Abstract
A study of marine boring and fouling organisms in the vicinity of the thermal effluent from the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, USA has been conducted since 1971. Two subtropical species of shipworms have been found in significant numbers in the effluent. These are Teredo bartschi Clapp and Teredo furcifera von Martens. The shipworm Lyrodus sp. and the flatworm Taenioplana teredini Hyman, which is predatory on teredinids, were also found, but on only one occasion. The polychaete Ficopomatus enigmaticus (Fauvel) has been found for the first time on the Atlantic Coast of North America. Three other polychaetes, Potamilla (Potamethus) spathiferus (Ehlers), Loimia medusa (Savigny), and Sphaerosyllis sp., have been newly identified from Barnegat Bay, but probably are not recent range extensions. Only T. bartschi, T. furcifera, and F. enigmaticus have established breeding populations. Their distributions and abundances are probably related to the thermal effluent; this is most clear in the case of T. bartschi and least clear in the case of F. enigmaticus. T. bartschi was confined at first to the heated effluent in Oyster Creek, but has spread to Forked River. It has become a major faunal element in Oyster Creek. The impact of the other exotic species has been negligible. The primary mechanism of the range extensions is by boat transport.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Battelle Columbus Laboratories: Annual report on a monitoring program on the ecology of the marine environment of the Millstone Point, Connecticut area to Northeast Utilities Service Company, Section A: Exposure Panels. Report No. 14892 (1979)
Crisp, D. J. and A. H. N. Molesworth: Habitat of Balanus amphitrite var. denticulata in Britain. Nature, Lond. 167, 489–492 (1950)
Day, J. H.: New Polychaeta from Beaufort, with a key to all species recorded from North Carolina. NOAA Technical Report. NMFS CIRC-375, 1–140 (1973)
Edmondson, C. H.: Natural enemies of shipworms in Hawaii. Trans. Am. microsc. Soc. 64, 220–224 (1945)
Hartman, O.: The littoral marine annelids of the Gulf of Mexico. Publs Inst. mar. Sci. Univ. Tex. 2, 7–124 (1951)
Hoagland, K. E. and L. Crocket: Analysis of populations of boring and fouling organisms in the vicinity of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station over the period: Sept. 1, 1977–Aug. 31, 1978. Annual Progress Report to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NUREG/CR-0634. 114 pp. Available from NTIS, Springfield, VA. 22161, USA (1979)
Hoagland, K. E., L. Crocket and M. Rochester: Analysis of populations of boring and fouling organisms in the vicinity of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station over the period: Sept. 1–Nov. 30, 1977. 5th report to the U.S. N.R.C. 43 pp. (1978a)
Hoagland, K. E., L. Crocket and M. Rochester: Analysis of populations of boring and fouling organisms in the vicinity of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station over the period: December 1, 1977–Feb. 28, 1978. 6th report to the U.S. N.R.C. NUREG/CR-0223. 44 pp. Available from NTIS, Springfield, Va. 22161, USA (1978b)
Hoagland, K. E., L. Crocket and M. Rochester: Analysis of populations of boring and fouling organisms in the vicinity of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station over the period: March 1–May 31, 1978. 7th report to the U.S. N.R.C. NUREG/CR-0380. 42 pp. Available from NTIS, Springfield, Va. 22161, USA (1978c)
Hoagland, K. E., M. Rochester and L. Crocket: Analysis of populations of boring and fouling organisms in the vicinity of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station over the period: June 1–Aug. 31, 1977. 4th report to the U.S. N.R.C. 48 pp. Available from the authors, and at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Public Document Room, Washington, D.C. 20555, USA (1977c)
Hoagland, K. E., M. Rochester and R. D. Turner: Analysis of populations of boring and fouling organisms in the vicinity of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station over the period: March 1–May 31, 1977. 3rd report to the U.S. N.R.C. 26 pp. Available from the authors, and at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Public Document Room, Washington, D.C. 20555, USA (1977d)
Hoagland, K. E., R. D. Turner and M. Rochester: Analysis of populations of boring and fouling organisms in the vicinity of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station over the period: April 30–Nov. 30, 1976. 1st report to the U.S. N.R.C. 61 pp. Available from the authors, and at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Public Document Room, Washington, D.C. 20555, USA (1977a)
