First evidence of establishment of the rayed pearl oyster, Pinctada imbricata radiata (Leach, 1814), in the eastern Adriatic Sea

Ana Gavrilović; Marina Piria; Xiang-Zhao Guo; Jurica Jug-Dujaković; Ana Ljubučić; Alen Krkić; Neven Iveša; Bruce A Marshall; Jonathan P A Gardner

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.10.045

First evidence of establishment of the rayed pearl oyster, Pinctada imbricata radiata (Leach, 1814), in the eastern Adriatic Sea

Mar Pollut Bull. 2017 Dec 15;125(1-2):556-560. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.10.045. Epub 2017 Oct 28.

Authors

Ana Gavrilović¹, Marina Piria², Xiang-Zhao Guo³, Jurica Jug-Dujaković⁴, Ana Ljubučić⁵, Alen Krkić⁶, Neven Iveša⁷, Bruce A Marshall⁸, Jonathan P A Gardner⁹

Affiliations

¹ Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Department of Natural and Health Sciences, Zagrebačka 30, 52100, Croatia.
² University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Fisheries, Beekeeping, Game Management and Special Zoology, Svetošimunska 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. Electronic address: mpiria@agr.hr.
³ School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, P O Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand; Key Laboratory of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Fisheries, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, PR China; Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430070, PR China.
⁴ Sustainable Aquaculture Systems Inc., 715 Pittstown Road, Frenchtown, NJ 08825, USA.
⁵ Independent researcher, dr. Ante Sugje 2, 20 000 Dubrovnik, Croatia.
⁶ Riba Mljet d.o.o., Svetog Križa 3, 20000 Dubrovnik, Croatia.
⁷ Eko-Adria d.o.o., Boškovićev uspon 16, 52100 Pula, Croatia.
⁸ Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand.
⁹ School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, P O Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.

PMID: 29089113
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.10.045

Abstract

The Mediterranean Sea is increasingly under threat from invasive species that may negatively affect biodiversity and/or modify ecosystem structure and function. The bivalve mollusc Pinctada imbricata radiata is listed among the 100 most invasive species in the Mediterranean. A first finding of an established population of P. imbricata radiata in the coastal waters of the eastern Adriatic Sea, is presented in this paper. Six and then 30 live specimens were collected in 2015 and in 2017, respectively, at depths of 5 to 15m from the island of Mljet, Croatia. DNA sequencing of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I gene (COI) revealed three different haplotypes. All samples showed greatest similarity (98 to >99%) to P. radiata COI sequence records in GenBank (=P. imbricata radiata as used in this paper). A Neighbour Joining tree placed all Croatian samples within the 100% bootstrap supported clade for P. imbricata radiata.

Keywords: Alien species; Barcode of life; Cytochrome c oxidase I (COI); Island of Mljet; Lessepsian migration; Mitochondrial DNA.

MeSH terms

Animals
Croatia
Ecosystem
Electron Transport Complex IV / genetics
Environmental Monitoring
Haplotypes
Introduced Species*
Islands
Mediterranean Sea
Pinctada* / genetics
Sequence Analysis, DNA

Substances

Electron Transport Complex IV