NEW ALIEN SPECIES IN THE BALTIC SEA – THE CLAM RANGIA CUNEATA (BIVALVIA: MACTRIDAE)
Keywords:
Vistula Lagoon, Baltic Sea, first record, alien clam, invasion, Mactridae, Rangia cuneataAbstract
An estuarine mollusc Rangia cuneata (G. B. Sowerby I, 1831) was found in the Vistula Lagoon, Baltic Sea in July 2011. The species was recorded in the European water (North Sea) in 2005, but it is new for the Baltic Sea fauna. Already the first finding detected a wide distribution of the invader over the whole lagoon. Not only juveniles, but also adult specimens up to 3 – 4 cm long were in population. R. cuneata is abundant and dominates in lagoon in benthos’s biomass. Invasion started a bit earlier than a year ago, because the species was absent in macrobenthos in July 2010.
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