As fast as a hare: colonization of the heterobranch Aplysia dactylomela (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Anaspidea) into the western Mediterranean Sea

作者：Moles Juan^*; Mas Guillem; Figueroa Irene; Fernandez Vilert Robert; Salvador Xavier; Gimenez Joan

来源：Cahiers de Biologie Marine, 2017, 58(3): 341-345.

DOI：10.21411/CBM.A.97547B71

• Citizen science
• Cryptogenic species
• Sea hare
• Marine ecosystems

The marine cryptogenic species Aplysia dactylomela was recorded in the Mediterranean Sea in 2002 for the first time. Since then, this species has rapidly colonized the eastern Mediterranean, successfully establishing stable populations in the area. Aplysia dactylomela is a heterobranch mollusc found in the Atlantic Ocean, and commonly known as the spotted sea hare. This species is a voracious herbivorous with generalist feeding habits, possessing efficient chemical defence strategies. These facts probably promoted the acclimatation of this species in the Mediterranean ecosystems. Here, we report three new records of this species in the Balearic Islands and Catalan coast (NE Spain). This data was available due to the use of citizen science platforms such as GROC (Catalan Opisthobranch Research Group). These are the first records of this species in Spain and the third in the western Mediterranean Sea, thus reinforcing the efficient, fast, and progressive colonization ability of this sea hare. We have demonstrated that citizen science is a valuable tool for the early awareness of new colonizations as well as for monitoring the advance and settlement of new populations of cryptogenic species.

• 出版日期2017