Arcuatula perfragilis (Dunker, 1857)

Albano, Paolo G., Steger, Jan, Bakker, Piet A. J., Bogi, Cesare, Bosnjak, Marija, Guy-Haim, Tamar, Huseyinoglu, Mehmet Fatih, LaFollette, Patrick I., Lubinevsky, Hadas, Mulas, Martina, Stockinger, Martina, Azzarone, Michele & Sabelli, Bruno, 2021, Numerous new records of tropical non-indigenous species in the Eastern Mediterranean highlight the challenges of their recognition and identification, ZooKeys 1010, pp. 1-95 : 1

Arcuatula perfragilis (Dunker, 1857) Figure 32

New records.

Israel • 1 spcm; Palmachim; 31.9574°N, 34.6645°E; depth 36.2 m; 2 May 2018; soft substrate; box-corer; Shafdan project (sample 24(C)); size: L 13 mm, H 5.3 mm • 1 spcm; Palmachim; 31.9737°N, 34.6767°E; depth 35.4 m; 2 May 2018; soft substrate; box-corer; Shafdan project (sample 29(A)).

Remarks.

This species was first recorded in Israel in 1960 from Bat Yam with living individuals ( Barash and Danin 1973). Further living individuals were recorded in the 1960s and early 1970s from Israel and Egypt (Bardawil Lagoons) ( Barash and Danin 1971, 1973, 1977). Since then, however, no further living individuals were found, questioning the persistence of its populations in the Mediterranean. We report here the recent finding of two living individuals, suggesting that the species indeed still occurs in Israel.

Figures

Figure 32. Arcuatula perfragilis (Dunker, 1857), Palmachim, Israel, Shafdan project. Left valve outer view. The pink hue is due to staining with eosin solution. Photograph courtesy S. Bartolini. Scale bar: 2 mm.