Luca Castriota

• M.Sc.
• Senior Researcher at Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA)

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...

The invasion history of the gastropod mollusk Bursatella leachii in the Mediterranean Sea demonstrates a dynamic progression through distinct phases, comprising arrival, establishment, and expansion phases. Initial records in the 1930s trace its entry through the Suez Canal, likely followed by larval transport to the Aegean Sea facilitated by natur...

Study and protection of biodiversity have become increasingly relevant globally as biodiversity plays a key role in the ecosystem, largely supporting fish species. However, fishing is among the primary threats to marine biodiversity, it can also serve as a valuable tool for its monitoring. The study aims to provide new knowledge on biodiversity in...

Fishery resources overexploitation, together with bycatch and discards, have an impact on marine ecosystems. The adoption of technologically innovative gears is a possible solution to reduce the discard and to enhance the sustainability of fishery, mainly in artisanal fisheries that represent about 80% of the EU Mediterranean fleet. In the perspect...

The Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus, which is native to the western Atlantic coast and listed among the 100 most invasive alien species in the Mediterranean Sea, is attracting a great deal of interest because of its rapid colonisation of new areas, the significant increase in its population, and the impacts it may have on ecosystems and ecos...

1. This paper aims at providing a standardized procedure to assess the ecological quality of Mediterranean marine habitats in relation to biological invasions by macroalgae through the employment of the ALEX index. 2. Available data from previous ALEX applications were used to optimize the sampling design and to propose a standardized procedure. Th...

One of the most important causes of biodiversity loss are non-indigenous species (NIS), in particular invasive ones. The dispersion of NIS mainly depends on anthropogenic activities such as maritime traffic, which account for almost half of the total NIS introduction in the European seas, as reported by the European Environmental Agency. For this r...

This work presents refined, updated subregional and regional non-indigenous species (NIS) inventories for the Mediterranean Sea, validated by national and taxonomic experts, with species records observed until December 2020. These datasets will be used as the baselines for the implementation of the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme for...

This work presents refined, updated subregional and regional non-indigenous species (NIS) inventories for the Mediterranean Sea, validated by national and taxonomic experts, with species records observed until December 2020. These datasets will be used as the baselines for the implementation of the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme for...

The management of biological invasions is among the most urgent of global challenges and requires a significant monitoring effort to obtain the information needed to take the appropriate decisions. To complement standard monitoring, citizen science is increasingly being used. Within citizen science, the approach of collecting and investigating Loca...

The Workshop on ‘Establishing thresholds: workshop on the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) Newly Introduced Non-Indigenous Species (NIS) (D2C1)’ took place online on the 24th November 2022, aiming at discussing and making progress towards establishing threshold values for the criterion D2C1. The workshop was organised by the Joint Researc...

Knowledge of the reproductive strategy is a key prerequisite to predict population dynamics and potential invasiveness of both native and non-indigenous outbreak-forming species. In 2014 the Lessepsian upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea andromeda reached the harbor of Palermo (NW Sicily, Thyrrenian Sea), to date its established westernmost outpost in...

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...

Alien species are animal and plant organisms introduced accidentally or intentionally by humans outside their origin area. Maritime traffic is one of the species’ pathways of introduction, therefore, studying the alien populations that invaded port environments can help to fill the knowledge gaps on their invasion routes and impacts on local biodiv...

Invasive alien species are a major worldwide driver of biodiversity change. The current study lists verified records of non-indigenous species (NIS) in European marine waters until 2020, with the purpose of establishing a baseline, assessing trends, and discussing appropriate threshold values for good environmental status (GES) according to the rel...

Habitat mapping, physical characteristics and benthic community of a rhodolith bed in the Pelagie Islands (Strait of Sicily, Mediterranean Sea) were studied through Multi–Beam Echo–Sounder (MBES), Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and grab samples. The geomorphological analysis revealed an articulated and wide rhodolith bed; video inspections highlig...

Considering the rapid diffusion and potential impacts of invasive non-indigenous species on biodiversity, it is crucial to investigate invasion mechanisms to identify their spread, settlement, and expansion areas. Enchelycore anatina, the Atlantic fangtooth moray of uncertain introduction pathway, recently invaded the eastern Mediterranean Sea. In...

