Creature from the Ria de Aveiro Lagoon. Did I just catch an alien species?

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Creature from the Ria de Aveiro Lagoon. Did I just catch an alien species? Francisco R. Maia1* 1 Portuguese Institute of Ocean and Atmosphere (IPMA), Portugal The present communication reports the occurrence of the alien soft-shell clam Mya arenaria (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Ria de Aveiro lagoon (NW Portugal). A total of 47 living specimens were collected in spring 2013 (April) and winter 2019 (January) in an intertidal mudflat located at the upstream end of Mira channel (400 32’ 23 N; 80 45’ 56 W). In this area, the soft-shell clam was able to maintain a well-established population in close coexistence with another endobenthic bivalve species, the native clam Scrobicularia plana. The soft-shell clam Mya arenaria is native to the Atlantic coasts of North America and its probably the first marine invasive species recorded in European waters. Presumably, it was introduced in the North Sea by the Vikings in the 13th century (Peterson et al., 1992), from which it spread throughout its current distribution. At present, it is commonly found along the coasts of the North and the Baltic Seas, northern Adriatic Sea, the Black Sea, on all British and Irish coasts, France, Spain, Portugal and in the Mediterranean Sea. The ability to survive in a wide range of habitats; the capacity to tolerate a broad set of environmental conditions at all life stages; the high fecundity levels; and the long-lived planktonic larval stage, have been proposed to explain the long-distance dispersal of this species and its success as an invader. To our knowledge, there isn’t any scientific evidence reporting negative effects of Mya arenaria on Ria de Aveiro ecosystems. Nevertheless, some authors refer that this species has the capacity to change the surrounding environment through its burrowing, feeding and excretory activities, and it is capable to outcompete native bivalve species for space and food, reducing diversity, distribution and abundance of those species. For this reason, more research is needed to better evaluate and fully understand the long-term impacts of Mya arenaria on the native bivalve assemblages of Ria de Aveiro lagoon. References Petersen K.S., Rasmussen, K.L., Heinemeier, J., and Rud, N. (1992). Clams before Columbus? Nature, 359:679 Keywords: Mya arenaria, soft-shell clam, alien species, Invasions, Ria de Aveiro lagoon, Portugal Conference: XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) , Braga, Portugal, 9 Sep - 12 Sep, 2019. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Global Change, Invasive Species and Conservation Citation: Maia FR (2019). Creature from the Ria de Aveiro Lagoon. Did I just catch an alien species?. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) . doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2019.08.00039 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 06 Apr 2019; Published Online: 27 Sep 2019. * Correspondence: Dr. Francisco R Maia, Portuguese Institute of Ocean and Atmosphere (IPMA), Lisbon, Portugal, maia.francisco@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Francisco R Maia Google Francisco R Maia Google Scholar Francisco R Maia PubMed Francisco R Maia Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.