EASIN - European Alien Species Information Network

Agnese Marchini
6/23/2020 10:18 AM

I would like to report a publication where a new species alien to Europe is reported: Gouillieux, B., Ariyama, H., Costa, A. C., Daffe, G., Marchini, A., Micael, J., & Ulman, A. (2020). New records of Ericthonius didymus Krapp-Schickel, 2013 (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Ischyroceridae) in European waters with a focus in Arcachon Bay, France and key to Ericthonius species. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 100(3), 401-412. URL: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025315420000247 This amphipod was described in the beginning of 2000's in the Lagoon of Venice by Krapp-Schickel, T. (2013). New or amended data on Mediterranean Amphipoda: genera Dexamine, Ericthonius and Stenothoe. Zootaxa, 3613(2): 125-145. It was then assumed as an 'endemic' species there. Following subsequent records in Arcachon (France, Atlantic: 2013-2017), Sao Miguel - Azores (Portugal: 2014), and Port Camargue (France, Mediterranean: 2015), it was submitted to genetic analyses. Results showed strong affinity of E. didymus to other Indo-Pacific Ericthonius species. The paper also states: "Despite a first description in the Lagoon of Venice, the facts cited in Ulman et al. (2017) may suggest that E. didymus may be an introduced species. The new data presented here further corroborate this hypothesis: all the known European records of E. didymus (Lagoon of Venice, Arcachon Bay, Port Camargue and São Miguel, Azores) are from sites of intense shellfish trade, and/or shipping and boating, which are considered the most powerful vectors of introduction of marine non-indigenous species in western Europe (Katsanevakis et al., 2013; Galil et al., 2014). And in fact, all these four sites represent ‘hotspots’ of introduction of marine species (Boudouresque et al., 2011; Lavesque et al., 2013; Chainho et al., 2015; Marchini et al., 2015). The distribution restricted to sites affected by human introductions, combined with the high genetic affinity of E. didymus with species of western Pacific distribution, its scarce capabilities of natural spreading, and the invasion history of other species within this genus (Marchini & Cardeccia, 2017), altogether suggest an exotic native origin and a human-mediated introduction of E. didymus."

Thread Discussion: New Species(?) - Ericthonius didymus