Skip to main content

Douglas J. Eernisse

  • Biodiversity Journal, 7 (2): 287-293

    Danilo Scuderi & Douglas J. Eernisse
    A new alien limpet for the Mediterranean: Lottia sp. (Patellogastropoda Lottiidae)

    ABSTRACT
    Some living specimens of a new limpet were found between January and August 2015 in the intertidal of the eastern coast of Sicily (Jonian Sea, Mediterranean). The study of the shell morphology and anatomical soft parts of these specimens has revealed fundamental differences compared with the native, mostly Patellidae, species. Further observations of the morphology of the radula led to the provisional identification of the newly introduced limpet as a Lottiidae, tentatively a Lottia sp. A more precise species identification was not achieved, and will need to await ongoing DNA sequencing and further comparative studies. The new record of an introduced species for the Mediterranean is the first limpet so recognized, and the species appears to be represented by a range of sizes, implying that is well established along the intertidal Sicilian rocky-shores and is successfully recruiting in this region.