New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (July 2017)

WOS: 000408538000014This Collective Article presents information on 37 taxa belonging to 6 Phyla and extending from the western Mediterranean to the Levantine Sea. The new records were found in 10 countries as follows: Algeria: first reports on the presence of the fish species Lesueurigobius sanzi, L. friesii, L. suerii and Luvarus imperiali; France: first record of the alien nudibranch Godiva quadricolor; Italy: first record of an adult-sized red emperor snapper Lutjanus sebae from the southern Tyrrhenian Sea; first record of the pantropical rhodophyte Chondria curvilineata and the Lessepsian fish Siganus luridus from southern Sicily; record of a large pregnant female Dusky shark Carcharhinus obscurus off Sicily; Albania: first record of the fish Ruvettus pretiosus, new records of the alien molluscs Conomurex persicus, Bursatella leachii, Dendostrea cf. folium, Fulvia fragilis and Ruditapes philippinarum and additional report of the alien bivalve Pinctada imbricata radiata; Montenegro: first record of the sea slug Thecacera pennigera in the Adriatic Sea; Greece: first record of the invasive calcarean sponge Paraleucilla magna in Greek waters; occupancy estimation of the established cryptogenic rhodophyte Ganonema farinosum, the alien crustacean Percnon gibbesi and the alien fish species Fistularia commersonii, Siganus luridus, and S. rivulatus along the Cretan coastline; first record of the alien mollusc Sticteulima lentiginosa in Greek waters suggesting a westward unintentional expansion of this species; Turkey: photographic evidence of interactions of the monk seal Monachus monachus with sea-cage farms in the Turkish Aegean Sea and first record of the yellow boxfish Ostracion cubicus in the Turkish Mediterranean; Cyprus: first records of the rare speleophilic fish Thorogobius ephippiatus and Grammonus ater in Cyprus, extending the known distribution of the latter Mediterranean endemic species eastwards; first records of the alien fish Kyphosus vaigiensis and the alien crustacean species Macrophthalmus indicus and Carupa tenuipes as well as additional records of the alien echinoderm Diadema setosum and the alien ascidian Symplegma brakenhielmi in the country; Lebanon: first report on the presence of the four alien fish species Cephalopholis taeniops, Equulites popei, Pseudupeneus prayensis and Sphoeroides pachygaster; Egypt: first record of the Lessepsian fish Synchiropus sechellensis in the Egyptian Mediterranean waters.East and South European Network for Invasive Alien Species - a tool to support the management of alien species in Bulgaria (ESENIAS-TOOLS); EEA [-33-51/30.06.2015]; Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [114Y584]; Research Promotion Foundation of Cyprus; European Regional Development FundEuropean Union (EU) [SMES/Product/0609/74]; Department of Fisheries and Marine Research (DFMR) [33/2016]N. Babali would like to thank Mohamed Bouaicha and Wahid Refes for providing valuable data. The authors A. Mouzai Tifoura and A. Bennoui are grateful to the DPRH (Direction de la Peche et des Ressources Halieutiques) of Algiers for its collaboration and providing photos. The authors F. Crocetta and M. Malegue are grateful to Pascal Zani for providing further data regarding the presence of Godiva quadricolor in France. A. Deidun and S. Piraino wish to thank Andrea Crisafi, who caught the red emperor snapper off Palermo for providing information and the photo, and Giuseppe Scafidi, who brought the finding of Lutjanus sebae to the attention of the scientific community. L. Castriota and A. Spinelli are grateful to Marco Spinelli who caught, measured and photographed the Siganus luridus specimen studied. G. Insacco and B. Zava are grateful to the fishermen Orazio and Lorenzo Casaurano, owner of the vessel "La Bella del Mare", 1 PO 882, for the prompt information; these authors also warmly thank Maria Corsini-Foka (HCMR, Hydrobiological Station of Rhodes) for useful comments, which improved a previous draft of this note. I. Giovos and R. Bakiu would like to thank the Head of Radhime Fishing Organisation and Marko Cakalli for their help and assistance on the measurements. The authors E. Xharahi, F. Crocetta, A. Golemaj acknowledge the study of the alien species recorded in Albania that was partially funded by the East and South European Network for Invasive Alien Species - a tool to support the management of alien species in Bulgaria (ESENIAS-TOOLS) (EEA funded - Contract No. -33-51/30.06.2015) (FC). F. Azevedo, S. Galinou-Mitsoudi and V. Gerovasileiou would like to thank Dr. Michelle Klautau and Dr. Eleni Voultsiadou for their valuable help as well as the mussel farmer Spyros Tsiaras for providing the mussel socks of the study material. P. Ovalis and A. Zenetos thank Theodoros Kondrafouris, the fisherman who provided the material. O. Akyol and H. Sen acknowledge that the reporting the sightings of Monachus monachus was funded by the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK Project No. 114Y584). The authors N. Michailidis and M. Rousou thank the professional fisherman Stephanos Sarris for providing the Kyphosus vaigiensis specimen. M. Rousou and C.C. Chintiroglou acknowledge that the Macrophthalmus indicus specimens were collected by MER Lab as part of: (a) the environmental monitoring surveys of the fish farms EMAT Ltd, Telia Vasilko Ltd and Seawave Fisheries Ltd, and (b) the project "A holistic approach for the evaluation of ecological status of coastal areas: the case of Vasiliko Bay" (co-funded by the Research Promotion Foundation of Cyprus and the European Regional Development Fund, grant agreement SMES/Product/0609/74); these authors would also like to thank MER's staff for the sampling and laboratory analysis, and Dr. Davie and Mrs. Corsini Foka for their reviews and feedback. I. Savva and P. Kleitou are grateful to Dr. Fabio Crocetta for his taxonomic revision and contribution to the text, Demetri Kletou (Cyprus) for assisting in field expeditions and providing his photo of the Diadema setosum, as well as Dr. Noa Shenkar (Israel) for confirming the Symplegma brakenhielmi identification; these authors acknowledge that the species Carupa tenuipes and S. brakenhielmi were found as part of a project funded by the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research (DFMR) (Contract No. 33/2016)