Invasive alien species represent one of the main environmental emergencies and are considered by the scientific community as being among the leading causes of biodiversity loss on a global scale. Therefore, detecting their pathways, hotspot areas and invasion trends becomes extremely important also for management purposes. A systematic review on pr...

The Non-Indigenous Species (NIS) and particularly the Invasive Alien Species (IAS) affect biodiversity at ecosystem, habitat and species level. NIS management is primarily based on species monitoring in order to prevent their spread and to limit their impact. Different NIS monitoring methods have been developed involving citizens, especially to det...

Harbors are hotspots for the introduction of alien species, and, usually, investigations on their host populations help fill the knowledge gap in their pathways of invasion and in their impacts on marine biodiversity and ecosystems. In 2014, the upside-down alien jellyfish Cassiopea andromeda invaded a Mediterranean touristic harbor (“Cala”), and i...

The alien blue crab Callinectes sapidus, a species native to the western Atlantic coasts, has long invaded the Mediterranean, including the Italian seas. It is listed among the 100 worst invasive alien species in the Mediterranean and is presumed to exert an impact on biodiversity and fishing activities. To date, a small number of individuals of th...

The Mediterranean marine region is considered one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities due the high occurrence of rare and threatened species, endemism and high species richness. However, several pressure such as losses and alterations of habitats are ongoing and in order to increase conservation in this sea region, many...

The Strait of Sicily in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea is considered a crossroads between the western and the eastern basins for species immigrating from the Atlantic Ocean and Lessepsian species. Among the latter, the African sailfin flyingfish Parexocoetus mento was recently collected from Lampedusa Island in November 2017, and represents th...

The first Mediterranean record of the pomacanthid Holacanthus africanus, caught within the Maltese waters, was assigned based on morphological and meristic characters. However, molecular and genetic analyses are required to confirm the taxonomic determination and avoid misidentification given the abundance of closely-related Pomacanthidae species a...

Good datasets of geo-referenced records of alien species are a prerequisite for assessing the spatio-temporal dynamics of biological invasions, their invasive potential, and the magnitude of their impacts. However, with the exception of first records on a country level or wider regions, observations of species presence tend to remain unpublished, b...

This paper is a collection of novel distributional records of 20 species belonging to 8 phyla (Chlorophyta, Rhodophyta, Cni-daria, Ctenophora, Annelida, Mollusca, Arthropoda and Chordata) from 11 Mediterranean countries, namely, Spain: an additional record of the Canary dentex Dentex canariensis is reported from Spain (Valencia), this is the northe...

Morphological and genetic investigations have led to the identification of Spiophanes adriaticus sp. nov. (Polychaeta: Spionidae) from the North Adriatic Sea (Central Mediterranean). A total of 81 specimens were recorded along the sublittoral zone between 8 and 27.5 m of depth. This species differs from other congeners by having: two pairs of black...

The upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea is a benthic scyphozoan, considered a non-indigenous invasive species in the Mediterranean, forming large blooms in eutrophic areas. Taxonomy of the genus Cassiopea is extremely difficult because morphological/meristic characters used are variable within the same species, overlapping among different species, and...

Two specimens of the Grant’s rockling Gaidropsarus granti (Regan, 1903) were caught in the Ionian Sea, just south of the Strait of Messina (Italy) in December 2016. Their body colouration pattern is consistent with that reported in the literature for this species. These specimens were des-cribed and illustrated.

Refined baseline inventories of non-indigenous species (NIS) are set per European Union Member State (MS), in the context of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The inventories are based on the initial assessment of the MSFD (2012) and the updated data of the European Alien Species Information Network, in collaboration with NIS experts...

The re-examination of marine alien species or Non-indigenous species (NIS) reported in Italian Seas by December 2018, is here provided, particularly focusing on establishment success, year of first record, origin, potential invasiveness, and likely pathways. Furthermore, their distribution is assessed according to marine subregions outlined by the...

