Mediterranean fish biodiversity: an updated inventory with focus on the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian seas

Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3263 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER NICK PSOMADAKIS ◽  
STEFANO GIUSTINO ◽  
MARINO VACCHI
Keyword(s):  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Ligurian Sea ◽  
Mediterranean Areas ◽  
Thermophilic Species ◽  
Atlantic Origin ◽  
Southern Mediterranean ◽  
Southern Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Immigrant Species ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Mediterranean Fish

In this paper we update the Mediterranean fish inventory, analyse the biogeographic features of this fauna and provideexhaustive biodiversity data for the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian seas. According to the data available in 2010, the Mediterraneanfish diversity can be summarized as follows: 602 (including sub-species) bony fish species (Osteichthyes), 79 cartilaginous fishspecies (Chondrichthyes) and 3 cyclostomes (Agnatha); making a total of 684 species belonging to 173 families (147Osteichthyes, 24 Chondrichthyes, 2 Agnatha). Most species 403 (58.9%) have an Atlantic origin, 128 (18.7%) species arecosmopolitan, 90 (13.2%) species are Indo-Pacific, and 63 (9.2%) are endemic to the Mediterranean. In the Ligurian Sea,northern Tyrrhenian and southern Tyrrhenian Sea, the richness can be estimated at 454, 426 and 447 species, respectively. Themost speciose families for the Mediterranean as a whole, but also for the three intra-mediterranean areas studied are theGobiidae, Sparidae, Labridae and Blenniidae; whereas Carangidae is a numerically important family mainly at theMediterranean level. The percentage of endemic fishes within the intra-mediterranean areas studied gradually decrease acrosslatitude from the Ligurian Sea (9.4%) to the northern (8.7%) and southern (8.0%) Tyrrhenian Sea. The updated fish inventorycontains 81 Lessepsian and 48 Atlantic immigrant species, which represent 11.8% and 7.0% of the whole Mediterranean fishcommunity, respectively. The Ligurian Sea (3.1%) houses a higher amount of immigrants with respect to the northern (1.6%)and southern (2.7%) Tyrrhenian sectors.Field observations made during this study indicate that both the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian seas are presently subjected toincreasing colonization events by thermophilic species spreading from the southern Mediterranean and to a lesser degree by the arrival of exotic species either of Atlantic or Indo-Pacific origin.

scholarly journals Volcanic Grinding Tools in Ustica Island (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy): Local Production vs. Import of Morgantina-Type Millstones in the Hellenistic-Roman Period

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 389
Author(s):  
Patrizia Santi ◽  
Franco Foresta Martin ◽  
Francesca Spatafora ◽  
Sandro de Vita ◽  
Alberto Renzulli
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Major And Trace Elements ◽  
Alkaline Basalt ◽  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Local Production ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Southern Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Geochemical Analyses

This archaeometric study was focused on 28 grey to dark-grey lava artifacts found in Ustica Island (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) and referable to different grinding tools: saddle querns, rotary Morgantina-type millstones, rotary hand-mills and one small mortar. Mineralogy, petrography and bulk rock geochemical analyses emphasized that most of the grinding artifacts belonged to the Na-Alkaline series of Ustica, mainly basalts, hawaiites and mugearites. Nevertheless, some millstone samples did not match major and trace elements of Ustica lavas, in particular, one high-TiO2 Na-Alkaline basalt from Pantelleria Island, some tholeiitic/transitional basalts from the Iblei Mountains and one Calcalkaline basaltic andesite, most likely from the Aeolian Archipelago. The Hellenistic–Roman re-colonisation of Ustica Island, after ca. one millennium of nearly complete abandonment, was testified by the import of the non-local Morgantina-type rotary millstones, very widespread in the Mediterranean area from 4th–3rd century BC. This import of millstones represented, for the Ustica inhabitants, a real breakthrough for developing a local production of grinding artifacts on the basis of the new rotary technique which was much more efficient than that of the archaic saddle querns, largely used in the Middle Bronze Age. The results are also discussed in the framework of the overall volcanic millstone trade in the Mediterranean area and the different milling technology in antiquity.

