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New records of the pygmy mussel Xenostrobus securis (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) in brackish-water biotopes of the western Mediterranean provide evidence of its invasive potential

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2011

Michele Barbieri ,
Ferruccio Maltagliati ,
Graziano Di Giuseppe ,
Piero Cossu ,
Claudio Lardicci  and
Alberto Castelli
Michele Barbieri*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia, via Derna 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Ferruccio Maltagliati
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia, via Derna 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Graziano Di Giuseppe
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia, via Derna 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Piero Cossu
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia, via Derna 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Claudio Lardicci
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia, via Derna 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Alberto Castelli
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia, via Derna 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: M. Barbieri, Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Pisa via Derna 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy email: mbarbieri@biologia.unipi.it
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Abstract

The present study reports new records of the invasive pygmy mussel Xenostrobus securis in six brackish-water localities in the western Mediterranean. Until now X. securis, whose native range includes southern Australia and New Zealand, was also known from the northern Adriatic Sea and southern France. Along the coast of northern Tuscany (Italy) X. securis invaded brackish-water canals in the area between the port of Leghorn and the mouth of the Arno River. Moreover, this mussel has been found in one inner site of the Gulf of Olbia (north-eastern Sardinia, Italy) and at the mouth of the Fluvià River (northern Catalonia, Spain). As an ecosystem engineer, X. securis is an ecologically important species, heavily altering pre-existing benthic communities. Given that its presence in other western Mediterranean sites is highly possible, we recommend a closer monitoring of brackish-water biotopes.

Keywords

molluscsbivalvesXenostrobus securisalien speciesbrackish-water habitatsecosystem engineerwestern Mediterranean
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 4 , December 2011 , e48
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2011

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