Recording presence of Limnoriids in Scottish area

Limnoriidae is a wood boring animal from the isopod family and belongs to the group commonly known as gribbles. These organisms are known for digging tunnels into wood structures present in the marine environment, in search of food and protection from predators. To date, more than 50 species have been identified, distributed from tropical areas to the Poles. In particular, Limnoria lignorum has been reported as present mainly in temperate and boreal waters in the Northern Hemisphere, specifically in northern Europe, from the North-East Atlantic to North Sea coasts. The aim of this work is to define the distribution of Limnoriids in the Scottish area based on bibliographical reports and physical evidence captured from test sites, to check the morphological characteristics and identify and map the recorded species. The species found in Scottish environments belonging to Limnoriidae is only the L. lignorum, which is in accordance with previous reviews.