Range extension of the macroalgae Anadyomene stellata (Wulf. In Jacquin) C. Agardh and re-appearance of Caulerpa sertularioides (S. G. Gmel.) M. Howe in the Lower Laguna Madre, Texas

Abstract

We report one new species of macroalgae, Anadyomene stellata, for the Lower Laguna Madre of Texas, and range extensions that have occurred in the past 16 years for this and four other green algae. Anadyomene stellata occurs only as an epiphyte on the red macroalgae, Digenia simplex. Caulerpa sertularioides has not been seen in the Lower Laguna Madre since 1962. It has either been present in cryptic habitats for 50 years near the Lower Laguna Madre or has recently expanded its range again into the Lower Laguna Madre. Ecological consideration of the presence of these species is discussed.

Full text

THE SOUTHWESTERN NATURALIST 59(2): 194–196 JUNE 2014
NOTES
RANGE EXTENSION OF THE MACROALGAE ANADYOMENE STELLATA
(WULF. IN JACQUIN) C. AGARDH AND RE-APPEARANCE OF
CAULERPA SERTULARIOIDES (S. G. GMEL.) M. HOWE IN THE LOWER
LAGUNA MADRE, TEXAS
HUDSON R. DEYOE*AND JOSEPH L. KOWALSKI
Center for Subtropical Studies, 1201 West University Drive, University of Texas–Pan American, Edinburg, TX 78539
*Correspondent: hdeyoe@utpa.edu
ABSTRACT—We report one new species of macroalgae, Anadyomene stellata, for the Lower Laguna Madre of
Texas, and range extensions that have occurred in the past 16 years for this and four other green algae.
Anadyomene stellata occurs only as an epiphyte on the red macroalgae, Digenia simplex.Caulerpa sertularioides has
not been seen in the Lower Laguna Madre since 1962. It has either been present in cryptic habitats for 50 years
near the Lower Laguna Madre or has recently expanded its range again into the Lower Laguna Madre.
Ecological consideration of the presence of these species is discussed.
RESUMEN—Reportamos una nueva especie de macroalga, Anadyomene stellata, en la Lower Laguna Madre de
Texas y las extensiones de las distribuciones geogr´aficas que han ocurrido en los ´
ultimos 16 a˜
nos de esta y otras
cuatro algas verdes. Anadyomene stellata ocurre s ´olo como un ep´ıfito en la macroalga roja, Digenia simplex.
Caulerpa sertulariodes no ha sido vista en la Lower Laguna Madre desde 1962. Ha estado presente cerca de la
Lower Laguna Madre en h´abitats cr´ıpticos por 50 a˜
nos o ha expandido su distribuci ´on otra vez en la Lower
Laguna Madre. Consideraci ´on ecol´ogica de la presencia de estas especies es discutida.
The appearance and establishment of several tropical
seaweeds have been documented in the Lower Laguna
Madre, Texas, in recent years. These are Caulerpa prolifera
(Forssk.) J. V. Lamour., Codium taylorii P. C. Silva (DeYoe
and Hockaday, 2001), Penicillus capitatus Lam. (Kowalski
et al., 2007), with Halimeda incrassata (J. Ellis) J. V.
Lamour. reported by Kaldy (1996). We report the
appearance and establishment of another green algae
Anadyomene stellata (Wulfen in Jacq.) C. Agardh.
We first collected A. stellata in September 2009 in the
central part of the lagoon (latitude 2680804900 N, longitude
97811052 00 W). The species has only been found attached
to the drifting macroalga Digenia simplex (Wulfen) C.
Agardh (Rhodophyta); however, not all D. simplex carry A.
stellata. The Digenia that carry A. stellata occurs only in the
region of the Lower Laguna Madre that has excellent
water-clarity and low nutrients.
Whole attached thalli of Caulerpa sertularioides (S. G.
Gmel.) M. Howe were collected in the western portion of
the Lower Laguna Madre (latitude 2680600.200 , longitude
97816015 00 W) in July 2012 during a survey of seagrass. No
collection of this alga has been reported in the Lower
Laguna Madre since that of Humm and Hildebrand
(1962). It is unclear if this species has extended its range
again into the Lower Laguna Madre as did P. capitatus
(Kowalski et al., 2007) or if it has always been present at
low densities in nearby cryptic habitats (deep water) but
only recently expanded its distribution into shallow waters
of the Lower Laguna Madre. We suggest the former
because fragments of C. sertularioides were first noted on
the shore of the Lower Laguna Madre in March 2010, but
not prior to this. Caulerpa sertularioides currently occupies
bare areas of unconsolidated sediment in the southwest-
ern portion of the Lower Laguna Madre at depths of
0.75–1.20 m.
The genus Anadyomene is found in tropical and
temperate regions of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific
oceans as well as in the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas
(Littler and Littler, 1991; Alves et al., 2011). Littler and
Littler (1991) list A. stellata as occurring in Florida and
the Caribbean region but not in Texas, while Littler and
Littler (2000) include Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, and
the Caribbean region but not Texas. The closest record to
Texas for A. stellata is the Flower Garden Banks off the
coast of Texas and Louisiana (Eiseman and Blair, 1982;
Hill and Lehman, 2008), but it also occurs in Florida
//titan/production/s/swna/live_jobs/swna-59-02/swna-59-02-06/layouts/swna-59-02-06.3d  7 November 2014  6:22 pm  Allen Press, Inc. Page 194

