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FIRST REPORT OF QUINQUELOCULINA CARINATASTRIATA (WIESNER, 1923) (FORAMINIFERA) ALONG THE FRENCH ATLANTIC COAST (MARENNES-OLÉRON BAY AND ILE DE RÉ)

¹ CRELA (UMR 6217 CNRS-IFREMER-ULR), Place du séminaire, B.P. 5, 17137 L’Houmeau, France.
² BIAF (UPRES EA2644), Université d’Angers, 2 Bd Lavoisier, 49045 Angers Cedex, France.
³ IRD, UR 055 Paléotropique, Centre de Nouméa, BP A5, 98848 Nouméa Cedex, New Caledonia.

⁴ Correspondence author. E-mail: Vincent.Bouchet{at}ifremer.fr

Large populations of the living benthic foraminifera Quinqueloculina carinatastriata (Wiesner, 1923) are reported for the first time from intertidal mudflats of the French Atlantic coast (Marennes-Oléron Bay and Ile de Ré). Maximum abundance of living specimens was recorded in early autumn. The species was previously described from the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas (central Mediterranean Sea) and reported from the Eastern Mediterranean and Red Seas, as well as tropical and subtropical regions. A survey of available literature to trace records of the species in muddy shallow habitats along the western coasts of Europe and Africa reveals that the species is unrecorded from the Western Mediterranean Sea and is unknown in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the Ivory Coast to Denmark, including the British Isles. This supports the hypothesis that the species has been accidentally introduced outside its natural range as a probable result of mariculture trade and/or shipping activities. This is the first report of a successful introduction of a non-indigenous benthic foraminifera to the Atlantic coast of Europe.