AUTHOR=Lippert Heike , Weigelt Ronny , Glaser Karin , Krauss Rica , Bastrop Ralf , Karsten Ulf 

TITLE=Teredo navalis in the Baltic Sea: Larval Dynamics of an Invasive Wood-Boring Bivalve at the Edge of Its Distribution

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=4

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2017.00331

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2017.00331

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=<p>Wooden groin systems on the southwestern Baltic Sea coast are a traditional and important coastal-protection facility, but have been regularly infested and destroyed by the wood-boring bivalve <italic>Teredo navalis</italic> since the early 1990s. The occurrence of <italic>T. navalis</italic> was presumed to be limited mainly by the prevailing low salinities. Recently, a possible range expansion of this invasive species to the more eastern parts of the Baltic Sea has been discussed. <italic>T. navalis</italic> larval settlement was therefore monitored at the distribution boundary of the species in the Baltic Sea over a period of 4 years. At 7 stations along the prevailing salinity gradient on the Mecklenburg-western Pomeranian coast, larval traps were installed at regular time intervals, while at the same time water temperature and salinity were measured continuously every hour. Correlations between measured abiotic parameters and borehole abundance of <italic>T. navalis</italic> were tested. For the German Baltic Sea coast, no range expansion of <italic>T. navalis</italic> was confirmed. The salinity and temperatures at the groin systems varied among the study years, and significant correlations between <italic>T. navalis</italic> borehole abundance and salinity as well as temperature were found. Higher summer temperatures favor the <italic>T. navalis</italic> borehole abundance on the Mecklenburg-western Pomeranian coast, and may slightly shift the distribution border of this species toward lower salinities.</p>