The New Zealand mud snail potamopyrgus antipodarum (J.E. Gray, 1853) (Tateidae, Mollusca) in the Iberian Peninsula: Temporal patterns of distribution

Abstract

Invasive exotic species (IES) are one of the most important threats to aquatic ecosystems. To ensure the effective management of these species, a comprehensive and thorough knowledge on the current species distribution is necessary. One of those species is the New Zealand mudsnail (NZMS), Potamopyrgus antipodarum (J.E. Gray, 1853) (Tateidae, Mollusca), which is invasive in many parts of the world. The current knowledge on the NZMS distribution in the Iberian Peninsula is limited to presence/absence information per province, with poor information at the watershed scale. The present study aims to: 1) update the distribution of NZMS in the Iberian Peninsula, 2) describe its temporal changes, 3) identify the invaded habitats, and 4) assess the relation between its abundance and the biological quality of fluvial systems. We reviewed the available information and found 352 records covering all main river basins. NZMS can be found over a wide range of environmental conditions and habitat types. The relation between the biological quality and the abundance of NZMS suggests that an intermediate biological quality is the optimum for NZMS. Our study shows that NZMS is in a spreading phase in the Iberian Peninsula, which makes its control very difficult, especially because of its non-water mediated dispersion mechanisms.