Hoagland, K. E., R. D. Turner and M. Rochester: Analysis of populations of boring and fouling organisms in the vicinity of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station over the period: Dec. 1, 1976–Feb. 28, 1977. 2nd report to the U.S. N.R.C. 61 pp. Available from the authors, and at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Public Document Room, Washington, D.CC. 20555, USA. (1977b)
ten Hove, H. A. and J. C. A. Weerdenburg: A generic revision of the brackish-water serpulid Ficopomatus Southern 1921 (Polychaeta: Serpulinae), including Mercierella Fauvel 1923, Sphaeropomatus Treadwell 1934, Mercierellopsis Rioja 1945 and Neopomatus Pillai 1960. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 154, 96–120 (1978)
Jersey Central Power and Light Company: Oyster Creek and Forked River Nuclear Generating Stations 316 (a) and (b) Demonstration. 5 volumes, including text and Appendices A-F. Available from Jersey Central Power and Light Company, Morristown, New Jersey 07960, USA. (1978)
Lane, C. E., J. Q. Tierney, and R. E. Hennacy: The respiration of normal larvae of Teredo bartschi Clapp. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 106, 323–327 (1954)
Mountford, N. K., A. F. Holland, and J. A. Mihursky: Identification and description of macrobenthic communities in the Calvert Cliffs region of the Chesapeake Bay. Chesapeake Sci. 18, 360–369 (1977)
Naylor, E.: Biological effects of a heated effluent in docks at Swansea, S. Wales. Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 144, 253–268 (1965 a)
Naylor, E.: Effects of heated effluents upon marine and estuarine organisms. Adv. Mar. Biol. 3, 63–103 (1965 b)
Nelson, T. C.: The European pile worm, a dangerous marine borer in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. New Jersey Agr. Exper. Sta. Circular 139, 1–15 (1922)
Nelson, T. C.: Report of the biologist, in: Report of the Department of Biology of the New Jersey Agricultural College Exper. Sta. for the Year ending June 30, 1922, 43rd Annual Report, 321–343 (1923)
Nelson-Smith, A.: Annelids as fouling organisms. In: Marine borers, fungi, and fouling organisms of wood, pp 171–184. Ed. by E. B. G. Jones and S. K. Eltringham. Paris, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 1971
Rasmussen, E.: Emigranter i Københavns sydhavn. Naturens Verd. no. 8, 231–234, 246–248, 5 figs. [in Danish] (1958)
Richards, B. R., A. E. Rehm, C. I. Belmore and R. E. Hillman: Woodborer study associated with the Oyster Creek Generating Station. Annual report for the period June 1, 1975 to May 31, 1976 to Jersey Central Power and Light Company. November 30, 1976, 158 pp, Available from Jersey Central Power and Light Company, Morristown, New Jersey 07960, USA (1976)
Richards, B. R., A. E. Rehm, C. I. Belmore and R. E. Hillman: Woodborer study associated with the Oyster Creek Generating Station. Annual report for the period June 1, 1976 to November 30, 1977, to Jersey Central Power and Light Company. February 1, 1978, 242 pp. Available from Jersey Central Power and Light Company, Morristown, New Jersey 07960, USA (1978)
Ryland, J. S. and A. P. Austin: Three species of Kamptozoa new to Britain. Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 133, 423–432 (1960)
Taylor, J.: Polychaetous annelids and benthic environments in Tampa Bay, Florida, 1333 pp. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Florida 1971. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms #72-16, 663.
Turner, R. D.: Illustrated catalogue of the Teredinidae (Mollusca: Bivalvia), 265 pp. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University 1966
Turner, R. D.: First report on marine borers in Oyster Creek, Waretown, New Jersey, 30 pp. April 3, 1973. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University (1973)
Turner, R. D.: In the path of a warm, saline effluent. American Malacological Union Bull. for 1973 39, 36–41 (1974 a)
Turner, R. D.: Fourth report on marine borers in Oyster Creek: the introduction of Teredo furcifera von Martens into Oyster Creek, Waretown, New Jersey, 4 pp. August 27, 1974. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University (1974 b)
Turner, R. D. and A. C. Johnson: Biology of marine wood-boring molluscs. In: Marine borers, fungi, and fouling organisms of wood, pp 259–301. Ed. by E. B. G. Jones and S. K. Eltringham. Paris, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 1971
Wolff, W. J.: Mercierella enigmatica Fauvel, een borstelworm van het brakke water, voor, het eerst in Nederland gevonden. Levende Nat. 72, 85–92 [in Dutch] (1969)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by I. Morris, West Boothbay Harbor
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hoagland, K.E., Turner, R.D. Range extensions of teredinids (shipworms) and polychaetes in the vicinity of a temperate-zone nuclear generating station. Mar. Biol. 58, 55–64 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00386880
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00386880