Hyala vitrea (Montagu, 1803) (Caenogastropoda, Iravadiidae), new for the Dutch coastal fauna

Since 1978 living Hyala vitrea have been collected on the Oyster Ground (North Sea) and in 1997 at four stations near the Frisian Islands. Empty shells of this species were discovered in shell grit from the beach of Texel (The Netherlands) in 1993 and 1998. Data from the literature indicate that the species generally has a patchy distribution. H. vitrea is rare in beach samples. It is argued, following Jeffreys (1867), that post-larvae and adult animals use mucus drifting for their dispersal.