Invasion
Invasion Description
1st Record: Provincetown/MA/Cape Cod Bay (1872, Gray 1879, cited by Ganong 1887)
Geographic Extent
Duxbury/MA/Duxbury Harbor (USNM 435400, US National Museum 2008); Sagamore Beach, Sta. 1838/MA/Cape Cod Bay (MCZ 211047, Museum of Comparative Zoology 2008); US National Museum of Natural Historyum of Natural History 2008); Plymouth Town Wharf/MA/Plymouth Harbor (2000, MIT Sea Grant 2007); Barnstable/MA/Cape Cod Bay (1875 , Gray 1879, cited by Ganong 1887); Barnstable/MA/Cape Cod Bay (USNM 1034787, US National Museum of Natural History 2008); Brewster/MA/Cape Cod Bay (USNM 420428, marshy sod); Provincetown/MA/Cape Cod Bay (1872, Gray 1879, cited by Ganong 1887); Cape Cod/MA/Provincetown Harbor (MCZ 182309, Museum of Comparative Zoology 2008)
Vectors
Level | Vector |
---|---|
Alternate | Natural Dispersal |
Alternate | Dry Ballast |
Alternate | Hull Fouling |
Regional Impacts
Ecological Impact | Predation | |
Littorina littorea is a major predator on the egg capsules of the snail Ilyanassa obsoleta (Eastern Mudsnail) in Barnstable Harbor, MA (Brenchley 1984). The effect of this predation on the abundance of I. obsoleta is not clear. | ||
Ecological Impact | Competition | |
In Barnstable Harbor MA, Ilyanassa obsoleta (Eastern Mudsnail) leave areas of mudflat habitat when large numbers of L. littorea are added. This avoidance behavior may be due in part to the tendency of L. littorea to climb onto the shells of I. obsoleta and graze on the shell surface (Brenchley and Carlton 1982). | ||