Invasion

Invasion Description

The native ranges of Mytilus galloprovincialis and M. edulis overlap and are believed to fluctuate with climate change. A recent survey in Ireland and Wales found that the relative frequency of M. edulis, M. galloprvincialis and their hybrids varied strongly along the coast. nOn the south coast of Ireland, (Celtic Sea). Nytilis galloprovinccialis varies from0-58%, while M. edulis ranged from 19 to 100%, and hybrids ranged from 6 to 49%. On the west and north coasts of Ireland the frequency of M. galloprovincialis decreases from 57% at Castle Gregary to 7% at Sligo Bay, and )% at Loch Foyle on the northern ocast Patterns of distribution were not simply lattudinal, but seemed to affected by shoirt-term winter coldsnaps and unusuallyheavy rains (Lynch et al. 2020).

Geographic Extent

Rock, Cornwall/England/Celtic Sea (McDonald et al. 1991, genetic identification); England-Ireland-Scotland/Atlantic Ocean (Hilbish et al. 2000); Ireland/Galway Bay (Smietanka et al. 2004, M. edulis, M. galloprovincialis and hybrids)