The authors report for the first time on the invasive green alga Codium fragile ssp. fragile (Sur-ingar) Hariot from the Adriatic coast of the Abruzzi Region of Italy (central Adriatic Sea). Several thalli have been found stranded on the beach of Silvi Marina since November 2015. This species, native to East Asia, has widely invaded several locatio...

Abundance and qualitative composition of benthic marine litter were investigated in a coastal area of the central Mediterranean Sea. Almost 30 km of video footage, collected by a Remotely Operated Vehicle between 5 and 30 m depth, were analyzed. Litter density ranged from 0 to 0.64 items/m2 with a mean of 0.11 (±0.16) items/m2. General wastes, made...

Le régime alimentaire des oblades adultes (Oblada melanura), capturés sur un fond sableux avec récifs artificiels du littoral de Sciacca (détroit de Sicile), a été étudié. Au total, 60 individus ont été pêchés à la palangre de fond et au filet maillant de fond modifié, de mars à octobre 2007. Les proies ont été identifiées, comptées et pesées. L’in...

Abstract: Two individuals of the upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea cf andromeda were found at Palermo Harbour (Sicily) in August 2014. This note represents the first documented record of this alien stinging species with invasive behaviour in Italian waters

The 44th meeting of the Working Group on Introductions and Transfers of Marine Organisms (WGITMO) was held in Caniçal, Madeira, Portugal, 7–9 March 2018. This meeting included a joint day with the Working Group on Ballast Water and Other Ship Vectors (WGBOSV). The meeting was hosted by João Canning-Clode (Portugal) and chaired by Cynthia McKenzie (...

Marine litter is commonly observed everywhere in the ocean. In this study, we analyzed 17 km of video footage, collected by a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) at depths ranging between 20 and 220 m, during 19 transects performed on the rocky banks of the Straits of Sicily. Recently, the Contracting Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (...

The first documented record of the Guinea angelfish, Holacanthus africanus, for the Mediterranean is hereby reported, through the capture of two individuals within Maltese coastal waters. The fish were submitted as a contribution to the Spot the Alien Fish citizen science campaign. Considerations are made on the possible introduction pathway used b...

The present study analyses the artisanal fishery of Sciacca (Mediterranean Sea) through the investigation of fishing activities, resources and yields, in order to characterize for the first time one of the most important traditional coastal activities of the area. Further, the study evaluates the incidence of illegal artisanal fishing, this being o...

The Council Regulation (EC) no. 1967/2006 introduced the adoption of the 40 mm square-mesh or alternatively a 50 mm diamond-mesh codend for trawlers of EU Member States. In this context, the main aim of the current study was to compare the catch composition of Lampedusa’s shallow-water trawl fishery, in terms of retained and discarded fraction, usi...

This Collective Article presents information on 37 taxa belonging to 6 Phyla and extending from the western Mediterranean to the Levantine Sea. The new records were found in 10 countries as follows: Algeria: first reports on the presence of the fish species Lesueurigobius sanzi, L. friesii, L. suerii and Luvarus imperiali; France: first record of t...

This paper describes the methodological approach used for the development of an Early Warning System (EWS) for Non Indigenous Species (NIS) and ballast water management and summarizes the results obtained. The specific goals of the EWS are firstly to warn vessels to prevent loading of ballast water when critical biological conditions occur in ports...

This Collective Article presents information on 22 species belonging to 5 Phyla, arranged geographically from west to east. The new records were found in 8 countries as follows: Spain: first record of the two scarcely known nemerteans Baseodiscus de-lineatus and Notospermus geniculatus in Formentera; Malta: second record of the alien fish Lagocepha...

Recent studies have showed that the Mediterranean white sea bream Diplodus sargus has included the invasive green alga Caulerpa cylindracea in its diet. As a result of the novel alimentary habits, the fish accumulates the bioactive algal red pigment caulerpin in its tissues with consequent metabolic and enzymatic alterations. However, this may not...

Two colonies of the stinging siphonophore Physalia physalis were stranded at Capo Peloro (Strait of Messina) in March 2009 and one in March 2014; one more colony was stranded on a beach of Lampedusa Island (Strait of Sicily) in April 2009, representing the first record in the Pelagie Islands. Given the risk for human health associated to this speci...

