Reversing a reported case of transoceanic dispersal: Nudibranch identifications among tsunami debris.

ABSTRACT: In the aftermath of the 2011 east Japanese earthquake and tsunami, anthropogenic debris from the east coast of Japan floated across the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of North America. One such vessel from Iwate Prefecture arrived on the coast of Oregon, and the fouling community included specimens identified as the nudibranch Hermissenda crassicornis, which was previously thought to range from Japan to Baja California but has since been split into three species: H. crassicornis (northeastern Pacific), H. opalescens (southeastern Pacific), and H. emurai (western Pacific). Also aboard were nudibranchs of the genera Dendronotus and Eubranchus. Previous work suggested that all of the motile invertebrates found in the tsunami debris fouling community were either pelagic or Japanese in origin.

SUBMITTER: Montana KO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11637273 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature