Marine recreational fishers accumulate a vast amount of local ecological knowledge (LEK) during their fishing activity that can be of paramount importance for monitoring how climate change affects ...fish assemblages. We assessed LEK of recreational fishers to investigate the increase in the abundance of 5 northward-expanding indigenous thermophilic fish species in 2 Mediterranean subregions. We accessed LEK through an online survey completed by 794 recreational fishers (386 from the Adriatic/Ionian subregion and 408 from the Tyrrhenian/Ligurian subregion). The species perceived to have increased most in abundance were Pomatomus saltatrix (71% of replies) followed by Sphyraena viridensis (58%). The remaining species (Sparisoma cretense, Balistes capriscus and Coryphaena hippurus) ranged between 17 and 25%. Recreational fishers have a stable system of beliefs about meridionalization, which is perceived homogeneously between recreational anglers and recreational spearfishers. Our results indicate that latitude is negatively correlated with meridionalization in the Adriatic/Ionian, but not in the Tyrrhenian/Ligurian Seas, suggesting that meridionalization of the Adriatic/Ionian Seas could be a process that has temporally lagged with respect to the Tyrrhenian/Ligurian Seas. Our study demonstrates that LEK of recreational fishers can be easily accessed on a large geographical scale and can be useful to monitor changes in the distributions of data-limited species such as those studied here.
A single specimen of Pterois cf. miles has been recorded in the eastern middle Adriatic Sea. It was observed near the island of Vis at a depth of 15 m. The location of the record is further north ...than previous Adriatic records and it constitutes the northernmost record of this species in the Mediterranean Sea to date. The record is based solely on photographs and video footage provided by a professional underwater photographer.
The age and growth of the blackspot seabream, Pagellus bogaraveo, were determined by examining sagittal otoliths from fish sampled in the eastern Adriatic Sea. A total of 674 specimens (181 males, 90 ...hermaphrodites, 108 females, and 295 immatures) ranging from 8.80 to 47.27 cm (21.93 ± 9.00 cm) in total length were analyzed. The maximum observed age for the whole sample was 13 years. The sample was dominated by 1-year-old specimens as a consequence of an abundance of juvenile specimens collected by beach seines. Growth was described by the von Bertalanffy growth curve (L∞ = 52.3 cm, K = 0.15 year−1, t0 = 0.49 year, R2 = 0.97), and the growth performance index (Φ’) was 2.61. The length, width, thickness, and mass of the otoliths were compared with the total length and age of P. bogaraveo from the eastern Adriatic. The analysis showed that the measures were adequate predictors of age. These results can be of value for more effective management measures aimed at the conservation of this species.
Invasive alien species are a major worldwide driver of biodiversity change. The current study lists verified records of non-indigenous species (NIS) in European marine waters until 2020, with the ...purpose of establishing a baseline, assessing trends, and discussing appropriate threshold values for good environmental status (GES) according to the relevant European legislation. All NIS records were verified by national experts and trends are presented in six-year assessment periods from 1970 to 2020 according to the European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Altogether, 874 NIS have been introduced to European marine waters until 2020 with the Mediterranean Sea and North-East Atlantic Ocean hosting most of the introductions. Overall, the number of new introductions has steadily increased since 2000. The annual rate of new introductions reached 21 new NIS in European seas within the last six-year assessment period (2012–2017). This increase is likely due to increased human activities and research efforts that have intensified during the early 21st century within European Seas. As Europe seas are not environmentally, nor geographically homogenous, the setting of threshold values for assessing GES requires regional expertise. Further, once management measures are operational, pathway-specific threshold values would enable assessing the effectiveness of such measures.
In this Collective Article on alien and cryptogenic diversity in the Mediterranean Sea we report a total of 19 species belonging to nine Phyla and coming from nine countries. Several of these records ...concern fish species, and of particular interest are the first records of: Terapon puta for Italian waters; Pteragopus trispilus from Malta; Plotosus lineatus from Cyprus; and the northernmost Mediterranean record of Lagocephalus sceleratus. The northernmost Mediterranean record was also reported for the sea urchin Diadema setosum. The portunid crab Thalamita poissonii was recorded for the first time in Libya. The copepod Pseudodiaptomus marinus was recorded for the first time in the Marmara Sea. The polychaete Branchiomma luctuosum was recorded for the first time from the Mediterranean coast of France. The alien anemone Diadumene lineata was recorded for the first time from Slovenia. The macroalgae Sargassum furcatum was recorded for the first time from Italy. The new Mediterranean records here reported help tracing abundance and distribution of alien and cryptic species in the Mediterranean Sea.
