| Crepidula fornicata (slipper Iimpet) is a gastropod mollusc, coming from the North American east coast. Since its accidentaI introduction on french coasts, fifty years ago, C. fomicata invaded several coastal areas of this country and the bay of Saint Brieuc (Brittany -France) is one of the major site affected by the proliferation. Accumulation of dense mats of the slipper limpet contributes to the modification of the bottom structure and affects the substrate's heterogeneity, allowing the settlement of a diversified vagile and sessile epifauna. In this paper, the effects of the C. fornicata population ageing on epifauna assemblages and recruitment are studied. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of epifauna organisms suggests that, the ageing of the C.... |
