Abstract

Marine wood borer’s ability to burrow into and destroy wood is well documented and they are considered an economic pest because of the extensive damage that their actions have on wooden marine structures. Marine wood borers have been recorded throughout the Caribbean, although not specifically in Barbados, the eastern-most Island in the Caribbean.

Barbados is influenced by current regimes which vary from North to South and by season. It has limited mangrove compared to less heavily developed islands. To investigate any marine wood borer species present and examine the effects of this oceanographic setting on recruitment of wood borers with a range of dispersal strategies, test wood panels were deployed at four sites in Barbados. They were replaced every 5-6 months a total of 4 times to measure species present as well as seasonal and geographical location variations of recruitment. At least 6 species of marine wood borers from three distinct taxa were recruited to the test panels.

4 species from the family Teredinidae (Bivalvia) were recorded:- Teredothyra domincensis, Bankia carinata, Teredo clappi and Teredo furcifera. In some panels the amphipod crustacean Tropichelura gomezi was in evidence and in some panels the isopod Paralimnoria andrewsi was in evidence, these two species were found in association with each other in several of the panels. This is the first observed recording for these six species in the waters of Barbados.

Records show that over 30 species within these three taxa are present throughout the Caribbean, however despite prolonged sampling 6 species were recorded. The small area of mangrove remaining on the shores of Barbados and the unique current regime could be negatively impacting the biodiversity. This research did not find any distinct differential by season or north/south location. However one site, the northern wreck site was significantly different in its consistent lack of external wood borer activity.

Additional Notes

Supervisor: Simon Cragg

Course: Master of Philosophy - MPhil

Date Deposited: 2017-05-08

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis12869.html