Document of bibliographic reference 359591

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

Marine macroinvertebrates fouled in marine anthropogenic litter in the Moroccan Mediterranean

Abstract

The existence of floating marine litter in marine environments enhances the potential for the transport of fouling organisms using these substrates as vectors. In this study, we examined the fouling organisms on different types of litter stranded on two beaches of the Moroccan Mediterranean. The study revealed 13 fouling species belonging to 8 phyla (Arthropoda, Bryozoa, Annelida, Mollusca, Cnidaria, Echinodermata, Chlorophyta, and Ochrophyta) on marine litter. Rafting vectors were almost exclusively made up of plastics and could mainly be attributed to land-based sources. The most common fouling species were the crustacean Lepas pectinata, Lepas anatifera, Perforatus perforatus, and bryozoan species. More taxa were found on large litter than on small litter. Relative substratum coverage was highest for bryozoan sp. (31.0 %), green algae (29.0 %), Lepas anatifera (21.42 %), Lepas pectinata (17.8 %), and Perforatus perforatus (17.46 %). Our results suggest that the growing generation of plastic litter may enhance the probability of the introduction of non-native species into the Moroccan Mediterranean. Therefore, monitoring efforts are needed to identify vectors and the arrival of novel invasive species in this area.

WebOfScience code

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000882414500003

Bibliographic citation

Mghili, B.; De-la-Torre, G.E.; Analla, M.; Aksissou, M. (2022). Marine macroinvertebrates fouled in marine anthropogenic litter in the Moroccan Mediterranean. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 185(Part A): 114266. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114266

Topic

Marine

Is peer reviewed

true