16 research outputs found
New records of rare species in the Mediterranean Sea (October 2021)
This Collective Article presents information about 27 taxa belonging to five Phyla (one Ochrophyta, one Cnidaria, three Arthropoda, two Mollusca and twenty Chordata) and extending from the Western Mediterranean Sea to the Levantine Sea and theBlack Sea (Sea of Marmara). The new records were reported from 11 countries as follows: Algeria: occurrence of the Africanstriped grunt Parapristipoma octolineatum; Spain: new records of eight uncommon fish species (Gadella maraldi, Hypleurochilusbananensis, Lobotes surinamensis, Parapristipoma octolineatum, Selene dorsalis, Sphoeroides marmoratus, Tetragonuruscuvieri, and Trachyrincus scabrus) from the Spanish Mediterranean; Italy: new record of the football octopus Ocythoe tuberculatafrom the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea; a rare sighting of a juvenile phase of a moray eel of the genus Gymnothorax, tentativelyidentified as Gymnothorax cf. unicolor in the Ligurian Sea; first record of adult Facciolaâs sorcerer Facciolella oxyrhynchus inthe Adriatic Sea; occurrence of the tope shark Galeorhinus galeus in the Northern Adriatic Sea; Libya: first confirmed recordof the pen shell Pinna rudis; first documented record of the palaemonid shrimp Brachycarpus biunguiculatus; first record of thefish Sudis hyalina; Malta: new records of Grantâs rockling, Gaidropsarus granti; multiple concomitant reports of the rare hydromedusanspecies Aequorea forskalea; Croatia: a record of the skipjack tuna Katsuwonus pelamis in the Southern Adriatic Sea;Albania: new record of the bigeye thresher shark Alopias superciliosus; Greece: confirmation of the rare brown alga Sargassumflavifolium occurrence in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea; first record of the scaleless dragonfish Bathophilus nigerrimus; Turkey:first occurrence of the calanoid copepod Pteriacartia josephinae in the Aegean Sea; first documented record of the Cremonaâs seaslug Placida cremoniana for the easternmost Mediterranean Sea; new record of the yellow-headed goby Gobius xanthocephalusin the Sea of Marmara; Cyprus: first record of the Liechtensteinâs goby Corcyrogobius liechtensteini; an individual of the Yellowfintuna Thunnus albacares captured with handline by an artisanal fisher; Lebanon: an individual of the Black marlin Istiompaxindica captured in a gill ne
Unpublished Mediterranean and Black Sea records of marine alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species
To enrich spatio-temporal information on the distribution of alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, a collective effort by 173 marine scientists was made to provide unpublished records and make them open access to the scientific community. Through this effort, we collected and harmonized
a dataset of 12,649 records. It includes 247 taxa, of which 217 are Animalia, 25 Plantae and 5 Chromista, from 23 countries surrounding the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Chordata was the most abundant taxonomic group, followed by Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Annelida. In terms of species records, Siganus luridus, Siganus rivulatus,
Saurida lessepsianus, Pterois miles, Upeneus moluccensis, Charybdis (Archias) longicollis, and Caulerpa cylindracea were the most numerous. The temporal distribution of the records ranges from 1973 to 2022, with 44% of the records in 2020â2021. Lethrinus borbonicus is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, while Pomatoschistus quagga, Caulerpa cylindracea, Grateloupia turuturu, and Misophria pallida are first records for the Black Sea; Kapraunia schneideri is recorded for the second time in the Mediterranean and for the first time in Israel; Prionospio depauperata and Pseudonereis anomala are reported for the first time from the Sea of Marmara. Many first country records are also included, namely: Amathia verticillata (Montenegro), Ampithoe valida (Italy), Antithamnion amphigeneum (Greece), Clavelina oblonga (Tunisia and Slovenia), Dendostrea cf. folium (Syria), Epinephelus fasciatus (Tunisia), Ganonema farinosum (Montenegro), Macrorhynchia philippina (Tunisia), Marenzelleria neglecta (Romania), Paratapes
textilis (Tunisia), and Botrylloides diegensis (Tunisia)
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
Unpublished Mediterranean and Black Sea records of marine alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species
