Francesco Tiralongo

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• PhD in Ecology and Management of Biological Resources
• Researcher at University of Catania

Several species of elasmobranchs are commonly found as bycatch or discard in both artisanal and industrial fisheries. In particular, in the Mediterranean Sea, only few studies are available about bycatch and discards of elasmobranchs in artisanal coastal fisheries. In this study, we focus our attention on elasmobranch catches in a trammel net fishe...

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...

Invasive alien species (IAS) are one of the greatest causes of native species extinction. Indeed, they represent a global threat for biodiversity and can also affect the economy and human health. The colonization success of IAS is presumably not only due to their biological and ecological characteristics, but also to the lack of predators and/or pa...

In the Mediterranean Sea, and in marine areas worldwide, for most locations, data on species presence and abundance are generally poor or non-existent. When available, these data are generally reported only at small scale and/or for short temporal series. In this study, the investigation of abundance and size trends, along with some ecological aspe...

The Ligurian Sea, located in the northwestern Mediterranean, is undergoing a dramatic shift in fish biodiversity due to climate change and species immigration. This study adopted a citizen science approach to provide new data on the current distribution of rare, thermophilic, and alien fish species in the Ligurian Sea. Observations were collected t...

This collective study presents information on fifteen (15) species recorded across five countries (Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, and Türkiye) and four (4) ecoregions, ranging from the Alboran Sea to the Aegean Sea. The recorded species belong to three phyla: Mollusca (3 species), Arthropoda (3 species), and Chordata (9 species). Among mollusks, M...

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...

Penaeus aztecus Ives 1891 is an invasive species of western Atlantic origin that has become established in different areas of the Mediterranean Sea. This study highlights a recent demographic explosion of this alien species in the Adriatic Sea. A considerable number of individuals (more than 20 per fishing vessel out of a total of 36 surveyed) were...

Invasive species are a growing threat to marine ecosystems, and the recent proliferation of the Atlantic blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) in the Po Delta (Italy) has had significant ecological and economic impacts, particularly on clam farming. This study explores the influence of C. sapidus on clam production in the Po Delta, combining biological a...

Here we report two new records of the spotfin burrfish, Chilomycterus reticulatus, in the Mediterranean Sea, detected through a public awareness campaign designed to inform citizens about the presence of hazardous alien fish species. The first specimen was recorded by a professional fisherman in January 2023, stranded along the coast of Lazio, cent...

Fish bites at sea are typically attributed to aggressive and large-sized species, such as sharks, while reports of attacks by smaller, non-aggressive species are usually rare. This study presents the first documented cases of Diplodus sargus (the White Seabream) bites on humans. Two episodes involving minor injuries to swimmers, while in one of the...

The Mediterranean Sea, known for its rich historical and cultural significance, also holds a unique and diverse marine ecosystem (Coll et al., 2010). Its coastal areas, in particular, represent critical habitats for various fish species, some of great economic importance. The biodiversity of Mediterranean coastal fish communities is influenced by a...

The Atlantic blue crab, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun 1896, is a highly invasive species in the Mediterranean Sea, posing significant ecological and socioeconomic threats in marine and estuarine environments. This study investigates the occurrence and potential impacts of C. sapidus in Italian inland waters, specifically examining specimens collected...

Invasive alien species pose severe threats to global biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and socio-economic values, particularly in coastal and marine ecosystems. This study aimed to investigate the trophic interactions between alien species and native fauna in a Mediterranean coastal ecosystem. Notably, our research focused on the presence and ecol...

Blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) is one of the last reported invasive species that have colonized the Italian coasts, in particular the lagoons of the northern Adriatic Sea. Their massive presence is compromising shellfish farming, causing a serious economic crisis among the valley populations. To limit the economic damage, blue crabs have been intr...

Sicily's central position in the Mediterranean Sea makes it a crossroad for marine species dispersal routes. This study, through data collected along the coast (sampling sites: Trapani, Palermo, Catania, Siracusa, Marzamemi, and Portopalo di Capo Passero), confirms its strategic role in connecting sub-basins, for both native species and NIS, also f...

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...