Invasive species including Caulerpa cylindracea affect coastal benthic communities inducing structural changes. To assess effects in rocky ecosystems, food webs have been depicted based on stable isotopic data collected from invertebrates and fishes at invaded and non-invaded coastal areas. Isotopic values of invertebrates were slightly higher in i...

Informazioni legali L'Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA) e le persone che agiscono per conto dell'Istituto non sono responsabili per l'uso che può essere fatto delle informazioni contenute in questo rapporto. ISPRA-Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale Via Vitaliano Brancati, 48 – 00144 Roma...

In this Collective Article on “New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records”, we present additional records of species found in the Mediterranean Sea. These records refer to eight different countries throughout the northern part of the basin, and include 28 species, belonging to five phyla. The findings per country include the following species: Spain: C...

The present study is a part of a larger project aiming to characterise the benthic macrofaunal assemblages from the Gulf of Milazzo (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Central Mediterranean). Forty-eight samples from 16 sites were collected during the summer of 2010 by means of van Veen grab (0.1 m2) at 20 and 50 m depths to characterise taxonomically, ecolo...

The expansion of invasive non-indigenous species in the Mediterranean is generating an increasing concern about biodiversity protection and human health, with European countries being solicited to apply early warning measures in such circumstances. The recent expansion of the hazardous fish Lagocephalus sceleratus in the Straits of Sicily, the subs...

The silver-cheeked toadfish Lagocephalus sceleratus (Gmelin, 1789)—an invasive toxic species well established in the eastern Mediterranean—is rapidly expanding through the western Basin and a public campaign was set to inform Italian citizens on the risks associated with its consumption. Both news media and local communities responded rapidly to th...

The fangtooth moray, Enchelycore anatina (Lowe, 1838), native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean but also known from eastern sections of the Mediterranean, is recorded for the fi rst time from Maltese coastal waters in the central Mediterranean. This record is the westernmost one within the Mediterranean and the observed E. anatina individual co-occurre...

Fish assemblage in a surf zone of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea was investigated for the first time. Samples were collected during four surveys by a modified beach-seine, from June 2005 to May 2006. Overall, 42 species belonging to 19 families were recorded. Among them, Sardina pilchardus showed the highest abundance values, while Mugilids (Oedalechi...

The occurrence of the silver-cheeked toadfish, Lagocephalus sceleratus, is reported for the first time from Maltese waters. The specimen was caught at a depth of 15 m in a sparse sea grass Posidonia oceanica meadow. The need for a public information campaign on the danger to human health posed by the species, and to develop an early warning system...

The Mediterranean Lessepsian migrations excite the interest of biologists who are devoted to inferring the effects of selection on the genetic structure of immigrants. The bluespotted cornetfish Fistularia commersonii is an Indo-Pacific species that was first recorded in the Levantine cost of Mediterranean, and within a few years, it rapidly expand...

A total of 42 individuals of the non-indigenous polychaete Pseudonereis anomala are reported for the first time along the Ionian coast of Italy. Sampling was carried out by SCUBA diving in summer 2013 on hard substrates by scraping quadrates of a 20 × 20 cm2 surface in the Sicilian harbours of Augusta and Siracusa. The maximum density and biomass v...

The increasing occurrence of the reticulated leatherjacket, Stephanolepis diaspros (Tetraodontiformes, Monacanthidae), a Lessepsian migrant, within the Strait of Sicily, central Mediterranean, is documented in this study. This is done through the collation of records of the species from coastal waters off the Maltese Islands, collected between Augu...

Several specimens of the Lessepsian species Hemiramphus far (Forsskål, 1775) were caught by fishermen in Lampedusa Island (Straits of Sicily) in January and August 2013. Their morphometric and meristic characteristics as well as diet observations are reported. These findings represent the first documented record of this species in Italian waters an...

The feeding habits of the bathypelagic, non-migratory myctophid Diaphus metopoclampus from a shrimp fishing ground area in the Strait of Sicily were analyzed. Overall, 296 adult specimens ranging from 50.8 to 92.8 mm standard length (SL) (mean SL = 72.9 ± 8.0 mm) were collected during two trawl surveys (October 2010 and May 2011) and their stomach...

