In the 2020 summer the territory of Sicily was affected by a strong drought which caused a strong lowering of the level of the water bodies of the whole Region; the protected area of Vendicari (S-E ...Sicily) was not spared by these events. Furthermore, a strong storm affected the coasts of southeastern Sicily. These meteorological events, drought and storm, acted synergistically causing the silting up of the mouth of the coastal pond Pantano Sichilli which represents for the latter the only way of communication with the sea. Therefore, the water level of the Marsh has drastically dropped causing, directly or indirectly, the death of several tens of thousands of aquatic organisms that populate them such as fish, crabs, molluscs, etc. Among these, our attention was drawn to the remains of thousands of specimens of the voracious Atlantic blue crab of the Callinectes sapidus species. Following these events, linked to the climate, it was possible to detect, for the first time, the presence of C. sapidus in the Vendicari ponds and to formulate hypotheses on the great abundance of individuals of this species which could represent a strong threat to the biodiversity of these environments.
In the present article, new records are given for 15 species (4 native and 9 alien and 2 cryptogenic), belonging to 6 Phyla (i.e. Chlorophyta, Ctenophora, Cnidaria, Mollusca, Arthropoda, and ...Chordata), from 10 Mediterranean countries: Morocco: the finding of the crab Callinectes sapidus represents the westernmost one of the species in the Mediterranean; Italy: first records of the nudibranch Polycera hedgpethi from the harbour of La Spezia, and first finding of the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi in the Fiora River; Tunisia: Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla is recorded for the first time, showing an even wider distribution in the Mediterranean; Greece: the finding of the jellyfish Pelagia benovici represents the first record of the species in the Ionian Sea, while the finding of the smallscale codlet Bregmaceros nectabanus in the Ionian Sea is another interesting first report for the area; Malta: the cryptogenic scleractinian coral Oculina patagonica was recorded; Slovenia: the parasitic copepod Demoleus heptapus was recorded from a sixgill bluntnose shark, Hexanchus griseus; Croatia: the Lessepsian cephalaspidean mollusc Haminoea cyanomarginata is recorded for the first time from the area; Bulgaria: the Asian date mussel Arcuatula senhousia was recorded from the Black Sea; Cyprus: the Lessepsian gastropod Viriola sp. cf. corrugata) was recorded for the first time from the area, while two decapod species were recorded also for the first time from Cyprus, i.e. the caridean shrimp Pasiphaea sivado and the anomuran Munida curvimana; Turkey: the acari Lohmannella falcata is recorded for the first time from Antalya and the Lessepsian fish Priacanthus sagittarius in the Levantine coasts of Turkey (off Hatay/Arsuz) showing that this species has extended its range in a very short time.
Fangtooth moray, Enchelycore anatina (Lowe, 1838), native to the tropical Atlantic Ocean, has a rapid expansion in the eastern and central sectors of the Mediterranean in the last thirty years. This ...species is now beginning to colonize along the Italian coasts of the Adriatic Sea and the western Mediterranean. In summer of 2021 and 2022, 12 specimens of fangtooth moray were recorded in Puglia (Adriatic Sea), Sardinia and Sicily. As hypothesized in previous studies, it seems probable that the successful expansion of this species is due both to the long pelagic period of its larval stage and to the increase in the temperature of the Mediterranean waters.
The lionfish Pterois miles (Bennett, 1828), is considered one of the most dangerous invasive species for the Mediterranean biome. Since its first sighting back in 1991, the species spread widely ...along the Levantine Basin, in the central Mediterranean, along the North African coasts (from Egypt to Tunisia) and in Sicily. This paper reports the first sightings of the lionfish from the Adriatic Sea, in the coasts of Puglia and Albania, observed during July 2019 and August 2020.
The tufted ghost crab, Ocypode cursor (Linnaeus, 1758), is the only Ocypodidae species present in the Mediterranean Sea and is widely distributed in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Basin. In ...recent decades, this species has extended its Mediterranean distribution area by colonizing Sicilian, Maltese, Libya and Tunisian coastlines in the central Mediterranean. The present study reports the first record of the species for the Algerian coast in the western Mediterranean.
