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  3. Mytilus galloprovincialis

Mytilus galloprovincialis

Basic information
Scientific name Mytilus galloprovincialis (No picture)
Common names Mediterranean mussel
Higher taxon Mytilidae, Mytiloida, Bivalvia, Mollusca
Natural range Coast of Mediterranean Sea.
Habitat Fouling on rocks and artificial materials in intertidal zone.
Invasion information
Range in Japan Coast of entire Japan. There are records in the following small islands: Teuri, Yagishiri, Sado, Bonin(Ogasawara), Oki, Awajishima, Tsushima, Iki, Yakushima, Kerama Group, Iriomotejima, etc. Range in Japan
Origin Unknown.
Date The oldest record in Japan was in 1932, at Kobe Port, Hyogo pref.
Route Ballast water or fouling on ship. There is a record of fouling of this species on a drifted buoy made in China.
Impact Competition with native or fishery fouling animals (molluscs, barnacles, etc.), hybridization with a native congener M. trossulus, water pollution by numerous dead mussel.
Native organism(s) affected: Coastal animal community and aquafarming products. A native congener M. trossulus
Regulation in Japan 100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species.
Introduced range in other countries N Korea, SE Australia, South Africa, western coast of N America
Reference Notes
  • DECO (ed) (2006) Dictionary of Alien Species. Tokyo-Shoseki, Tokyo. (in Jpn)
  • Ecol Soc Japan (ed) (2002) Handbook of Alien Species in Japan. Chijin-Shokan. (in Jpn)
  • GBIF Portal http://data.gbif.org/welcome.htm
  • Iwasaki et al. (2004) Human-mediated introduction and dispersal of marine organisms in Japan: Results of a questionnaire survey by the committee for the preservation of the natural environment, the Japanese association of benthology. Jpn J Benthol. 59:22-44. (in Jpn with English abstract)
  • JWRC (ed) (2008) A Photographic Guide to the Invasive Alien Species in Japan. Heibonsha. (in Jpn)
  • Kubota (2007) Decrease of Mytilus galloprovincialis population and increase of Perna viridis population in Tanabe Bay and its adjacent waters, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. Nanki-Seibutsu. 49(1):81-82
  • Suchanek et al. (1997) Zoogeographic distributions of the sibling species Mytilus galloprovincialis and M. trossulus (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) and their hybrids in the North Pacific. Biol Bull. 193:187-194.
  • etc.
 100 of the World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species. 100 of the Japan’s Worst Invasive Alien Species.