Occurrence of Talorchestia brito on the Coast of Northumberland

Abstract

Talorchestia brito was originally described by Stebbing in 1891 from specimens collected on the north Devon coast¹. No further records of its occurrence on the coasts of Britain can be found, though, according to Chevreux and Fage², it has been recorded from a number of scattered points on the Continent from the eastern English Channel to the western Mediterranean. It has now been found about three hundred miles north of any previous record near Blyth, Northumberland, being moderately common between high-water neap and high-water spring tides in the coarse sand to the south of the town. The species appears to be restricted to this stretch of about two miles, and has not been found on any other sandy beach in Northumberland or north Durham.