Leucosolenia microspinata sp. nov. (Porifera: Calcarea), a new species from the Mediterranean Sea

2009 ◽  
Vol 89 (8) ◽  
pp. 1663-1669
Author(s):  
Caterina Longo
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Marine Reserve ◽  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Size Classes ◽  
Southern Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
A New Species

A new species of Leucosoleniidae, Leucosolenia microspinata sp. nov., from the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Porto Vecchio pond, Marinello Marine Reserve, Messina) is here described. The species consists of a dense reticulation of ascon tubes having a colour ranging from white-cream to light-brown. Its spiculation consists of diactines sometimes serrated or microspined, not separable into size-classes, triactines of four types and tetractines with microspined apical actine. The comparison with other Mediterranean Leucosolenia is reported.

scholarly journals The non-indigenous Paranthura japonica Richardson, 1909 in the Mediterranean Sea: travelling with shellfish?

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 545 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. MARCHINI ◽  
J. C. SORBE ◽  
F. TORELLI ◽  
A. LODOLA ◽  
A. OCCHIPINTI-AMBROGI
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Adriatic Sea ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Lagoon Of Venice ◽  
Ligurian Sea ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
North Adriatic Sea ◽  
Italian Coast

An anthurid isopod new to the Mediterranean Sea has recently been observed in samples from three localities of the Italian coast: the Lagoon of Venice (North Adriatic Sea), La Spezia (Ligurian Sea) and Olbia (Sardinia, Tyrrhenian Sea). The specimens collected showed strong affinity to a species originally described from the NW Pacific Ocean: Paranthura japonica Richardson, 1909. The comparison with specimens collected from the Bay of Arcachon (Atlantic coast of France), where P. japonica had been recently reported as non-indigenous, confirmed the identity of the species. This paper reports the most relevant morphological details of the Italian specimens, data on the current distribution of the species and a discussion on the pathways responsible for its introduction. The available data suggest that the presence of this Pacific isopod in several regions of coastal Europe might be due to a series of aquaculture-mediated introduction events that occurred during the last decades of the 1900s. Since then, established populations of P. japonica, probably misidentified, remained unnoticed for a long time.

scholarly journals Distribution of the Mediterranean hake populations (Merluccius merluccius smiridus Rafinesque, 1810) (Ostheichthyes: Gadiformes) based on six years monitoring by trawl-surveys: some implications for management

2002 ◽  
Vol 66 (S2) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lidia Orsi Relini ◽  
Costas Papaconstantinou ◽  
Stjepan Jukic-Peladic ◽  
Arnauld Souplet ◽  
Luis Gil de Sola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depth Range ◽  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Ligurian Sea ◽  
Depth Effect ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Frequency Distributions ◽  
Generalized Linear Modelling ◽  
Recruitment Patterns ◽  
The Mediterranean

On the basis of trawl survey data collected during the MEDITS project (1994-1999), the distribution of Mediterranean hake populations was described in coastal areas corresponding to about three quarters of both the latitudinal and longitudinal extensions of the Mediterranean Sea, and in the 0-800 m range. Abundance and biomass indices (in terms of number and kg per km2) are presented in 15 geographical sectors and 40 subareas from the Alborán Sea to the Aegean Sea. A statistical analysis by generalized linear modelling performed on such indices per main national blocks (Greece, France, Italy and Spain), and considering the effects of the six years of sampling and the depth, showed that biomass increased from west to east, while for all areas the most significant depth effect appeared between 100 and 200 m, corresponding to the depth range that hosts most of the summer nursery areas. The overall size-frequency distributions in shelf and slope waters, average sizes and total mortality coefficient Z per sector showed that the bulk of the MEDITS samples consisted of young individuals and, with only a few exceptions (western Sardinia, central Aegean), a generalized condition of growth overfishing was apparent. However, no negative trend was found, either in biomass or in average size of fishes, during the six years of the present study. Recruitment patterns were studied by distinguishing the youngest fish as Gaussian groups (modal length from 6 to 9 cm total length) in length-frequency distributions of each subarea and main stratum (shelf and slope). Considering the timing of MEDITS surveys (May-July), this approach emphasised the nurseries in the northern part of the western Mediterranean (Gulf of Lions, Ligurian Sea, northern Tyrrhenian Sea) and in the northern central Mediterranean, where recruitment occurs mainly during spring. On the other hand, few recruits were found in part of the central and particularly in the eastern Mediterranean, where recruitment occurs mainly in summer. MEDITS recruitment patterns therefore gave support to distinctions among Mediterranean hake populations, previously suggested on the basis of vertebral counts and other morpho-physiological, albeit fragmentary, data. In particular the central Mediterranean hake populations do not seem to be homogeneous, with an Adriatic unit very close to the northwestern one. The MEDITS experience therefore suggests that future management measures could take into account both general and regional patterns, the latter concerning mainly the younger fraction of the populations.

