Branchiomma bairdi McIntosh 1885

• Main Authors: Keppel, Erica, Tovar, Maria Ana, Ruiz, Gregory
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2015
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Annelida; Polychaeta; Sabellida; Sabellidae; Branchiomma; Branchiomma bairdi; Crassostrea gigas
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5064726; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/03E4C913F122FFBE9CA0FC7235CA9107

Branchiomma bairdi (McIntosh, 1885) Branchiomma bairdi, originally from the Caribbean, is a recent introduction in the Gulf of California via the Panama Canal (Tovar-Hernández et al. 2009a, b) and to the eastern Mediterranean through the Gibraltar Strait (Çinar 2009; Giangrande et al. 2012; Arias et al . 2013), Australia (Capa & Murray 2015) and the northeastern Atlantic Ocean (Ramalhosa et al . 2014). In the Gulf of California, this species is highly abundant reaching densities of 18,000 ind./m 2 in perturbed sites (marinas, ports, shrimp and oyster farms), on hard anthropogenic substrates (metal buoys, hulls of vessels, ropes, floating docks, and concrete and wood water gates), and also reported as epibionts on Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg, 1793) and C. sikamea (Amemiya, 1928), and on natural substrates (rocks and wood) from a marine protect area (Tovar-Hernández et al. 2012; 2014). Çinar (2009) documented B. bairdi along the coasts of Turkey (Levantine Sea) in 2005 and found specimens at 0.5 and 8 m depth, associated with ropes, rocks and mud, but in low densities (53 ind. m -2). In Lake Faro (Italy), B. bairdi has been recorded since 2007 near a mollusc farm, among photophilic algae, on the leaves of a Cymodocea nodosa (Ucria) Ascherson patch, and on rocks and boulders used for restoration purposes where the overall estimated density of B. bairdi ranged from 35 up to 400 ind. m -2 (Giangrande et al. 2012). Branchiomma bairdi was also recorded in harbours and ports from Malta, Spain and both coasts of Italy, where it is spreading and overtaking stressed habitats with low species competition, reaching densities of 16,000 ind. m–2 (Arias et al. 2013). In Cairns, Australia, Capa et al. (2013) recorded B. bairdi based on morphological and molecular data and more recently in Lizard Island, a marine protected area of the Great Barrier Reef (Capa & Murray 2015). Ramalhosa et al. (2014) reported this species on Madeira Island reaching densities of 238–516 ind. m–2. Branchiomma bairdi is a conspicuous component ...