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Hydroids were examined from surveys of marine fouling communities undertaken during 2018 in Ecuador. Specimens were collected on settlement panels in harbours at Salinas and La Libertad on the mainland, and at Isla San Cristóbal in the Galapagos Islands. Of 27 species in the samples, 18 were present in collections from the mainland and 14 from San Cristóbal. Most frequent in samples from the mainland were Bougainvillia cf. muscus (20 samples), Obelia microtheca (20), Clytia delicatula (19) and Pennaria disticha (10). In collections from San Cristóbal, most frequent were Obelia alternata (27), Bougainvillia cf. muscus (16), Ectopleura crocea (13) and Cirrholovenia tetranema (11). Based on genetic evidence, Ectopleura media Fraser, 1948 is assigned to the synonymy of E. crocea (L. Agassiz, 1862). In addition, a COI reference sequence is deposited for the first time for Tridentata turbinata. Male gonophores of Eudendrium breve, previously unknown, were discovered and illustrated. The cnidome of the species comprises small and large microbasic euryteles. Five of the species have not been reported before from the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Of these, three (Amphinema cf. rugosum, Egmundella humilis, and Campanulinida, undetermined) were found only in the Galapagos, one (Clytia delicatula) occurred at both mainland sites and the Galapagos, and one (Opercularella sp.) was collected only from a station on the mainland. Six other species [Ectopleura integra, Coryne repens, Clytia irregularis, C. seriata, Obelia alternata (resurrected here from the synonymy of O. dichotoma), and O. microtheca] are known only from the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Three of them, E. integra, C. irregularis, and C. seriata, are new to the Ecuadorian mainland. Species numbers were similar (range of 6 to 11 taxa) across all stations. One-third (nine species) were found only in Galapagos samples, whereas nearly half (13 species) were found only at mainland sites. More than half (15 species) were restricted to a single station. Previous studies, together with this work, bring the total of introduced and cryptogenic hydroid species in the Galapagos Islands to 12 (previously eight) and nine (previously five) taxa, respectively. We recognize four introduced and eight cryptogenic hydroid species from the coast of mainland Ecuador. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Galápagos Islands are recognized for their unique biota and are one of the world's largest marine protected areas. While invasions by non-indigenous species are common and recognized as a significant conservation threat in terrestrial habitats of the Archipelago, little is known about the magnitude of invasions in its coastal marine waters. Based upon recent field surveys, available literature, and analysis of the biogeographic status of previously reported taxa, we report 53 non-indigenous species of marine invertebrates in the Galápagos Islands. Forty-eight (90.6%o) of these species are newly reported or newly recognized as introduced, a nearly ten-fold increase from the five species previously recognized as non-indigenous. Of these 48 species, 30 (62.5%) were newly discovered in surveys commenced in 2015. Ascidians (11 species), bryozoans (10), polychaetes (9), and hydroids (8) account for 38 (71.7%) of the introduced species. Our analyses farther detected 33 cryptogenic invertebrate and algal species and one littoral vascular plant. Most taxonomic groups remain to be assessed for the presence of non-indigenous species. Importantly, the recent field surveys were restricted predominantly to one habitat (harbor biofouling) on two islands, farther suggesting that introduced species richness for the Galápagos Islands may be considerably higher. Most of the introduced species treated here were likely brought to the Galápagos by ships. While we presume that most if not all of the many thousands of vessels arriving in the Galápagos Islands since the 1500s had marine animals and plants attached to their hulls, we hypothesize that the general absence in the Islands of extensive shoreline structures (in the form of wharves, docks, pilings, and buoys) until the last half of the 20th century may have constrained extensive colonization by fouling species. The proliferation of shoreline structures may have both provided expanded habitat for non-indigenous species that had earlier colonized natural substrates, as well as having facilitated a 20th and 21st century wave of new invasions in the Galápagos Islands. Our results represent the greatest reported increase in the recognition of the number of invasions for any tropical marine environment in the world. This work suggests that the number and potential ecological impacts of non-indigenous species in tropical marine and maritime habitats may be substantially underestimated in other regions of the world. Our study demonstrates that tropical marine invasions deserve significant attention, not