The bluespotted cornetfish (Fistularia commersonii) (Osteichtyes, Fistulariidae) is considered to be one of the most invasive species of the Mediterranean Sea and Europe but only scattered information exists on its distribution and abundance. Here we collated the available species records, following its first detection in the Mediterranean Sea, in January 2000, until October 2011. A total of 191 observations were used to reconstruct the invasion sequence, to provide estimates of the rate of spread and to construct an environmental suitability model based on six biophysical variables and the maximum entropy approach (MaxEnt). The results showed that colonization of the Mediterranean Sea proceeded in parallel along the southern and northern rim of the Basin at speeds that reached 1000-1500 km • yr-1 with a clear decrease in the rate of spread at the Sicily Strait. The most important explanatory variables for describing the distribution of F. commersonii were mean depth (explaining 32.4% of the data variance), chlorophylla (29.3%), and salinity (18.4%). Coastal areas with relatively low chlorophyll-a concentrations and high salinity were the preferred habitat of the bluespotted cornetfish in its invaded range. Conversely, extreme productivity (highly eutrophic or highly oligotrophic), low salinity and cold temperatures provided abiotic resistance to this invasion. Areas of high environmental suitability were identified along the northern coasts of the Levantine Sea, Dodecanese, Sicily Strait and Tyrrhenian Sea. In contrast, the north Aegean Sea, the Adriatic and the Alboran Sea, the Nile Delta, the western coasts of Egypt and Cyrenaica were unfavourable for the invasion. Despite some limits due to the model's resolution scale, these general predictions provide new insights into the F. commersonii invasion, indicating abiotic factors of primary importance in shaping the distribution of this species in its invaded range.
Dolphin morbillivirus (DMV) has caused 2 epizootics with high mortality rates on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, in 1990 and 2006-07, mainly affecting striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba. Following the first epizootic unusual DMV infections affecting only the central nervous system of striped dolphins were found, with histological features similar to subacute sclerosing panencephalitis and old dog encephalitis, the chronic latent localised infections caused by defective forms of measles virus and canine distemper virus, respectively. Between 2008 and 2010, monitoring by microscopic and immunohistochemical (IHC) studies of 118 striped dolphins stranded along Catalonia, the Valencia Region and Andalusia showed similar localised DMV nervous system infections in 25.0, 28.6 and 27.4% of cases, respectively, with no significant differences among regions or sex. The body length of DMV-infected dolphins was statistically greater than that of non-infected dolphins (196.5 vs. 160.5 cm; p < 0.001). Molecular detection of DMV was performed by 2 different RT-PCR techniques amplifying a 429 bp fragment and a 78 bp fragment both within the phosphoprotein (P) gene. 96: 187-194, 2011
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