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Red Rock Worm

Marphysa sanguinea (Montagu 1813)

Alien species

provided by World Register of Marine Species
Although Wijnhoven & Dekker (2010), followed by Hutchings et al. (2012), place Marphysa sanguinea (Montagu, 1813) as a new alien in the Netherlands, its type locality is nearby in the English Channel. Marphysa sanguinea, even if speculated that the English Channel is not its 'true' native habitat (no one yet appears to have proposed this, and Hutchings & Karageorgopoulos (2003:93) write that "... we suggest that the [neotype material] does not represent an introduced species"), has been present for at least two hundred years in the English Channel area, and conceivably for millions of years. Rather than a range extension to the Netherlands, or an alien arrival this species should be considered native there on present evidence, due to close proximity of locations. In a subsequent article Lavesque et al (2019) did not revisit whether Marphysa sanguinea could continue to be regarded as alien in the Netherlands, There appears to be no molecular data yet available confirming these records as the original Devon M. sanguinea, but morphologically they are that species, thus there is no reason to regard M. sanguinea as alien in the Netherlands. Martin, Gil, et al (2020: 27) also discuss this issue and appear to agree with this position. They suggest the apparent rarity in the Netherlands is "more likely connected with the natural limit of its distribution, rather than to a human mediated introduction, with the recent findings in the area more probably resulting from [...] more exhaustive monitoring programs". [G Read, updated 08/07/2019 and 24/01/20].

References

  • Wijnhoven, S.; Dekker, A. (2010). Records of a new alien polychaete worm species, Marphysa sanguinea (Montagu, 1815) (Eunicidae) in the Eastern Scheldt, the Netherlands. Aquatic Invasions. 5(4): 431-436.
  • Lavesque, Nicolas; Daffe, Guillemine; Grall, Jacques; Zanol, Joana; Gouillieux, Benoit; Hutchings, Pat. (2019). Guess who? On the importance of using appropriate name: case study of Marphysa sanguinea (Montagu, 1813). ZooKeys. 859: 1-15.
  • Martin, Daniel; Gil, João; Zanol, Joana; Meca, Miguel Ángel; Pérez Portela, Rocío. (2020). Digging the diversity of Iberian bait worms Marphysa (Annelida, Eunicidae). PLOS ONE. 15(1): e0226749.

license
cc-by-4.0
copyright
WoRMS Editorial Board
contributor
Read, Geoffrey [email]

Distribution

provided by World Register of Marine Species
Currently the distribution of Marphysa sanguinea is confirmed for the English Channel (on both coasts) to Netherlands, and south to Arcachon on the French coast. All other reports need verification and may be other Marphysa species.

References

  • Montagu, G. (1813). Descriptions of several new or rare animals, principally marine, discovered on the south coast of Devonshire. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 11(1): 1–26, pls. 1–5.
  • Lavesque, Nicolas; Daffe, Guillemine; Grall, Jacques; Zanol, Joana; Gouillieux, Benoit; Hutchings, Pat. (2019). Guess who? On the importance of using appropriate name: case study of Marphysa sanguinea (Montagu, 1813). ZooKeys. 859: 1-15.

license
cc-by-4.0
copyright
WoRMS Editorial Board
contributor
Read, Geoffrey [email]