Unpublished Mediterranean records of marine alien and cryptogenic species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the exception of first records on a country level or wider regions, observations of species presence tend to remain unpublished, buried in scattered repositories or in the personal databases of experts. Through an initiative to collect, harmonize and make such unpublished data for marine alien and cryptogenic species in the Mediterranean Sea available, a large dataset comprising 5376 records was created.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Unpublished Mediterranean records of marine alien and cryptogenic species

Yapici, Sercan/0000-0003-2288-5084; Dailianis, Thanos/0000-0002-4102-9331; Marchini, Agnese/0000-0003-4580-0522; Bos, Arthur R./0000-0002-0708-314X; Pipitone, Carlo/0000-0002-7632-1228; Rosso, Antonietta/0000-0001-5565-9513; Albano, Paolo G/0000-0001-9876-1024; Langeneck, Joachim/0000-0003-3665-8683; Bazairi, Hocein/0000-0002-1788-0580; Gerovasileiou, Vasilis/0000-0002-9143-7480; Garmendia Etxandi, Joxe Mikel/0000-0002-9403-1777; Levitt-Barmats, Ya'arit/0000-0001-7596-7257; Orlando-Bonaca, Martina/0000-0001-7700-7663WOS: 000531866100001Good 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.Open Access Publishing Fund of the International Association for Open Knowledge on Invasive Alien Species; Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation [HFRI-FM17-1597]; FECYT [FCT-17-12469]; EEA GRANTS; Public Investments Program (PIP) of the Hellenic Republic; Yad-Hanadiv foundation, through the Israel Society of Ecology and Environmental Sciences - "MAVA Fondation pour la Nature"; FFARB (funds for basic research activities); Italian Ministry of Education, University and ResearchMinistry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR); TUBITAK, Ankara, TurkeyTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [114Y238]; Slovenian Research AgencySlovenian Research Agency - Slovenia [P1-0237]; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia [GRN-20191-004]; COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action TD1209 Alien Challenge project; Marine Strategy Project; National Park of Al Hoceima; RAC/SPA, Tunisia; MAVA Foundation, Switzerland; European Commission (EC)European CommissionEuropean Commission Joint Research CentreEuropean Community (EC); Spanish Agency for International Cooperation to Development (AECID) - BiodivMex/Chantier MISTRALS; Hellenic Centre for Marine Research; European UnionEuropean Union (EU) [LIFE16 NAT/CY/000832]; European Community's Seventh Framework Program VECTORS (Vectors of Change in Oceans and Seas Marine Life); ICES Working Group on Introductions and Transfer of Marine Organisms [2016/2018]; MAVA Fondation pour la Nature"; Coastal Protection and Management Agency (APAL); EUEuropean Union (EU) [EMFF 8.3.1]; European Maritime and Fisheries Fund [(EMFF 2014-2020)]The publication of this article is supported by the Open Access Publishing Fund of the International Association for Open Knowledge on Invasive Alien Species (INVASIVESNET; www.invasivesnet.org).Stelios Katsanevakis, Maria Sini and Konstantinos Tsirintanis were supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.) under the "First Call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Faculty members and Researchers and the procurement of high-cost research equipment grant" (Project Number: HFRI-FM17-1597). Enalia Physis acknowledges Pantelis Patsalou for his support with field-logistics and links with fishers. Fiona Tomas would like to acknowledge funding from FECYT FCT-14-9319 (OJO A LAS INVASORAS! BIODIVERSIDAD Y ESPECIES INVASORAS DEL MEDITERRANEO BALEAR). Vasilis Gerovasileiou, Thanos Dailianis and Maria Sini acknowledge the support by the MARISCA project (www.marisca.eu), co-funded (85%) by EEA GRANTS, 2009-2014, and the Public Investments Program (PIP) of the Hellenic Republic (15%). Razy Hoffman acknowledges funding 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). Argyro Zenetos and Paraskevi K. Karachle would like to thank the citizenscientists collaborating with the Ellenic Network on Aquatic Invasive Species (ELNAIS elnais.hcmr.gr). Nikolaos Doumpas, Ioannis Giovos, Periklis Kleirou and Francesco Tiralongo would like to thank all the citizen-scientists that contributed with their shared records and data in the citizen-science project "Is it alien to you? Share it!!!" (https://www.facebook.com/groups/104915386661854/).Data from Gyaros Island marine reserve were collected under the "GyarosMPA" project, funded by "MAVA Fondation pour la Nature". Data from Corsica coastline were mainly collected in the framework of the "Corsica Alien Network" initiated by "Office de l'Environnement de la Corse". Carla Morri and Carlo Nike Bianchi received financial support from FFARB (funds for basic research activities) by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research. Ergun Taskin has been supported by TUBITAK, Ankara, Turkey (Project Number: 114Y238). the Slovenian authors would like to acknowledge their financial support from the Slovenian Research Agency (research core funding No. P1-0237) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia. Mehmet Fatih Huseyinoglu thanks University of Kyrenia's Scientific Research Project numbered GRN-20191-004. Fabio Crocetta was funded by the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action TD1209 Alien Challenge project. the FRI (HAO DEMETER) team is very grateful to the Marine Strategy Project for financial support. Records of NIS in Jbel Moussa, the National Park of Al Hoceima and Cap des Trois Fourches sites from Morocco were obtained during surveys conducted within the framework of the MedKeyHabitats and the MedMPAnet Projects implemented by UNEP/MAP-RAC/SPA in close collaboration with the Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forets et a la Lutte Contre la Desertification (HCEFLCD) and financially supported by RAC/SPA, Tunisia and the MAVA Foundation, Switzerland (MedKeyHabitats Project) and the European Commission (EC), the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation to Development (AECID), and the French Global Environment Facility (MedMPAnet Project).; Jamila Ben Souissi was partially funded by BiodivMex/Chantier MISTRALS. Konstantinos Tsiamis sampling records were retrieved during his post in the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, which he would like to thank for. Periklis Kleitou and Demetris Kletou were supported by the LIFE financial instrument of the European Union - RELIONMED project [Grant Agreement LIFE16 NAT/CY/000832]. Some of the data included in the dataset were obtained through the marine citizen science platform Observadores del Mar www.observadoresdelmar.es with the support of FECYT FCT-17-12469, LIFE IP Intemares and Fundacio Marilles, and through the citizen science site of the Italian Marine Protected Area of "Regno di Nettuno" (islands of Ischia, Procida and Vivara): www.citizensciencerdn.org.Most data from Lebanon were retrieved from social media dedicated to citizen science (Facebook group: Sea Lebanon https://www.facebook.com/groups/109615625861815/) or fishers and scuba divers WhatsApp groups). Jamila Rizgalla wishes to thank the administration of Regatta for granting a free pass to conduct field surveys and the security personnel for providing a safe environment. Anna Occhipinti-Ambrogi was supported by European Community's Seventh Framework Program VECTORS (Vectors of Change in Oceans and Seas Marine Life, Impact on Economic Sectors). the long lasting collaboration with the ICES Working Group on Introductions and Transfer of Marine Organisms (WGITMO) has been a good forum where many information and ideas could be exchanged within some of the authors (Anna Occhipinti-Ambrogi, Argyro Zenetos, Agnese Marchini, and a wider community of scientists working on biological invasions). A. Rosso and R. Sanfilippo received grants from the Catania University Research Plan 2016/2018. Data from Kuriat island were collected under the "Kuriat project", funded by "MAVA Fondation pour la Nature" executed by SPA/RAC in partnership with the Coastal Protection and Management Agency (APAL) and Notre Grand Bleu (NGB) NGO. the AIS/ERA (Environment and Resources Authority) Maltese data were obtained from the EU funded project EMFF 8.3.1 under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund 2014-2020 with a total cost of _1.6 million in public eligible EMFF funds (75% EU 25% MT), managed by AIS/ERA (Environment and Resources Authority). the ultimate goals of this European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF 2014-2020) project are to devise a holistic approach towards marine monitoring and develop a comprehensive database of data collected about the Maltese waters. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments

