Fabio Crocetta

Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn | Stazione Zoologica · Integrative Marine Ecology

The precise number of Okenia taxa inhabiting the Mediterranean Sea, as well as their general taxonomy, varies according to different specialists. So far, eight valid species have been reported from the area: Okenia aspersa (Alder & Hancock, 1845), Okenia cupella (Vogel & Schultz, 1970), Okenia elegans (Leuckart, 1828), Okenia hispanica Valdés & Ort...

1. The disproportionately low presence of marine species in the list of invasive alien species (IAS) of Union concern of the European Union (EU) Regulation 1143/2014 does not fully acknowledge the threat they pose to the EU marine environment. 2. In this study, the first EU-scale Horizon Scanning (HS) focusing on marine alien species was performed,...

Anthropogenic litter negatively impacts the marine environment and threatens biodiversity. At the same time, it represents a suitable substrate for the settlement of sessile species, thus potentially altering composition and structure of soft bottom benthic assemblages. By using a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), we hereby investigated patterns of...

Ascidians are the largest and most diverse class of the subphylum Tunicata, and are important components of marine benthic communities. They are also renowned worldwide invaders, of growing concern due to ease of spread and impacts on native biota. We hereby combined bathymetric and habitat mapping, extensive transect and photo-quadrat sampling, an...

Sharks play a key role in the functioning of marine ecosystems and maintenance of trophic web balance, including life cycles of parasites co-occurring in their habitats. We investigated the structure of parasite communities of three sympatric shark species (Etmopterus spinax, Galeus melastomus, and Scyliorhinus canicula) and explored both the influ...

Human-mediated dispersal of alien species in new biogeographic realms is one of the major drivers of biodiversity change in marine ecosystems. Among others, ascidians are invasive species spreading worldwide, thus causing ecological and economic harms in the recipient environments. An integrated taxonomic approach on selected samples allowed the id...

Raising knowledge of the dispersal of non-indigenous species (NIS) in new geographic areas is a matter of major concern, as alien species may outcompete the native biota through competition, predation, and hybridization. In the Mediterranean Sea, where biological invasions constitute a serious threat, the combined use of citizen science and social...

Natural products and their synthetic analogs and derivatives are a traditional source of bioactive molecules with potential development as drug candidates. In this context, Marine Natural Products (MNPs) represent a rich reservoir of diverse molecular skeletons with potential pharmacological activity that, so far, has been mostly explored in cancer...

The nudibranch Baeolidia moebii Bergh, 1888 is a sea slug widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific, including the Red Sea, from where it presumably entered the Mediterranean Sea through Lessepsian migration. Although the first record of this species in the invaded area dates back to at least 2007, it is only known so far from the Mediterranean basin...

This Collective Article includes records of 29 alien and cryptogenic species in the Mediterranean Sea, belonging to eight Phyla (Rhodophyta, Ochrophyta, Cnidaria, Annelida, Mollusca, Arthropoda, Echinodermata, and Chordata) and coming from 11 countries. Notes published here can be divided into three different categories: occupancy estimation for wi...

Bologna M.A., Zapparoli M., Oliverio M., Minelli A., Bonato L., Cianferoni F., Stoch F. (eds.), Checklist of the Italian Fauna. Version 1.0. Last update: 2021-05-31. Available at: https://www.lifewatchitaly.eu/en/initiatives/checklist-fauna-italia-en/checklist/

The marine environment is potentially a prolific source of small molecules with significant biological activities. In recent years, the development of new chromatographic phases and the progress in cell and molecular techniques have facilitated the search for marine natural products (MNPs) as novel pharmacophores and enhanced the success rate in th...

The Mediterranean Sea has a long-lasting history of fishery exploitation that, together with other anthropogenic impacts, has led to declines in several marine organisms. In particular, elasmobranch populations have been severely impacted, with drastic decreases in abundance and species diversity. Based on their experience, fishers can provide info...

This Collective Article presents information about 27 taxa belonging to five Phyla (one Ochrophyta, one Cnidaria, three Arthropoda, two Mollusca and twenty Chordata) and extending from the Western Mediterranean Sea to the Levantine Sea and the Black Sea (Sea of Marmara). The new records were reported from 11 countries as follows: Algeria: occurrenc...

The fanworm Branchiomma luctuosum (Grube, 1870) is here reported from the Marina of Saidia, representing the first record of this alien species from Morocco and for the entire Mediterranean coast of Africa. Recreational boating, and in general maritime transport, constitutes the most possible vector of introduction. As this species can show invasiv...

The white seabream Diplodus sargus (Linnaeus, 1758) is a species of interest for commercial fisheries throughout its range of distribution and it is also reared using aquaculture techniques. Herein, we present the first complete sequence and annotation of the mitochondrial genome of this species. The D. sargus mitogenome is 16,515 base pairs in len...

Notodiaphana atlantica and Liloa mongii are two cephalaspidean species described respectively from the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea, and considered widespread in their native ranges. Both species have also been recently recorded from the Mediterranean Sea, prompting some authors to consider them alien. Notwithstanding clear morphological differen...

