scholarly journals A critical review of records of alien marine species from the Maltese Islands and surrounding waters (Central Mediterranean)

2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. SCIBERRAS ◽  
P.J. SCHEMBRI
Keyword(s):  
Grey Literature ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Warming Trend ◽  
Caulerpa Racemosa ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Maltese Islands ◽  
Marine Traffic ◽  
Increasing Trend ◽  
Percnon Gibbesi ◽  
Pacific Species

An updated list of alien marine species recorded from the Maltese Islands and surrounding waters, compiled from scientific and ‘grey’ literature and from authenticated unpublished reports to the authors, is presented. The listed species are classified in one of four categories as regards establishment status: established, casual, invasive and questionable. Doubtful records are listed as ‘?’. A total of 48 species, including nine dubious ones, are included in the list. Of the accepted records, 64% are established, of which 15.4% are invasive, 18% are casual and 18% are questionable. The most represented groups are molluscs (14 species), fish (13 species) and macrophytes (10 species). Six species are classified as invasive in Maltese waters: Lophocladia lallemandii, Womersleyella setacea, Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea, Percnon gibbesi, Fistularia commersonii and Sphoeroides pachygaster; impacts of some of these species on local ecosystems are discussed. Since the early 1900s, there has been an increasing trend in the number of alien marine species reported from the Maltese Islands. Transportation via shipping and in connection with aquaculture, as well as the range expansion of Lessepsian immigrants, appear to be the most common vectors for entry, accounting for 20%, 11% and 32% respectively of the alien species included in this review. The general warming trend of Mediterranean waters and increasing marine traffic may be facilitating the spread of warm-water Atlantic and Indo-Pacific species to the central Mediterranean, including the Maltese Islands.

scholarly journals Updated review of marine alien species and other ‘newcomers’ recorded from the Maltese Islands (Central Mediterranean)

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. EVANS ◽  
J. BARBARA ◽  
P. J. SCHEMBRI
Keyword(s):  
Alien Species ◽  
Range Expansion ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Warming Trend ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Maltese Islands ◽  
Introduction Pathway ◽  
Range Extender ◽  
Marine Alien Species ◽  
Taxonomic Groups

An updated review of marine alien species and other ‘newcomers’ recorded from the Maltese Islands is presented on account of new records and amendments to a previous review in 2007. Species were classified according to their establishment status (‘Questionable’, ‘Casual’, ‘Established’, ‘Invasive’) and origin (‘Alien’, ‘Range expansion’, ‘Cryptogenic’). A total of 31 species were added to the inventory, while 6 species have been removed, bringing the total number of species to 73. Of these, 66 are considered to be aliens (or putative aliens but with uncertain origin) with the remaining 7 resulting from range expansion. Six records are considered to be questionable and hence unverified. For verified records, the dominant taxonomic groups are Mollusca (represented by 21 species) and Actinopterygii (15 species), followed by Crustacea (8 species) and Rhodophyta (7 species). Eight of these species (aliens: Caulerpa cylindracea, Lophocladia lallemandi, Womersleyella setacea, Brachidontes pharaonis, Percnon gibbesi, Fistularia commersonii, Siganus luridus; range extender: Sphoeroides pachygaster) are considered to be invasive. The introduction pathway for 30 species is unknown. Amongst the alien species, ‘Shipping’ is the most common introduction pathway, followed by ‘Secondary dispersal’ from elsewhere in the Mediterranean Sea. An increasing trend in the number of alien marine species reported from the Maltese Islands is evident, with a peak of 22 species recorded during the last decade (2001–2010). A discussion on the rationale for including range-expanding species in national inventories of recent arrivals, and in the analysis of trends in records from the Maltese Islands, is included. In particular, the general warming trend of Mediterranean surface waters appears to be facilitating the westward spread of thermophilic alien species from the Eastern to the Central Mediterranean, and the eastward range expansion of tropical and subtropical Eastern Atlantic species.

scholarly journals Records of alien marine species in the shallow coastal waters of Chios Island (2009)

2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. KATSANEVAKIS ◽  
K. TSIAMIS
Keyword(s):  
Alien Species ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Aegean Sea ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Benthic Species ◽  
Caulerpa Racemosa ◽  
Asparagopsis Taxiformis ◽  
Halophila Stipulacea ◽  
Percnon Gibbesi ◽  
Marine Alien Species

The shallow coastline of Chios Island was surveyed for the presence of any alien marine benthic species, during August 2009. Fourteen randomly selected sites were surveyed by snorkeling during standardized one-hour transects at depths between 0 and 10 m, and the presence of all identified alien benthic species was recorded. Six alien species were identified: Asparagopsis taxiformis, Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea, Stypopodium schimperi, Halophila stipulacea, Percnon gibbesi, and Siganus luridus. The green alga C. racemosa var. cylindracea was found in high densities in all the surveyed sites and was characterized as invasive in the island. The brown alga S. schimperi, the crab P. gibbesi, and the fish S. luridussustain established populations in the area. For three of the recorded marine alien species (S. schimperi, P. gibbesi, and S. luridus),Chios Island seems to be the northernmost margin of their geographical range in the Aegean Sea.

