Spirobranchus kraussii

Spirobranchus kraussii (Baird, 1865)

Figs 9 C–E, 10

Pomatoleios cariniferus var. Kraussii Baird, 1865: 13–15 (type locality: Promontorio Bonae Spei [= Cape of Good Hope], South Africa).

Pomatoleios crosslandi Pixell, 1913: 85–86, pl. 9, fig. 10 (type locality: Ras Shangani and Chwaka, Zanzibar, Tanzania, East Africa).

Pomatoleios kraussii – Day 1967: 800–801, fig. 38.3a–f, Cape and Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal), South Africa and Mozambique). — Straughan 1967: 235 (Queensland, Australia; intertidal; forming colonies). — Straughan 1969: 235–236 (Coconut Island (or Moku o Loʻe), Hawaii; intertidal to 1.5 m; rocks and coral rubble on reef flat and on fouling plates). — Imajima 1976a: 135–136 (Tanegashima Island, southern Japan). — Bailey-Brock 1976: 77–78 (Oahu Island, Maui Island and Hawaii Island; rocky intertidal, reef flats, epifauna of mobile substrata (mollusks and crustaceans) and boat harbors). — Imajima 1977: 100–101 (Ogasawara Islands, southern Japan; intertidal; on reefs and rocks in sheltered areas). — Imajima 1978: 54–56, fig. 3a–j (Ō-shima Island, southern Japan; intertidal). — Imajima 1979: 178 (Sabiura and near Andonohana, Shionomisaki Cape, southern Japan; intertidal, on rock). — Zibrowius 1979: 133–134 (Toulon, France: on hull of the aircraft carrier “Foch” and the navy ship “Balny” after returning from Indian Ocean missions via the Suez Canal and western Africa, respectively). — Imajima 1982: 50 (Arumizu Bay, Palau Islands). — Bailey-Brock 1987: 421, fig. 3.11.193 (Hawaii; on intertidal reefs flats and in shallow subtidal waters). — Ben-Eliahu & ten Hove 1992: 37–44, 52–53 (Israel, as Lessepsian migrant; intertidal to 6 m; on the gastropod Thais haemostoma (Linnaeus, 1758), now Stramonita haemastoma, on or under rocks, and on asbestos plates). — ten Hove & van den Hurk 1993: 35, fig. 3A (discussion about serpulids and intertidal zonation). — Nishi 1993: 30–31, figs 1–2 (Okinawa Island, Southwest Japan; fouling on piers and concrete wall). — Ishaq & Mustaquim 1996: 172–174, fig. 7A–F (Karachi, Pakistan; intertidal; on rocks and buoy). — Fiege & Sun 1999: 130–131, fig. 18A–D (Hainan Island, South China Sea). — Çinar 2006: 231, fig. 8 (as NIS from eastern Levantine coast of Turkey). — Bastida-Zavala 2008: 33, fig. 7N–O (brief diagnosis). — Carlton & Eldredge 2009: 62 (Hawaii; invasion history). — Ben-Eliahu & ten Hove 2011: 43–45 (Israel and Suez Canal; 0.5–6 m; on the gastropod S. haemastoma, under stones, and on artificial substrates such as a breakwater and asbestos plates). — Sun et al. 2012: 28–30, fig. 12A–F (Hong Kong; intertidal to 1 m; rocky bottom). — Carlton & Eldredge 2015: 34 (Hawaii; introduction confirmed).

Pomatoleios crosslandi – Lakshmana Rao 1969: 9–10, pl. 7, figs a–e (Visakhapatnam, Madras, now Chennai, and Bombay, now Mumbai, India; harbours).

Spirobranchus kraussii – Pillai 2009: 146–148, 168, fig. 49E–G, new combination (United Arab Emirates, Persian Gulf).

Material examined

One specimen: HI (1) Sep. 2006.

Additional material

More than 100 specimens: colony, from Umhlali, Natal, South Africa (LACMNH-N 5217).

Diagnosis

Tube white, apparently broken, with a longitudinal ridge (Fig. 9D). Opercular peduncle yellowish, with triangular, smooth and thick wings (Fig. 9C). Operculum yellowish, with slightly concave calcareous plate (Fig. 9C). Without collar chaetae. Based on the size, this specimen is an adult (Fig. 9C).

Taxonomic remarks

Specimens from Natal, South Africa (LACMNH-N5217), build colonies; however, material from this locality differed slightly from our specimen (from Hawaii) and from the original description in that the tubes have two longitudinal ridges ending in a flap above the mouth of the tube (Fig. 9E), while our only specimen had a single longitudinal ridge. This was in line with the original description which says “…dorsal keel is perhaps rather flatter and less sharp-pointed at its extremity” (Baird 1865: 15). Comparison of the different populations of Spirobranchus kraussii from the Indian Ocean, the western Pacific and Hawaii should be reexamined together to facilitate a genus revision.

Although Spirobranchus kraussii is a very common fouling species that attaches to many different types of artificial substrate (Straughan 1969; Bailey-Brock 1976; Zibrowius 1979; Ben-Eliahu & ten Hove 1992; Nishi 1993), it was only recorded once in our surveys.

Ecology

Intertidal to 6 m (Ben-Eliahu & ten Hove 1992). The nominal species is found on or under intertidal rocks, coral rubble on the reef flat, as epifauna of mobile substrata (mollusks and crustaceans), on the gastropod Stramonita haemastoma, and artificial substrates such as asbestos plates, fouling plates, piers, concrete wall, breakwaters, buoys, in boat harbours and the hulls of navy ships (Straughan 1967; Bailey-Brock 1976; Zibrowius 1979; Ben-Eliahu& ten Hove 1992; Nishi1993; Ishaq & Mustaquim 1996; Ben-Eliahu & ten Hove 2011).

Distribution

The nominal species has an Indo-Pacific distribution: South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, India, Australia, southern Japan, Palau Island, Hawaii (Pixell 1913; Day 1967; Straughan 1967, 1969; Ishaq & Mustaquim 1996; Pillai 2009); and as NIS in the Mediterranean Sea (Zibrowius 1979; Ben-Eliahu & ten Hove 1992). In this survey, only one specimen of Spirobranchus kraussii was found, on a fouling plate from Oahu, Hawaii (Fig. 10).