Aim Trypanorhyncha cestodes comprise a wide range of heteroxenous parasites infecting elasmobranchs as definitive hosts. Limited data exist on the larval infection of these cestodes and the role of intermediate and paratenic hosts in the life cycle of these parasites. We investigated the factors that determine the occurrence and the level of infect...

Acanthobothrium is the most speciose genus of onchoproteocephalidean cestodes, whose adults parasitize the intestine of elasmobranch fishes. Acanthobothrium coronatum, the type species of the genus described from Mediterranean elasmobranchs, remains a little known parasite, with the most recent reports dating back to the fifties. We hereby investig...

Chondrichthyans are apex predators influencing the trophic web through a top-down process thus their depletion will affect the remaining biota. Notwithstanding that, research on chondrichthyans is sparse or data-limited in several biogeographic areas worldwide, including the Levantine Sea. We revise and update the knowledge of chondrichthyans in Cy...

The brown shrimp Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891, a well-established alien species in the Mediterranean Sea, is here recorded from Croatia (central-northern Adriatic Sea) on the basis of 18 specimens found since November 2016. Such numbers triple the number of confirmed specimens known from the basin so far and testify its northern spreading in the Adri...

Branchiostomatidae (lancelets or amphioxus) comprises about 30 species, several of which are well-established models in evolutionary development. Our zoological and ecological knowledge of the family is nonetheless limited. Despite evident differences can be found among known populations, the taxonomy of Branchiostoma lanceolatum (type species of t...

Citation: Tanduo, V.; Virgili, R.; Osca, D.; Crocetta, F. Hiding in Fouling Communities: A Native Spider Crab Decorating with a Cryptogenic Bryozoan in a Mediterranean Marina.

In the Mediterranean Sea, four species of the genus Calappa (Family Calappidae) are known, namely Calappa granulata (type species of the genus by subsequent designation), C. pelii, C. rosea, and C. tuerkayana. We hereby first tested the status of C. tuerkayana as a valid species through an integrative approach, thus analyzing morphologically and ge...

Scyllarus Fabricius, 1775 includes nine species worldwide, three of which have been recorded from the Mediterranean Sea: S. arctus (Linnaeus, 1758), S. caparti Holthuis, 1952, and S. pygmaeus Bate, 1888. A Scyllarus specimen not ascribable to any of the previous species was trawled in November 2020 in unconsolidated substrates in the Gulf of Naples...

The Mediterranean native biota is increasingly threatened by the influx of alien species. More than 100 non-native fishes have entered so far the Mediterranean, the majority of which presumably originated in the Red Sea. Among them, two species of the family Siganidae, namely Siganus luridus and Siganus rivulatus, are now widespread in the eastern...

This Collective Article presents information on 17 taxa belonging to five (5) Phyla and extending from the Alboran Sea to the Levantine Sea. These new records were found in six (6) different ecoregions as follows: Alboran Sea: Second and easternmost record of the sponge Chalinula nigra in the Mediterranean Sea; Western Mediterranean: first record o...

Ascaridoid nematodes comprise a wide range of heteroxenous parasites infecting top fish predators and marine mammals as definitive hosts, with crustaceans, squids, and fishes acting as intermediate/paratenic hosts. Limited data exist on the species and role of several intermediate and paratenic hosts in the life cycle of these parasites. In the aim...

This article includes twenty (20) new records of alien and cryptogenic species in the Mediterranean Sea, belonging to six (6) Phyla (Rhodophyta, Tracheophyta, Mollusca, Arthropoda, Bryozoa, and Chordata) distributed from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Sea of Alboran. The records are reported from nine (9) countries and can be classified into two...

Biological invasions constitute a major threat to native ecosystems and to global biodiversity [...]

In the Mediterranean Sea, where biological invasions constitute a serious threat, the combination of citizen science and social networks amplified the power of proper field studies, recording species that would have otherwise presumably pass unnoticed. Based on data collected on several Facebook groups, we hereby first report the presence of five f...

The occurrence of three exotic decapods is reported from the Lagoon of Bizerte (northern Tunisia) based on records gathered from local fishermen. These three species are the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896, the blue swimming crab Portunus segnis (Forskål, 1775), and the Lessepsian shrimp Trachysalambria palaestinensis (Steinitz...

The macroalgae Lophocladia lallemandii (Montagne) F. Schmitz and Sarconema filiforme (Sonder) Kylin and the spaghetti bryozoan Amathia verticillata (delle Chiaje, 1822) are here first reported in native seagrass beds in the Gulf of Gabès (southeastern Tunisia, Mediterranean Sea). Among them, the sighting of S. filiforme constitutes the first record...

Marine ecosystems are undergoing major transformations due to the establishment and spread of Non-Indigenous Species (NIS). Some of these organisms have adverse effects, for example by reducing biodiversity and causing ecosystem shifts. Others have upsides, such as benefits to fisheries or replacing lost ecological functions and strengthening bioge...

