The invasive species Rangia cuneata : A new food source for herring gull ( Larus argentatus )?

Jean‐philippe Pezy (1) , Ambre Pezy , Aurore Raoux (1)

1 M2C - Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière

Continued human population growth and the associated development ofcoasts lead to dramatic effects on marine coastal ecosystems altering foodresources and habitats for several species and resulting in novel species interactions.The Bay of the Seine, located in the eastern part of the EnglishChannel, is one of the most anthropized sea in the world. Here, we report anobservation of the European herring gulls (Larus argentatus) feeding on thenonindigenous species (NIS) Rangia cuneata in the Bay of the Seine. Observationsof otter prints (Lutra lutra) and excrements were also found near thebivalves, suggesting that this species also feed on the NIS bivalve. Our studysuggests that the spread of NIS in coastal marine ecosystem is expected todrive changes in the foraging behavior of top predators.

Mots clés: non-indigenous species; prey-predator relations; brackish; ecosystem; English Channel; foraging innovation; non-indigenous species

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement

Jean‐philippe Pezy, Ambre Pezy, Aurore Raoux. The invasive species Rangia cuneata : A new food source for herring gull ( Larus argentatus )?. Ecosphere, 2022, 13 (4), ⟨10.1002/ecs2.4058⟩. ⟨hal-03959821⟩