A round-the-world tour almost completed: first records of the invasive mussel Musculista senhousia in the north-east Atlantic (southern Bay of Biscay)
Résumé
The Asian date mussel Musculista senhousia, previously recorded from the Pacific coast of North America, Australasia and the Mediterranean, is reported for the first time from the Atlantic coast of Europe in Arcachon Bay, where it occurs intertidally and to depths of 5 m. It has been present in Arcachon Bay since 2002 and has since been found in 2006 within two further inlets of the Bay of Biscay, Hossegor Lake and the Bidasoa estuary. Their appearance is probably associated with oyster transfer from Thau lagoon in the Mediterranean Sea to Arcachon Bay.