Biogeographic distribution
Figure 15: Orange markings illustrate the distribution and region of documented findings of B. leachi.
B. leachi should have a global distribution although only sightings across the Mediterranean, the USA, Australia, and the Indo-Pacific region have been documented (Figure 15) (Brunetti et al., 1980, Davie, 2011, Myers, 1990).
An experiment done by Brunetti, Beghi, Bressan and Marin, discovered the temperature and salinity parameters for the colonial form of B. leachi (1980). 16°C was the minimum temperature for colonial growth in both young and old colonies, while the maximum temperature tolerable for growth was not found (Brunetti et al., 1980). Old colonies were able to grow at 24.0 ppt salinity at 18°C, but young colonies could only grow at this minimum salinity when the temperature was at least 22°C (Brunetti et al., 1980). At 44.0 ppt salinity, regardless of the temperature, no colonial growth was observed in young and old colonies (Brunetti et al., 1980).
|