The Delimitation of Geographic Distributions of Gobius bucchichi and Gobius incognitus (Teleostei: Gobiidae)

After the description of Gobius incognitus Kovačić & Šanda, 2016, all previous knowledge about the geographic distribution of Gobius bucchichi Steindachner, 1870, as well as its ecology and biology, became obsolete, since it represented the data from the mixture of two species. The known geographic distribution of G. bucchichi and G. incognitus is revisited by validating previously published records, but also and foremost by integrating many new photographic records posted by anglers and divers on social media and on citizen science databases. The present research uses only positively identified records with exact data on locality, coordinates and date of collecting. A total of 1024 confirmed records were collected and retained for inferring distribution maps: 805 records of G. incognitus and 219 records of G. bucchichi. Gobius incognitus is a widespread Mediterranean Sea species with limited presence in the Lusitanian province of the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. It is absent from the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Gobius bucchichi is recorded only in the eastern half of the Mediterranean Sea, from the Adriatic to the Aegean Sea, and in the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara

A small fishery with a high impact on sea turtle populations in the eastern Mediterranean

<div><p>Sea turtles were targeted by fisheries in the Mediterranean from 1920 to 1970 and have undergone severe exploitation. At least 30,000 to 40,000 turtles were caught along the Palestinian coastline during the 1920s to 1930s. Although intentional cap- ture of marine turtles is now illegal, sea turtles are still incidentally caught by the fishing industry, making it a major cause of sea turtle mortality. The present study as- sesses the impact of the Israeli fishery fleet on the turtle population in the Levantine basin based on on-board observations and a fishermen survey. The results show that gillnets and trawlers are the main threats to sea turtles in this area. 21 turtles were caught during 1385.5 hours of trawling observations – a catch rate of 0.015 turtles per hour. We estimate that a total of 1,315 turtles are caught annually by Israeli trawlers. According to the fishermen survey, ∼21 turtles are caught each year by a single gillnet vessel, yielding an annual estimate of 1,672 turtles for the whole gillnet fleet. We have also found that only a small fraction of the turtles injured by trawlers is represented in the strandings. The mortality rate through trawling and the stranding density is the highest in the region, emphasizing the urgent need to regulate the Israe- li fishery. This fishery poses a major threat to the whole Levantine sea turtle popula- tion, especially during the vulnerable reproduction stage.</p></div

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.JRC.D.2-Water and Marine Resource

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.</p