Omobranchus punctatus (Teleostei: Blenniidae), an exotic blennyin the Southwestern Atlantic

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Springer 2006

Biological Invasions (2006) 00:1–6 DOI 10.1007/s10530-005-5104-2

Invasion note

Omobranchus punctatus (Teleostei: Blenniidae), an exotic blenny in the Southwestern Atlantic Leopoldo Cavaleri Gerhardinger1,*, Matheus Oliveira Freitas1, A´thila Bertoncini Andrade1 & Carlos Augusto Rangel2 1

Instituto Vidamar, Sa˜o Francisco do Sul, Santa Catarina, 89240-000, Brazil; 2Departamento de Biologia Marinha, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rua Outeiro Sa˜o Joa˜o Batista, S/N, C.P.100.644 Nitero´i, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil cep 24001-970; *Author for correspondence (e-mail: leocavaleri@gmail.com)

Received 1 November 2005; accepted in revised form 14 November 2005

Key words: alien species, ballast water, mariculture, offshore oilrigs, Omobranchus punctatus, ship fouling Abstract The muzzled blenny Omobranchus punctatus (Valenciennes), native to the Indo-Pacific region, is recorded in the Southwestern Atlantic coast, inhabiting natural and artificial substrates in the proximities of three large Brazilian seaports (states of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina). Due to its habitat and habits, the introduction of this species was probably by ship or oil rigs, presumably associated within fouling. It is also argued that the muzzled blenny can maintain populations in natural and artificial (mariculture facilities) coastal environments in the Southwestern Atlantic. Abbreviations: MHNCI – Museu de Histo´ria Natural Capa˜o da Imbuia; LNEP-UFF – Laborato´rio de Ne´cton e Ecologia Pesqueira – Universidade Federal Fluminense

Introduction The muzzled blenny Omobranchus punctatus (Valenciennes) (Perciformes: Blenniidae) (Figure 1) is a coastal and brackish water benthic fish that can be found inhabiting the interstices of rock substrates and mangroves (Ismail and Clayton 1990). Its original distribution was presumed to be the Indo-Pacific region, ranging from Japan and Australia to the Persian Gulf (Golani 2004). Since the first record outside its presumed original distribution, in Trinidad and Tobago (Springer and Gomon 1975), the species has been identified in several other localities in the Atlantic Ocean such as Panama and Venezuela (Bath 1980; Lasso et al. 2004), as well

as in the Mediterranean Sea (Golani 2004) and in the Indian Ocean (Carlton 1985). Wonham et al. (2000) attributed the invasive success of blennies and gobies to their cryptic behavior, as both seek refuge and lay eggs in small holes, which may predispose them to inhabit areas inside and around ports. These characteristics, together with their tolerance to salinity variations, allow them to take advantage of ballast-intake holes on ship hulls and offshore oilrigs. Herein we report several recently found specimens of O. punctatus in the Southwestern Atlantic (Brazil) and comment upon the possible means of invasion and population maintenance in this region.


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