This study provides the first record of Donax gemmula Morrison, 1971 (Bivalvia: Donacidae) from the Ceará State, Northeast Brazil; up to now it was only known from the Southeastern and Southern Brazilian coast. Shells larger than ~2 mm in length of this species can be distinguished from those of D. striatus Linnaeus, 1767. Both species were collected in the same beaches: Banco dos Cajuais and Pecém. The occurrence of D. gemmula remains unnoticed for others States of the Northeast Brazil, and so we suggest two possible explanations for this finding from Ceará State: i) a recent introduction (e.g., by ballast water); or ii) this species has a continuous distribution along the Brazilian coast (Ceará to Rio Grande do Sul), being not recorded until now because this is not easily collected (the animals are small and bottom samples need to be sieved to obtain them) and may be confused with young specimens of other species of Donax, such as D. striatus. © 2013 Check List and Authors.9510871090Alves, E.S., Pezzuto, P.R., Effect of cold fronts on the benthic macrofauna of exposed sandy beaches with contrasting morphodynamics (2009) Brazilian Journal of Oceanography, 57 (2), pp. 73-96Alves, E.S., Pezzuto, P.R., Effect of morphodynamics on annual average zonation pattern of benthic macrofauna of exposed sandy beaches in Santa Catarina, Brazil (2009) Brazilian Journal of Oceanography, 57 (3), pp. 189-203Amaral, A.C.Z., Jablonski, S., Conservation of marine and coastal biodiversity in Brazil (2005) Conservation Biology, 19 (3), pp. 625-631Ansell, A.D., The biology of the genus Donax (1983) Sandy beaches as Ecosystems., pp. 607-635. , In A. 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