To enrich spatio-temporal information on the distribution of alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, a collective effort by 173 marine scientists was made to provide unpublished records and make them open access to the scientific community. Through this effort, we collected and harmonized a dataset of 12,649 records. It includes 247 taxa, of which 217 are Animalia, 25 Plantae and 5 Chromista, from 23 countries surrounding the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Chordata was the most abundant taxonomic group, followed by Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Annelida. In terms of species records, Siganus luridus, Siganus rivulatus, Saurida lessepsianus, Pterois miles, Upeneus moluccensis, Charybdis (Archias) longicollis, and Caulerpa cylindracea were the most numerous. The temporal distribution of the records ranges from 1973 to 2022, with 44% of the records in 2020â2021. Lethrinus borbonicus is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, while Pomatoschistus quagga, Caulerpa cylindracea, Grateloupia turuturu, and Misophria pallida are first records for the Black Sea; Kapraunia schneideri is recorded for the second time in the Mediterranean and for the first time in Israel; Prionospio depauperata and Pseudonereis anomala are reported for the first time from the Sea of Marmara. Many first country records are also included, namely: Amathia verticillata (Montenegro), Ampithoe valida (Italy), Antithamnion amphigeneum (Greece), Clavelina oblonga (Tunisia and Slovenia), Dendostrea cf. folium (Syria), Epinephelus fasciatus (Tunisia), Ganonema farinosum (Montenegro), Macrorhynchia philippina (Tunisia), Marenzelleria neglecta (Romania), Paratapes textilis (Tunisia), and Botrylloides diegensis (Tunisia).Stelios Katsanevakis, Michail Ragkousis, Maria Sini, Markos Digenis and Vasilis Gerovasileiou were supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) under the âFirst Call for HFRI Research Projects to support Faculty members and Researchers and the procurement of high-cost research equipment grantâ (Project ALAS â âALiens in the Aegean â a Sea under siegeâ (Katsanevakis et al. 2020b); Project Number: HFRI-FM17-1597). Konstantinos Tsirintanis was co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund-ESF) through the Operational Programme âHuman Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learningâ, 2014-2020, in the context of the Act âEnhancing Human Resources Research Potential
by undertaking a Doctoral Researchâ Sub-action 2: IKY Scholarship Programme for PhD candidates in the Greek Universities. Maria Zotou was supported by the project âCoastal Environment Observatory and Risk Management in Island Regions AEGIS+â (MIS 5047038), implemented within the Operational Programme âCompetitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovationâ (NSRF 2014-2020), co financed by the Hellenic Government (Ministry of Development and Investments) and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund, Cohesion Fund). Razy Hoffman was supported by Yad-Hanadiv Foundation, through the Israel Society of Ecology and Environmental Sciences and Israel Nature and Parks Authority, an integrated program for establishing biological baselines and monitoring protocols for marine reserves in
the Israeli Mediterranean Sea (Grant #10669). Tatiana Begun, Adrian Teaca and Mihaela
Muresan were supported by the European Unionâs Horizon 2020 BRIDGE-BS project under
grant agreement no. 101000240. Fiona Tomas was supported by the project âInvasion of the
tropical alga Halimeda incrassata in the Balearic Islands: ecology and invasion dynamics
(AAEE119/2017)â, funded by the Vicepresidencia y ConsejerĂa de InnovaciĂłn, InvestigaciĂłn y
Turismo del Govern de les Illes Balears, with support from the European Union and FEDER
funds, and the project âUna nueva alga invasora en el MediterrĂĄneo: invasibilidad, detecciĂłn y
erradicaciĂłn del alga tropical Halimeda incrassata (INVHALI)â, funded by the FundaciĂłn
Biodiversidad, del Ministerio para la TransiciĂłn EcolĂłgica y el Reto DemogrĂĄfico. Simonetta
Fraschetti, Laura Tamburello, Antonia Chiarore were supported by the project PO FEAMP
2014-2020 - DRD n. 35/2019, âInnovazione, sviluppo e sostenibilitĂ nel settore della pesca e
dell'acquacoltura per la Regione Campaniaâ (ISSPA 2.51) and the EU EASME - EMFF
(Sustainable Blue Econ-omy) Project AFRIMED (http://afrimed-project.eu/, grant agreement N.
