Mehmet Baki Yokes

Identity and origin of a slender Caulerpa taxifolia strain introduced into the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract On the basis of morphological and molecular studies, we identified the Australian endemic green alga known as Caulerpa distichophylla along the coasts of Sicily (Italy, Mediterranean Sea). The slender Caulerpa previously reported as C. taxifolia from southeastern Turkey (Gulf of Iskenderun) also belongs to C. distichophylla. Morphologically, C. distichophylla clearly differs from C. taxifolia in its slender thallus and the lack of large rhizoidal pillars. However, genetic data do not provide undisputed evidence that the species are distinct. Sequences of the tufA cpDNA gene and of the cp 16S rDNA intron-2 sequences separated the two taxa by only one single nucleotide mutation, whereas ITS rDNA sequences did not clearly distinguish them. The new combination Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla is therefore proposed. Western and eastern Mediterranean populations of C. taxifolia var. distichophylla are probably the result of introduction events from southwestern Australia. Although the vector of primary introductions remains unknown (aquarium trade or shipping), maritime traffic appears to be the most likely vector of secondary dispersal. C. taxifolia var. distichophylla is closely related to C. taxifolia, hence interbreeding with the other C. taxifolia strains in the Mediterranean Sea might be expected to occur.

Aplysia dactylomela : an alien opisthobranch in the Mediterranean

Aplysia dactylomela is widely distributed in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific, but has not been recorded in the Mediterranean. Recently, underwater photographs of this species from the eastern Mediterranean were posted on Internet forums. The Mediterranean coasts of Turkey were screened for this species and two alive individuals were encountered. This study constitutes the first record of this species from the Turkish coastline and provides enough evidence that Aplysia dactylomela is spreading in the Levant Basin.

Indo-Pacific cardinal fish in the Mediterranean Sea—new records of Apogon smithi from Turkey and A. queketti from Israel

The present paper reports new records of Apogon smithi in Turkey and A. queketti in Israel and raises the subject of the newly emerging pattern of nearly simultaneous appearance of new Indo-Pacific records along the entire Levantine coast of the Mediterranean Sea. A key to the species of Apogon in the Mediterranean is supplied.

Distribution and population structure of the alien Indo‐Pacific Randall's threadfin bream Nemipterus randalli in the eastern Mediterranean Sea

As part of a comprehensive study of trawl fishery catch off Israel (Ashdod) and Turkey (Iskenderun and Antalya) conducted during 2008-2011, the population explosion of Nemipterus randalli, first recorded in the Mediterranean Sea in the beginning of 2005, was documented. The smallest individuals occurred on deeper bottoms (120 m), significantly more individuals were collected at night, and juvenile recruitment to the commercial fishery occurred during November and December at 40 m depth.

Here and There: A Preliminary Note on the Prevalence of an Alien Rhizocephalan Parasite at the Southern and Northern Limits of Its Introduced Range

Abstract The Erythrean invasive swimming crab Charybdis longicollis established dense populations in the Levantine Basin of the Mediterranean Sea in the mid 20th century. The crabs were subsequently parasitized by the rhizocephalan Heterosaccus dollfusi, itself an Erythrean alien. In May 2008, the crab populations were sampled at the southern (Israel) and northern (Turkey) limits of its introduced range. The prevalence of infection was 3 times as high, and multiple externae-bearing hosts more than 4 times as many, in Israeli waters as in Turkey. It seems that off the Israeli coast, the water temperature permits the synchronous ontogenetic development of both host and parasite, ensuring the availability of plentiful young, recently-molted, prospective hosts for infection by the short-lived parasite cypris. It is possible that the lower water temperature off Antalya (Turkey) may affect the timing of ontogenetic development of one species or the other, or increase the mortality of infected hosts, resulting in drastically reduced parasite prevalence.

First record of Aplysia dactylomela (Opisthobranchia: Aplysiidae) from the Egadi Islands (western Sicily)

The alien mollusc Aplysia dactylomela is recorded for the first time from the Egadi Islands marine protected area (western Sicily). This species has been widely reported in the Mediterranean and has established populations in Sicily. The presence of a few specimens let us suppose that its occurrence in this area is a recent event and that soon new populations will be sighted in the whole Egadi Islands and on the western and southern coasts of Sicily.

GENETIC EVIDENCE FOR WIDE DISTRIBUTION OF THE ALIEN PRAWN-GOBY , VANDERHORSTIA MERTENSI (ACTINOPTERYGII: PERCIFORMES: GOBIIDAE), ALONG THE NORTHEAST MEDITERRANEAN

Vanderhorstia mertensi Klausewitz, 1974, is a recently acknowledged alien fish in the Mediterranean Sea, hitherto observed only from Fethiye Bay, Turkey. To explore its distribution, trawl bycatch from eastern Antalya and Iskenderun was examined and an underwater survey was performed off Kas (western Antalya). An established pop - ulation was found off Guvercin Island, Kas, and six specimens were identified from trawl bycatch collected off Antalya and Iskenderun. The trawl-collected specimens were badly damaged and identification was made possible by the analysis of their 16S rDNA sequences. Our findings suggest that the species was only recently introduced and its population size has increased rapidly. Symbiotic relationship with alpheids (Apheidae, Crustacea) may have enhanced this prawn-gobys establishment and dispersal along the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.

A new record in eastern Aegean Sea (Turkey): Polymorphina fistulosa

Numerous Indo-Pacific originated alien foraminifer species have been recorded in the eastern Mediterranean. Each year new species are being added. In the framework of a foraminiferal study conducted on the east Aegean coast the benthic foraminifer Polymorphina fistulosa is found in the foraminiferal assemblage around a hot water submarine spring in Ilica Bay (Cesme, Turkey). It is also observed in one sediment sample collected from the western entrance of the Dardanelles (Canakkale, Turkey). These records constitute the first record of this Pacific originated species in the Aegean Sea.

A new species of Diplecogaster (Actinopterygii: Gobiesocidae) from the Mediterranean Sea

Diplecogaster umutturali sp. n. is described from five specimens, ranging from 9.5 to 26.9 mm in standard length. This clingfish is known to occur only at three localities along the northern Levant coasts, eastern Mediterranean Sea and is the third known species of the genus Diplecogaster in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. The species is distinguished from all its congeners in having a small snout, short caudal peduncle, large eyes, short anal fin and upper attachment of gill membrane opposite the 7th-8th pectoral ray. Diplecogaster umutturali sp. n. shows a 5.3% genetic divergence from its close relative D. bimaculata at the cytochrome oxidase I locus (COI). http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:376298FE-C8A7-44BB-9B12-721E41D7F355