Alien species of spionid polychaetes (Streblospio gynobranchiata and Polydora cornuta) in Izmir Bay, eastern Mediterranean

Author(s):  
Melih Ertan Çinar ◽  
Zeki Ergen ◽  
Ertan Dagli ◽  
Mary E. Petersen

The present study reports the occurrence of two exotic species of polychaetes in Izmir Bay, the eastern Mediterranean: Streblospio gynobranchiata, newly reported for the Mediterranean, and Polydora cornuta. Their establishment in the area is most probably transport by ballast water since these two species greatly dominated polluted muddy bottoms near and in Alsancak Harbour. The maximum density and biomass of S. gynobranchiata in the area were 34,270 ind m−2 and 9·4 g wwt m−2, and those of P. cornuta were 3170 ind m−2 and 2·1 g wwt m−2, respectively. These two species accounted for more than 60% of total faunal populations in the majority of samples collected in winter. Both species are capable of reproducing in the area both in summer and winter. The morphological, ecological and distributional characteristics of these species as well as their impacts on the prevailing ecosystem are analysed and discussed.

2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 119 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. SIMBOURA ◽  
K. SIGALA ◽  
E. VOUTSINAS ◽  
E. KALKAN

The present study reports on the occurrence of two specimens of the alien species Polydora cornutaBosc, 1802, in Elefsis Bay, the Saronikos Gulf (Aegean Sea, eastern Mediterranean). This is the firstrecord of this invasive alien species on the coast of Greece and the second report in the eastern MediterraneanSea after its first finding in Izmir Bay (on the Turkish Aegean coast). This finding enhances its distributionalpattern within the Mediterranean


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alper EVCEN ◽  
Melih Ertan ÇINAR

Four sponge species (Sycon raphanus, Sycon ciliatum, Paraleucilla magna and Dysidea fragilis) were found on artificial hard substrata of several ports in the inner and middle parts of Izmir Bay. The invasive alien species Paraleucilla magna, is being recorded for the first time from the Aegean coast of Turkey. It was very abundant almost at all studied ports, covering up to 35% of the sampled surfaces. The morphological and distributional features of the four species are described.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 31-44
Author(s):  
Luca Giuseppe Costanzo ◽  
Giuliana Marletta ◽  
Giuseppina Alongi

Biological invasions are considered one of the main threats for biodiversity. In the last decades, more than 60 macroalgae have been introduced in the Mediterranean Sea, causing serious problems in coastal areas. Nevertheless, the impacts of alien macroalgae in deep subtidal systems have been poorly studied, especially in the coralligenous habitats of the eastern coast of Sicily (Italy). Therefore, within the framework of the programme “Progetto Operativo di Monitoraggio (P.O.M.)” of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), the aim of the present study was to gain knowledge on the alien macroalgae present in coralligenous habitats of the Marine Protected Area (MPA) Isole Ciclopi, along the Ionian coast of Sicily. By Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) videos and destructive samples analysed in the laboratory, five alien species were identified: Caulerpa cylindracea, Antithamnion amphigeneum, Asparagopsis armata, Bonnemaisonia hamifera, and Lophocladia lallemandii. Since A. amphigeneum was previously reported only in the western Mediterranean and Adriatic Sea, the present report represents the first record of this species in the eastern Mediterranean. The ROV surveys showed that the alien species do not have a high coverage and do not appear to be invasive in the coralligenous area of the MPA. Since ocean temperatures are predicted to increase as climate change continues and alien species are favoured by warming of the Mediterranean Sea, the risk of biotic homogenisation caused by the spread of alien species is realistic. Therefore, further studies are needed to assess the incidence and invasiveness of alien species in phytobenthic assemblages of coralligenous in the MPA.


2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Α. ZENETOS ◽  
S. GOFAS ◽  
C. MORRI ◽  
A. ROSSO ◽  
D. VIOLANTI ◽  
...  