789059). Carlos Jimenez, Louis Hadjioannou, Vasilis Resaikos, Valentina Fossati, Magdalene
Papatheodoulou, and Antonis Petrou were supported by MedPan Small Projects, Mava, and
LIFE-IP. Louis Hadjioannou, Manos L. Moraitis and Neophytos Agrotis received funding from
the European Unionâs Horizon 2020 research and innovation program within the framework of
the CMMI/MaRITeC-X project under grant agreement No. 857586. Ernesto Azzurro was
supported by the project USEIt - Utilizzo di Sinergie operative per la gestione integrata specie
aliene Invasive in Italia, funded by the research programme @CNR. Antonietta Rosso and
Francesco Sciuto were supported by the University of Catania through âPiaCeRi-Piano
Incentivi per la Ricerca di Ateneo 2020â22 linea di intervento 2.â This is the Catania
Paleoecological Research Group contribution n. 484. Diego K. Kersting was supported by the
Beatriu de PinĂłs programme funded by the Secretary of Universities and Research
(Government of Catalonia) and the Horizon 2020 programme of research and innovation of the
European Union under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 801370. Francesco
Tiralongo was supported by the AlienFish project of Ente Fauna Marina Mediterranea
(Scientific Organization for Research and Conservation of Marine Biodiversity, 96012 Avola,
Italy), a citizen science project for monitoring and studying rare and non-indigenous fish in
Italian waters. Adriana Vella, was supported by funds through the BioCon_Innovate Research
Excellence Grant from the University of Malta awarded to her. Noel Vella was supported by
REACH HIGH Scholars Programme-Post Doctoral Grant for the FINS project. Some of the
records provided by Victor Surugiu were obtained during surveys carried out within the
framework of the project âAdequate management of invasive species in Romania, in accordance
with EU Regulation 1143/2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread
of invasive alien speciesâ, SMIS 2014+ 120008, coordinated by the Romanian Ministry of
Environment, Water and Forests in partnership with the University of Bucharest (2018â2022).
Alan Deidun and Alessio Marrone were supported by the âSpot The Alienâ citizen science
campaign for the monitoring of the Alien species in the Maltese archipelago and by the Interreg
Italia-Malta Harmony project. The authors from the National Institute of Biology (Slovenia)
acknowledge the financial support of the Slovenian Research Agency (Research Core Funding
No. P1-0237) and of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food (project âSurvey of the
species richness and abundance of alien species in the Slovenian Seaâ). Emanuele Mancini and
Fabio Collepardo Coccia were supported by the project PO-FEAMP 2014-2020 âBIOBLITZ:
research, knowledge and participation for the sustainable management of marine resources
(BioBlitz Blu 2020)â coordinated by CURSA for MIPAAF, the Italian Ministry of Agricultural,
Food and Forestry Policies, Measure 1.40 - Protection and restoration of biodiversity and marine
ecosystems and compensation schemes in the context of sustainable fishing activities. Daniele
Grech was supported by the PO-FEAMP 2014-2020 project ECOGESTOCK âApproccio
ECOsistemico per la tutela e la GEStione delle risorse biologiche e STOCK ittici nelle acque
interneâ, the citizen science project Progetto Fucales: chi le ha viste? and the Paralenz Every
dive counts sponsor. Jamila Rizgalla was supported by the project Snowball for the monitoring
of alien species in Libyan waters ÙÙ Ű§ÙŰȘÙŰŽ ÙÙ Ű§ÙŰȘۯ۷۔ۧ Ű) have you seen it have you fished it?).
Gerasimos Kondylatos and Dimitrios Mavrouleas were supported by the project âEXPLIASâ
(MIS (ÎÎ ÎŁ): 5049912), design and piloting methods of commercial exploitation of invasive
alien species with a view to contributing to their population control, coordinated by the National
Technical University of Athens with the collaboration of the Hellenic Centre for Marine
Research and the University of the Aegean and co-founded by Greece and the European Union.
