Lepas spp. ON TAR BALLS LANDED IN PERNAMBUCO COAST IN 2022

Lepas spp. ON TAR BALLS LANDED IN PERNAMBUCO COAST IN 2022

• Autor
• Davy Barbosa Bérgamo
• Co-autores
• Nykon Craveiro , Karine Matos Magalhães , Gilvan Takeshi Yogui , Eliete Zanardi-Lamardo , Lino Angel Valcárcel Rojas , Maria Cecília Santana de Lima , Jose Souto Rosa Filho
• Resumo

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  Tar balls similar to other floating materials can remain float in the ocean for a long time until landing in the coastal regions, and act as substrates for several marine organisms, such as gooseneck barnacles Lepas anatifera and Lepas anserifera used as a reliable proxy to estimate the floating time of objects in the sea. This study compares the tar balls of two landfall moments of 2022, August and September, using the physical characteristics of the tar balls and the population of Lepas spp. as examples of the possible implications of the dispersion of marine species in floating objects. A total of 27 tar balls were collected in August and September 2022 in sandy beaches in Pernambuco, northeastern Brazi. The attached organisms were identified to species level. The capitulum of Lepas spp. were measured and their internal structures were examined to determine the maturation stage. There were 400 Lepas anserifera and two L. anatifera, oceanic cosmopolitan species, commonly found in the Atlantic Ocean. The specimens recorded in August had an age from 18 to 55 days old and of September from 14 to 66 days old. According to our longest estimate, the oil spill occurred in early July to August 2022, and the different date of landfall may be due to a discontinuous oil spill or retention of some tar balls in currents and ocean gyres. The similar physical and biological characteristics indicating the same origin and displacement trajectories of tar balls of August and September. Ovigerous lamellae were present only in L. anserifera  and the dominance of this species it is explaining by the shorter maturation length and faster growth allowed its successive reproductive cycles that resulted in three generations before the tar balls stranded on the coast. The occurrence of animals attached to the tar balls highlights these objects as potential vectors of dispersal of species from other parts of the world to Brazil, requiring precautions against possible impacts caused by the introduction of non-indigenous species.

• Palavras-chave
• Oil spills; Rafting organisms; Drifter; Dispersion; Time estimators.
• Modalidade
• Comunicação oral
• Área Temática
• Ecologia (Invertebrados)

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