More than 60 marine non-indigenous species (NIS) have been removed from previous lists and 84 species have been added, bringing the total to 986 alien species in the Mediterranean [775 in the eastern Mediterranean (EMED), 249 in the central Mediterranean (CMED), 190 in the Adriatic Sea (ADRIA) and 308 in the western Mediterranean (WMED)]. There were 48 new entries since 2011 which can be interpreted as approximately one new entry every two weeks. The number of alien species continues to increase, by 2-3 species per year for macrophytes, molluscs and polychaetes, 3-4 species per year for crustaceans, and 6 species per year for fish. The dominant group among alien species is molluscs (with 215 species), followed by crustaceans (159) and polychaetes (132). Macrophytes are the leading group of NIS in the ADRIA and the WMED, reaching 26-30% of all aliens, whereas in the EMED they barely constitute 10% of the introductions. In the EMED, molluscs are the most species-rich group, followed by crustaceans, fish and polychaetes. More than half (54%) of the marine alien species in the Mediterranean were probably introduced by corridors (mainly Suez). Shipping is blamed directly for the introduction of only 12 species, whereas it is assumed to be the most likely pathway of introduction (via ballasts or fouling) of another 300 species. For approximately 100 species shipping is a probable pathway along with the Suez Canal and/or aquaculture. Approximately 20 species have been introduced with certainty via aquaculture, while >50 species (mostly macroalgae), occurring in the vicinity of oyster farms, are assumed to be introduced accidentally as contaminants of imported species. A total of 18 species are assumed to have been introduced by the aquarium trade. Lessepsian species decline westwards, while the reverse pattern is evident for ship-mediated species and for those introduced with aquaculture. There is an increasing trend in new introductions via the Suez Canal and via shipping.


2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 381 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. ZENETOS ◽  
S. GOFAS ◽  
M. VERLAQUE ◽  
M.E. CINAR ◽  
J.E. GARCIA RASO ◽  
...  

The state-of-art on alien species in the Mediterranean Sea is presented, making distinctions among the four subregions defined in the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive: (i) the Western Mediterranean Sea (WMED); (ii) the Central Mediterranean Sea (CMED); (iii) the Adriatic Sea (ADRIA); and (iv) the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMED). The updated checklist (December 2010) of marine alien species within each subregion, along with their acclimatization status and origin, is provided. A total of 955 alien species is known in the Mediterranean, the vast majority of them having being introduced in the EMED (718), less in the WMED (328) and CMED (267) and least in the Adriatic (171). Of these, 535 species (56%) are established in at least one area.Despite the collective effort of experts who attempted in this work, the number of introduced species remains probably underestimated. Excluding microalgae, for which knowledge is still insufficient, aliens have increased the total species richness of the Mediterranean Sea by 5.9%. This figure should not be directly read as an indication of higher biodiversity, as spreading of so many aliens within the basin is possibly causing biotic homogenization. Thermophilic species, i.e. Indo-Pacific, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Tropical Atlantic, Tropical Pacific, and circum(sub)tropical, account for 88.4% of the introduced species in the EMED, 72.8% in the CMED, 59.3% in the WMED and 56.1% in the Adriatic. Cold water species, i.e. circumboreal, N Atlantic, and N Pacific, make up a small percentage of the introduced species, ranging between 4.2% and 21.6% and being more numerous in the Adriatic and less so in the EMED.Species that are classified as invasive or potentially invasive are 134 in the whole of the Mediterranean: 108 are present in the EMED, 76 in the CMED, 53 in the Adriatic and 64 in the WMED. The WMED hosts most invasive macrophytes, whereas the EMED has the lion’s share in polychaetes, crustaceans, molluscs and fish.


Author(s):  
Melıh Ertan Çinar ◽  
Tuncer Katagan ◽  
Bılal Öztürk ◽  
Kerem Bakir ◽  
Ertan Dagli ◽  
...  

