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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Ecosystem Ecology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1511313
This article is part of the Research Topic Bridging Knowledge Gaps in Marine Biological Invasions View all 6 articles

Spreading further: the first record of the alien bivalve Theora lubrica in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean

Provisionally accepted
Fabrizio Marcondes Machado Fabrizio Marcondes Machado 1*Cristiane Midori Suga Cristiane Midori Suga 2Fabio Kiyoshi Camara Onodera Fabio Kiyoshi Camara Onodera 2Mariana Sousa Melo Mariana Sousa Melo 2Thais Viti Thais Viti 2Vilma Maria Cavinatto Rivero Vilma Maria Cavinatto Rivero 2Ana Carolina da Rocha Lammardo Ana Carolina da Rocha Lammardo 3Carolina Yumi Yonamine Carolina Yumi Yonamine 3Regina Sawaia Sáfadi Regina Sawaia Sáfadi 3Luis Antonio Nogueira Junior Luis Antonio Nogueira Junior 4Luiz Fernando Maciel Oliva Luiz Fernando Maciel Oliva 4
  • 1 State University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
  • 2 Econsult Estudos Ambientais LTDA, Guarujá, Brazil
  • 3 Tetra Tech Engenharia e Consultoria Ltda, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 4 Autoridade Portuária de Santos, Santos, Brazil

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Biological invasions are globally recognized as one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss. Over the past four decades, there has been significant progress in understanding the mechanisms of alien species introduction into marine and estuarine environments. It is currently known that although humans can spread non-native species in various ways (e.g. aquaculture, vessel biofouling and oil and gas activities), ballast water is one of the most effective being considered one of the main threats to marine biodiversity. This pathway also appears to be the main transport vector to explain the spread of the exotic bivalve Theora lubrica (or Asian Semele) since the late 1950s. In this study, we report for the first time the presence of Asian Semele in the Southwestern Atlantic, specifically along the Southeast coast of Brazil. Furthermore, we also provide new insights into shell morphology, gross anatomy and ecological aspects, as well as the updated global distribution of this invasive alien species.

    Keywords: Non-native bivalves, Asian Semele, Mollusca, gross anatomy, shell morphology, Polyhaline molluscs

    Received: 14 Oct 2024; Accepted: 31 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Marcondes Machado, Suga, Onodera, Melo, Viti, Rivero, Lammardo, Yonamine, Sáfadi, Junior and Oliva. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Fabrizio Marcondes Machado, State University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.