Consumption rates and prey preference of the invasive gastropod Rapana venosa in the Northern Adriatic Sea

Abstract

The alien Asian gastropod Rapana venosa (Valenciennes 1846) was first recorded in 1973 along the Italian coast of the Northern Adriatic Sea. Recently, this predator of bivalves has been spreading all around the world oceans, probably helped by ship traffic and aquaculture trade. A caging experiment in natural environment was performed during the summer of 2002 in Cesenatico (Emilia-Romagna, Italy) in order to estimate consumption rates and prey preference of R. venosa. The prey items chosen were the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck 1819), the introduced carpet clam Tapes philippinarum (Adams and Reeve 1850), both supporting the local fisheries, and the Indo-Pacific invasive clam Anadara (Scapharca) inaequivalvis (Bruguie`re 1789). Results showed an average consumption of about 1 bivalve prey per day (or 1.2 g wet weight per day). Predation was species and size selective towards small specimens of A. inaequivalvis; consumption of the two commercial species was lower. These results might reduce the concern about the economical impact on the local bivalve fishery due to the presence of the predatory gastropod. On the other hand, selective predation might probably alter local community structure, influencing competition amongst filter feeder/suspension feeder bivalve species and causing long-term ecological impact. The large availability of food resource and the habitat characteristics of the Emilia-Romagna littoral makes this area an important breeding ground for R. venosa in the Mediterranean Sea, thus worthy of consideration in order to understand the bioinvasion ecology of this species and to control its likely further dispersal.

Observations on the invading gastropod Rapana venosa in Punta del Este, Maldonado Bay, Uruguay

“…Savini and Occhipinti-Ambrogi 2006). However, we argue that even if per capita consumption rates are indeed low, the unusually high abundances of the Rapa Whelk still poses a threat to mussel beds.…”

“…This species is native to the Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea, East China Sea and Gulf of Bohai. It has has been introduced in several parts of Eurasia (ICES 2004;Savini and Occhipinti-Ambrogi 2006). In 1998 it was found in the Chesapeake Bay, USA (Harding and Mann 1999).…”

Antioxidant Activity of Tissue Rapana Venosa (Valenciennes, 1846) From the Regions of the Northwestern Black Sea Different

“…Занесенный в середине прошлого века [5] с дальнего Востока хищный брю-хоногий моллюск Rapana venosa (Valenciennes, 1846) оказался устойчивым к широкому диапазону изменений солености, температуры и концентрации кис-лорода [22], а также очень пластичен в отношении потребляемой пищи [24]. Эти особенности позволили ему успешно акклиматизироваться в чёрном море.…”

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“…Savini & Occhipinti-Ambrogi, 2006;Das, Chattopadhyay, & Chattopadhyay, 2015;Hu et al, 2016), as well as other benthic predatory organisms such as sea stars (e.g. Güler & Lök, 2015) and so on.…”