
Today, a substantial number of specimens was found further to the north of the yellow area. I have covered the 'newly colonized' area in blue to give an indication as to its extent. Apparently this snail is very well adapted to the kind of anthropogenically disturbed habitat presented in the vicinity, and will continue to colonize new areas and advance as predicted in the 2008 paper. The larger its range becomes, the less anything can be done to exterminate it, which is very bad news for native (and less aggressively competitive) snails.
*The photograph of the Otala punctata specimen above was taken at point 'a'.
Reference:
Barbara N. & Schembri P. J., 2008. The status of Otala punctata (Müller, 1774), a recently established terrestrial gastropod in Malta. Bollettino Malacologico, 44 (5-8): 101-107.
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