The impacts of marine species are underestimated or still completely unexplored because their negative effects on recipient ecosystems remain inadequately assessed. This is particularly true in the Mediterranean Sea where IAS management is often weak or absent: a clear example is the invasion of the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus (Rathbun 1...

The Mediterranean Sea is a biodiversity hotspot, being home to a vast array of marine species. Furthermore, seawater warming is facilitating the arrival and spread of new thermophilic species, posing a severe threat to biodiversity. Among the species currently extending their range and increasing in abundance in Mediterranean waters, sea chubs (gen...

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...

Salaria basilisca is a blenny (Blenniidae) endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. Our current understanding of its biology and ecology is limited, and only a few scattered data are available regarding its abundance and distribution. This paper introduces the first targeted study aiming to expand our knowledge of S. basilisca with new data obtained thro...

The Dasyatidae family encompasses about a hundred stingray species distributed across the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. In the Mediterranean Sea, six stingray species are documented, including Himantura uarnak. Despite records of the Himantura genus in the Mediterranean Sea since the 1950s, their existence remained largely unstudied until a...

In the Mediterranean Sea, and in general worldwide, cryptobenthic fish are generally less-studied than other ichthyofauna components. Despite this, thanks to their particular biology and ecology, cryptobenthic fishes cover a fundamental role for the ecosystem functioning. For their part, mussel farming plants represent an important substrate in env...

The presence of alien species represents a major cause of habitat degradation and biodiversity loss worldwide, constituting a critical environmental challenge of our time. Despite sometimes experiencing reduced propagule pressure, leading to a reduced genetic diversity and an increased chance of inbreeding depression, alien invaders are often able...

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 large variation in vertebral shape and calcification observed among elasmobranch species prevents using a single method for enhancing growth bands and reading age. Further, estimating age and growth parameters can be difficult or impractical when samples are incomplete due to the bycatch of a size-selective fishery. Using a single and rapid met...

Istiblennius cf. meleagris (Blenniidae) was observed and photographed in 2017 in Lebanese waters. With this note we report additional records of this non-native and likely invasive species in the eastern Mediterranean. In light of the increasing surface temperature, the potential for its establishment and further expansion in the Mediterranean Basi...

Species range shifts have manifold consequences on the biota and functioning of recipient ecosystems. A thorough assessment at early dispersal stages may effectively contribute to foreseeing the outcomes implied. Here we capitalised on a combination of interdisciplinary tools to investigate the taxonomy, native ranges, invasion pathways, and impact...

Climate change can promote shifts in species’ biogeographical distribution, but their monitoring is a challenge in the hardly accessible marine environment. In such cases, citizen science allows collecting data on scales unattainable for researchers. This study uses a citizen science approach through social media platforms to describe a high-occurr...

This study documents the presence of Hypleurochilus bananensis in a new area within the Tyrrhenian Sea, located about 30 km south of the closest occurrence locality known to date. Providing novel insights into its habitat, the observations here reported, at “Caterina Beach” (Sant’Agnello) on 29th and 30th December 2023, revealed the presence of fou...

Global warming is causing poleward expansion of species ranges. Temperate seas, in particular , are undergoing a process known as 'tropicalisation', i.e., the combination of seawater warming and establishment of southern species. The Ligurian Sea is one of the coldest sectors of the Medi-terranean and has thus been characterized by a dearth of warm...

This Collective Article presents information about 30 species with records in eight countries (Greece, Israel, Italy, Montenegro, Slovenia, Spain, Syria and Türkiye) and six ecoregions extending from the Alboran to the Levantine Seas. The recorded species belong to eight Phyla (4 Chlorophyta, 1 Rhodophyta, 1 Porifera, 3 Cnidaria, 2 Platyhelminthes,...

Understanding a species' diet is of paramount importance to ecology as it provides vital insights into interactions between organisms and their environment. In this study, we report the first data on the diet of wintering Razorbills (Alca torda) in the Mediterranean Sea. Taking advantage of the irruption event that occurred in the Mediterranean in...

Plastic additives include a wide range of pollutants, added throughout the production process of plastics aiming to improve their properties. Given that they are not chemically bound to the plastic items, they can easily migrate in the marine environment allowing their uptake by marine organisms and accumulation in their tissues. Representatives of...

