First record of the exotic snail Zonitoides arboreus (Eupulmonata, Gastrodontidae) in the Brazilian oceanic island of Trindade, South Atlantic

Abstract

This study aims to refine the taxonomy of land snails previously identified as Happia sp. from the oceanic Trindade Island (SE Brazil). Based on a recent sampling of live specimens, we sequenced the mitochondrial COI barcode marker from two specimens. The so-called Happia sp. is actually the exotic Zonitoides arboreus, which is native from the Nearctic but widespread worldwide due to human introductions. The single COI haplotype from Trindade Island is identical to one from a specimen sampled from a Botanical Garden in The Netherlands, and more research is needed in order to elucidate possible introduction routes of Z. arboreus. This species feeds on fungi and plant material, requiring the existence of trees/wood debris and mild climatic conditions, and it is sometimes recorded as an intermediate host of some species of Cestoda and Nematoda. With the present record, the number of known native terrestrial gastropods from Trindade Island is reduced to six, whereas the number of introduced species rises to three, in addition to two cryptogenic species.