First record of the gastropod stramonita haemastoma (Linnaeus, 1767) in the english channel

Abstract

Here we report the first record of the red mouthed rock shell Stramonita haemastoma (Linnaeus, 1767) (Gastropoda, Muricidae) a predatory gastropod newly introduced to the English Channel. This species originally lives in the western Atlantic, eastern Pacific and Mediterranean Sea. Three specimens were collected on Pecten maximus at St-Martin-de-Bréhal, Normandy, France, on 2 February 2018. We present some hypotheses about the mode of introduction of S. haemastoma and its potential impact on the ecosystem in the English Channel.