Een nieuwe wormslak Petaloconchus spec. voor Caribisch Nederland

Coral reef surveys in 2021 at the leeward side of Curaçao (Dutch Caribbean) yielded the discovery of a new worm snail for the Atlantic. With the help of photographs taken during earlier surveys, its presence on Curaçao could be traced back to 2014 and on Bonaire to 2019. The species cannot be Petaloconchus varians (d’Orbigny, 1839) (which occurs in the West Atlantic) because that worm snail builds reefs in shallow water. An alternative identity is Petaloconchus keenae Hadfield & Kay, 1972, a coral-dwelling worm snail known from the Indo-Pacific. That species may have been introduced in the Caribbean, but as this is not certain, the new species should be designated Petaloconchus spec. Owing to its toxic mucus web the snail is harmful to its host corals. If it succeeds in expanding its range and increasing its abundance, it has the
potential of becoming a new pest species for Caribbean coral reefs.