engleski

Two alien benthic invertebrates in the central Adriatic Sea – are they invasive?

Two potentially invasive benthic marine invertebrates, spotted sea hare Aplysia dactylomela and sally lightfoot crab Percnon gibbesi, were previously recorded in the Adriatic Sea. However, data on their distribution, biology and ecology are still deficient. Here we report new sightings of these species in the Central Adriatic. Moreover, we noted mass appearance (approx. 7 individuals per 100 m of island length from sea surface to 2 m depth) and spawning of A. dactylomela on the remote Brusnik Island in July and August 2012 but not in the years afterwards, either on this location or on the other investigated sites. To our knowledge, such mass spawning of this species was not yet noted for the Adriatic. Furthermore, numerous specimens of both juvenile and adult decapod crustacean P. gibbesi were recorded in 2015 and 2016 in narrow cracks and under the stones on many locations along the coast of the Island of Vis and smaller islands of Sušac and Sveti Andrija. In the Adriatic, these species are undoubtedly rapidly spreading northwards but their impact on the autochthonous species occupying the same ecological niche - shallow benthic algal grazers - is not yet known, as well as their impact on the composition and diversity of algal communities at given locations.

Mediterranean invasive species; Aplysia dactylomela; mass spawning; Percnon gibbesi; rapid spreading

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