The aim of this study is to compile a preliminary first check-list of Amphipoda species from
beaches of Favignana Island (Sicily, Italy), and contribute to the knowledge relating to the
distribution of this taxon in the Mediterranean Sea. Five amphipod species, belonging to two
families (Talitridae and Hyalidae), have been collect in the island. The supralittoral assemblage
appears to contain three main biogeographical categories: Atlanto-Mediterranean species,
Mediterranean endemic species and cosmopolitan species

Balistreri, P.

Giangrasso, M.

Iaciofano, D.

LO BRUTTO, S.

Schimmenti, E.

The aim of this study is to compile a preliminary first check-list of Amphipoda species from
beaches of Favignana Island (Sicily, Italy), and contribute to the knowledge relating to the
distribution of this taxon in the Mediterranean Sea. Five amphipod species, belonging to two
families (Talitridae and Hyalidae), have been collect in the island. The supralittoral assemblage
appears to contain three main biogeographical categories: Atlanto-Mediterranean species,
Mediterranean endemic species and cosmopolitan species

Giangrasso, M. G

Balistreri, P

Iaciofano, D

Schimmenti, Eugenia

LO BRUTTO, Sabrina

Archivio istituzionale della ricerca - Università di Palermo

Biodiversity Journal, 2017, 8 (2): 665–667A first snapshot of sandy-beach amphipod (Crustacea) assem-blage in a Marine Protected Area, Favignana Island (centralMediterranean Sea)Maria Giulia Giangrasso1, Eugenia Schimmenti1, Paolo Balistreri2, Davide Iaciofano1 & Sabrina Lo Brutto1,3*1Department of Sciences and Biological Chemical and Pharmaceutical Technologies (STeBiCeF), Section of Animal Biology,University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 18, 90123 Palermo, Italy, 2Vicolo Giotto 6, 91023 Favignana, Italy 3Museo di Zoologia “Doderlein”, Sistema Museale d’Ateneo, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 16, 90123 Palermo(Italy)*Corresponding author, email: sabrina.lobrutto@unipa.itABSTRACTReceived 30.04.2017; accepted 31.05.2017; printed 30.06.2017Proceedings of the 17th International Colloquium on Amphipoda (17th ICA), September 4th-7th 2017, Trapani (Italy)The aim of this study is to compile a preliminary first check-list of Amphipoda species frombeaches of Favignana Island (Sicily, Italy), and contribute to the knowledge relating to thedistribution of this taxon in the Mediterranean Sea. Five amphipod species, belonging to twofamilies (Talitridae and Hyalidae), have been collect in the island. The supralittoral assem-blage appears to contain three main biogeographical categories: Atlanto-Mediterranean spe-cies, Mediterranean endemic species and cosmopolitan species.INTRODUCTIONTo date no survey regarding the amphipod faunaof the coastal zone of Favignana Island (the largestof the islands Egadi Islands Marine Reserve inSicily, Italy) has been conducted. This is notwith-standing that Marine Protected Areas (MPA) andmarine reserves have been widely advocated as aform of marine conservation for preserving biodi-versity (Agardy, 1994; Leslie, 2005).This study will focus on the sandy beaches ofFavignana Island, which are subjected to biotic andabiotic disturbances, and represented by natural andartificial bioturbation, mostly caused by recreationalseashore activities. There is a growing interest in as-sessing factors and processes occurring in sandybeaches of Favignana Island (Bacci et al., 2015),thus, an evaluation of amphipod assemblage need. Sandy beaches are supralittoral areas, represent-ing highly dynamic ecosystems that provide hab-itats for a diversity of fauna (Defeo et al., 2009).Due to the high vulnerability of these habitats, ac-tion plans for their conservation should be a prior-ity; choosing a reliable target of organisms as anindicator for making decisions addressed to the pre-servation of biological diversity can be considereda fundamental task (Deidun et al., 2009; Lo Bruttoet al., 2011; 