(Dawes et al., 1967) and Mexico (Littler and Littler, 1991)
particularly the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico (B. van
Tussenbroek, pers. comm.).
Occurring in tropical and subtropical waters (Lehman
and Manhart, 1997), the genus Caulerpa is widespread.
Humm and Hildebrand (1962) reported C. sertularioides
in water that was 0.9–1.5 m deep in the extreme southern
part of the lagoon. It also was found in Florida (Stam et
al., 2006), Mexico (Callejas Jim´enez et al., 2005) and
Nicaragua (Phillips et al., 1982). Hill and Lehman (2008)
listed Caulerpa for the Flower Garden Banks but did not
indicate which species. Wynne (2008) listed A. stellata and
C. sertularioides in his checklist of the benthic, marine
algae of Texas.
Considering that the Lower Laguna Madre is a fairly
open system with two connections to the Gulf of Mexico
and one connection to the Upper Laguna Madre and that
northerly long-shore currents from Mexico are common
in the warmer months, it is plausible that fragments of
thalli reach the Lower Laguna Madre from the tropical
waters of the eastern Mexican coast. Additionally, ships at
the Port of Brownsville may supply inocula through
ballast water-dumping. All the recent expansions into the
Lower Laguna Madre are green algae, and most are
siphonaceous. Perhaps, more cryptic species also are
present in the Lower Laguna Madre but have not been
noticed yet.
The Lower Laguna Madre is known for its lush beds of
seagrass and excellent recreational fishing. With new
macroalgal expansions comes the potential for compet-
itors with seagrass. Penicillus is not only a potential
competitor but, through its production of carbonates,
has the ability to locally change the character of the
sediment (Kowalski et al., 2007). Anadyomene is not of
concern at this time because it is not a large algae, its
biomass is low, and, so far, it only occurs attached to
Digenia simplex.Caulerpa are potential competitors (Glas-
by, 2013) because they grow horizontally through the
substrate using a stolon-rhizoid-like system and C.
sertulariodes is tall enough to potentially compete with
seagrass for light. In addition, C. sertularioides has
chemical defenses against large grazers (Paul and Fenical,
1986). We have found modest densities of C. sertularioides
(56–100 blades/m
2
) but, so far, not intermixed with
seagrass. Based on our observations, C. prolifera, also a
recent immigrant, has not attained densities that threaten
seagrass. The structure of the rhizomes of Caulerpa is
generally weak compared to that of seagrass. Caulerpa
have a seasonally variable index of leaf-area which results
in less sediment-trapping and stabilizing ability in
comparison to selected seagrass (Hendriks et al., 2010).
Widespread occurrence of C. sertularioides at the expense
of seagrass could locally destabilize the benthic environ-
ment. Ecological implications of the presence of C.
sertularioides need to be investigated further.
Specimens of each species have been deposited in the
University of Texas-Pan American Herbarium, Edinburg. This is
publication number CSS 2013-04 of the University of Texas-Pan
American Center for Subtropical Studies. Support for fieldwork
was provided by the University of Texas-Pan American Coastal
Studies Laboratory.
LITERATURE CITED
ALVES, A. M., L. M. DESOUZA GESTINARI,AND C. W. DONASCIMENTO
MOURA. 2011. Morphology and taxonomy of Anadyomene
species (Cladophorales, Chlorophyta) from Bah´ıa, Brazil.
Botanica Marina 54:135–145.
CALLEJAS JIM ´
ENEZ,M.E.,A.SENTIES GRANADOS,AND K. M.
DRECKMANN. 2005. Macroalgas bentonicas de Puerto Real,
