Andrea Bonifazi

• PhD in Marine Ecology
• Collaboratore Tecnico Professionale at ARPA Lazio

This Collective Article compiles information on nineteen (19) species recorded in seven (7) Mediterranean countries (Croatia, Cyprus, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Syria, and Türkiye) and across four major sub-basins (Adriatic, Western, Central, and Eastern Med-iterranean). The documented taxa represent eight (8) phyla: Annelida (four species), Arthropod...

Amathia verticillata (delle Chiaje, 1822) is an erect and not calcified colonial bryozoan and its colonies constitute a suitable substratum for colonization and growth of numerous macrozoobenthic taxa (Ferrapeira et al., 2014). This cosmopolitan and cryptogenic bryozoan, native to the Caribbean Sea, is considered a pseudo-indigenous species in the...

In the summer of 2023, the Atlantic blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, experienced an unprecedented outbreak in the Northern Adriatic Sea, significantly impacting Italy's shellfish farming industry and generating widespread media attention. Given that commercially harvesting this edible species is recognized as one of the main strategies to manage its...

L’incremento delle attività antropiche, i cambiamenti climatici e le invasioni biologiche influenzano negativamente la funzionalità degli ecosistemi marini e le caratteristiche quali-quantitative di fauna e flora. In questo contesto, i monitoraggi condotti in ambiente marino ai sensi del D.Lgs. 190/10 (Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/CE...

This project focuses on amphipod biodiversity assessment, a crustacean key-group of any kind of marine and semi-terrestrial habitats. The first main task is updating the checklist of amphipods in Italian seas and comparing the fauna with the one of the whole Mediterranean Sea. The project has involved several institutions and obtained preliminary r...

The biogenic reefs built by the honeycomb worm Sabellaria alveolata constitute priority habitats along Atlanto-Mediterranean coastal areas. Despite their wide extent and important ecological role, the nursery value of S. alveolata reefs remains unclear, and more information is needed to define how such structured habitats affect juvenile fish assem...

The 10th International Symposium Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas: problems and measurements techniques was organized by CNR-IBE in collaboration with Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology , and Natural History Museum of the Mediterranean and under the patronage of University of Florence, University of Catania, Accademia dei L...

Studies of non-indigenous species (NIS) often tend to focus on medium and large-sized taxa with potential for remarkable ecological and/or economic impact, whereas the early detection of small invertebrates is often delayed due to taxonomic challenge, lack of consistent, standardised monitoring efforts and limited funding. This study represents the...

C’è mai stato qualcosa in grado di affascinare gli esseri umani più del mare? Forse solo la Luna ha ispirato più poeti, cantanti e romanzieri, nel corso dei secoli. «C’è però una differenza», specifica Andrea Bonifazi, dottore di ricerca in Ecologia Marina e creatore della seguitissima pagina Scienze Naturali, «la Luna, probabilmente, la conosciamo...

Viene presentata la prima revisione della Checklist degli Anfipodi dei mari italiani, la cui ultima versione risale al 2010. Gli Anfipodi sono crostacei che si diversificano dal punto di vista ecologico e biologico, costituendo uno dei gruppi dominanti in habitat marini bentonici. Con la loro elevata ricchezza quali-quantitativa svolgono un ruolo c...

In the Mediterranean Sea, coralligenous biocenosis and rhodolith beds are extremely important habitats, acting as biodiversity hot-spots and supporting a highly diversified fauna and a lot of macroalgal species. However, these habitats are sensitive to many anthropogenic impacts, among which one of the major threats is the marine litter, often repr...

A total of 216 individual of four juvenile fish sparid species (Sarpa salpa, Diplodus sargus, D. puntazzo, D. vulgaris) were examined for ingested microplastics (MPs). A total of 194 MPs were found. MPs were recovered from the gut content of all the examined species. The frequency of occurrence of ingested MPs was 51% in juveniles and D. puntazzo s...

In recent years, the introduction of alien and invasive marine species in the Mediterranean Sea has rapidly increased. Laonome triangularis is a sabellid worm, native to the Australian coasts. Its first record in the Mediterranean Sea dates back to 2009 and, in this area, it is currently labeled as an allochthonous species. In the present work, we...

Within the framework of hypersaline environments, the Saline di Tarquinia salterns (Latium, Italy) represent an interesting case study from ecological, naturalistic, and conservationist perspectives. We studied macrozoobenthic community zonation related to the main environmental parameters, with particular emphasis on the beetle species Nebrioporus...

