Unpublished Mediterranean records of marine alien and cryptogenic species

Good datasets of geo-referenced records of alien species are a prerequisite for assessing the spatio-temporal dynamics of biological invasions, their invasive potential, and the magnitude of their impacts. However, with the exception of first records on a country level or wider regions, observations of species presence tend to remain unpublished, buried in scattered repositories or in the personal databases of experts. Through an initiative to collect, harmonize and make such unpublished data for marine alien and cryptogenic species in the Mediterranean Sea available, a large dataset comprising 5376 records was created. It includes records of 239 alien or cryptogenic taxa (192 Animalia, 24 Plantae, 23 Chromista) from 19 countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. In terms of records, the most reported Phyla in descending order were Chordata, Mollusca, Chlorophyta, Arthropoda, and Rhodophyta. The most recorded species was Caulerpa cylindracea, followed by Siganus luridus, Magallana sp. (cf. gigas or angulata) and Pterois miles. The dataset includes records from 1972 to 2020, with the highest number of records observed in 2018. Among the records of the dataset, Dictyota acutiloba is a first record for the Mediterranean Sea. Nine first country records are also included: the alga Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla, the cube boxfish Ostracion cubicus, and the cleaner shrimp Urocaridella pulchella from Israel; the sponge Paraleucilla magna from Libya and Slovenia; the lumpfish Cyclopterus lumpus from Cyprus; the bryozoan Celleporaria vermiformis and the polychaetes Prionospio depauperata and Notomastus aberans from Malta

Seasonal dynamics of native and invasive Halophila stipulacea populations—A case study from the northern Gulf of Aqaba and the eastern Mediterranean Sea

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Filling the Gap of DataLimited Fish Species in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea: A Contribution by Citizen Science

: The biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea is rapidly changing due to anthropogenic activity and the recent increase of seawater temperature. Citizen science is escalating as an important contributor in the inventory of rare and datalimited species. In this study, we present several records of five datalimited native fish species from the eastern Mediterranean Sea: Alectis alexandrina (Geoffroy SaintHilaire, 1817), Ranzania laevis (Pennant, 1776), Dalatias licha (Bonnaterre, 1788), Lophotus lacepede (Giorna, 1809), and Sudis hyalina (Rafinesque, 1810). All of the records were collected by a participatory process involving fishers and validated by associated taxonomic experts of the citizen science programme “Is it Alien to you? Share it!!!”. This study fills an important gap for the distribution of the reported species and signifies the important role of citizen participation as a tool for extending marine biodiversity knowledge and fisheries management in an area with several gaps of knowledge on targeted and nontargeted species.</jats:p

Guide to Lionfish Management in the Mediterranean

File replaced (incorrect version) on 20/04/2022 by KT (LDS).Lionfish (Pterois miles) are spreading in the fastest fish invasion ever reported in the Mediterranean Sea where they are disrupting ecosystems and have the potential to impact livelihoods. First found in Lebanon in 2012, lionfish quickly became established throughout the eastern Mediterranean and are now spreading west. This management guide is based on lessons learnt during the European Union part-funded RELIONMED project which started in 2017. Local citizen scientists, stakeholders, divers, fishers, researchers and managers worked together to tackle the lionfish threat to conserve biodiversity in priority habitats. This Guide is designed to inform lionfish management in the Mediterranean region, key topics include (1) lionfish removals, (2) development of markets, (3) outreach, (4) research and monitoring, and (5) regional cooperation

The first record of Torquigener flavimaculosus (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae) from Libya

The yellow spotted puffer belongs to the Tetraodontidae family and is one of the seven non-native puffer fish found in Mediterranean Sea. The species is a Lessepsian immigrant, currently displaying an expansion towards the north and the west of the basin, similar to other lessepsian immigrant species. Hereby, we present the first record of the species from the Libyan water