New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records 2019

Abstract

This paper is a collection of novel distributional records of 20 species belonging to 8 phyla (Chlorophyta, Rhodophyta, Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Annelida, Mollusca, Arthropoda and Chordata) from 11 Mediterranean countries, namely, Spain: an additional record of the Canary dentex Dentex canariensis is reported from Spain (Valencia), this is the northernmost record of this species in the Mediterranean; Algeria: the first documented record of Caulerpa chemnitzia is reported from the Algerian coast; France: the first record of the Spotted sea hare Aplysia dactylomela is reported from the eastern coast of Corsica; Italy: the first records of the Lessepsian polychaete Dorvillea similis and the alien bivalve Isognomon legumen are reported from Italian waters while additional records of Mnemiopsis leidyi in the south Adriatic are provided; Libya: the first record of an alien mollusc Crepidula fornicata is reported from Libyan waters; Malta: multiple sightings of gelatinous species Apolemia uvaria, Phacellophora camtschatica and Physophora hydrostatica are reported for the first time from Maltese waters, as well as the first tentative record of the Orange-spotted grouper Epinephelus cfr. coioides; Greece: an occurrence of a rare Bigeye thresher shark Alopias superciliosus is reported from Hellenic Ionian waters, while the first records of the alien Mertens’ prawn-goby Vanderhorstia mertensi, the recently described cyclopoid copepod Oithona davisae and the alien red seaweed Asparagopsis armata are reported from the Aegean Sea. The presence of the micromollusc Euthymella colzumensis is confirmed for Greece; Cyprus: the first record of the red cornetfish Fistularia petimba is reported from Cyprus; Turkey: the first record of the alien jellyfish Marivagia stellata is reported from south-eastern Turkey; Israel: the first records of the sea nettle Chrysaora sp. in the Levant are reported.

Further records of Callinectes sapidus (Rathbun, 1896) (Decapoda, Brachyura, Portunidae) in the Strait of Sicily

“…Nevertheless, these records together with the finding of other alien species (e.g. Katsanevakis et al 2020;Dragičević et al 2019;Geraci et al 2018;Scannella et al 2017) strengthen the hypothesis that the Strait of Sicily plays a key role in the spatial dynamics of alien species. Indeed, this area is characterized by a mesoscale circulation system that might facilitate their spread and arrival (Capodici et al 2018) as well as by local conditions, such as water temperature, salinity, oxygen and seabed habitat, that can improve their settlement and survival ability (Montalto et al 2020).…”

Is the trend in new introductions of marine non-indigenous species a reliable criterion for assessing good environmental status? Τhe case study of Greece

“…Furthermore, the introduction and wider use of underwater digital photography and visual census as tools for recording marine biota by both recreational and scientific divers, com- bined with the launch of new publication outlets encouraging researchers to report findings of new NIS records (e.g. Dailianis et al, 2016;Gerovasileiou et al, 2017;Dragičević et al, 2019;Katsanevakis et al, 2020), have contributed significantly to the reporting of several NIS.…”

“…Towards this aim, an annotated list of the marine NIS of Greece was compiled by Zenetos et al (2018), which included 217 NIS. Since then, new species have been recorded in the Hellenic Seas (Kondylatos et al, 2018;Dragičević et al, 2019;Kousteni et al, 2019;Küpper et al, 2019;Giovos et al, 2020;Karachle et al in Bariche et al, 2020;Angelidis & Polyzoulis, 2018;Manousis et al, 2020;Pirkenseer, 2020;Ragkousis et al, 2020;Zenetos & Miliou, 2020;. In addition, several NIS have extended their distribution range northwards (Aegean Sea) (Gerovasileiou et al, 2017;Kondylatos & Corsini-Foka, 2017;Lipej et al, 2017;Ulman et al, 2017;Chartosia et al, 2018;Manousis et al, 2018) and westwards (Ionian Sea) (Yokeş et al, 2018;Dimitriadis et al, 2019Dimitriadis et al, , 2020Pirkenseer, 2020).…”

The Indo-Pacific Sergeant Abudefduf vaigiensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825) (Perciformes: Pomacentridae) in Libya, South-Central Mediterranean Sea

“…However, it still lacks intensive systematic efforts for monitoring invasive marine species [33], a situation which is amplified by the wide political unrest in the region. Despite that, the number of alien species recorded in recent years is increasing thanks to field surveys, citizen-science projects, and international collaborations [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]. Therefore, if these joint efforts continue, the outcomes obtained will be valuable and useful for the Mediterranean marine biology as a whole.…”