THE CONFIRMED OCCURENCE OF SERPENT EEL Ophisurus serpens IN SAROS BAY (NORTHERN AGEAN SEA), TURKEY

Zreli primjerak ženke zmije zubuše Ophisurus serpens (Linnaeus, 1758) ulovljen je parangalom na dubini od oko 45 m blizu mjesta Ece Bight, zaljev Saros, u sjevernom Egejskom moru 15. veljače 2016. Navedena vrsta je prethodno zabilježena u zaljevu Saros ali bez unesenih morfometrijskih i merističkih karakteristika. Biološka svojstva vrste, kao što su dob, promjer otolita i oocita, navedeni su u radu. Također, u ovom radu su predstavljena detaljna morfomeristička obilježja koja mogu pridonijeti taksonomskim istraživanjima zmije zubuše iz turskih mora.One mature female specimen of serpent eel Ophisurus serpens (Linnaeus, 1758) was caught by long line by a professional fisherman at a depth of about 45 m from Ece Bight, Saros Bay, north Aegean Sea on 15 February 2016. The species was previously reported without any morphometric and meristic characters from Saros Bay. Some biological characters, such as age and diameters of otolith and oocytes, are also given. In this study, the detailed morphomeristic features, which can contribute to the taxonomic studies of serpent eel from Turkish Seas, are presented

New Mediterranean biodiversity records (March 2016)

In this Collective Article on “New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records”, we present additional records of species found in the Mediterranean Sea. These records refer to eight different countries mainly throughout the northern part of the basin, and include 28 species, belonging to five Phyla. The findings per country include the following species: Spain: Callinectes sapidus and Chelidonura fulvipunctata; Monaco: Aplysia dactylomela; Italy: Charybdis (Charybdis) feriata, Carcharodon carcharias, Seriola fasciata, and Siganus rivulatus; Malta: Pomacanthus asfur; Croatia: Lagocephalus sceleratus and Pomadasys incisus; Montenegro: Lagocephalus sceleratus; Greece: Amathia (Zoobotryon) verticillata, Atys macandrewii, Cerithium scabridum, Chama pacifica, Dendostrea cf. folium, Ergalatax junionae, Septifer cumingii, Syphonota geographica, Syrnola fasciata, Oxyu- richthys petersi, Scarus ghobban, Scorpaena maderensis, Solea aegyptiaca and Upeneus pori; Turkey: Lobotes surinamensis, Ruvettus pretiosus and Ophiocten abyssicolum. In the current article, the presence of Taractes rubescens (Jordan & Evermann, 1887) is recorded for the first time in the Mediterranean from Italy. The great contribution of citizen scientists in monitoring biodiversity records is reflected herein, as 10% of the authors are citizen scientists, and contributed 37.5% of the new findings.peer-reviewe

New Alien Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (March 2021)

This article includes twenty (20) new records of alien and cryptogenic species in the Mediterranean Sea, belonging to six (6) Phyla (Rhodophyta, Tracheophyta, Mollusca, Arthropoda, Bryozoa, and Chordata) distributed from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Sea of Alboran. The records are reported from nine (9) countries and can be classified into two categories: new records for the Mediterranean Sea and new records of non-indigenous species expanding within the Mediterranean Sea. The first category includes the gastropod Turbo radiatus from Lebanon coasts, the portunid crab Charybdis (Charybdis) natator from Tunis southern lagoon, the mollusc Thuridilla mazda from South Spain, and the nudibranch Okenia picoensis from the Alboran coasts of Spain and from Malta. The second category includes the bivalve Nudiscintilla cf. glabra from the Aegean coast of Turkey, the rhodophyte Colaconema codicola from the North Aegean coasts of Greece, the naked band gaper Champsodon nudivittis from the Sea of Marmara, Turkey. Also, the brachyuran Gonioinfradens giardi from the Greek Ionian waters, the codlet Bregmaceros nectabanus from the Croatian coasts of the Adriatic Sea, and the bryozoan Arbopercula tenella and copepod Parvocalanus crassirostris both from the Gulf of Trieste, Slovenian and Italian coasts, respectively. New records were also reported for the ascidian Distaplia bermudensis from brackish the Gulf of Naples, Italy, the damselfish Abudefduf cf. saxatilis and the seagrass Halophila stipulacea from Sardinia, Tyrrhenian Sea, and for the fish Paranthias furcifer from the harbour of Almeria, Alboran Sea, Spain. Through these records, an understanding of the expanding mechanisms and processes and, if possible, the development of mitigation measures within the region will be further facilitated