2013; Sarà et al., 2014).This paper will outline an initial assessment ofthe supralittoral Amphipoda assemblage, which arepresent along the sandy coasts of Favignana Island;the aim of the paper is in order to deepen our tax-onomic knowledge regarding the composition ofthese species.KEY WORDS Crustacea; Amphipoda; sandy beaches; Favignana Island; Mediterranean Sea.MONOGRAPHMARIA GIULIA GIANGRASSO ET ALIIIn this study only the beach-hopper group wascaptured, though previous surveys collected bothsand-hopper and beach-hopper categories in closegeographic areas. Jelassi et al. (2015) recorded eightspecies of sand-hoppers and beach-hopper talitridsalong Tunisian coastal lagoons. Prato et al. (1995)reported seven species, belonging to sand-hopperand beach-hopper groups, along the coast ofTaranto (Ionian Sea, southern Italy); while Lowry& Fanini (2013) listed four species of sand-hopperand beach-hopper talitrids on the coast of Crete. The sampling method (pitfall traps) may haveselected species having mainly surface activity, i.e.beach-hopper, though Fanini & Lowry (2016) dem-onstrated that recreational use of the beaches canaffect talitrid composition. In fact, sand-hoppers(substrate modifiers) appeared to be more sensitivethan beach-hoppers (non-substrate modifiers) tosuch kind of bioturbation (Fanini & Lowry, 2016).BRIEF GUIDE FOR BEACH-HOPPERIDENTIFICATION IN FAVIGNANA ISLANDSHere a dichotomous key to species identificationis presented.1) A1 longer than peduncle of A2, U3 inner ramuspoorly defined ___________ Parhyale aquilinaA1 shorter or equal to peduncle of A2, U3uniramous_____________________________22) A2 peduncle inflated___Platorchestia platensisA2 peduncle not inflated ________________33) U1 peduncular spine-like seta absent, P5-P7dactylus with a long seta on anterior margin_____________ Orchestia mediterraneaU1 peduncular spine-like seta present_______44) P5-P7 dactylus with a long seta on anterior margin____________________ O. stephenseniP5-P7 dactylus with a short seta on anterior margin______________________O. montaguiREFERENCESAgardy M.T., 1994. Advances in marine conservation:The role of marine protected areas. Trends EcologicalEvolution, 9: 267–270.Bacci G., Pagoto E., Passaponti M., Vannocci P., UgoliniA. & Mengoni A., 2015. Composition of supralittoralsediments bacterial communities in a Mediterraneanisland. Annals of Microbiology, 10: 1–13.666MATERIAL AND METHODSThe study was carried out on Favignana Island,which is located approximately five kilometers offthe west coast of Sicily. Samples were collectedduring July - August 2015 from eight sites (37.93°N 12.27° E; 37.94° N 12.28° E; 37.93° N 12.32° E;37.93° N 12.34° E; 31.94° N 12.36° E; 37.91° N12.33° E; 37.91° N 12.32° E; 37.91° N 12.32° E),located in the northern and southern side ofFavignana Island. These supralittoral sites, display-ing two types of habitat, i.e. banquette of Posidoniaoceanica (Linnaeus) Delile, 1813 or sand andalgal/seagrass wrack, were sampled by means pit-fall-traps: these consisted of plastic cups about 10cm in diameter and 20 cm in height, positioned inthe sand or in the banquettes. The traps were de-ployed at nightfall, at approximately 7.30 pm, andemptied at dawn in order to intercept individualsmoving across the supra-littoral zone.Identification of the collected specimens wascarried out according to the morphological charac-teristics described by Ruffo ed. (1993), Iaciofano &Lo Brutto (2016; 2017) and Lowry & Fanini(2013).RESULTSOn the whole 171 individuals of amphipodswere collected: four of Talitridae, three belongingto the Orchestia Leach, 1814 genus, one species ofthe Platorchestia Bousfield, 1982 genus, and onespecies of Hyalidae, the latter belonging to theParhyale Stebbing, 1897 genus.This first checklist led us to document the oc-currence of Amphipoda on Favignana Island. Thesupralittoral assemblage appears to contain threemain biogeographical categories: Atlanto-Mediter-ranean