New record of the crab Planes marinus Rathbun, 1914 in the eastern English Channel

Over the last few decades, the introduction of non-indigenous species (NIS) has become a growing concern for the scientific community and international agencies.Maritime transport, in particular ballast waters and hull fouling, as well as floating marine debris, are the main vectors of these introductions.A striking example of NIS introduction occurred after the Ciaran and Domingos storms in November 2023, when a piece of wood, covered in living Lepas anatifera barnacles, washed up on the beach at Boulogne-sur-Mer along the French shores of the eastern English Channel.Ten crabs of the genus Planes were found, including three belonging to the species Planes marinus, which to the best of our knowledge was never reported in the north-east Atlantic and on the French coast in particular.Planes marinus is a species known mainly from the Pacific, but its growing presence in other oceans highlights the importance of marine debris as a dispersal vector.In this context, the present work highlights the potential impact of extreme weather events, amplified by climate change, on the distribution of NIS, as well as the need to monitor stranded debris to better understand and manage these introductions, which is crucial to the preservation of European marine ecosystems.