First European record of the invasive barnacle Balanus glandula Darwin, 1854

During recent surveys of hard substrata biofouling communities in Belgian marine waters we discovered specimens of the invasive barnacle Balanus glandula . This species is new to the European marine fauna. The species was first encountered in July 2015 in a biofouling community on RV Belgica. In October 2016, the species proved to be common on navigational buoys in Belgian coastal waters and after a dedicated search we discovered the species on many groynes all along the Belgian coast and in the harbour of Zeebrugge. We identified the species both morphologically and genetically. We found two... Mehr ...