Life-Cycle Traits of Paraleucilla magna, a Calcareous Sponge Invasive in a Coastal Mediterranean Basin

PLoS One

Elda Gaino¹  Caterina Longo²  Carmen Pontassuglia²  Giuseppe Corriero² 

[1] Dipartimento di Biologia Cellulare e Ambientale, Università di Perugia, Perugia, Italy;Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy

关键词: Invasive species;    Oocytes;    Sponges;    Mediterranean Sea;    Larvae;    Embryos;    Species colonization;    Sexual reproduction;   

DOI  :  10.1371/journal.pone.0042392

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: Public Library of Science

【 摘 要 】

The calcareous sponge Paraleucilla magna, originally observed along the Brazilian coast (Atlantic Ocean), is the only allochthonous invasive species of Porifera reported in the Mediterranean Sea. A 1-year investigation of the population dynamics and life-cycle of this exotic species in the Mar Piccolo di Taranto (southern Italy, central Mediterranean Sea) has provided a good opportunity to test how environmental variations can influence its life-cycle and to ascertain what strategy can be adopted to successfully colonize a new environment. In the Mar Piccolo di Taranto, P. magna exhibits marked temporal changes in biomass. The studied specimens reproduce almost all year round, showing a seasonal pattern that peaks during warm months. This prolonged sexual activity allows P. magna to continuously produce young specimens, with repeated recruitment events taking place throughout the year, thus offsetting the seasonal mortality of adult specimens. This r-strategy enables the non-indigenous sponge to achieve a high degree of maintenance over relatively long periods (ten years at least).

【 授权许可】

CC BY