Haliotis mykonosensis Owen, Hanavan & Hall, 2001 in the Procida Island (Gulf of Naples) and in the Central Mediterranean Sea, with notes on the Mediterranean HALIOTIDAE

Seventeen living specimens of Haliotis mykonosensis Owen, Hanavan & Hall, 2001 are reported from the area between the wharf of Sancio Cattolico and Punta di Pioppeto (northern side of Procida Island, Naples) and twenty-six from further Central Mediterranean localities. The species was known up to now from the original description only and this note contributes to a better understanding of its real distribution in the Mediterranean Sea

Molluscs associated with a Sardinian deep water population of Corallium rubrum (Linnι, 1758)

Molluscan species living in association with Corallium rubrumcolonies are poorly known. Specimensfound on the branches of red coral colonies located off Capo Caccia (Alghero – SS, West Sardinia,Mediterranean Sea) were studied by analyzing red coral branches collected at a depth of between 100 and120 m; their assemblage was made up of 44 species, all belonging to the classes Gastropoda and Bivalvia.Some data on the geographical distribution, ecology, taxonomy and dominance of these species, bothalive and dead, are given and the most interesting are commented on. Among the recorded species Triviamultilirata, Simnia purpurea, Coralliophila brevis, Ocinebrina paddeui, Pleurotomella demosia, Palliolumstriatum and Pseudamussium sulcatum deserve attention. Moreover, the second finding of livingspecimens of Asperarca secreta, described only on loose valves, is reported, and finally the prey-predatorrelationships among several gastropods and Cnidarians are confirmed

Evaluation of Italian Judicial System

Italy is frequently reprimanded by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) over the amount of time it takes Italian courts to reach verdicts. European Court decisions have lead to calls for an urgent intervention in order to save time and costs in Italian judicial system. Efficiency and effectiveness are key targets for managing justice in Italy. Nevertheless they are not easy to achieve. In this paper, using a Stochastic Frontier Model (SFM) we compare the Italian courts efficiency to identify strong and weak points

Increase in knowledge of the marine gastropod fauna of Lebanon since the 19th century

We hereby review and update the current state of knowledge on the Lebanese gastropod biota based on published literature and the study of new samples. Review of 1543 published records yielded 237 gastropod taxa. New samples from the Lebanese coast yielded 2414 living specimens and 4003 empty shells, belonging to 188 taxa. Forty-six of the taxa are new records for the Lebanese fauna, bringing the gastropods known from Lebanon to 283 species. Literature records also included 71 nominal gastropod taxa based on type material from Lebanon, including 3 genera, 8 species, and 60 subspecific units. Of these, only 13 are retained as available. Of the 283 gastropod taxa known from Lebanon, 41 are aliens and 7 are cryptogenic. The majority of nonnative taxa were recorded only during the last decades, particularly from 1980 to 2019. Results from the present study question the common assumption that this region has extremely low native diversity. The flora and fauna of the Lebanese coast remain relatively unexplored and our data support the perception that several formerly abundant species have recently collapsed. Despite these advances, the lack of scientific data on biodiversity and community structure of Lebanese habitats and geographic zones is likely to hamper conservation actions and legal protection of critical species. We therefore recommend additional field and laboratory research to increase knowledge of both taxonomic composition and species’ distributions in Lebanon and elsewhere in the easternmost Mediterranean Sea

New parasite records for the sunfish Mola mola in the Mediterranean Sea and their potential use as biological tags for long-distance host migration

Studies describing the parasite fauna of sunfish species from the Mediterranean Sea are to date limited, despite information gained through parasitological examination may reveal unknown ecological and biological aspects of both hosts and parasites. Moreover, recent molecular studies on sunfish taxonomy revealed the presence of two species belonging to the genus Mola in the Mediterranean basin, namely M. mola and M. alexandrini. These two fish taxa have long been synonymized or confused among them, which implies that the majority of the studies carried out so far reported the parasites infecting both species under a single host species, generally referred to as M. mola. We hereby investigated the parasite fauna of a 43 cm long M. mola specimen from the Mediterranean Sea, whose identification was confirmed by molecular tool, and provided the first evidence of the occurrence of the nematode Anisakis simplex (s.s.) and of the cestode Gymnorhynchus isuri in Mola species anywhere. The use of helminth species as biological tags for the sunfish is also discussed

Biogeographical homogeneity in the eastern Mediterranean Sea - I: the opisthobranchs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Lebanon

