First record of the Reticulated dragonet, Callionymus reticulatus Valenciennes, 1837 (Actinopterygii: Callionymiformes: Callionymidae), from the Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean.

AbstractThe first record of the ophiuroid family Ophiohelidae from the Mediterranean Sea is reported. It consists of the description of the new record of Ophiomyces grandis from the Mallorca Channel seamounts in the Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean, where it shows high abundances. We present both the morphological description of the individuals collected and, for the first time, the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequence of this species. The morphological traits of our specimens match the available descriptions of O. grandis. On the other hand, molecular analyses show a large genetic distance between O. grandis and Ophiomyces delata, the two species being very similar morphologically. Despite the high abundances of O. grandis reported here, previous surveys in the Mallorca Channel seamounts using ROV did not detect it, emphasizing the importance of beam trawl sampling to improving the biodiversity description of these geomorphological sea bottom features.

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First record of the genus Paranebalia Claus, 1880 (Crustacea: Leptostraca) from the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Marine Science ◽

10.12681/mms.2065 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 332

Author(s):

J. MOREIRA ◽

J. JUNOY

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Type Species ◽

Taxonomic Status ◽

First Record ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Balearic Islands ◽

The Third ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

A New Species

Benthic monitoring of the marine shallow bottoms off Menorca (Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean) has yielded several specimens of the leptostracan genus Paranebalia Claus, 1880. This finding constitutes the first report of the genus from European latitudes and the Mediterranean Sea and therefore the third leptostracan genus known from the Mediterranean. Specimens are described, illustrated and compared to other known species; they might represent a new species but their state of maturity and the lack of an appropriate diagnosis for the type species of the genus, Paranebalia longipes (Willemöes-Suhm, 1875), did not allow to confirm its taxonomic status.

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Sponges of Western Mediterranean seamounts: new genera, new species and new records

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.11879 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

pp. e11879

Author(s):

Julio A. Díaz ◽

Sergio Ramírez-Amaro ◽

Francesc Ordines

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

First Record ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Balearic Islands ◽

Sampling Device ◽

Great Opportunity ◽

The North ◽

Western Mediterranean Sea ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

First Time

Background The seamounts Ses Olives (SO), Ausias March (AM) and Emile Baudot (EB) at the Mallorca Channel (Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean), are poorly explored areas containing rich and singular sponge communities. Previous works have shown a large heterogeneity of habitats, including rhodolith beds, rocky, gravel and sandy bottoms and steeped slopes. This diversity of habitats provides a great opportunity for improving the knowledge of the sponges from Mediterranean seamounts. Methods Sponges were collected during several surveys carried out by the Balearic Center of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography at the Mallorca Channel seamounts. Samples were obtained using a beam-trawl, rock dredge and remote operated vehicle. Additional samples were obtained from fishing grounds of the Balearic Islands continental shelf, using the sampling device GOC-73. Sponges were identified through the analysis of morphological and molecular characters. Results A total of 60 specimens were analyzed, from which we identified a total of 19 species. Three species and one genus are new to science: Foraminospongia balearica gen. nov. sp. nov., Foraminospongia minuta gen. nov. sp. nov. and Paratimea massutii sp. nov. Heteroxya cf. beauforti represents the first record of the genus Heteroxya in the Mediterranean Sea. Additionally, this is the second report of Axinella spatula and Haliclona (Soestella) fimbriata since their description. Moreover, the species Petrosia (Petrosia) raphida, Calyx cf. tufa and Lanuginella pupa are reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea. Petrosia (Strongylophora) vansoesti is reported here for the first time in the western Mediterranean Sea. Haliclona (S.) fimbriata is reported here for the first time in the north-western Mediterranean Sea. Hemiasterella elongata is reported here for the second time in the Mediterranean Sea. The species Melonanchora emphysema, Rhabdobaris implicata, Polymastia polytylota, Dragmatella aberrans, Phakellia ventilabrum and Pseudotrachya hystrix are reported for first time off Balearic Islands. Following the Sponge Barcoding project goals, we have sequenced the Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I (COI) and the 28S ribosomal fragment (C1–D2 domains) for Foraminospongia balearica sp. nov., Foraminospongia minuta sp. nov., H. cf. beauforti and C. cf. tufa, and the COI for Paratimea massuti sp. nov. We also provide a phylogenetic analysis to discern the systematic location of Foraminospongia gen. nov., which, in accordance to skeletal complement, is placed in the Hymerhabdiidae family. A brief biogeographical discussion is provided for all these species, with emphasis on the sponge singularity of SO, AM and the EB seamounts and the implications for their future protection.