Abstract
The first record of the little known stomatopod Parasquilla ferussaci (Roux, 1828) in the Adriatic Sea is documented. One specimen was captured near islet Blitvenica in the eastern Adriatic ...(Croatian coast) on 26 January 2021 with a bottom trawl. This record indicates the extension of the known distributional range of this species in the Mediterranean Sea. Here we also provide the first data on the molecular identification of Parasquilla ferussaci supported by the detailed morphological description of the investigated specimen. Parasquilla is derived as a sister group to Faughnia, which together are sister to the genus Pseudosquillopsis.
Records of European catfish
in the Neretva River delta (Adriatic Sea basin) in Croatia are reported. The first occurrence of this non-native species was reported via social network which led to its ...timely detection by researchers. Origin of introduction is unknown but it is most likely the case of human-mediated introduction. The importance of social networks as a useful tool for the timely detection of non-native fish species, as well as the importance of raising awareness about the impacts of biological invasions, is discussed in this paper.
This work presents refined, updated subregional and regional non-indigenous species (NIS) inventories for the Mediterranean Sea, validated by national and taxonomic experts, with species records ...observed until December 2020. These datasets will be used as the baselines for the implementation of the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme for the Mediterranean (IMAP) and the Mediterranean Quality Status Report 2023. In total, 1006 non-indigenous species have been found in Mediterranean marine and brackish waters. The highest numbers of NIS were observed in Israel, Türkiye, Lebanon and Italy. Approximately 45 species were categorized as data deficient, either due to lack of consensus on their alien status or the validity of their identification. Polychaeta, Foraminifera and macroalgae were the groups with the highest numbers of controversial species. There was a general increase in the yearly rate of new NIS introductions after the late 1990s, which appears to be slowing down in the last decade, but this may be confounded by reporting lags and differential research efforts. Between 1970 and 2020 there has been a steep increase in the proportion of shared species present throughout all four Mediterranean subregions, which are predominantly transported via shipping and recreational boating. While Lessepsian species are gradually spreading westwards and northwards, there is still a considerable invasion debt accumulating in the eastern and central Mediterranean.
This Collective Article presents new information about the occurrence of 23 marine taxa that belong to five Phyla: two Chlorophyta, one Annelida, six Mollusca, three Arthropoda, eleven Chordata (one ...Ascidiacea, one Elasmobranchii and nine Teleostei) and extending from the Western Mediterranean to the Levantine Sea. All these records were reported from nine countries from the western to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, with a broad biogeographical coverage as follows: Spain: first records of the sacoglossans Cyerce graeca and Placida tardyi for the Alboran Sea and first records of the nudibranch Marionia gemmii for the Mediterranean waters of Spain; first records of nudibranch Algarvia alba in the Mediterranean Sea. Italy: First report of the long-legged crab Paragalene longicrura, a further new Mediterranean record of the rare offshore rockfish Pontinus kuhlii, first documented record of the spiny butterfly ray Gymnura altavela in Sardinia (Tyrrhenian Sea), new record of the red‐spotted wrasse Lappanella fasciata from the Messina Strait, first documented record of the rarely observed brown moray Gymnothorax unicolor in the Ionian coast, first record of the colonial ascidian Botrylloides israeliensis, first record of the Morocco dentex Dentex maroccanus, first record of mottled shore crab Pachygrapsus maurus and of an adult specimen of barracudina Lestidiops sphyrenoides in the Adriatic Sea, and further new Mediterranean records of Ross worm Sabellaria spinulosa along the same coast. Tunisia: second record of smalleye squaretail Tetragonurus cuvieri from the African Mediterranean coast. Slovenia: first records of the sea slug Trapania graeffei and Melanochlamys wildpretii, with the last one also representing the northernmost finding of this species. Croatia: northernmost record of the endangered twaite shad Alosa fallax in the Adriatic coast. Albania: first records of the Mediterranean spearfish Tetrapturus belone. Türkiye: first record from the Aegean coasts for Türkiye of the green macroalgae Cladophora battersii and Valonia aegagropila. Israel: first record of the skeleton shrimp Caprella acanthifera in the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea. Syria: first record of the Smooth grenadier Nezumia aequalis from Syrian marine waters.
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