First record of Tomostele musaecola (Morelet, 1860) (Gastropoda: Eupulmonata: Streptaxidae) from the Dominican Republic and its current distribution in the Western Hemisphere

Abstract

The presence of alien mollusc species in an ecosystem has a negative impact on the endemic mollusc fauna and can result in economic losses. The West African land snail Tomostele musaecola (Morelet) was previously recorded from numerous localities in the Western Hemisphere. In this paper, we provide a new locality of this malacophagous snail in the Dominican Republic. The species is recorded from an urban park named Parque Ecológico Las Caobas in the province of San Cristóbal. In order to update the current distribution of T. musaecola in the Americas we examined the literature and the online database of the Invertebrate Zoology Collection of the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH); when available, citizen science data were also used. A map is provided to illustrate the current distribution of the species in the Americas. The total number of records in the Western Hemisphere is 51, and 26 of them are part of this review. More studies are needed on the interaction of this species with the native land snails. Trade and planting of ornamental species in urban parks facilitate the establishment and expansion of alien molluscs. Key wOrdS: alien species; hunter snail; range expansion; urban park; urban malacofauna