First records of Aoroides longimerus Ren and Zheng, 1996, and A. semicurvatus Ariyama, 2004 (Crustacea, Amphipoda), in the English Channel, France

Abstract : Two Pacific amphipod species, Aoroides longimerus (94 individuals) and A. semicurvatus (three individuals), were recorded for the first time in 2019 in the English Channel. Aoroides longimerus was found in four sites along the Normandy coast (Granville, Cherbourg, Saint-Vaast-La-Hougue, and Le Havre) while A. semicurvatus was found only in two sites (Granville and Saint-Vaast-La-Hougue). Because both species were recorded (2009-2014) from the French Atlantic coast, they have probably been introduced to the English Channel through the accumulated fouling of the hulls of ships used primarily for recreational purposes or by transfer of the Japanese oyster Crassostrea gigas between oyster farms along the French oyster production intertidal zones.