Podarcis siculus (Reptilia: Sauria: Lacertidae), a new alien species for Russian fauna

2020 ◽  
Vol 324 (3) ◽  
pp. 364-370
Author(s):  
B.S. Tuniyev ◽  
L.M. Shagarov ◽  
O.J. Arribas

Podarcis siculus (Rafinesque-Schmaltz, 1810) or Italian wall lizard is one of the most invasive reptile-species. Recently, this lacertid lizard has been introduced to Mediterranean areas of southern Europe, South-West Asia (Turkey) and North America (USA). An abundant population of P. siculus was discovered on one of the sites of the Natural Ornithological Park in the Imeretinskaya Lowland, on an area of over 0.22 km2 (Sochi, Russia). The data were collected in the May of 2020 in a strip survey method in the Imeretinskaya Lowland. To identify the colonization area of the invader, we examined all 8 sections of the Natural Ornithological Park in the Imeretinskaya Lowland and adjacent urbanized areas. More than 150 animals were observed. These Italian wall lizards, undoubtedly, belong to the northern-central Italian morphotype (presumably P. s. campestris). This is the first record of this species in the former USSR area and, also, this is the species’ north-easternmost locality. The population inhabits secondary natural biotopes and urban area. Among them are the banks of artificial water bodies, areas with cultivated trees and shrubs, as well as parks, and house lawns in the urban area. Population density was estimated from eight to 40 specimens per 100 m of the transect. A moderate proportion of young specimens (more than a 40%) would indicate a healthy and continued growth of the emerging population. To determine the possible period of the species introduction, space images of the Imeretinskaya Lowland were analyzed beginning from the transformation of its landscape for the Winter Olympic Games of Sochi 2014 until the May of 2020. The introduction of the species presumably occurred with the delivery of large-sized ornamental trees and shrubs from Italy in 2012–2013. Podarcis siculus should be included in the list of herpetofauna of Russia and particularly of the Caucasus. This is an alien species with a proven ability to become an invasive species, what will lead to a greater undesirable and unavoidable contact with native small lizards of the genus Darevskia Arribas, 1997. On the other hand, as it is often observed with new invaders, a sudden rise in population abundance could be followed by a sharp decline. A continuous monitoring of the area in question and of the number of local Italian wall lizards is necessary to confirm or refute the assumed scenarios of further invasion of P. siculus on the Black Sea Coast of the Caucasus. Further action plans for this population should be developed depending on supposed future trends.

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-40
Author(s):  
M. A. Kovalyova ◽  
O. Yu. Vyalova

The number of mollusc farms off the coast of Crimea and the Caucasus has increased significantly in recent years. The cultivation of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg, 1793) requires monitoring of mollusc health and parasitological control of mariculture farms. The aim of this work was to study species composition of epibionts and endobionts, associated with shells of cultivated oyster C. gigas, as well as to identify species, damaging shells. Commercial oysters with visual shell damage were collected on a mariculture farm in the Donuzlav Bay (Crimea, the Black Sea) and brought to the laboratory alive chilled. As a result of 22 oysters’ examination, 14 macrozoobenthos species and live specimens of rock-boring mollusc Petricola lithophaga (Retzius, 1788) were found. The size of rock-borers varied 9 to 16 mm; their age was about two years. Prolonged presence of P. lithophaga inside oyster valves can cause degradation of shell calcareous layer and even death of the mollusc host; this fact is of great importance for the Black Sea mariculture. Considering P. lithophaga annual development cycle, during the period of mass larval settlement (July to October), it is recommended to inspect the shells of cultivated oysters. Further detailed studies will allow to develop measures for prevention and protection of bivalve molluscs from infestation with P. lithophaga.


Geo&Bio ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (17) ◽  
pp. 48-61
Author(s):  
Dariya Korolesova ◽  
◽  
Yurii Moskalenko ◽  
Maria Nitochko ◽  
Zoya Selyunina ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 51-55
Author(s):  
S. A. Abiev ◽  
S. A. Aipeisova ◽  
N. A. Utarbaeva

