| The north-American marine gastropod Crepidula fornicata (Linné 1758), commonly called slipper limpet, has been introduced accidentally in Great Britain, along with American oysters (Crassostrea virginica) at the end of the 19th century. Its spreading, enhanced by oyster transport and international shipping, turned into invasion of a lot of benthic grounds along the North-European coasts. When local conditions are favorable to larval confinement and adult growth, the invasion by very dense populations may deeply change initially sandy or muddy benthic communities into similar “slipper limpet communities”. Competition for space eliminates several species of native infauna, and hampers the survival of some epibenthic bivalves such as the scallop Pecten... |
