The global invader Paracerceis sculpta (Isopoda: Sphaeromatidae) has extended its range to the Azores Archipelago

Abstract

The occurrence of Paracerceis sculpta (Holmes, 1904) in the Macaronesia biogeographical region is reported for the first time. This isopod, native from the northeastern Pacific region, has probably been transported as hull fouling, hiding in either niche areas of vessels or associated with fouling bryozoans. Specimens of P. sculpta were collected from bryozoans or other fouling organisms colonizing the marina structures. From the three distinct sexually mature male morphs of P. sculpta, only the larger was found, confirming the absence of the two smaller male morphs in an introduced population. Paracerceis sculpta is the first non-indigenous marine isopod reported in the Azores Archipelago. Environmental impacts on non-indigenous areas for this isopod are unknown; nevertheless, the occurrence of P. sculpta in the Azores Archipelago corresponds to the link between both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and is evidence of the ongoing processes of biotic homogenization of marine communities on a global scale.