Epibiosis in sedimentary coastal environments: Effects of an introduced barnacle on a native mussel
- Burgueño Sandoval, Giuliana Marianela
- Narvarte, Maite Andrea
- Firstater, Fausto Nahuel
DOIAbstract
In the mobile sedimentary environment of San Antonio Bay (northern Patagonia), where hard substrate is scarce, the mussel Brachidontes rodriguezii dominates the intertidal zone, there being covered by the introduced epibiotic barnacle Balanus glandula. The aim of this study was to evaluate the distribution and the recruitment of B. glandula on different non-living substrates (cobbles, biogenic debris) and on live-mussel shells and to assess the effect of the epibiotic interaction on the condition index and the attachment strength of B. rodriguezii. Field samplings revealed that adult barnacles mainly fouled live mussels, with the main differences in biomassbeing between the high and mid-intertidal. These differences in barnacle biomass betw...
Add to ORKG