Search

Aim: On 11 March 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that resulted in the largest known rafting event in recorded history. By spring 2012, marine debris began washing ashore along the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada with a wide range of Asian coastal species attached. We used this unique dataset, where the source region, date of dislodgment and landing location are known, to assess the potential for species invasions by transoceanic rafting on marine debris. Location: Northeast Pacific from 20 to 60°N. Time period: Current. Major taxa studied: Forty‐eight invertebrate and algal species recorded on Japanese tsunami marine debris (JTMD). Methods: We developed maximum entropy (MaxEnt) species distribution models for 48 species recorded on JTMD to predict establishment potential along the Pacific coast from 20 to 60°N. Models were compared within the context of historical marine introductions from Japan to this region to validate the emergence of marine debris as a novel vector for species transfer. Results: Overall, 27% (13 species) landed with debris at locations with suitable environmental conditions for establishment and survival, indicating that these species may be able to establish new populations or introduce greater genetic diversity to already established non‐native populations. A further 21 species have an environmental match to areas where tsunami debris likely landed, but was not extensively sampled. Nearly 100 Japanese marine species previously invaded the northeastern Pacific, demonstrating this region's environmental suitability for rafting Japanese biota. Historical invasions from Japan are highest in California and largely known from bays and harbours. Main conclusions: Marine debris is a novel and growing vector for non‐native species introduction. By utilizing a unique dataset of JTMD species, our predictive models show capacity for new transoceanic invasions and can focus monitoring priorities to detect successful long‐distance dispersal across the world's oceans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biofouled debris from the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami has landed in the Northeast Pacific and along the Hawaiian Islands since 2012. As of 2017, > 630 biofouled debris items with > 320 living species of algae, invertebrates, and fish have been examined. The invasive mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis was present on > 50% of those items. Size, reproduction, and growth of this filter-feeding species were examined to better understand long-distance rafting of a coastal species. The majority of mussels (79%) had developing or mature gametes, and growth rates averaged 0.075 ± 0.018 SE mm/day. Structural and elemental (barium/calcium) analysis of mussel shells generated estimates of growth in coastal waters (mean = 1.3 to 25 mm total length), which provides an indication of residence times in waters along North America and the Hawaiian Islands prior to landing. Detailed studies of individual species contribute to our understanding of debris as a transport vector and aid efforts to evaluate potential risks associated with marine debris. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the species of mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis found in the area of Hawaiian Archipelago and North America. The unexpected species were transported due to 2011 earthquake and tsunami happens in Japan. It has been studied by the Oregon Sea Grant and the National Science Foundation on tracking the Japanese Tsunami Marine Debris (JTMD) arriving at the Pacific coast. Topics include the growth and dispersal history of Mytilus on JTMD.

[Display omitted] • Several lines of evidence were combined to delimit three species of shipworm with entangled taxonomy. • We redescribe, Psiloteredo megotara , P. pentagonalis , and Nototeredo edax. • The analyses exposed more cryptic species in Bankia carinata and Lyrodus pedicellatus. Cryptic species are a common phenomenon in cosmopolitan marine species. The use of molecular tools has often uncovered cryptic species occupying a fraction of the geographic range of the original morphospecies. Shipworms (Teredinidae) are marine bivalves, living in drift and fixed wood, many of which have a conserved morphology across cosmopolitan distributions. Herein novel and GenBank mitochondrial (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) and nuclear (18S rRNA) DNA sequences are employed to produce a phylogeny of the Teredinidae and delimit a cryptic species pair in the Psiloteredo megotara complex. The anatomy, biogeography, and ecology of P. megotara , Psiloteredo sp. and Nototeredo edax are compared based on private and historic museum collections and a thorough literature review. Morphological and anatomical characters of P. megotara from the North Atlantic and Psiloteredo sp. from Japan were morphologically indistinguishable , and differ in pallet architecture and soft tissue anatomy from N. edax. The two Psiloteredo species were then delimited as genetically distinct species using four molecular-based methods. Consequently, the Northwest Pacific species, Psiloteredo pentagonalis , first synonymized with N. edax and then with P. megotara , is resurrected. Nototeredo edax, P. megotara and P. pentagonalis are redescribed based upon morphological and molecular characters. Phylogenetic analysis further revealed cryptic species complexes within the cosmopolitan species Bankia carinata and possibly additional cryptic lineages within the cosmopolitan Lyrodus pedicellatus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]