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Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 55
Strandline shells found on Stour estuary In August 2019, SNS member Sue Hooton found a dozen or so shells of a Sea Slug Haminoea sp. on the beach at Wrabness, on the south side of the Stour estuary in Essex (photo below). Simon Taylor, Conchological Society Marine Recorder, is not sure if they are a native species such as H. navicula or a similar non-indigenous taxon. As far as he is aware, this is a first record for Haminoea for the east of the UK! Simon is keen for anyone beachcombing in Suffolk to look out for them too so keep your eyes peeled for any unusual shells. Haminoea is a genus of medium-sized sea snails or bubble snails, marine opisthobranch gastropod molluscs in the family Haminoeidae, the Haminoea bubble snails, part of the Cephalaspidea, the headshield slugs and bubble snails. The Sea Slug Forum website http://www.seaslugforum.net gives descriptions of the various species in this genus. The shell is largely hidden by the large parapodial lobes and the posterior pallial lobe. They are usually found in sheltered mud or muddy sand habitats, especially Zostera beds. According to Mark Nowers (RSPB), the Eelgrass beds on the Stour Estuary have gone now so it would be good to find out where else this sea slug can be found. The NBN Atlas map https://species.nbnatlas.org/species/NBNSYS0000175664 shows the UK distribution of the native Haminoea navicula is SW Britain though its wider distribution is Ireland to the Mediterranean.
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 55 (2019)
MARINE FAUNA
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Simon has added the find to the Conchological Society dataset and will write it up. He will also submit a note in the Journal of Conchology as well as a mention in his Marine Recorder’s report in Mollusc World and, of course, a piece in the Essex Naturalist as he is also County Mollusc recorder for Essex.
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 55 (2019)