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Two new records of invasive copepod Pseudodiaptomus marinus in the Adriatic Sea

Free-living pelagic copepod species Pseudodiaptomus marinus Sato, 1913, indigenous to the North western Pacific Ocean, is one of the most well-known zooplankton species considered to be introduced to new environments by human activities. It is generally introduced into coastal areas, primarily into ports by ballast water release. From the first observation of this species in the Adriatic Sea in November 2007 near Rimini (Northern Italy), its presence has additionally been documented along the northern and eastern Adriatic ports with a stably increasing number of records updates on its distribution. We present here additional records of P. marinus in the zooplankton samples from the two cruises in the Adriatic Sea. The first record originated from the Middle/South Adriatic western coast, in December 2015, where this invasive calanoid was found at two stations near Gargano and one station near Bari in low abundances (< 1 ind. m-3). Samples were taken with a Nansen net (250 µm mesh size) during the ESAW cruise. Average temperatures of the sampling layers (0-100 m) ranged between 14.86 °C and 15.82 °C and salinity between 37.22 and 38.61. The second record was in the coastal area (Boka Kotorska Bay, Montenegro) of the eastern South Adriatic, in October 2018. Samples were taken during the night with Nansen net (125 µm mesh size). Abundances of P. marinus were 1.44 ind. m-3 (0-61 m sampling layer) and 3.73 ind. m-3 (32-62 m), with an average temperature of 18.09 °C and salinity of 37.45. Given the large number of mega cruise ships in the area, a ship’s fouling is probably a vector of P. marinus entrance and dispersion in the Boka Kotorska Bay. Further research on ballast water composition as well as studies on the fine distribution of this species for a longer period along the Adriatic coast are needed to estimate the possible establishment of this species in the area and its consequences for local planktonic populations.

Adriatic western coast, ballast water, Boka Kotorska Bay, Copepoda, plankton

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