scholarly journals The Portuguese Man-of-war, One of The Most Dangerous Marine Species, Has Always Entered The Mediterranean Sea: Strandings, Sightings And Museum Collections

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosario Badalamenti ◽  
Francesco Tiralongo ◽  
Vincenzo Arizza ◽  
Sabrina Lo Brutto
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
First Record ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Gulf Of Naples ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Sea Area ◽  
Physalia Physalis

Abstract A search from different kinds of sources has been carried out to review the incidence of Physalia physalis, the Portuguese man-of-war, in the Mediterranean Sea; scientific and grey literature, social media, zoological museums were accessed. The records of the species were considered validated if documented with images or collected specimens. It was possible to date the putative first record of Physalia physalis in the Mediterranean Sea, thanks to a couple of colonies preserved in a historical collection, originating from the Gulf of Naples in 1914. Some massive strandings occurred in localities of the Alboran Sea, area of entrance from the Atlantic from where the species spread mainly along the Sicilian waters, in the central Mediterranean Sea. The records from the Italian maritime regions were then subdivided into three categories of risk according to the season of occurrence. These categories were created to assign a level of danger for swimmers to the sightings of Physalia physalis. The increasing sightings of such a poisonous organism in coastal waters can represent a risk to human health, and also to all those activities linked to the marine tourism sector. The involvement of citizens and touristic structures for the early detection of Physalia physalis can play a key role in preventing encounters with the species, allowing marine tourist facilities to operate within a range of reasonable security.

Manifestarea anotimpurilor în contextul schimbarilor climatice

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Nedealcov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Variability ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Warming Trend ◽  
Climatic Parameters ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Thermal Threshold ◽  
Average Temperature ◽  
Increasing Trend ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Right

The early manifestation of the seasons and seasonal temperature's increasing trend for all seasons require adequate solutions of adaptation to climate change. Knowledge of the spatio-temporal variability of climatic parameters that characterize the seasons, focusing on the last decades - a period of time when climatic variability is even more pronounced compared to previous periods, is of particular interest. Analysis of the density of the seasonal average temperature distribution function indicates a shift to the right for the values, which demonstrates warming trend for all the seasons. The highest accelerated rhythm belongs to winters and summers, and in this context the duration of the seasons and the accumulation of daily temperatures with a certain thermal threshold is also changing.

scholarly journals Rocky Shore Biotic Assemblages of the Maltese Islands (Central Mediterranean): A Conservation Perspective

2005 ◽  
Vol 211 ◽  
pp. 157-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. Schembri ◽  
Alan Deidun ◽  
Adrian Mallia ◽  
Lucienne Mercieca
Keyword(s):  
Rocky Shore ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Maltese Islands

A comparative account of the reproductive cycles of five species of marine mussels (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) in the vicinity of Fremantle, Western Australia

1967 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 175 ◽  
Author(s):  
BR Wilson ◽  
EP Hodgkin
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Cycle ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Spawning Season ◽  
Latitudinal Distribution ◽  
Marine Mussels ◽  
Reproductive Cycles ◽  
Determining Factor ◽  
Pacific Species

Descriptions are given of the reproductive cycles of five marine species of mussels. Two of these species have a southern Australian distribution and three are tropical Indo-Pacific species or have Indo-Pacific affinities. The reproductive cycles differ significantly, each species exhibiting a characteristic breeding pattern. A distinction is drawn between the season of gametogenic activity and the much narrower season of actual spawning. In four of the species the major features of the reproductive cycle correlate with latitudinal distribution. This is interpreted as evidence supporting the role of temperature as a principal determining factor in the control of broader aspects of the reproductive cycle (i.e. duration and season of gametogenic activity). Differences in finer details of the reproductive cycles (e.g. spawning season and number of spawning peaks) appear to be controlled by unknown factors besides temperature.

scholarly journals New records of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) from the Maltese Islands

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario V Balzan ◽  
David Genoud ◽  
Pierre Rasmont ◽  
Maximilian Schwarz ◽  
Denis Michez
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Present Note ◽  
New Records ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Maltese Islands ◽  
Central Mediterranean Sea

A total of 95 bee species have been recorded from the Maltese Islands (central Mediterranean Sea).  The aim of the present note is to report newly recorded species within the study area.  A total of nine new species belonging to four families are recorded here: Andrenidae (1 species), Apidae (1 species), Halictidae (5 species), and Megachilidae (2 species).

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