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Archive | 2014

Metamorphoses: Bioinvasions in the Mediterranean Sea

Bella S. Galil; Menachem Goren

Six hundred and eighty alien marine multicellular species have been recorded in the Mediterranean Sea, with many establishing viable populations and dispersing along its coastline. A brief history of bioinvasions research in the Mediterranean Sea is presented. Particular attention is paid to gelatinous invasive species: the temporal and spatial spread of four alien scyphozoans and two alien ctenophores is outlined. We highlight few of the discernible, and sometimes dramatic, physical alterations to habitats associated with invasive aliens in the Mediterranean littoral, as well as food web interactions of alien and native fish. The propagule pressure driving the Erythraean invasion is powerful in the establishment and spread of alien species in the eastern and central Mediterranean. The implications of the enlargement of Suez Canal, reflecting patterns in global trade and economy, are briefly discussed.


Marine Policy | 2017

Recommendations for developing and applying genetic tools to assess and manage biological invasions in marine ecosystems

John A. Darling; Bella S. Galil; Gary R. Carvalho; Marc Rius; Frédérique Viard; Stefano Piraino

The European Union’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) aims to adopt integrated ecosystem management approaches to achieve or maintain “Good Environmental Status” for marine waters, habitats and resources, including mitigation of the negative effects of non-indigenous species (NIS). The Directive further seeks to promote broadly standardized monitoring efforts and assessment of temporal trends in marine ecosystem condition, incorporating metrics describing the distribution and impacts of NIS. Accomplishing these goals will require application of advanced tools for NIS surveillance and risk assessment, particularly given known challenges associated with surveying and monitoring with traditional methods. In the past decade, a host of methods based on nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) analysis have been developed or advanced that promise to dramatically enhance capacity in assessing and managing NIS. However, ensuring that these rapidly evolving approaches remain accessible and responsive to the needs of resource managers remains a challenge. This paper provides recommendations for future development of these genetic tools for assessment and management of NIS in marine systems, within the context of the explicit requirements of the MSFD. Issues considered include technological innovation, methodological standardization, data sharing and collaboration, and the critical importance of shared foundational resources, particularly integrated taxonomic expertise. Though the recommendations offered here are not exhaustive, they provide a basis for future intentional (and international) collaborative development of a genetic toolkit for NIS research, capable of fulfilling the immediate and long term goals of marine ecosystem and resource conservation.


Marine Biology Research | 2017

Going down together: invasive host, Charybdis longicollis (Decapoda: Brachyura: Portunidae) and invasive parasite, Heterosaccus dollfusi (Cirripedia: Rhizocephala: Sacculinidae) on the upper slope off the Mediterranean coast of Israel

Gianna Innocenti; Gianluca Stasolla; Menachem Goren; Nir Stern; Ya’arit Levitt-Barmats; Arik Diamant; Bella S. Galil

ABSTRACT The swimming crab Charybdis longicollis, native to the western Indian Ocean, was first recorded in the Mediterranean in 1954. It is now established from Egypt to Greece, and dominates the sandy-mud bottoms at 25–80 m in the southeastern Mediterranean. The success of C. longicollis is attributed to its high fecundity, agonistic behaviour and omnivorous diet, as well as the rise in seawater temperature. Since the early 1990s its populations in Israel and Turkey have been heavily parasitized by the alien rhizocephalan Heterosaccus dollfusi, which impacts its host’s behaviour, growth and fecundity, and causes mortality. Yet, 60 years after its first record in the Mediterranean, the population of C. longicollis seems durable, and has recently spread to the lower shelf and upper slope off Israel, where it is common at 80 m and is found down to 250 m, greatly increasing its spatial spread. The maximal percentage of parasitization was 87.2%, 88.8%, 75.5% and 81.8% at depths of 40, 60, 80, 100 m, respectively, and 50% at 120 and 250 m. Here, we hypothesize on the possible contribution of the depletion of its putative fish predators, mainly rays, to the prevalence of C. longicollis on the lower shelf.


Zootaxa | 2018

Validation and redescription of the hyperiidean amphipod Brachyscelus rapacoides Stephensen, 1925 (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Hyperiidea: Brachyscelidae), a new record of association with the scyphozoan jellyfish Rhopilema nomadica Galil, 1990 (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae: Rhizostomatidae) in the Mediterranean Sea

Wolfgang Zeidler; Jacob Douek; Baruch Rinkevich; Roy Gevili; Menachem Goren; Bella S. Galil

The hyperiidean amphipod Brachyscelus rapacoides Stephensen, 1925 is recorded from the scyphozoan jellyfish Rhopilema nomadica Galil, 1990, a new record of association for the genus Brachyscelus, as well as the first record of hyperiid infestation of a non-indigenous scyphozoan host. Because of some past confusion concerning the status of B. rapacoides and the closely related species B. rapax (Claus, 1871) a redescription of B. rapacoides and molecular analysis are provided in order to validate it as a species distinguished from B. rapax.


Zootaxa | 2018

The resurrection of Charybdis ( Gonioinfradens ) giardi (Nobili, 1905), newly recorded from the SE Mediterranean Sea

Bella S. Galil; Jacob Douek; Roy Gevili; Menachem Goren; Yana Yudkovsky; Guy Paz; Baruch Rinekvich

A single adult specimen of Gonioinfradens giardi, a portunid crab known from the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and Arabian Gulf, was recently collected off the southern Israeli coast, in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea. Morphological characters, as well as molecular analyses based on the mitochondrial barcoding gene cytochrome oxidase sub unit I (COI), support its distinction from the widely distributed G. paucidentata. Therefore, G. giardi is reinstated as a valid species, and withdrawn from its synonymy with G. paucidentata. Previous Mediterranean records of the latter species are misidentifications and should be referred to G. giardi. The species is described, illustrated, and differentiated from its cogener.


