Crocetta, F

Doumpas, N

Giovos, I

Kaminas, A

Kleitou, P

Langeneck, J

Tiralongo, F

BioInvasions Records

English

The Atlantic spadefish Chaetodipterus faber (Broussonet, 1782) belongs to the family Ephippidae Bleeker, 1859 and is a widely distributed species in the Western Atlantic. In this work we present the record of a single specimen of C. faber captured by a professional fisher in Argosaronikos Gulf, Greece. The present sighting, reported through the citizen science project "Is it Alien to you? Share it!!!", constitutes the first record of this species in the Mediterranean Sea. Given the distance from the Strait of Gibraltar and the absence of any report from western Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic countries, we argue that the specimen is likely to have been released from an aquarium hobbyist. With this record, a total of 27 alien fish species have been likely introduced in the Mediterranean through this pathway, all after year 2000. An increasing trend has been observed and we urge national authorities and relevant stakeholders for their cooperation on increasing the awareness of aquarium trade industry, while we also highlight the effectiveness of citizen science as an early warning system for alien species in the Mediterranean

Giovos, Ioannis

Tiralongo, Francesco

Langeneck, Joachim

Kaminas, Alexander

Kleitou, Periklis

Crocetta, Fabio

Doumpas, Nikos

Archivio della Ricerca - Università di Pisa

First record of the Atlantic spadefish Chaetodipterus faber (Broussonet, 1782) in the Mediterranean Sea: is it a new aquarium release?

The Atlantic spadefish Chaetodipterus faber (Broussonet, 1782) belongs to the
family Ephippidae Bleeker, 1859 and is a widely distributed species in the Western
Atlantic. In this work we present the record of a single specimen of C. faber
captured by a professional fisher in Argosaronikos Gulf, Greece. The present
sighting, reported through the citizen science project “Is it Alien to you? Share it!!!”,
constitutes the first record of this species in the Mediterranean Sea. Given the
distance from the Strait of Gibraltar and the absence of any report from western
Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic countries, we argue that the specimen is likely
to have been released from an aquarium hobbyist. With this record, a total of 27
alien fish species have been likely introduced in the Mediterranean through this
pathway, all after year 2000. An increasing trend has been observed and we urge
national authorities and relevant stakeholders for their cooperation on increasing
the awareness of aquarium trade industry, while we also highlight the effectiveness
of citizen science as an early warning system for alien species in the Mediterranean

Plymouth Electronic Archive and Research Library

https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/bitstream/10026.1/15334/1/BIR_2020_Giovos_etal_correctedproof%20%281%29.pdf

First record of the Atlantic spadefish Chaetodipterus faber (Broussonet, 1782) in the Mediterranean Sea: is it a new aquarium release?

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Archivio della Ricerca - Università di Pisa

Plymouth Electronic Archive and Research Library