A new locality and host for Pseudione crenulata G.O. Sars, 1898 (Crustacea, Isopoda, Bopyridae) in the Mediterranean

2010 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Castriota ◽  
Manuela Falautano ◽  
Pietro Vivona ◽  
Franco Andaloro
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
First Record ◽  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Southern Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
The Mediterranean

AbstractThe first record of Pseudione crenulata in the branchial chamber of Munida intermedia is reported from the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, with notes on accessory males and female morphology. The effects of this parasite on host pleopod morphology are reported. Pseudione crenulata has previously been recorded from M. tenuimana and M. rugosa, both in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

scholarly journals Filling the gap on Italian records of an invasive species

2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-104
Author(s):  
Francesco Tiralongo ◽  
Guido Villani ◽  
Roberto Arciprete ◽  
Emanuele Mancini
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Callinectes Sapidus ◽  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Mediterranean Areas ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Italian Coasts

Callinectes sapidus is considered one of the worst invasive species in the Mediterranean Sea. After its first observation in 1948, the species has colonized several Mediterranean areas. In this work, we report the first records of the species in Latium and Campania (northern-central and central Tyrrhenian Sea respectively), filling a gap in its distribution along the Italian coasts. We also provide a review of Italian records.

Climate as a possible driver of gall morphology in the chestnut pest Dryocosmus kuriphilus across Spanish invaded areas

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Gil-Tapetado ◽  
Francisco José Cabrero-Sañudo ◽  
Carlo Polidori ◽  
Jose F. Gómez ◽  
José Luis Nieves-Aldrey
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
High Rainfall ◽  
Dryocosmus Kuriphilus ◽  
Mediterranean Areas ◽  
Southern Mediterranean ◽  
The Mediterranean

Abstract The alien cynipid wasp Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu, 1951 is a serious pest of chestnuts (Castanea spp.) in Japan, North America and Europe, causing fruit losses while inducing galls in buds. While D. kuriphilus galls have a recognizable and roughly invariable globular shape, their size varies, reaching up to 4 cm in diameter. Among other factors, such variation may depend on different climatic conditions in different attacked areas. Here, we sampled and measured 375 D. kuriphilus galls from 25 localities throughout the Iberian Peninsula, including both cold and rainy northern (Eurosiberian) areas and warm and dry central-southern (Mediterranean) areas, to test the effects of climate and geographical location on gall morphology. The analyses indicate that gall mass and volume follow a pattern that can be associated with a climatic cline. In particular, the Eurosiberian galls were smaller than the Mediterranean galls according to differences in climatic conditions. In the southern areas, the greater insolation regime does not allow the chestnut trees to be distributed at lower altitudes, but the high rainfall and humidity regime of the mountain enclaves allow their presence. These conditions of insolation and precipitation seem to influence the morphological characteristics of the galls of D. kuriphilus.

scholarly journals The two-sided spectacle at the border: Frontex, NGOs and the theatres of sovereignty

2021 ◽  
pp. 136248062110078
Author(s):  
Katja Franko
Keyword(s):  
Visual Analysis ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Moral Authority ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
The Past ◽  
Southern Mediterranean ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
A Site ◽  
Previous Scholarship

The Southern Mediterranean border has in the past decade become one of the most deeply contested political spaces in Europe and has been described as a site of the border spectacle. Drawing on textual and visual analysis of Twitter messages by two of the most prominent actors in the field, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, and the humanitarian and medical NGO Médecins Sans Frontières, the article examines the split nature of the Mediterranean border which is, among others, visible in radically different narratives about migrants’ journeys, border deaths and living conditions. The findings challenge previous scholarship about convergence of humanitarianism and policing. The two actors are waging a fierce media battle for moral authority, where they use widely diverging strategies of claiming authority, each of which carries a particular set of ethical dilemmas.

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