The biocenosis of coarse sand and gravel exposed to bottom currents (SGCF) is the typical habitat of the amphioxus Branchiostoma lanceolatum (Pallas, 1774). This species and the habitat where it lives are threatened, and there are few reports of this biocenosis in the Italian and European waters. During a sampling survey carried out along the easte...

Corbicula fluminea (O.F. Müller, 1774) è un mollusco bivalve appartenente alla famiglia Corbiculidae originario del Sud-Est Asiatico. Si tratta di una specie invasiva adattata a condizioni ecologiche diversificate, potendo proliferare tanto in acque interne, sia in ambienti lotici che lentici, quanto in acque di transizione, talvolta arrivando ad i...

Da molti anni la comunità scientifica ha descritto come il clima del pianeta stia cambiando ed in particolare l’aumento delle temperature risulti molto evidente nelle zone fredde del globo, poco meno nelle zone temperate. Queste modificazioni alimentano una delle più grandi problematiche dei giorni nostri: la diffusione delle specie aliene. Con vel...

To enrich spatio-temporal information on the distribution of alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, a collective effort by 173 marine scientists was made to provide unpublished records and make them open access to the scientific community. Through this effort, we collected and harmonized a dataset of 12,64...

Oenothera speciosa Nutt. is a non-indigenous plant that is widespread in Europe, South America, Asia, and Oceania. Although in its native range it is rarely pollinated by sphingid moths, in Europe and Asia, it was found to be associated with the hummingbird hawkmoth Macroglossum stellatarum (Linnaeus, 1758). However, the plant–insect interaction wa...

A new species belonging to the genus Trophoniella Hartman, 1959 (Polychaeta: Flabelligeridae) was described from the coastal area of Civitavecchia (Northern Tyrrhenian Sea). The species was collected in gravelly coarse sands from Posidonia oceanica beds at around 7 m depth. Trophoniella cucullata sp. nov. clearly differs from all other congeners sp...

This Collective Article presents new information about the occurrence of 21 taxa that belong to six Phyla: one Cnidaria, one Ctenophora, two Annelida, four Mollusca, two Arthropoda, and eleven Chordata. These records were reported from ten countries from the western to the eastern Mediterranean Sea as follows: Spain: early colonization signs of the...

Coralligenous reefs are typical underwater seascapes of the Mediterranean Sea and are ranked among the most relevant ecosystems of the basin and a pole of biodiversity. For their critical importance for ecosystems conservation, coralligenous reefs are included among the indicators that should be assessed under the Marine Strategy Framework Directiv...

Sabellaria species are among the most important frame-builders in temperate, shallow marine areas. These polychaetes are suspension feeders able to build bioconstructions using sand and shell fragments cemented with a sticky mucous. Such feature makes these invertebrates “unusual bioconstructors”, as they do not produce calcium carbonate. Sabellari...

Marine litter is a serious global environmental threat that has received increasing attention in the last decades from the academic world, intergovernmental organizations and agencies due to its impact on ecosystems, fisheries and, ultimately, human health. The Mediterranean Sea is characterized by one of the highest densities of marine litter in...

The seabed of the Pontine Archipelago (Tyrrhenian Sea) insular shelf is peculiar as it is characterized by a mixed siliciclastic–carbonate sedimentation. In order to reconstruct the Late Quaternary paleoenvironmental evolution of the Pontine Archipelago, this study investigates the succession of facies recorded by two sediment cores. For this purpo...

Having a reliable ecological reference baseline is pivotal to understanding the current status of benthic assemblages. Ecological awareness of our perception of environmental changes could be better described based on historical data. Otherwise, we meet with the shifting baseline syndrome (SBS). Facing SBS harmful consequences on environmental and...

Abstract Characterizing and monitoring changes in biogenic 3‐dimensional (3D) structures at multiple scales over time is challenging within the practical constraints of conventional ecological tools. Therefore, we developed a structure‐from‐motion (SfM)‐based photogrammetry method, coupled with inspection and mesh processing software, to estimate i...

Active reconstruction of marine habitats: Sabellaria reef. – Sabellaria alveolata is an ecosystem engineer species capable of building bioconstructions, playing a key functional role in the shallow coastal ecosystems. S. alveolata reefs per-form several ecosystem services, such as hosting a rich fauna and producing structures able to provide coasta...

Sabellaria alveolata (Linnaeus 1767) is a polychaete able to build bioconstructions of different thickness, size and patchiness, in intertidal and subtidal environments. Its biological features have been the object of numerous studies worldwide. The worm reefs are formed by millions of tubes built by sand and shells (whole or in fragments) bonded t...

