“Invasion in progress”: first occurrence and spread of river nerite ( Theodoxus fluviatilis L., 1758) in the largest Central European shallow lake, Lake Balaton, Hungary

摘要

This study presents the first occurrence and recent distribution pattern of the river nerite ( Theodoxus fluviatilis L., 1758) in Lake Balaton. The first appearance of this Prosobranch snail was recorded along the western shore of the Tihany peninsula situated on the middle section of the lake, at 21st of October 2013 during a routine macrozoobenthos sampling. Occurrence of the species was also recorded along the eastern shoreline of the peninsula in 2015, and it became highly abundant in both areas in the following years. Results of a comprehensive survey conducted in the autumn of 2018 in the littoral region of the lake revealed that the river nerite has colonized almost the entire shoreline of Lake Balaton, only the westernmost and easternmost areas were still devoid of this invader, therefore it seems that its spread has not been finished yet. The river nerite appeared in extremely high abundances (up to 4–5000 individuals/m2) in the middle area of the lake, therefore it is likely that this species will have a significant effect on the biota of Lake Balaton, especially in the littoral zone of the lake.