Pomadasys incisus is a thermophilous coastal subtropical fish species belonging to the family Haemulidae. Originally described from Gambia, this species is widely distributed in the Eastern Atlantic from Galicia to South Africa. It has also been recorded in the Mediterranean Sea since 1840, presumably expanding its distribution in the next decades,...

The spotted bumblebee shrimp Gnathophyllum elegans (Risso, 1816) is a caridean species of the family Palaemonidae Rafinesque, 1815 widely distributed in the eastern Atlantic and the entire Mediterranean Sea (Zariquiey Alvarez 1968; d’Udekem d’Acoz 1999; De Grave et al. 2015). It is a solitary sciaphilous taxon that grows up to 40 mm of total length...

Growing interest in hypertension—one of the main factors characterizing the cardiometabolic syndrome (CMS)—and anti-hypertensive drugs raised from the emergence of a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the COVID19 pandemic. The virus SARS-CoV-2 employs the Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a component of the RAAS (Renin- Angiotensin-...

This article includes 23 new records of alien and cryptogenic species in the Mediterranean Sea, belonging to 4 Phyla (Chordata, Echinodermata, Arthropoda and Mollusca), distributed from the Alboran to the Levantine Sea. Records are reported from eight countries listed from West to East as follows: Algeria: new records of the Atlantic blue crab Call...

Studies describing the parasite fauna of sunfish species from the Mediterranean Sea are to date limited, despite information gained through parasitological examination may reveal unknown ecological and biological aspects of both hosts and parasites. Moreover, recent molecular studies on sunfish taxonomy revealed the presence of two species belongin...

This Collective Article presents information about 21 taxa belonging to seven Phyla (one Ochrophyta, one Porifera, three Cnidaria, two Arthropoda, three Mollusca, one Echinodermata, and ten Chordata) and extending from the western Mediterranean Sea to the Levantine Sea. The new records were reported from nine countries as follows: Spain: first reco...

This Collective Article presents information about 21 taxa belonging to seven Phyla (one Ochrophyta, one Porifera, three Cni-daria, two Arthropoda, three Mollusca, one Echinodermata, and ten Chordata) and extending from the western Mediterranean Sea to the Levantine Sea. The new records were reported from nine countries as follows: Spain: first rec...

The white-spotted jellyfish Phyllorhiza punctata von Lendenfeld, 1884, native to the Indo-Pacific, is a well-established alien species in the Mediterranean Sea, with records from several countries in the eastern and the western part of the basin. We hereby first record this taxon from Libya based on postings made on the Facebook® social media websi...

The invasive fan worm Branchiomma luctuosum (Grube, 1870), originally described from the Red Sea, is first reported here from the Albanian coasts, based on records held in Vlora Bay, a locality near to Valona harbour and Narta Lagoon. Possible pathways of arrival in the area are uncertain. However, species' larval ecology and life-history traits su...

The sharpsnout seabream Diplodus puntazzo Walbaum, 1792 is a target species of small-scale fishery activities and is cage-cultured for human consumption. Nonetheless, genetic information on this species is limited. We here first sequence its complete mitochondrial genome. The sequence is composed of 16,638 base pairs, accounting for 13 protein-codi...

Earliest craniates possess a newly enlarged, elaborated forebrain with new cell types and neuronal networks. A key question in vertebrate evolution is when and how this cerebral expansion took place. The exon-junction complex (EJC) plays an essential role in mRNA processing of all Eukarya. Recently, it has been proposed that the EJC represses recur...

Italy, at the center of the Mediterranean Sea, hosts a high diversity of fishes, but to a certain extent, this richness remains hidden or poorly known because of rare, cryptic or recently introduced species, that are hardly to detect with the traditional sampling approaches. In this study, we gained complementary knowledge, engaging Italian sea use...

The ragged sea hare (Bursatella leachii) and the long-tailed sea hare (Stylocheilus striatus) are two widely distributed species of benthic heterobranch sea slugs. In this paper, integrative taxonomic analyses have been conducted to detect possible cryptic diversity. Our results revealed that both nominal species are actually species complexes, con...

Three hundred years of study on the Mediterranean molluscan fauna led the scientific community to consider it as the best ever known. However, the rate at which new taxa are discovered and described every year is still remarkably high, even in key predators such as Muricidae Rafinesque, 1815. Within this family, the genus Ocenebra Gray, 1847 compri...

Decapod crustaceans are ecologically and commercially important members of marine communities. Faunal surveys constitute essential tools for the understanding of local diversity, especially in areas subjected to significant alterations of community composition due to climate changes, anthropogenic impacts, and biological invasions. Following a lite...

This Collective Article presents information about 17 taxa belonging to four Phyla (one Cnidaria, two Arthropo-da, four Mollusca, and ten Chordata) and extending from the Western Mediterranean to the Levantine Sea. The new records were reported from nine countries as follows: Algeria: first published records of the clingfishes Apletodon dentatus an...

The ragged sea hare Bursatella leachii, a well-established cryptogenic species in the Mediterranean Sea, was found in the Tripoli Harbour within the framework of the Project “Snowball”, aiming at recording alien and cryptogenic species living along the Libyan coastline. The present record constitutes the first confirmed sighting of B. leachii in Li...