The article ‘New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (July 2016)’ by Dailianis et al. has been just published. This contribution forms part of a series of collective articles published regularly in Mediterranean Marine Science that report on new biodiversity records from the Mediterranean basin. The current article presents 51 geographically distinct records for 21 taxa belonging to six Phyla, extending from the western Mediterranean to the Levantine.

The new records, per country for the ESENIAS region, are as follows:

Italy: the ark clam Anadara transversa is reported from mussel cultures in the Gulf of Naples, while the amphipod Caprella scaura and the isopods Paracerceis sculpta and Paranthura japonica are reported as associated to the bryozoan Amathia verticillata (also allochthonous) in the Adriatic Sea; in the latter region, the cosmopolitan Atlantic tripletail Lobotes surinamensis is also reported, a rare finding for the Mediterranean.

Slovenia: a new record of the non-indigenous nudibranch Polycera hedgpethi in the Adriatic.

Greece: several new reports of the introduced scleractinian Oculina patagonica, the fangtooth moray Enchelycore anatina, the blunthead puffer Sphoeroides pachygaster (all Atlantic), and the lionfish Pterois miles (Indo-Pacific) suggest their ongoing establishment in the Aegean Sea; the deepest bathymetric record of the invasive alga Caulerpa cylindracea in the Mediterranean Sea is also registered in the Kyklades, at depths exceeding 70 m.

Turkey: new distribution records for two non-indigenous crustaceans, the blue crab Callinectes sapidus (Atlantic origin) and the moon crab Matuta victor (Indo-Pacific origin) from the Bay of Izmir and Antalya, respectively; in the latter region, the Red Sea goatfish Parupeneus forsskali, is also reported.

For more information:

Dailianis T., O. Akyol, N. Babali, M. Bariche, F. Crocetta, V. Gerovasileiou, R. Ghanem, M. Gökoğglu, T. Hasiotis, A. Izquierdo-Muñoz, D. Julian, S. Katsanevakis, L. Lipej, E. Mancini, Ch. Mytilineou, K. OunifiBenAmor, A. Özgül, M. Ragkousis, E. Rubio-Portillo, G. Servello, M. Sini, C. Stamouli, A. Sterioti, S. Teker, F. Tiralongo, D. Trkov 2016. New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (July 2016). Mediterranean Marine Science, 17 (2): 608-626. >>>

A large male specimen of Callinectes sapidus, captured from Izmir Bay

(Photograph: O. Akyol, in Dailianis et al. 2016)