea coccinea Lesson, 1829 was recorded at Banco Obispo Sur;
(20.42535 N/92.22692 W) at a depth of approximately 15 m. It was recorded deeply encrusted on the vertical outer wall of
the barrel sponge Xestopongia muta (Schmidt, 1870) without any visible indication of necrosis on the sponge surface due to
Tubastraea cnidocytes (Fig. 1). As T. coccinea could become very invasive in just few years after initial establishment
(Creed et al. 2017), the colony was completely removed. To our knowledge, it is the first record of T. coccinea growing on
living animals. The possibility of T. coccinea to colonize X. muta in the absence of other suitable substrates could favor its
spread along reefs both on Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, representing a threat to these areas.
Acknowledgements Thanks to Nuno Simo
˜
es (UNAM) coordinator of the BDMY Project and its team and ‘‘Isla Mujeres’’ ship crew during field
sampling. Funding by Comisio
´
n Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO; proyecto NE018) and Harte Research
Institute Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi (HRI-TAMUCC).
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflict of interest The author states that there is no conflict of interest.
References
Creed JC, Fenner D, Sammarco P, Cairns S, Capel K, Junqueira AOR, Cruz I, Miranda RJ, Carlos-Junior L, Mantelatto MC, Oigman-Pszczol S (2017) The
invasion of the azooxanthellate coral Tubastraea (Scleractinia: Dendrophylliidae) throughout the world: history, pathways and vectors. Biol
Invasions 19:283–305
Miranda RJ, Nunes J de ACC, Mariano-Neto E, Sippo JZ, Barros F (2018) Do invasive corals alter coral reef processes? an empirical approach evaluating
reef fish trophic interactions. Mar Environ Res 138:19–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.03.013
L. F. Skinner
(&)
UERJ/DCIEN, Rua Francisco Portela 1470, Sa
˜
o Gonc¸alo, RJ 24435-005, Brazil
e-mail: lskinner@uerj.br
Fig. 1 a Barrel sponge Xestopongia muta (Schmidt, 1870) showing its vertical walls and crests, a suitable habitat for
Tubastraea coccinea Lesson, 1829 colonization; b Tubastraea coccinea polyps on Xestospongia muta wall. Note at right
and superior side of coral the presence of one Pyuridae Ascidiacea
123
Received: 20 May 2018 / Accepted: 28 May 2018
Ó
Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018
Coral Reefs (2018)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-018-1706-x
Reef sites
@Phil_Robichaud
@deepthiw
@JoseServera