Belgian worm trader

[Helmut Zibrowius]

(announcement discussed by R. Wilson and G. Read)

That's just one of the established or would-be worm traders in W Europe. 
That kind of business has been going on for years. It proves 
that it is cheaper to import worms from the third world than to have them 
dug out at high W European wages. The still partly uncontrolled oyster 
business (in spite of the laws) may be another way of accidentally 
introducing exotic polychaetes. For example in Etang de Thau, lagoon of the 
Mediterranean coast of France, which is famous for being an international 
zoological and botanical garden of acclimatation with a still 
encreasing number of exotic species. It surely would be of interest 
to have the polychaete fauna of critical areas (like this one) examined 
critically (and not just using Fauvel's Faune de France, still widely 
considered as a reference) to get an idea of the extent to which exotic 
polychaetes may have established.

However, real concern by the authorities arises only after major 
catastrophies occurred, like that due to the ctenophore Mnemiopsis in the 
Black Sea.

  ----------------------------------- 
  Helmut ZIBROWIUS
  (Centre d'Oceanologie de Marseille)
  Station Marine d'Endoume
  Rue Batterie des Lions
  13007 Marseille / France
  E-MAIL:  hzibrowi at com.univ-mrs.fr
  TEL: within France  0491041624  from abroad +33 491041624
  FAX: within France  0491041635  from abroad +33 491041635  
  ---------------------------------------------------------


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