only in a biogeographical, historical, and ecological context, but also from a management perspective, especially in the Galápagos and other high-value conservation areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bryozoans have been infrequently studied in the Galapagos Islands, and even less so in nearshore biofouling assemblages. Based on surveys of Galapagos fouling communities in 2015 and 2016, we report 18 bryozoan species. At least 10 species are new records for the Galapagos, including Amathia sp. 1 (Bowerbankia group), Beania klugei Cook, 1968, Bugulina stolonifera (Ryland, 1960), Caulibugula cf. dendrograpta (Waters, 1913), Celleporaria inaudita Tilbrook, Hayward and Gordon, 2001, Hippopodina tahitiensis (Leca and d'Hondt, 1993), Nolella stipata Gosse, 1855, Schizoporella pungens (Canu and Bassler, 1928), Sundanella sp. and Watersipora subtorquata (d'Orbigny, 1852) sensu Vieira et al. 2014a. More than half of these are considered likely ship-borne introductions. Schizoporella pungens was the most abundant bryozoan. Continuing explorations of Galapagos biofouling communities will likely reveal additional introduced and native bryozoan species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biofouling community on Santa Cruz and Baltra Islands, Galapagos, was surveyed in 2016 based on samples from settlement plates deployed in 2015 and 2016 at three different sites. We report numerous new records for the Galapagos fauna: one novel family (Opheliidae), nine novel genera, and 15 novel species records were documented in a total of seven families. Six introduced species were found, the syllid Myrianida pachycera, the sabellids Branchiomma bairdi, Branchiomma sp. and Pseudobranchiomma schizogenica, and the serpulids Hydroides elegans, Hydroides sanctaecrucis, along with one cryptogenic species, the spionid Dipolydora armata. Non-native species come from either the warm waters of the Western Atlantic or Indo-West Pacific Oceans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An account is given of hydroids collected in 2015 and 2016 from port and harbor fouling communities in the Galápagos Islands. Also included is the hydroid of Ectopleura media, discovered on the wreck of the tanker Jessica near Isla San Cristóbal in 2001. Among 20 species reported herein were six anthoathecates and 14 leptothecates. Most common in the samples were the kirchenpaueriid Ventromma halecioides and the halopteridid Halopteris alternata. Eight species (Bougainvillia muscus, Bimeria vestita, Clytia elongata, C. obliqua, C. thornelyi, Obelia oxydentata, Eucheilota sp., and Halecium labiatum) are reported for the first time from the Galápagos archipelago. Three of them (Clytia elongata, C. thornelyi, and Halecium labiatum) are also new to the eastern Pacific. Seven species treated here are considered introduced by shipping to the islands, bringing to eight the number of introduced hydroids. In addition, we treat four species as cryptogenic, bringing to five the total number of the latter in the Galápagos. The binomena Obelia thornelyi Nutting, 1927, Clytia stolonifera Blackburn, 1938, and C. latitheca Millard and Bouillon, 1973 are regarded as synonyms, with the first of these having nomenclatural priority. Meanwhile, the senior synonym O. thornelyi is reassigned to the genus Clytia Lamouroux, 1812 as C. thornelyi. Another species in the samples, Dynamena distans Lamouroux, 1816 (also widely known as Sertularia distans and Tridentata distans), is combined for the first time with the genus Amphisbetia L. Agassiz, 1862, as A. distans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of the cheilostome bryozoan genus Bugula Oken, 1815, Bugula tsunamiensis, is described from Japan, having rafted across the North Pacific Ocean on numerous objects released into the ocean by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, and landing in the Hawaiian Islands and on the Pacific Coast of the United States. This is the second species of the Bugula uniserialis Hincks, 1884 group to be reported from Japan. We elevate the Japanese species Bugula scaphoides constricta Yanagi and Okada, 1918 to full species status, B. constricta, based upon distinctions from the stem species. We suggest that Bugula uniserialis reported from the Galapagos Islands is an undescribed species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The warm water marine bryozoan Amathia (= Zoobotryon) verticillata (delle Chiaje, 1822) is reported for the first time in the Galápagos Islands based upon collections in 2015. Elsewhere, this species is a major fouling organism that can have significant negative ecological and economic effects. Comprehensive studies will be necessary to determine the extent of the distribution of A. verticillata in the Galápagos and its effects on native species. The establishment of A. verticillata emphasizes the need for regular monitoring of those vectors that could bring additional non-native species to the Archipelago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]