Rapid spread of a new alien and potentially invasive species, Clathrocaspia knipowitschii (Makarov, 1938) (Gastropoda: Hydrobiidae), in the Danube River

Abstract

We examined the spread and distribution in the Danube River of a new alien gastropod species, Clathrocaspia knipowitschii (Makarov, 1938) (Gastropoda: Hydrobiidae: Caspiinae). First findings of this species for Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia are presented. Clathrocaspia knipowitschii was initially found in 2013 in the Iron Gate stretch of the Danube River at the border between Romania and Serbia. In 2019 and 2020, the species was found at several sites in the lower Danube in Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria, and also upstream in the middle Hungarian Danube in high population densities. The species appears to have spread along more than 800 km in six years. This finding together with the available abundance data indicates that C. knipowitschii is potentially an invasive species, but further observations are needed.

Keywords

• freshwater snails
• non-indigenous species
• dna metabarcoding
• danube