Caulerpa taxifolia (Vahl) C. Agardh var. distichophylla (Sonder) Verlaque, Huisman and Procacini is an invasive green alga recently reported in the Mediterranean Sea. The first record was in Turkey ...in 2007 and later it has been reported in Sicily (2009), Cyprus (2013), Malta (2015), Rhodes (2016) and Libya (2017). In the current study we present additional records of this species expanding its range into the Eastern and Western Mediterranean Sea (Eastern and Western Sicilian shoreline, Calabrian Tyrrhenian coast, Sardinia and Tunisia) as well as in the eastern Mediterranean basin. Our specimens were collected on various substrates and identified morphologically.
The fish fauna of a Halopila stipulacea meadow was studied in the Peninsula of Maddalena (Eastern Sicily, Italy; Mediterranean). Visual censuses were conducted every three months from October 1998 to ...July 1999 and from October 2003 to July 2004. Environmental variables for water temperature, salinity and seagrass shoot density were collected on each sampling occasion. A total of 30 fish species from eight families were recorded. Three labrids and sparids, two serranids and one mullid were detected with high frequency of occurrence (> 75%), while Sarpa salpa, Coris julis, Oblada melanura, Mullus surmuletus and Thalassoma pavo were the most abundant species. Diversity index and density values displayed a distinct seasonal pattern with highest values occurring in summer and autumn. These community variables were positively related to water temperature, but not to salinity and shoot density. Differences were also found in the relationships between the relative abundances of two species (Oblada melanura and Serranus cabrilla) and water temperature. Multivariate analysis revealed variation in species composition of the fish community throughout the year. The data show that the fish fauna of the Halophila stipulacea meadow of the Peninsula of Maddalena was characterised by a seasonal variation of the community structure, probably mainly influenced by the fluctuations of environmental variables. The presence of small and juvenile fishes of a number of species emphasises the potentially important function of nursery exerted by such seagrass systems during the first phases of the life history of several species.Original Abstract: Communaute de poissons associee a l'herbier a Halophila stipulacea (Mediterranee). L'ichtyofaune d'un herbier a Halophila stipulacea a ete etudiee dans la peninsule de la Maddalena (Sicile orientale, Italie, Mediterranee). Des recensements visuels ont ete conduits tous les mois d'octobre 1998 a juillet 1999 et d'octobre 2003 a juillet 2004. Les variables environnementales (temperature, salinite et densite des faisceaux foliaires) ont ete collectees a chaque echantillonnage. Un total de 30 especes de poissons appartenant a 8 familles differentes a ete recense. Trois Labridae et Sparidae, deux Serranidae et un Mullidae ont ete recenses avec une haute frequence d'occurrence (> 75 %), tandis que Sarpa salpa, Coris julis, Oblada melanura, Mullus surmuletus et Thalassoma pavo etaient les especes plus abondantes. L'indice de diversite et les valeurs de densite ont montre un schema saisonnier distinct, avec des valeurs plus hautes en ete et en automne. Cette variabilite des communautes a ete reliee positivement a la temperature de l'eau, mais pas a la salinite ni a la densite des faisceaux foliaires. Des differences ont ete detectees dans les relations entre l'abondance relative de deux especes de poissons (Oblada melanura et Serranus cabrilla) et la temperature de l'eau. Les analyses multivariees ont revele des variations dans la composition specifique de la communaute de poissons au cours de l'annee. L'ichtyofaune de l'herbier a Halophila stipulacea de la peninsule de la Maddalena est caracterisee par une variation saisonniere, probablement surtout influencee par les fluctuations des variables environnementales. La presence d'individus de petite taille et de juveniles de nombreuses especes souligne la fonction de nourricerie potentiellement importante exercee par l'herbier durant les premieres phases de l'histoire de la vie de plusieurs especes de poissons.
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