<p>The purpose of our work is to assess the health state of woody plants growing in different habitats of the city of Aktobe. We have studied the health state of arboreal and shrubby plants growing in various urban habitats; the survey was conducted during 2016-2017 by route-visual method. We performed the analysis of species diversity, abundance and density in urban area. The assessment of health state of the trees was made according to V.A. Alekseev. From your data and literature review we established that such species as Ulmus pinnato-ramosa, Acer negundo, Populus tremula, Populus nigra, and Syringa vulgaris have strong winter resistnce in the territory of Aktobe; we registered that only their apex buds and emds of the shoots were frozen in severe winters. The medium-resistant speices include Ulmus laevis and Acer platonoides. They are less plastic and suffer from late spring and early autumn frosts. The Amorpha fruticosa, Vitis vinifera, and Parthenocissus guinguefolia could be considered as the non-resistant species, since they usually freeze up to the snow cover line. The analysis of the vital state made it possible to assess the resistance to urban conditions of the majority of trees and shrubs registered in urban habitats of Aktobe. According to the preliminary data, the origin of the plant and its winter resistance are of main importance when introducing new species to urban area.</p>


2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 36-42
Author(s):  
A.R. Boltachev ◽  
◽  
Yu.A. Zagorodnyaya ◽  
N.A. Boltacheva ◽  
E.A. Kolesnikova ◽  
...  

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 606
Author(s):  
Daria Sanna ◽  
Ilenia Azzena ◽  
Fabio Scarpa ◽  
Piero Cossu ◽  
Angela Pira ◽  
...  

In the fresh waters of Sardinia (Italy), the non-indigenous crayfish species Procambarus clarkii has been reported from 2005, but, starting from 2019, there have been several reports of a new non-indigenous crayfish in southern and central areas of this Mediterranean island, and its morphology suggests that this species may be the marbled crayfish Procambarus virginalis. Forty-seven individuals of this putative species were analyzed, using the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome c Oxidase subunit I as molecular marker to identify this crayfish and investigate the level of genetic variability within the recently established population. Phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses were carried out on a dataset including sequences from the Sardinian individuals and from all congenerics available in GenBank. Results showed that the new Sardinian crayfish belong to the species P. virginalis. All the sequences belonging to P. virginalis from European countries are identical, with only few exceptions found among Sardinian individuals. In conclusion, this paper highlights the occurrence of a new further alien species in the Sardinian fresh waters, which are already characterized by the high presence of non-indigenous species.


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2985 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
DANIJELA ŠUNDIĆ ◽  
BRANKO M. RADUJKOVIĆ ◽  
JASMINA KRPO–ĆETKOVIĆ

The aquatic oligochaete fauna of Montenegro was recently studied in order to improve the knowledge of this group in the Balkan region. This study was carried out on sediments collected from 70 sampling sites (the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea drainage basins) during three years (2005–2008). Forty-one species were identified, from seven following families: Naididae, Enchytraeidae, Haplotaxidae, Lumbriculidae, Lumbricidae, Criodrilidae and Branchiobdellidae (exclusive of Naidinae and Pristininae). Sixteen of them represent first record for the Montenegrin oligochaete fauna: Embolocephalus velutinus, Ilyodrilus templetoni, Psammoryctides deserticola, Spirosperma ferox, Tubifex ignotus, Bathydrilus adriaticus, Bothrioneurum vejdovskyanum, Rhyacodrilus coccineus, Cernosvitoviella atrata, Enchytraeus buchholzi, Mesenchytraeus armatus, Haplotaxis gordioides, Rhynchelmis limosella, Stylodrilus heringianus, Tatriella slovenica and Trichodrilus strandi. The list of species from the subfamilies Naidinae and Pristininae was published previously (Šundić et al. 2011), and it comprises 36 species. Altogether, the present study and literature data show that Montenegrin aquatic oligochaete fauna consists of 77 species. Concerning similarity, values of Jaccard’s index are the highest between Montenegrin and Serbian oligochaete fauna (57 %), and the lowest between Montenegrin and Albanian oligochaete fauna (27.77 %). Species richness estimators (Mao Tau, Uniques Mean, Chao 1, Chao 2, Jack 1, Jack 2, Bootstrap, ACE and ICE) indicate that findings of new oligochaete species in Montenegro are expected.


Author(s):  
J.A. Reina-Hervás ◽  
J.E. García Raso ◽  
M.E. Manjón-Cabeza

The capture of a specimen of Sphoeroides spengleri (Osteichthyes: Tetraodontidae), 17 December 2000 and 29·7 mm total length, from the Málaga coast (Alborán Sea, western Mediterranean) represents the first record of a new alien species for Mediterranean waters.


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