New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (March 2017)

23 pages, 26 figures, 3 tablesThis Collective Article presents information on 22 species belonging to 5 Phyla, arranged geographically from west to east. The new records were found in 8 countries as follows: Spain: first record of the two scarcely known nemerteans Baseodiscus delineatus and Notospermus geniculatus in Formentera; Malta: second record of the alien fish Lagocephalus sceleratus; Italy: the alien polychaete Syllis pectinans and the isopod Paranthura japonica, as well as the cryptogenic opisthobranch Anteaeolidiella lurana, were found in the fouling assemblages along the docks of the port of Livorno. New decapod records are reported from Sicily (the alien Callinectes sapidus and the native Pachygrapsus maurus) and Apulia (Percnon gibbesi and Procambarus clarkii); the lesser amberjack Seriola fasciata extended its geographical range to the Egadi Isands and Siganus luridus was documented for the first time along the Ionian coasts of Apulia and Calabria. Slovenia: the first record of the alien bivalve Brachidontes pharaonis is reported, together with a survey of up to date Adriatic records. Greece: the first record of the gastropod Rhinoclavis kochi is reported from Gavdos island. In addition, two records of endangered and rare cartilaginous fish were reported, namely, the shark Hexanchus griseus and the ray Leucoraja fullonica, as well as additional records of Siganus luridus for Lesvos and Malleus regula and Fulvia fragilis from Astypalaia. Turkey: the black wing flyingfish Hirundichthys rondeletii is reported for the very first time from the Black Sea. Egypt: the Indo-Pacific crab Halimede ochtodes is reported as established in Port Said. In addition, biometric parameters and meristic counts are reported for Anthias anthias in Damietta. Cyprus: the alien opisthobranch gastropod BursatellaPeer Reviewe

New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (March 2017)

Langeneck, Joachim/0000-0003-3665-8683; Acevedo Garcia, Ivan/0000-0002-3082-6028; Fernandez-Alvarez, Fernando Angel/0000-0002-8679-7377; Katsanevakis, Stelios/0000-0002-5137-7540; Turan, Cemal/0000-0001-9584-0261; Mancinelli, Giorgio/0000-0002-5833-7322; Celik, Murat/0000-0003-1282-3170; Poursanidis, Dimitris/0000-0003-3228-280X; Tempesti, Jonathan/0000-0002-7027-3480; Deidun, Alan/0000-0002-6919-5374; cilenti, lucrezia/0000-0003-3582-0853; ANASTASOPOULOU, AIKATERINI/0000-0003-0872-6984WOS: 000399341900018This Collective Article presents information on 22 species belonging to 5 Phyla, arranged geographically from west to east. The new records were found in 8 countries as follows: Spain: first record of the two scarcely known nemerteans Baseodiscus delineatus and Notospermus geniculatus in Formentera; Malta: second record of the alien fish Lagocephalus sceleratus; Italy: the alien polychaete Syllis pectinans and the isopod Paranthura japonica, as well as the cryptogenic opisthobranch Anteaeolidiella lurana, were found in the fouling assemblages along the docks of the port of Livorno. New decapod records are reported from Sicily (the alien Callinectes sapidus and the native Pachygrapsus maurus) and Apulia (Percnon gibbesi and Procambarus clarkii); the lesser amberjack Seriola fasciata extended its geographical range to the Egadi Isands and Siganus luridus was documented for the first time along the Ionian coasts of Apulia and Calabria. Slovenia: the first record of the alien bivalve Brachidontes pharaonis is reported, together with a survey of up to date Adriatic records. Greece: the first record of the gastropod Rhinoclavis kochi is reported from Gavdos island. In addition, two records of endangered and rare cartilaginous fish were reported, namely, the shark Hexanchus griseus and the ray Leucoraja fullonica, as well as additional records of Siganus luridus for Lesvos and Malleus regula and Fulvia fragilis from Astypalaia. Turkey: the black wing flyingfish Hirundichthys rondeletii is reported for the very first time from the Black Sea. Egypt: the Indo-Pacific crab Halimede ochtodes is reported as established in Port Said. In addition, biometric parameters and meristic counts are reported for Anthias anthias in Damietta. Cyprus: the alien opisthobranch gastropod Bursatella leachii is reported for first time.Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS)Slovenian Research Agency - Slovenia; East and South European Network for Invasive Alien Species [33-51/30.06.2015]; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competiveness [BES-2013-063551, CTM2014-57949-R]; Duzce University Research FundDuzce University [2013.5.1.189]; Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning of SloveniaThe study coauthored by Valentina Pitacco, Lovrenc Lipej and Fabio Crocetta is part of Valentina's PhD study funded by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS), and was supported by the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning of Slovenia. The study of alien species from Slovenia involving Fabio Crocetta was partially funded by the East and South European Network for Invasive Alien Species - a tool to support the management of alien species in Bulgaria (ESENIAS-TOOLS) (EEA funded - Contract No..-33-51/30.06.2015). Fabio Crocetta and Miquel Pontes are grateful to Alper Karabacak (Kyrenia, Cyprus) for sharing data on Bursatella leachii. Authors Gianni Insacco and Bruno Zava are grateful to the professional fisherman Mr Alessandro Bonfissuti, owner of "Erika", for providing the C. sapidus specimen studied. The authors warmly thank Maria Corsini-Foka (Hellenic Centre for Marine Research) for useful comments, which improved a previous draft of their note. Authors Aikaterini Dogrammatzi and Caterina Stamouli would like to thank Dr E. Leukaditou, J. Dokos, G. Christidis, I. Fytilakos and N. Fotiadis, members of the MEDITS scientific team, for their valuable help during samplings and also the captain and the crew of the fishing boat "TAKIS-MIMIS". Fernando Angel Fernandez-Alvarez was supported by a pre-doctoral fellowship of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competiveness (BES-2013-063551). His co-authors, Ivan Acevedo and Paula C. Rodriguez-Flores, were funded under the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competiveness project CTM2014-57949-R. Ch. Mytilineou and A. Anastasopoulou would like to thank the onboard team of the EPILEXIS project (C. J. Smith, E. Lefkaditou, K. Papadopoulou, C. Stamouli, J. Dokos, G. Oikonomidis, E. Kypraiou); C. J. Smith, in particular, for the photographic material, as well as the captain and the crew of F/V 'Takis-Mimis' for supporting the survival of the Bluntnose Sixgill Shark specimen. The study of D. Yaglioglu and C. Turan was financially supported by Duzce University Research Fund, Project Number: 2013.5.1.189 and coordinated by DY. For Malta, Alan Deidun and Murat Celik are grateful to the Maltese angler - David Agius-who caught the L. sceleratus specimen reported in this study