An unusual massive beaching of about two hundred specimens of the ophichthid eel Dalophis imberbis in the Central Mediterranean Sea was documented with in situ photographs and direct observations of beached specimens. No records of massive beaching of this species are reported in literature and only isolated specimens of D. imberbis were sporadical...

Ophelia roscoffensis Augener, 1910 is an opheliid worm identifiable by the number of anterior abranchiate chaetigers and the number of the gill pairs. Although it was already reported in the Mediterranean Sea, it has never been found in the Italian waters. This study represents the first record of Ophelia roscoffensis in the Italian waters. A total...

The paper deals with some current aspects related to the change that is taking place in the marine benthic assemblages, focusing particularly on the acceleration rate generated because of the anthropogenic pressures. Considering the necessity of specific biomonitoring on the communities status, the Authors point out the risk of the incoming "Shifti...

The effects of unusual very high waves (>5 m) for Tyrrhenian Sea, due to the major storm of 30th October 2018 were assessed along a rocky coast of Giglio Island through UAV-based photogrammetry coupled with low cost RTK-GPS survey. These tools demonstrate how sub-decimeter GIS drone-derived data can become a reliable tool for accurate coastal monit...

Composition, trophic structure, and species-substrate relationships of molluscan assemblages inhabiting different hard bottom habitats (Sabellaria alveolata reef, photophilic bottoms, Phyllophora crispa sciaphilic assemblage, and coralligenous bioconstruction) were studied in two different sites of the Tyrrhenian Sea. In particular, molluscs from t...

In the last years, the introduction rate of aquatic species and the invasive alien species spread are rapidly increasing. They are now considered to be one of the top five anthropogenic threats in all oceans and the second largest cause of biodiversity loss on a global scale (Nellemann et al., 2008). Globalization, tourism and sea trade growth have...

Sabellaria alveolata is an ecosystem engineer species capable of building bioconstructions, playing a key functional role in the shallow coastal ecosystems. S. alveolata reefs perform several ecosystem services, such as hosting a rich fauna and producing structures able to provide coastal protection. Despite their ecological role, these bioconstruc...

In the Mediterranean Sea, coralline algae assemblages (i.e. rhodolith beds and coralligenous assemblages) are considered biodiversity hotspots comparable to tropical reefs. However, information regarding their environmental distribution is still poor. In this view, relevant international actions have been adopted by the European Union to fill this...

Coralline red algae build-ups such as coralligenous outcrops and maёrl beds are typical underwater seascapes of the Mediterranean Sea. Due to their high level of biological diversity and productivity they are ranked among the most relevant habitats in the Mediterranean, considered of critical importance for ecosystems conservation. An extensive stu...

Goniadella bobrezkii (Annenkova, 1929) is a small goniadid worm identifiable by the number of anterior uniramous parapodia and by the position of the posterior spine-like notochetae arising dorsal to dorsal cirri. Although it was already reported in the Mediterranean Sea, it has never been found in the Italian waters. This study represents the firs...

Sabellaria (Annelida, Polychaeta) is a genus of marine polychaete worms belonging to the family Sabellariidae. The member of this taxon are gregarious engineer species called "honeycomb worms" because they are able to build bioconstructions (sheets, hummocks and reefs) composed by tubes made of sand and bioclasts, held together with an organic mucu...

Nowadays, emerging technologies, such as long-range transmitters, increasingly miniaturized components for positioning, and enhanced imaging sensors, have led to an upsurge in the availability of new ecological applications for remote sensing based on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), sometimes referred to as “drones”. In fact, structure-from-motion...

Sabellaria alveolata is a widespread coastal engineer species that builds sandy bioconstructions in coastal marine habitats, which host a rich associated fauna. Some of these associated species are quite common on rocky or sandy substrates, but few taxa are strictly linked to Sabellaria reefs. In this study, we report, for the first time, the phyll...

La diffusa miniaturizzazione di componenti come trasmettitori a lungo raggio, G.P.S., sensori inerziali e di immagini ha portato ad un'enorme diffusione dei sistemi aerei capaci di volo autonomo. I droni, o Sistemi Aeromobili a Pilotaggio Remoto (SAPR), internazionalmente noti come Unmanned aerial system (UAS) e Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), nati...

The use of small vehicles capable of autonomous flight (drones) can nowadays become a valid tool of investigation along coastal environments, especially when low-cost and short-term monitoring are required. The aim of this work is to show, through three case studies, the effectiveness of aerial photogrammetry based on Structure from Motion (SfM) al...

