Abstract
Bivalves of the family Teredinidae are among the most destructive wood-boring species in the sea. We report the first occurrences of the warm-water shipworm Teredo bartschi in Mersin, Turkey, and Olhao, Portugal. The colonisation of the site in Mersin is likely to have occurred by rafting adults originating from the Red Sea, which passed through the Suez Canal (lessepsian migrants). T. bartschi might have been introduced in Olhao Harbour, Portugal, either by rafting adults with larvae transported by currents or by larvae transported by ships in ballast water. These seem to be the first published records of established T. bartschi populations in the Mediterranean and in northeast Atlantic.
Highlights
The Mollusca is the group with the highest number of alien species in the Mediterranean Sea (Zenetos et al 2012) and in European waters (Katsanevakis et al 2013)
Teredo bartschi specimens recruited and grew to maturity in wooden panels exposed in Mersin, Turkey in 2002/2003 and 2012/2013 and this species was considered established, according to the definition of Turner (1966)
In surveys carried out in 2007 and 2010, T. bartschi did not recruit to the collecting panels exposed in the area
Summary
The Mollusca is the group with the highest number of alien species in the Mediterranean Sea (Zenetos et al 2012) and in European waters (Katsanevakis et al 2013). The detection of new invasive teredinid species in European coastal waters is, of particular importance. Invasive species are in general hard to detect in the early phase of colonisation (Kamburska et al 2013), this is so in the case of teredinids because their habitat, wood, makes them inconspicuous to most types of surveys. The tunnels they excavate are not visible from the exterior. These organisms can go undetected until the wood is heavily colonised (Turner 1966)
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