Here we document the first occurrence of the red cornetfish Fistularia petimba in the Levantine Basin. This species identity has been confirmed using morphological and molecular tools, and is presented here with simplified illustrations for accurate future identification. This report voices a concern regarding another blitz invasion of a cornetfish into the Mediterranean, following its Lessepsian sprinter congeneric, F. commersonii, one of the most efficacious invaders of the Mediterranean Sea. The wide intra-specific genetic distances found between sympatric F. petimba specimens in the available literature resources may also demonstrate the presence of cryptic diversity within this taxon.
Preliminary results of DNA barcoding survey of deep-sea mega-faunal biota are presented, collected by trawl and gillnet off the Israeli coast (SE Mediterranean, depths 700 to 1500 meters) during 2012-2013. 846 organisms were identified to 37 species, mainly fish and decapod crustaceans. The most abundant species were the blackmouth catshark Galeus melastomus, the cosmopolitan decapod Polycheles typhlops and the bivalve Abra longicallus. Two species were sampled for the first time from the southern Levant- the long armed chiroteuthid squid Chiroteuthis veranyi and the common mora, Mora moro. Four of the 18 fish species and two of the 10 crustacean species were abundant, representing 78% and 61%, respectively, of the organisms collected. Most other species are represented by fewer than 10 individuals. PCR products for the cytochrome c oxidase sub unit I (COI) gene for the 37 species were successfully sequenced. The identified and vouchered individuals are stored at the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History (Tel Aviv University, Israel) and their COI sequences were uploaded into the BoLD universal data center as part of the national marine barcoding project. The COI sequences of Acanthephyra eximia, Gryphus vitreus, Galeodea echinophora, Mesothuria intestinalis and Astropecten irregularis, constitute first records of these species in BoLD. When compared to the COI sequences in BoLD, the present results reveal some inconsistency in species identification, an outcome that should be taken into consideration primarily once the taxonomical verifications of collected taxa are elusive. This study is the first step in DNA barcoding of the Levant’s little-known benthic deep-sea fauna.
A single adult specimen of Gonioinfradens giardi, a portunid crab known from the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and Arabian Gulf, was recently collected off the southern Israeli coast, in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea. Morphological characters, as well as molecular analyses based on the mitochondrial barcoding gene cytochrome oxidase sub unit I (COI), support its distinction from the widely distributed G. paucidentata. Therefore, G. giardi is reinstated as a valid species, and withdrawn from its synonymy with G. paucidentata. Previous Mediterranean records of the latter species are misidentifications and should be referred to G. giardi. The species is described, illustrated, and differentiated from its cogener.
The giant garden slug Limax maximus Linnaeus, 1758 (Limacidae, Pulmonata) is considered one of the most widely spread terrestrial molluscs in the world and is a formidable pest of agricultural and horticultural crops. This slug was recently introduced to Japan, where its population is now rapidly increasing and spreading. A naturalised population of L. maximus was first discovered in Hokkaido, Japan, in 2012 in the isolated natural forest of Maruyama Forest Park in Sapporo City, and the species has become common in this area. In the present study, we investigated observations of L. maximus reported by ordinary citizens acting as "citizen scientists" to assess the recent expansion of this invasive slug. We posted an announcement in the local newspaper requesting reports of the occurrence of L. maximus via e-mail and analysed 38 observations provided by local citizens. As a result of these reports, 16 naturalised populations of L. maximus were detected in Hokkaido, several of which were quite far from the original population in Sapporo City. Moreover, a terrestrial macrophagous leech, Orobdella kawakatsuorum Richardson, 1975 (Arhynchobdellida, Orobdellidae), is reported as a potential native predator of L. maximus for the first time.
Weathered oil, that is, tar, forms hotspots of hydrocarbon degradation by complex biota in marine environment. Here, we used marker gene sequencing and metagenomics to characterize the communities of bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes that colonized tar patties and control samples (wood, plastic), collected in the littoral following an offshore spill in the warm, oligotrophic southeastern Mediterranean Sea (SEMS). We show aerobic and anaerobic hydrocarbon catabolism niches on tar interior and exterior, linking carbon, sulfur and nitrogen cycles. Alongside aromatics and larger alkanes, short-chain alkanes appear to fuel dominant populations, both the aerobic clade UBA5335 (Macondimonas), anaerobic Syntropharchaeales, and facultative Mycobacteriales. Most key organisms, including the hydrocarbon degraders and cyanobacteria, have the potential to fix dinitrogen, potentially alleviating the nitrogen limitation of hydrocarbon degradation in the SEMS. We highlight the complexity of these tar-associated communities, where bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes co-exist, exchanging metabolites and competing for resources and space.
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