G. Kondylatos and Savvas Nikolidakis were supported by the project âSAMOSâ (ID CODE:
32.2072004/001), a study for a submarine productive park in Marathokampos of Samos.
Paraskevi K. Karachle, Aikaterini Dogrammatzi, Giorgos A. Apostolopoulos, Kassiani Konida
and Melina Nalmpanti were supported by the project â4ALIEN: Biology and the potential
economic exploitation of four alien species in the Hellenic Seasâ, funded by NRSF 2017-2020
(MIS (ÎÎ ÎŁ): 5049511). Fabio Crocetta and Riccardo Virgili were partially funded by the
project PO FEAMP Campania 2014â2020, DRD n. 35 of 15th March 2018, Innovazione,
sviluppo e sostenibilitĂ nel settore della pesca e dellâacquacoltura per la regione Campania, Misura 2.51, WP5, Task 5.5 Presenza e distribuzione di specie non indigene del macrozoobenthos e del
necton in Campania. Michel Bariche was partially funded by the University Research Board of
the American University of Beirut (DDF 103951/2592). Constantinos G. Georgiadis, Dimitra
Lida Rammou, Paschalis Papadamakis and Sotiris Orfanidis were supported by the MSFD
monitoring program. Sonia Smeraldo was supported by the MPA-Engage project, led by the
Institute of Marine Sciences of the Spanish National Research Council and funded by the
Interreg MED program. Evgeniia Karpova acknowledge that the publication of this article was
in part carried out within the framework of the state assignment of the FRC IBSS âPatterns of
Formation and Anthropogenic Transformation of Biodiversity and Bioresources of the Azovâ
Black Sea Basin and Other Regions of the World Oceanâ (No. 121030100028-0). Elena Slynkoâs
work was carried out within the framework of a State Assignment no. 121051100109-1 of
IBIW RAS. Manuela Falautano and Luca Castriota were supported by ISPRA citizen science
campaigns for the monitoring of alien species through the dedicated institutional project
([email protected]). MarĂa Altamirano was supported by the project RUGULOPTERYX
funded by FundaciĂłn Biodiversidad-Ministerio para la TransiciĂłn EcolĂłgica y el reto DemogrĂĄfico
(Spain) and the project UMA20-FEDERJA-006 with support from the European Union and
FEDER funds and Junta de AndalucĂa. Records provided by L. Mangialajo were collected in
the framework of projects funded by the Pew Charitable Trust, by the European Commission
(AFRIMED, http://afrimed-project.eu/, grant agreement N. 789059) and by the Académie 3 de
lâUniversitĂ© CĂŽte dâAzur (projet CONVOST).Peer reviewe
Unpublished Mediterranean and Black Sea records of marine alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species
To enrich spatio-temporal information on the distribution of alien, cryptogenic, and
neonative species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, a collective effort by 173
marine scientists was made to provide unpublished records and make them open
access to the scientific community. Through this effort, we collected and harmonized
a dataset of 12,649 records. It includes 247 taxa, of which 217 are Animalia, 25 Plantae
and 5 Chromista, from 23 countries surrounding the Mediterranean and the Black
Sea. Chordata was the most abundant taxonomic group, followed by Arthropoda,
Mollusca, and Annelida. In terms of species records, Siganus luridus, Siganus rivulatus,
Saurida lessepsianus, Pterois miles, Upeneus moluccensis, Charybdis (Archias)
longicollis, and Caulerpa cylindracea were the most numerous. The temporal
distribution of the records ranges from 1973 to 2022, with 44% of the records in
2020â2021. Lethrinus borbonicus is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean
Sea, while Pomatoschistus quagga, Caulerpa cylindracea, Grateloupia turuturu,
and Misophria pallida are first records for the Black Sea; Kapraunia schneideri is
recorded for the second time in the Mediterranean and for the first time in Israel;
Prionospio depauperata and Pseudonereis anomala are reported for the first time
from the Sea of Marmara. Many first country records are also included, namely:
Amathia verticillata (Montenegro), Ampithoe valida (Italy), Antithamnion
amphigeneum (Greece), Clavelina oblonga (Tunisia and Slovenia), Dendostrea cf.
folium (Syria), Epinephelus fasciatus (Tunisia), Ganonema farinosum (Montenegro),
Macrorhynchia philippina (Tunisia), Marenzelleria neglecta (Romania), Paratapes
textilis (Tunisia), and Botrylloides diegensis (Tunisia).peer-reviewe
The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance
INTRODUCTION
Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic.