Global warming is causing poleward expansion of species ranges. Temperate seas, in particular, are undergoing a process known as ‘tropicalisation’, i.e., the combination of sea-water warming and establishment of southern species. The Ligurian Sea is one of the coldest sectors of the Mediterranean and has thus been characterized by a dearth of warm-...

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...

The red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852), native to the southern/southeastern United States and northern Mexico, has been introduced in many countries worldwide. The species has a remarkable invasiveness due to its high reproductive rate and ability to tolerate broad ranges of water parameters like salinity. Nevertheless, no consis...

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...

This collective article presents new information about 15 introduced taxa belonging to five phyla: one Rhodophyta, one Chlorophyta, one Mollusca, one Annelida, two Arthropoda, and nine Chordata (one Ascidiacea and eight Osteichthyes). The records refer to eight Mediterranean countries and extend from the Alboran Sea to the Levantine Sea as follows:...

The presence of alien species represents a major cause of habitat degradation and biodiversity loss worldwide, constituting a critical environmental challenge of our time. Despite sometimes experiencing reduced propagule pressure, leading to a reduced genetic diversity and an increased chance of inbreeding depression, alien invaders are often able...

The ecological and economic relevance of the European sardine (Sardina pilchardus) in the Adriatic area is well established. High exploitation rates and instability of environmental parameters could potentially impair the reproductive physiology of this species, compromising the stock’s stability. To guarantee efficient stock management, there is a...

Penaeus aztecus Ives 1891, commonly known as the brown shrimp, is a well-established invasive alien species of Atlantic origin in the Mediterranean Sea. Here we report on the presence of the species in the Balearic Sea, eastern Mediterranean coast of Spain, where seven specimens were caught in 2023 (February, May and July). Our records represent th...

Background: The red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852), native to the United States and northern Mexico, has been introduced in many countries worldwide. The species has a remarkable invasiveness, due to its high reproductive rate and to its ability to tolerate broad ranges of water parameters like salinity. Nevertheless, no consiste...

Epibiont communities can be used as useful ecological indicators, providing information on the ecology and health conditions of their hosts. In this study, we analyzed the cirriped community from a total of 117 dead specimens of Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) collected in the north Adriatic between the years 2020 and 2022. We recorded a total of...

Over the past few decades, the scientific community has extensively investigated microplastics (MPs) and their interactions with marine organisms. MPs ingestion has been one of the most commonly examined topics across marine fauna. In this study, we present a systematic review conducted to gather information on the MPs ingestion by different taxono...

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...

The Mediterranean Sea biodiversity is undergoing a rapid reshaping due to different factors, many of which are directly related to human activities (e.g., pollution, habitat destruction, overfishing and introduction of non-indigenous species). In this context, climate changes, and in particular water warming, are the main factors that favor the arr...

This Collective Article presents new information about the occurrence of 23 marine taxa that belong to five Phyla: two Chlorophyta, one Annelida, six Mollusca, three Arthropoda, eleven Chordata (one Ascidiacea, one Elasmobranchii and nine Teleostei) and extending from the Western Mediterranean to the Levantine Sea. All these records were reported f...

MARINE ALIEN SPECIES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN CROSSROAD: A CRITICAL REVIEW AROUND SICILY Marine Alien Species in the Mediterraneana crossroad: a critical review around Sicily

Four specimens of Caranx crysos (blue runner) were spotted on 15th October 2022 in the waters of Ospedaletti (province of Imperia, Italy). This record is the first documented sighting of the species in the Ligurian Sea, and the northernmost in the western Mediterranean. Therefore, it could indicate a further expansion northwards of the species, wit...

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...

The occurrence of the Indo-Pacific fish Terapon jarbua (Forsskål, 1775) is documented for the first time from Libya. This record represents the third and westernmost observation of the species in the Mediterranean Sea. Introduction pathway for this fish in Libyan waters and in the Mediterranean Sea in general is discussed.

After the description of Gobius incognitus Kovačić & Šanda, 2016, all previous knowledge about the geographic distribution of Gobius bucchichi Steindachner, 1870, as well as its ecology and biology, became obsolete, since it represented the data from the mixture of two species. The known geographic distribution of G. bucchichi and G. incognitus is...

