Status and occurrence of the non-indigenous Mulinia lateralis (Say, 1822) in the central Wadden Sea (southern North Sea)

The species Mulinia lateralis (Say, 1822) is native in the western Atlantic Ocean and was first documented in European coastal waters in 2017. To report its current distribution status in the central Wadden Sea, individuals were collected systematically from intertidal flats along 10 transects ranging from the outer Ems estuary to the outer Elbe estuary (German North Sea coast) between February and May 2022. In total, 897 specimens of M. lateralis were sampled from 392 stations (mean abundance 2.29 ± 4.97 ind./m²). The shell length ranged between 3.98 to 23.5 mm thus representing.