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First record of the black twig borer, Xylosandrus compactus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) in Spain

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4767.2.9 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4767 (2) ◽

pp. 345-350

Author(s):

MAR LEZA ◽

LUIS NUÑEZ ◽

JOSEP MARIA RIBA ◽

CLAUDIA COMPARINI ◽

ÁLVARO ROCA ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Invasive Alien Species ◽

First Record ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Balearic Islands ◽

Asian Origin ◽

Southern France ◽

Mediterranean Island ◽

Carob Tree ◽

Mediterranean Maquis ◽

Black Twig Borer

We present the first record for Spain of the black twig borer, Xylosandrus compactus, an ambrosia beetle of Asian origin, collected from an infested carob tree located in Calvià (Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain). X. compactus is included in the EPPO Alert List, and it has been recently reported causing damages in a Mediterranean maquis ecosystem in Italy and Southern France. Here, we discuss about the first steps of management of this Invasive Alien species (IAS), the eradication plan and the hypothesis of the path of introduction in this Western Mediterranean island.

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First record of the Alboran dragonet, Protogrammus alboranensis (Actinopterygii: Callionymiformes: Callionymidae), from the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean)

Acta Ichthyologica Et Piscatoria ◽

10.3750/aiep/02280 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 47 (3) ◽

pp. 289-295

Author(s):

Ronald Fricke ◽

Francesc Ordines

Keyword(s):

First Record ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Balearic Islands

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A captorhinid-dominated assemblage from the palaeoequatorial Permian of Menorca (Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean)

Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh ◽

10.1017/s1755691021000268 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-21

Author(s):

Rafel MATAMALES-ANDREU ◽

Francesc X. ROIG-MUNAR ◽

Oriol OMS ◽

Àngel GALOBART ◽

Josep FORTUNY

Keyword(s):

Western Mediterranean ◽

Balearic Islands ◽

Distribution Area ◽

Lower Permian ◽

Incertae Sedis ◽

The North ◽

Low Latitudes ◽

High Fibre ◽

Successful Group ◽

Neighbouring Island

ABSTRACT Moradisaurine captorhinid eureptiles were a successful group of high-fibre herbivores that lived in the arid low latitudes of Pangaea during the Permian. Here we describe a palaeoassemblage from the Permian of Menorca (Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean), consisting of ichnites of small captorhinomorph eureptiles, probably moradisaurines (Hyloidichnus), and parareptiles (cf. Erpetopus), and bones of two different taxa of moradisaurines. The smallest of the two is not diagnostic beyond Moradisaurinae incertae sedis. The largest one, on the other hand, shows characters that are not present in any other known species of moradisaurine (densely ornamented maxillar teeth), and it is therefore described as Balearosaurus bombardensis gen. et sp. nov. Other remains found in the same outcrop are identified as cf. Balearosaurus bombardensis gen. et sp. nov., as they could also belong to the newly described taxon. This species is sister to the moradisaurine from the lower Permian of the neighbouring island of Mallorca, and is also closely related to the North American genus Rothianiscus. This makes it possible to suggest the hypothesis that the Variscan mountains, which separated North America from southern Europe during the Permian, were not a very important palaeobiogeographical barrier to the dispersion of moradisaurines. In fact, mapping all moradisaurine occurrences known so far, it is shown that their distribution area encompassed both sides of the Variscan mountains, essentially being restricted to the arid belt of palaeoequatorial Pangaea, where they probably outcompeted other herbivorous clades until they died out in the late Permian.

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First record of Sphoeroides spengleri (Osteichthyes: Tetraodontidae) in the Mediterranean Sea

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s0025315404010495h ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 84 (5) ◽

pp. 1089-1090 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

J.A. Reina-Hervás ◽

J.E. García Raso ◽

M.E. Manjón-Cabeza

Keyword(s):

Alien Species ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

First Record ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Alboran Sea ◽

Total Length ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Alborán Sea

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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