species, Parhyale aquilina (Costa, 1857)and Orchestia mediterranea Costa, 1853, speciesendemic for the Mediterranean Sea, O. montaguiAudouin, 1826 and O. stephenseni Cecchini 1928,and cosmopolitan species, Platorchestia platensis(Krøyer, 1845). In the Mediterranean Sea, talitrid family dividedinto three ecological categories: driftwood-hoppers:e.g. Macarorchestia spp., sand-hopper: e.g. Talitrussaltator (Montagu, 1808), beach-hopper: e.g. Or-chestia s.l.) (Lowry & Fanini, 2013). Defeo O., McLachlan A., Schoeman D.S., Schlacher T.A,Dugan J., Jones A., Lastra M. & Scapini F., 2009.Threats to sandy beach ecosystems: a review. Estua-rine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 81: 1–12. Deidun A., Saliba S. & Schembri P.J., 2009. Considera-tions on the ecological role of wrack accumulationson sandy beaches in the Maltese Islands and recom-mendations for their conservation management. Jour-nal of Coastal Research, 56: 410–414.Fanini L. & Lowry J.K. 2016. Comparing methods usedin estimating biodiversity on sandy beaches: Pitfall vs.quadrat sampling. Ecological Indicators, 60: 358–366.Iaciofano D. & Lo Brutto S., 2016. Re-description of Or-chestia stephenseni Cecchini, 1928: designation ofneotype and senior synonym to Orchestia constrictaA. Costa, 1853 (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Talitridae)by Reversal of Precedence. Zootaxa, 4150: 40–60.Iaciofano D. & Lo Brutto S., 2017. Parhyale plumicornis(Crustacea: Amphipoda: Hyalidae): is this an anti-lessepsian Mediterranean species? Morphologicalremarks, molecular markers and ecological notes astools for future records. Systematics and Biodiversity,15: 238–252.Jelassi R., Khemaissia H., Zimmer M., Garbe-SchönbergD. & Nasri-Ammar K., 2015. Biodiversity of Talitridaefamily (Crustacea, Amphipoda) in some Tunisiancoastal lagoons. Zoological Studies, 54: 1–10.Leslie H., 2005. A synthesis of marine conservationplanning approaches. Conservation Biology, 19:1701–1713.A first snapshot of sandy-beach amphipod assemblage in a Marine Protected Area, Favignana Island (Mediterranean Sea) 667Lo Brutto S., Arculeo M. & Grant W.S., 2011. Climatechange and population genetic structure of marinespecies. Chemistry and Ecology, 27: 107–119.Lo Brutto S., Arculeo M., Krapp-Schickel T. & KetmaierV., 2013. Foreword to the Special Issue “New fron-tiers for monitoring European biodiversity: the roleand importance of amphipod crustaceans”. Crusta-ceana, 86: 769–779.Lowry J.K & Fanini L., 2013. Substrate dependent ta-litrid amphipods from fragmented beaches on the northcoast of Crete (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Talitridae), in-cluding a redefinition of the genus Orchestia anddescriptions of Orchestia xylino sp. nov. and Cryp-torchestia gen. nov. Zootaxa, 3709: 201–229.Prato E., Pastore M. & Pavia B., 1995. Il popolamentoad anfipodi del sopralitorale del mar piccolo diTaranto. Thalassia Salentina, 21: 61–67.Ruffo S. (Ed)., 1993. The Amphipoda of the Mediter-ranean. Part 3: Gammaridea (Melphidippidae to Ta-litridae), Ingolfiellidea, Caprellidea. Mémoires deL’Institut Océanographique, 13.Sarà G., Milanese M., Prusina I., Sarà A., Angel D.L.,Glamuzina B., Nitzan T., Freeman S., Rinaldi A., Pal-meri V., Montalto V., Lo Martire M., Gianguzza P.,Arizza V., Lo Brutto S., De Pirro M., Helmuth B.,Murray J., De Cantis S. & Williams G.A., 2014. Theimpact of climate change on Mediterranean intertidalcommunities: losses in coastal ecosystem integrityand services. Regional Environmental Change, 14:5–17.

A first snapshot of sandy-beach amphipod (Crustacea) assemblage in a Marine Protected Area, Favignana Island (central Mediterranean Sea)

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A first snapshot of sandy-beach amphipod (Crustacea) assemblage in a Marine Protected Area, Favignana Island (central Mediterranean Sea)

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Archivio istituzionale della ricerca - Università di Palermo