New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (March 2017)

This Collective Article presents information on 22 species belonging to 5 Phyla, arranged geographically from west to east. The new records were found in 8 countries as follows: Spain: first record of the two scarcely known nemerteans Baseodiscus delineatus and Notospermus geniculatus in Formentera; Malta: second record of the alien fish Lagocephalus sceleratus; Italy: the alien polychaete Syllis pectinans and the isopod Paranthura japonica, as well as the cryptogenic opisthobranch Anteaeolidiella lurana, were found in the fouling assemblages along the docks of the port of Livorno. New decapod records are reported from Sicily (the alien Callinectes sapidus and the native Pachygrapsus maurus) and Apulia (Percnon gibbesi and Procambarus clarkii); the lesser amberjack Seriola fasciata extended its geographical range to the Egadi Isands and Siganus luridus was documented for the first time along the Ionian coasts of Apulia and Calabria. Slovenia: the first record of the alien bivalve Brachidontes pharaonis is reported, together with a survey of up to date Adriatic records. Greece: the first record of the gastropod Rhinoclavis kochi is reported from Gavdos island. In addition, two records of endangered and rare cartilaginous fish were reported, namely, the shark Hexanchus griseus and the ray Leucoraja fullonica, as well as additional records of Siganus luridus for Lesvos and Malleus regula and Fulvia fragilis from Astypalaia. Turkey: the black wing flyingfish Hirundichthys rondeletii is reported for the very first time from the Black Sea. Egypt: the Indo-Pacific crab Halimede ochtodes is reported as established in Port Said. In addition, biometric parameters and meristic counts are reported for Anthias anthias in Damietta. Cyprus: the alien opisthobranch gastropod Bursatella leachii is reported for first time

New Mediterranean Biodiversity (July 2017)

This Collective Article presents information on 37 taxa belonging to 6 Phyla and extending from the western Mediterranean to the Levantine Sea. The new records were found in 10 countries as follows: Algeria: first reports on the presence of the fish species Lesueurigobius sanzi, L. friesii, L. suerii and Luvarus imperiali; France: first record of the alien nudibranch Godiva quadricolor; Italy: first record of an adult-sized red emperor snapper Lutjanus sebae from the southern Tyrrhenian Sea; first record of the pantropical rhodophyte Chondria curvilineata and the Lessepsian fish Siganus luridus from southern Sicily; record of a large pregnant female Dusky shark Carcharhinus obscurus off Sicily; Albania: first record of the fish Ruvettus pretiosus, new records of the alien molluscs Conomurex persicus, Bursatella leachii, Dendostrea cf. folium, Fulvia fragilis and Ruditapes philippinarum and additional report of the alien bivalve Pinctada imbricata radiata; Montenegro: first record of the sea slug Thecacera pennigera in the Adriatic Sea; Greece: first record of the invasive calcarean sponge Paraleucilla magna in Greek waters; occupancy estimation of the established cryptogenic rhodophyte Ganonema farinosum, the alien crustacean Percnon gibbesi and the alien fish species Fistularia commersonii, Siganus luridus, and S. rivulatus along the Cretan coastline; first record of the alien mollusc Sticteulimalentiginosa in Greek waters suggesting a westward unintentional expansion of this species; Turkey:photographic evidence of interactions of the monk seal Monachus monachus with sea-cage farms in the Turkish Aegean Sea and first record of the yellow boxfish Ostracion cubicus in the Turkish Mediterranean; Cyprus: first records of the rare speleophilic fish Thorogobius ephippiatus and Grammonus ater in Cyprus, extending the known distribution of the latter Mediterranean endemic species eastwards; first records of the alien fish Kyphosus vaigiensis and the alien crustacean species Macrophthalmus indicusand Carupa tenuipes as well as additional records of the alien echinoderm Diadema setosum and the alien ascidian Symplegma brakenhielmi in the country; Lebanon: first report on the presence of the four alien fish species Cephalopholis taeniops, Equulites popei, Pseudupeneus prayensis and Sphoeroides pachygaster; Egypt: first record of the Lessepsian fish Synchiropus sechellensisin the Egyptian Mediterranean waters