RESEARCH ARTICLE

The rapid spread of the girdled snail Hygromia cinctella in New Zealand (Gastropoda: Helicoidea)

Rodrigo B. Salvador1,2, Lorenzo G. O. Ravalo3,4, Alan J. D. Tennyson4

¹ Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. Framstredet 43, 9019 Tromsø, Norway.
² The Arctic University Museum of Norway, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. Lars Thørings veg 10, 9006 Tromsø, Norway.
³ Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. 169 Tory Street, 6011 Wellington, New Zealand.
⁴ School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington. 65 Kelburn Parade, 6012 Wellington, New Zealand.

Abstract

The girdled snail Hygromia cinctella originates from southern Europe but has been introduced to countries in northern Europe and, more recently, to Aotearoa New Zealand. In the latter country, the girdled snail was first noted in 2015 in Wellington, but it has since spread to other regions of the North Island. We report here the rapid spread of this exotic species in New Zealand and record its present geographical distribution using museum specimens and the community science platform iNaturalist

Cite as: Salvador R.B., Ravalo L.G.O., Tennyson A.J.D. (2022) The rapid spread of the girdled snail Hygromia cinctella in New Zealand (Gastropoda: Helicoidea). Strombus 28(1–2): 12–18.

Publication date: 25 December 2022.