A reviewed knowledge of the opisthobranch species from Lebanon (eastern Mediterranean Sea), based on literature records (scattered throughout various papers published over a period of more than 150 years) and recently collected material (1999-2002 within the CEDRE framework and other samples), is presented, yielding a total number of 35 taxa recorded from the Lebanese shores identified to species level. Special emphasis has mainly been given to the alien species, for which scattered notes are also given. The known opisthobranch biota is composed of 22 native (~ 63%), 12 alien (~ 34%) and one cryptogenic (~ 3%) taxa. Eleven of these (Berthella aurantiaca, B. ocellata, Aplysia fasciata, Felimare picta, Felimida britoi, F. luteorosea, F. purpurea, Phyllidia flava, Dendrodoris grandiflora, D. limbata and Aeolidiella alderi) constitute new records for the Lebanese fauna, whilst the examined material of a further seven species (Elysia grandifolia, Pleurobranchus forskalii, Aplysia dactylomela, Bursatella leachii, Syphonota geographica, Goniobranchus annulatus, Flabellina rubrolineata) anecdotally cited from Lebanon on the basis of the samples here studied, is here first explained. One additional taxon belonging to the genus Haminoea has been identified to genus level only. Despite the searching effort poning the basis of the material analyzed here, data reported clearly suggest that strong investments are still needed for a better understanding of the eastern Mediterranean opisthobranch fauna

Biogeographical homogeneity in the eastern Mediterranean Sea - I: the opisthobranchs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Lebanon

A reviewed knowledge of the opisthobranch species from Lebanon (eastern Mediterranean Sea), based on literature records (scattered throughout various papers published over a period of more than 150 years) and recently collected material (1999-2002 within the CEDRE framework and other samples), is presented, yielding a total number of 35 taxa recorded from the Lebanese shores identified to species level. Special emphasis has mainly been given to the alien species, for which scattered notes are also given. The known opisthobranch biota is composed of 22 native (~ 63%), 12 alien (~ 34%) and one cryptogenic (~ 3%) taxa. Eleven of these (Berthella aurantiaca, B. ocellata, Aplysia fasciata, Felimare picta, Felimida britoi, F. luteorosea, F. purpurea, Phyllidia flava, Dendrodoris grandiflora, D. limbata and Aeolidiella alderi) constitute new records for the Lebanese fauna, whilst the examined material of a further seven species (Elysia grandifolia, Pleurobranchus forskalii, Aplysia dactylomela, Bursatella leachii, Syphonota geographica, Goniobranchus annulatus, Flabellina rubrolineata) anecdotally cited from Lebanon on the basis of the samples here studied, is here first explained. One additional taxon belonging to the genus Haminoea has been identified to genus level only. Despite the searching effort poning the basis of the material analyzed here, data reported clearly suggest that strong investments are still needed for a better understanding of the eastern Mediterranean opisthobranch fauna

Project "Biodiversity MARE Tricase": a biodiversity inventory of the coastal area of Tricase (Ionian Sea, Italy) – Mollusca: Heterobranchia

The marine biodiversity of the Tricase coastal area (Ionian Sea, Italy) was investigated at the MARE Outpost (Avamposto MARE) between 2016 and 2017, with the help of citizen scientists and trained taxonomists. Among the most interesting groups encountered, heterobranch molluscs deserve a special mention. Altogether, 268 specimens were ascribed to this group and referred to 49 taxa. Notwithstanding the extensive literature on Mediterranean heterobranchs, two species proved to be new to the Italian coasts, the records of eight species represented their easternmost sightings in the Mediterranean Sea, and 13 taxa represented new records for the Ionian Sea. In addition, several feeding habits and phenological events were new to science. Although the European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive lists "Biodiversity is maintained" as the first descriptor in achieving "Good Environmental Status", our results highlighted the presence of conspicuous gaps in the knowledge of species distribution, taxonomy and ecology of heterobranch molluscs, indicating the necessity of even small-scale species checklists to understand biodiversity changes in worldwide biota

Alien molluscan species established along the Italian shores: An update, with discussions on some Mediterranean "alien species" categories

The state of knowledge of the alien marine Mollusca in Italy is reviewed and updated. Littorina saxatilis (Olivi, 1792), Polycera hedgpethi Er. Marcus, 1964 and Haminoea japonica Pilsbry, 1895 are here considered as established on the basis of published and unpublished data, and recent records of the latter considerably expand its known Mediterranean range to the Tyrrhenian Sea. COI sequences obtained indicate that a comprehensive survey of additional European localities is needed to elucidate the dispersal pathways of H. japonica. Recent records and interpretation of several molluscan taxa as alien are discussed both in light of new Mediterranean (published and unpublished) records and of four categories previously excluded from alien species lists. Within this framework, ten taxa are no longer considered as alien species, or their records from Italy are refuted. Furthermore, Trochocochlea castriotae Bellini, 1903 is considered a new synonym for Gibbula albida (Gmelin, 1791). Data provided here leave unchanged as 35 the number of alien molluscan taxa recorded from Italy as well as the percentage of the most plausible vectors of introduction, but raise to 22 the number of established species along the Italian shores during the 2005-2010 period, and backdate to 1792 the first introduction of an alien molluscan species (L. saxatilis) to the Italian shores