Jassa slatteryi is a cosmopolitan amphipod reported as cryptogenic or invasive species throughout the world. Although it had been signaled in the Mediterranean Sea, it was never found on the Italian coasts. This study represents the first record of J. slatteryi in Italy. A total of 87 specimens were collected on artificial hard substrates in the Po...

The ectoparasite communities of two juvenile Diplodus species, D. sargus and D. puntazzo, were studied in a rocky coast of the Central Tyrrhenian sea (Mediterranean Sea) where three neighbouring nursery areas showed a differential availability of microhabitats due to a gradual protection gradient capable of influencing local hydrodynamic conditions...

Nowadays the proliferation of small unmanned aerial systems or vehicles (UAS/ Vs), formerly known as drones, coupled with an increasing interest in tools for environmental monitoring, have led to an exponential use of these unmanned aerial platforms for many applications in the most diverse fields of science. In particular, ecologists require data...

Feeding habits, diet overlap and morphological correlates of four juvenile species of the genus Diplodus were investigated during their settlement periods, along the Tyrrhenian coast. Stomach content analysis showed that the diets of D. sargus and D. puntazzo mainly comprised benthic prey such as harpacticoid copepods, amphipods and polychaetes. On...

Cleaning interactions between the wrasse Symphodus melanocercus and brown meagre Sciaena umbra are documented from observations whilst free diving on a shallow rocky reef in the central Mediterranean Sea. Cleaning events occurred at cleaning stations mainly during the morning and gradually decreased in the evening. The body parts mostly cleaned wer...

Macroalgal assemblages dominated by the turf-forming alga Phyllophora crispa are described in detail for the first time in the Central Mediterranean Sea. This particular form of algal growth, which comprises an upper mixed layer of multiple algal species with a basal stratum formed by entangled thalli of P. crispa, was observed for the first time i...

Manuale fotografico utile al riconoscimento di alcuni degli stadi larvali più facilmente rinvenibili nel mesozooplancton di mare.

Abstracts Book of the conference “88° Convegno della Società Geologica Italiana" 7-9 Settembre 2016 – Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II

Holoplanktonic polychaetes constitute an exception within this taxon, which as adults colonize all the whole variety of brackish water and marine habitats. Nevertheless, they form a distinctive group in marine zooplankton and play an important role in the pelagic trophic nets. Pelagic worms are little studied, especially in the Mediterranean Sea, w...

Tube worms and phytobenthic assemblages in three infralittoral and shallow circalittoral Mediterranean benthic communities developed between 5 and 35 m depth at Punta del Lazzaretto (Giglio Island, Central Thyrrenian sea) were investigated. Despite being three algae-dominated habitats, these displayed different covering both in terms of algal layer...

Considering the importance of sparid fishes from both economic (adults are widely exploited in professional fisheries and aquaculture) and ecological (juveniles exhibit specific microhabitat association and partitioning) points of view, we focused the PhD thesis on feeding habits of juvenile sparid fishes. During this research we noticed how many a...

Sabellaria alveolata is a bioengineer sabellariid polychaete worm widespread in Mediterranean Sea. Reefs are hard compact infralittoral bioconstructions on solid and soft bottoms which increasesvolume, complexity and heterogeneity of the habitat, therefore shaping the seascape. These reefs result from the aggregation of worm tubes made up of sand g...

Considering the importance of sparid fishes from both economic (adults are widely exploited in professional fisheries and aquaculture) and ecological (juveniles exhibit specific microhabitat association and partitioning) points of view, we focused this work on feeding habits of juvenile sparid fishes. During this research we noticed how many aspect...

Cleaning behaviour of the ectoparasitic Peniculus fistula (Copepoda: Pennellidae) between juveniles of Diplodus sargus and D. puntazzo was observed and reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea

The existence of critical problems in the identification of species within the genus Nereis L., 1758 (Annelida Polychaeta: Nereididae) has led to several misidentifications within Mediterranean taxa. In the present paper we report a discussion on the Mediterranean species, with a re-examination of specimens collected along the Italian coasts. A red...

IT Viene segnalato per la prima volta il ritrovamento di spermatofore dei Gastropoda Vermetidae lungo le coste dell’Isola d’Elba. Tali spermatofore sono riconducibili a quelle della specie Thylacodes arenarius (L., 1758) (= Serpulorbis arenarius (L., 1767) ). Vengono riportate le caratteristiche morfologiche delle differenti spermatofore osservate...