RATIONALE
We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs).
RESULTS
Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants.
CONCLUSION
Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century
New alien mediterranean biodiversity records (March 2020)
The current article presents 18 new records from seven Mediterranean countries. These records include one rhodophyte, four nudibranchs, two crustaceans, one stingray and 10 bony fishes. They are grouped by country as follows: Lebanon-first record of the Striped bass Morone saxatilis, the stingray Himantura leoparda, the Areolate grouper Epinephelus areolatus and the Spot-fin porcupinefish Diodon hystrix from various parts of the country; Turkey-first record of the invasive red alga Grateloupia turuturu from the sea of Marmara (region of Bandirma), the sea slug Goniobranchus obsoletus and the crab Arcania brevifrons from the Gulf of Antalya and the cladoceran Pleopis schmackeri from several locations along the Aegean Sea; Cyprus-first record of the alien sea slug Berthellina citrina from the region of Cape Greco and an observation of a butterflyfish Heniochus sp. from the northeastern side of the island; Greece-first record of the alien sea slug Anteaeolidiella lurana from the region of Heraklion in Crete and the record of the Atlantic spadefish Chaetodipterus faber and the Black surgeonfish Acanthurus cfr gahhm from Salamina Island; Slovenia-first record of the alien sea slug Thecacera pennigera from Izola; Italy-first record of the hybrid Striped bass (Morone saxatilis x Morone chrysops) from the northern Tyrrhenian Sea and a first record of the goldfish Carassius auratus from the region of Apulia; Libya-first record of the Red Sea goatfish Parupeneus forsskali and the African surgeonfish Acanthurus monroviae, respectively from the eastern (Al-Tamimi area) and the western shore (Al-Khums area). © 2020 Hellenic Centre for Marine Research
New records of rare species in the Mediterranean Sea (May 2022)
This Collective Article presents new information about the occurrence of 21 taxa that belong to six Phyla: one Cnidaria, one Ctenophora, two Annelida, four Mollusca, two Arthropoda, and eleven Chordata. These records were reported from ten countries from the western to the eastern Mediterranean Sea as follows: Spain: early colonization signs of the Mar Menor lagoon by the cigar jellyfish Olindias muelleri; France: second record of the sea chub of the genus Kyphosus in French Mediterranean waters; Italy: first record of the marbled crab Pachygrapsus maurus in Sardinian waters; first records of the polychaetes Malmgrenia polypapillata and Levinsenia tribranchiata in the Tyrrhenian Sea; new record of the deep-sea squid Ancistrocheirus lesueurii in the Tyrrhenian Sea; first record of the pignosed arrowtooth eel Dysomma brevirostre in the Adriatic Sea; Tunisia: first documented record of the blue butterfish Stromateus fiatola and new record of the iconic great white shark Carcharodon carcharias in the Gulf of Gabes; Slovenia: first records of the sea slug Diaphorodoris alba and the sharpnose sevengill shark Heptranchias perlo; Montenegro: new record of the rare tope shark Galeorhinus galeus; Greece: new records of the rabbitfish Chimaera monstrosa and the electric ray Tetronarce nobiliana; first published record of the nuribranch Discodoris rosi; first record of the goblin shark Mitsukurina owstoni, unreported so far from the entire Mediterranean; Turkey: first record of the ctenophore Hormiphora plumosa at country level; first records of the anomuran decapod Munida speciosa and the Mediterranean tripodfish, Bathypterois mediterraneus from the Levantine Sea; Cyprus: first documented record of the nuribranch Scyllaea pelagica; Lebanon: first record of the killer whale Orcinus orca from the Levantine Sea
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
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. © Katsanevakis et al