Faro Santa Rosalia y Playa Preciosa, Campeche, M´exico, con
algunas consderaciones floristicas y ecologicas para el estado.
Hidrobiol´ogica 15:89–95.
DAWES, C. S., S. A. EARLE,AND F. C. CROLEY. 1967. The offshore
benthic flora of the southwest coast of Florida. Bulletin of
Marine Science 17:211–231.
DEYOE,H.R.,AND D. L. HOCKADAY. 2001. Range extensions of the
seaweeds Codium taylorii and Caulerpa prolifera in the Lower
Laguna Madre, Texas. Texas Journal of Science 53:190–192.
EISEMAN, N. J., AND S. M. BLAIR. 1982. New records and range
extensions of deepwater algae from East Flower Garden
Bank, Northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Contributions in Marine
Science 25:21–26.
GLASBY, T. M. 2013. Caulerpa taxifolia in seagrass meadows: killer
or opportunistic weed? Biological Invasions 15:1,017–1,035.
Hendriks, I., T. Bouma, E. Morris, and C. Duarte. 2010. Effects
of seagrasses and algae of the Caulerpa family on hydrody-
namics and particle-trapping rates. Marine Biology 157:473–
481.
HILL, E. M., AND R. L. LEHMAN. 2008. Algal community structure
of the East and West Flower Gardens, Northwestern Gulf of
Mexico. Texas Journal of Science 60:201–214.
HUMM, H. J., AND H. H. HILDEBRAND. 1962. Marine algae from the
Gulf coast of Texas and Mexico. Publications of the Institute
of Marine Science 8:227–268.
KALDY,J.E.1996.RangeextensionofHalimeda incrassata
(Chlorophyta, Bryopsidales): occurrence in the Lower
Laguna Madre of Texas. Southwestern Naturalist 41:419–423.
KOWALSKI, J. L., D. L. HOCKADAY,G.H.BOZA,JR., AND H. R. DEYOE.
2007. Re-occurrence of the tropical green macroalga,
Penicillus capitatus Lamarck (Chlorophyta: Bryopsidales), in
Lower Laguna Madre, Texas. Texas Journal of Science
59:305–310.
LEHMAN,R.L.,AND J. R. MANHART. 1997. A preliminary
comparison of restriction fragment patterns in the genus
Caulerpa (Chlorophyta) and the unique structure of the
chloroplast genome of Caulerpa sertularioides. Journal of
Phycology 33:1,055–1,062.
LITTLER,D.S.,AND M. M. LITTLER. 1991. Systematics of
Anadyomene species (Anadyomenaceae, Chlorophyta) in the
tropical Western Atlantic. Journal of Phycology 27:101–118.
LITTLER, D. S., AND M. M. LITTLER. 2000. Caribbean reef plants.
Offshore Graphics, Washington, D.C.
PAUL,V.J.,AND W. FENICAL. 1986. Chemical defense in tropical
green algae, order Caulerpales. Marine Ecology Progress
Series 34:157–169.
PHILLIPS, R. C., R. I. VADAS,AND N. ODGEN. 1982. The marine algae
//titan/production/s/swna/live_jobs/swna-59-02/swna-59-02-06/layouts/swna-59-02-06.3d  7 November 2014  6:22 pm  Allen Press, Inc. Page 195
June 2014 Notes

and seagrasses of Miskito Bank, Nicaragua. Aquatic Botany
13:187–195.
STAM, W., J. OLSEN,S.ZALESKI,S.MURRAY,K.BROWN,AND L.
WALTERS. 2006. A forensic and phylogenetic survey of Caulerpa
species (Caulerpales, Chlorophyta) from the Florida coast,
local aquarium shops, and e-commerce: Establishing a
proactive baseline for early detection. Journal of Phycology
42:1,113–1,124.
WYNNE, M. J. 2008. A checklist of benthic marine algae of the
coast of Texas. Gulf of Mexico Science 1:64–87.
Submitted 27 December 2012. Accepted 15 July 2013.
//titan/production/s/swna/live_jobs/swna-59-02/swna-59-02-06/layouts/swna-59-02-06.3d  7 November 2014  6:22 pm  Allen Press, Inc. Page 196
196 vol. 59, no. 2The Southwestern Naturalist

Queries for swna-59-02-06
This manuscript/text has been typeset from the submitted material. Please check this proof carefully to make sure
there have been no font conversion errors or inadvertent formatting errors. Allen Press.