Archive | 2018

Mare Nostrum, Mare Quod Invaditur— The History of Bioinvasions in the Mediterranean Sea

Bella S. Galil; Agnese Marchini; Anna Occhipinti-Ambrogi

Intentional and unintentional introductions of marine species into the Mediterranean date back to the 15th century, when maritime shipping expanded with geographical discoveries and new mercantile horizons. Hull fouling on ships was recognized as a vector in the late 19th century, yet early introductions were overlooked because they had occurred centuries before the onset of biogeographical studies. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 drew scientific attention to the introduction of marine species and records of shipping and mariculture-introduced species kept appearing in the scientific literature, yet their number and impact were considered inconsequential. Concerns were raised only in the 1980s following conspicuous outbreaks with dire environmental and economic impacts in the Mediterranean and the neighboring Black Sea. The natural and cultural history of marine bioinvasions in the Mediterranean Sea is outlined, as framed by scientists and legislators, whereby perceptions of unintentionally introduced species evolved from ignorance and indifference to ‘biological pollution’ impairing potentially exploitable marine resources and harming indigenous species and habitats. The anthropogenic vectors at the root of the introductions into the Mediterranean Sea are summarized, and cases of environmental transformation, ecological damage, economic impact and human health issues are highlighted. The development of the legislative response, reflecting cultural attitudes to introductions and economic priorities, is briefly documented.


Biological Invasions | 2018

Invasive biota in the deep-sea Mediterranean: an emerging issue in marine conservation and management

Bella S. Galil; R. Danovaro; S. B. S. Rothman; R. Gevili; Menachem Goren

AbstractAlthough the ecological importance and impact of non-indigenous species is increasingly recognised and documented in shallow water ecosystems, their presence beyond the shelf has scarcely been documented. A survey of the upper slope biota of the Mediterranean coast of Israel revealed the presence at 200-m depth of individuals of three Erythraean species, the crocodile toothfish Champsodon nudivittis, Golani’s round herring Etrumeus golanii, and the burrowing goby, Trypauchen vagina. In the past decade several Erythraean species, some newly arrived, some well-established, have been collected on the Levantine lower shelf and upper slope. The species invasion revealed that thermal niche estimations based on the species’ native environment may have underestimated their ability to tolerate lower temperatures. The results reported here suggest that the wide thermal tolerance of some Erythraean species may facilitate their bathymetric and geographic expansion. Their spread to the depths where the unique, diverse and fragile mesophotic ‘animal forests’ occur, bodes ill to these beleaguered communities.


Zoology in The Middle East | 2017

The diet of native and invasive fish species along the eastern Mediterranean coast (Osteichthyes)

Roni-Lee Gilaad; Bella S. Galil; Ariel Diamant; Menachem Goren

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 enabled the invasion of more than 100 alien fish species into the Mediterranean. The aim of the present study was to compare the diet of native and alien fish species and to identify possibly shared food resources. We examined the diet composition of 13 of the most abundant fish species (6 alien, 7 native) on shallow soft bottom off southern Israel. All 13 species are omnivorous/carnivorous. The native fish exhibited a wider diversity of food types than the aliens. Alien fish prey upon and are preyed by native species as well as by other alien fish. A high level of diet overlap was found among some species, the aliens Saurida lessepsianus and Scomberomorus commerson overlapped with the native Synodus saurus; and the alien Nemipterus randalli with the native species Pagrus caeruleostictus, Lithognathus mormyrus and Pagellus erythrinus. The identified diet overlap is discussed, and the possibility of competitive interactions between these species is considered.


Journal of Natural History | 2017

Aggressive, omnivorous, invasive: the Erythraean moon crab Matuta victor (Fabricius, 1781) (Crustacea: Decapoda: Matutidae) in the eastern Mediterranean sea

Gianna Innocenti; Gianluca Stasolla; Moti Mendelson; Bella S. Galil

ABSTRACT Since its first sighting in 2012 in Haifa Bay, Israel, the population of the Indo-Pacific moon crab, Matuta victor, has increased greatly along the Israeli littoral and spread to Lebanon and the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. To examine possible interactions with the Levantine nearshore psammophilic community, the crab’s feeding behaviour was observed in situ and the foregut contents of 69 specimens collected in December 2015 and June 2016 were analysed. Its omnivorous diet was confirmed and previously unknown intraspecific competitive feeding behaviour is reported. The agonistic behaviour may denote behavioural flexibility that enables the crabs to colonize and persist in a depauperate novel habitat. Site-specific disturbance regimen related to human activities seems to have had a critical role in driving the rapid population increase.


Zoology in The Middle East | 2016

First record of the Brassy Chub Kyphosus vaigiensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825) in the Eastern Mediterranean (Osteichthyes: Perciformes: Kyphosidae)

Menachem Goren; Bella S. Galil; Roy Gevili; Nir Stern

The Brassy Chub, Kyphosus vaigiensis, first recorded in the Mediterranean in 1998, is reported herein from the coast of Israel. The identity of the specimen was confirmed by morphological and molecular analysis. This is the first record of K. vaigiensis from the Eastern Mediterranean. The possible origins of the Israeli record is discussed.

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Menachem Goren

American Museum of Natural History

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Veronica Fuentes

Spanish National Research Council

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Bastian Huwer

Technical University of Denmark

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Cornelia Jaspers

Technical University of Denmark

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