The soft-bottom zoobenthic community structure of Izmir Bay was examined seasonally at eight stations (depth-range: 19–67 m) in 2009. A total of 427 species were found. Polychaeta had the highest number of species (50% of total species) and individuals (75%), whereas Echinodermata possessed the highest biomass (47%). The number of species varied from 3 to 79 (0.1 m−2), the density from 60 to 5360 ind.m−2, and the biomass from 1 to 530 g.m−2. The most numerically dominant species were the polychaetesAricidea claudiae, Streblospio gynobranchiata, Levinsenia demiriandSternaspis scutata. The distribution of zoobenthos was strongly related to spatial differences in total organic carbon, sediment texture and depth among different regions of the bay rather than temporal differences among seasons. However, significant seasonal variability in community structure (mainly differences in the relative abundance of species) was present. The inner region of the bay can be classified as ‘poor’ or ‘bad’ based on the results of biotic indices (H′, AMBI, m-AMBI and BENTIX). Among biotic indices, only H′ and m-AMBI appeared to be capable of explaining the bay's benthic quality status. Thirteen alien species were also found.Streblospio gynobranchiata, Prionospio pulchra, Pseudopolydora paucibranchiataandPolydora cornutaformed dense populations in the inner most polluted part of the bay and are considered to be new pollution indicator species in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.


Author(s):  
Murat Özbek ◽  
Cengiz Koçak ◽  
Deniz Acarlı

AbstractThe Mediterranean green crab Carcinus aestuarii Nardo, 1847 (Crustacea, Brachyura, Portunidae) is a common inhabitant of the shallow waters of Homa Lagoon in Izmir Bay, Turkey, in the eastern Mediterranean. Monthly samples were collected in Homa Lagoon from June 2006 to May 2007 using trammel nets, fyke nets, beach seines and fence traps. In total, 608 males and 559 females of C. aestuarii were collected. The highest sex ratio (81–86% females) was recorded between October and December, and in August (58% females). Ovigerous females were obtained only from November to February with the highest ratio of ovigerous females (55%) observed in January 2007. The maturation curve presenting the carapace width showed that 50% of female crabs with the carapace width of 26.84 ±1.58 mm (r= 0.72) were physiologically mature. Regression analyses indicated that the number of eggs was positively correlated with carapace width and wet weight (P < 0.05, in both cases).


2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 239 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. SIMBOURA

The Terebellidae polychaete Polycirrus twisti Potts, 1928 had been confused in several previous records the Eastern Mediterranean with the co-generic species Polycirrus plumosusWollebaeck, 1912, because of incomplete specimens or unclear descriptions; therefore its presence in Greek seas had been overlooked. Specimens of Polycirrus twisti were currently identified from the Korinthiakos Gulf (Greece, Eastern Mediterranean), while older records from the Hellenic marine area, erroneously assigned toPolycirrus plumosus and recorded since 1983 (Rhodos island, Dodekanesse) were emended. Polycirrus twisti is an alien species, most likely introduced to the Mediterranean from the Suez Canal, while it was recently reported from the Southern coasts of Turkey (Levantine Sea). Its identification and report in Greek Seas increases the number of alien polychaete species in this area to 37 and offers a further evidence and link of its introduction and dispersion dynamics from the Suez Canal to the Levantine and Aegean Sea. The presence of the previously reported species Polycirrus plumosus in the Mediterranean Sea is therefore strongly questionable.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 325
Author(s):  
Periklis Kleitou ◽  
Jason M. Hall-Spencer ◽  
Ioannis Savva ◽  
Demetris Kletou ◽  
Margarita Hadjistylli ◽  
...  

The European Regulation (EU) 1143/2014 on Invasive Alien Species entered into force in 2015, with the aim to fulfill regional and international biodiversity goals in a concerted manner. To date, the Regulation listed 66 Invasive Alien Species (IAS) that are subject to legal controls. Only one of these is marine. A recent lionfish (Pterois miles) invasion has been closely monitored in the Mediterranean and a detailed risk assessment was made about the profound impacts that this invasive fish is likely to have on the fisheries and biodiversity of the region. In 2016–21, lionfish rapidly became dominant predators along Eastern Mediterranean coasts, yet the process for their inclusion on the EU IAS list has been lengthy and is ongoing. There is an urgent need to learn from this experience. Here, we recommend improvements to the Regulation 1143/2014 and the risk assessment process to protect marine ecosystems and secure the jobs of people that rely on coastal resources.


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