BioInvasions Reports The first record of the marbled spinefoot, Siganus rivulatus Forsskål and Niebuhr, 1775 and further records of the dusky spinefoot, Siganus luridus (Rüppell, 1829) from Malta Adriana Vella, Yesahel Scicluna, Clare Marie Mifsud, Clara Monaco, Iuri Peri, Daniele Tibullo, Francesco Tiralongo and Noel Vella Abstract Here we rep...

Despite the great utility of nanoparticles (NPs) in water remediation, their effects on marine ecosystems are unknown and unpredictable. The toxicity of the most used nanoparticles, such as ZnO, Ag, and TiO2 on the purple sea urchin, Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816), has been demonstrated by several authors. The aim of this study was to evalua...

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...

Fishermen from 9 countries distributed throughout the Mediterranean Sea were interviewed between May and December 2019 with the aim of compiling information about the current impact of fisheries on a large deepwater shark species, the bluntnose sixgill shark (Hexanchus griseus). A total of 382 professional fishermen belonging to 6 different gears (...

This Collective Article presents information on 20 taxa belonging to five (5) Phyla: Cnidaria (2), Mollusca (8), Arthropoda (4), Echinodermata (1) and Chordata (5) recorded from the Alboran Sea to the Levantine Sea. These new records were found in seven (7) different ecoregions as follows: Alboran Sea: new record of the rare football octopus Ocytho...

Seahorses are charismatic fish considered flagship species of the conservation measures. They are threatened by many factors, including habitat degradation/loss, bycatch, and direct exploitation, which have caused the decline of numerous populations worldwide. For this reason, all seahorse species were included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Sp...

The complete nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial (mt) genome of the demersal zebra seabream Diplodus cervinus (Lowe, 1838) was determined for the first time. The double stranded circular molecule is 16,559 base pairs (bp) in length and encodes for the typical 37 metazoan mitochondrial genes, and 2 non-coding regions (D-loop and L-origin). The...

Trace elements have the potential to bioaccumulate in marine organisms and to biomagnify towards the upper levels of marine trophic webs, resulting in a range of negative effects on organisms. Elasmobranchs are highly susceptible to bioaccumulation of trace metals, while their consumption by humans is increasing worldwide. Therefore, it is importan...

Information on the feeding habits of elasmobranchs is of fundamental importance to understand their ecological role in the ecosystem. The study area (Ambracian Gulf) is a semi-closed embayment in Western Greece, characterised by shallow depths, muddy bottom, high freshwater influx, and hypoxia phenomena. It is considered a hotspot for megafauna hos...

Biodiversity is a broad concept that encompasses the diversity of nature, from the genetic to the habitat scale, and ensures the proper functioning of ecosystems. The Mediterranean Sea, one of the world’s most biodiverse marine basins, faces major threats, such as overexploitation of resources, pollution and climate change. Here we provide the firs...

To understand the functional meaning of morphological traits in the exploitation of natural resources, it is necessary to develop a quantitative, meaningful scheme for understanding ecophenotypes; this will facilitate management and conservation, which are the most pressing challenges in vulnerable aquatic environments. In this context, the managem...

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...

In-depth studies on the effect of size and period in the diet of the hollow-snout grenadier Coelorinchus caelorhincus in the Mediterranean Sea are scant and incomplete. We obtained 75 specimens of this species from the discard of deep trawl fishing on the slope of the central Tyrrhenian Sea. As corollary data, we estimated the length–weight relatio...

In this Collective Article on alien and cryptogenic diversity in the Mediterranean Sea we report a total of 19 species belonging to nine Phyla and coming from nine countries. Several of these records concern fish species, and of particular interest are the first records of: Terapon puta for Italian waters; Pteragopus trispilus from Malta; Plotosus...

The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most heavily impacted areas by biological invasions worldwide, with over 650 non-indigenous species (NIS) reported as established in 2019. Information about the distribution of NIS in the basin is often fragmented or non-existent due to factors such as lack of finance, expertise, and appropriate surveillance syst...

Marine plastic pollution is currently an issue of mounting concern around the world. Stomach content of marine fish has been increasingly used as a valid proxy for detecting the presence of such a pollutant in marine biota, both for coastal and deep-water environments. Although ingestion of microplastics has been reported in an increasing number of...