Alien marine fishes in Cyprus: update and new records

International audienceThe Mediterranean Sea, due to its connection to the Red Sea via the Suez Canal, its heavy maritime traffic, and the effects of climate change is a hotspot of invasion by alien species. A survey carried out around Cyprus during September 2014 documented the occurrence of 25 alien fishes. Seven Lessepsian migrants (Hippocampus fuscus Rüppell, 1838, Nemipterus randalli Russell, 1986, Ostorhinchus fasciatus (Shaw, 1790), Parupeneus forsskali (Fourmanoir & Guézé, 1976), Pomadasys stridens (Forsskål, 1775), Sphyraena obtusata Cuvier, 1829 and Spratelloides delicatulus (Bennett, 1832)) were recorded for the first time, increasing to 35 the number of alien fishes recorded around the island. Four of these first records can be considered as 'established', whereas the 2013 first record of Pterois volitans/miles is confirmed by new findings placing the species as newly 'established' in Cyprus. All the recorded alien fishes of Cyprus are Lessepsian migrants, 80% of which can be considered established and four of them are invasive. The rapid increase of alien fish species over time in Cyprus supports the accelerating tropicalisation process observed elsewhere in the Mediterranean over the last decades. Furthermore, the new finding of the tropical Atlantic immigrant Enchelycore anatina (Lowe, 1839) is documented