The aim of this study was to establish whether climate change affected migratory behaviour of Sepia officinalis (Linnaeus, 1758), which is an important resource for small-scale fishermen of Abruzzo region (Italy). Starting at the beginning of March until the end of April, the cuttlefish in this area migrates from deep cold water towards warmer coas...

The first sighting of Abudefduf individuals from Maltese (Central Mediterranean) coastal waters is reported. The individuals (6-7) were photographed in the field but were not collected. The pattern of body colouration of these individuals is consistent with that reported by most previous authors for A. saxatilis, marking the first record of this At...

Preliminary data on age, growth and diet of bluespotted cornetfish Fistularia commersonii Riippell, 1838 (Fistulariidae) in the central Mediterranean Sea are provided. In the study area, this invasive Lessepsian fish showed piscivorous behaviour, focusing mainly on labrids, clupeids and sparids. Prey composition suggests that bluespotted cornetfish...

The presence of the offshore rockfish, Pontinus kuhlii (Scorpaeniformes, Scorpaenidae), is reported for the first time in Maltese waters (Strait of Sicily). One specimen was caught offshore Gozo (Maltese archipelago) in October 2013 by bottom longline. The eastward range expansion within the Mediterranean of this Atlantic species is discussed. Pont...

The Strait of Sicily is a major hydrodynamic, biogeographical and geological transition zone within the Mediterranean Sea, considered as the boundary between the Western and Eastern sub-basins. During the last few decades, an increasing number of marine species native of either the Atlantic or the Indo-Pacific Oceans have been recorded in this area...

The diet and prey selectivity of the red mullet, Mullus barbatus, on a sandy bottom of the Tyrrhenian Sea were examined in respect to season, size and depth, focusing on the use of the surf zone as a feeding ground. Stomach contents of 99 specimens collected by beach seine (in the surf zone) and 568 specimens collected by trawl net (at 10, 20 and 3...

Evidence is given of the second documented record of Gephyroberyx darwinii (Beryciformes: Trachychthyidae) in the Mediterranean. One specimen was caught offshore S. Agata di Militello (Tyrrhenian Sea) in August 2011 by trammel net. Herein are reported its morphometric and meristic features.

Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) are used worldwide by fishermen to improve fishery yields, based on the finding that juveniles and adults of both pelagic and demersal fish species are attracted to floating objects. FADs fisheries are usually exploited using purse seine nets. In Sicilian seas, two different purse seines are used: (a) classic purse s...

The crisis of small-scale fisheries is causing the progressive abandonment of ancient fishing traditions and customs along a coastal area of the Strait of Sicily. For instance, worthwhile mentioning is the rapid decline in the use of bottom longline, which used to be one of the most popular gears in this area in past times. This study aims at inves...

Non-indigenous species (NIS) represent one of the main threats for world biodiversity, both in the terrestrial and in the marine environment, to such an extent that they are an important subject of several international conventions and directives aiming at safeguarding the environment. Since 2002, the Institute of Environmental Protection and Resea...

For the first time, one female individual of blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896, a species native to the western Atlantic coasts, is reported from Abruzzi waters (central Adriatic Sea). This species has widely invaded European Atlantic coasts and several areas of the Mediterranean, probably brought by ballast waters; yet, it has not settle...

Dal 2002 l’Istituto Centrale per la Ricerca Applicata al Mare (ICRAM), oggi ISPRA (Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale), nell’ambito di un progetto finanziato dal MATTM, cura il monitoraggio delle specie non indigene in Mediterraneo appartenenti a 8 taxa, avvalendosi della collaborazione di esperti. In questo contributo si...

The Mediterranean is a basin of relatively recent origin which experienced many colonization events, favored by climatic changes allowing the settlement of now arctic-boreal now temperate now tropical-subtropical species. In the last century, this basin had to face another massive bioinvasion of non-native organisms, mostly of tropical and subtropi...

Trophic relationships between Scorpaena porcus, S. notata and Chelidonichthys lucerna collected near natural gas platforms were investigated for the first time in central Adriatic Sea from July 2005 to May 2006. Sampling was repeated at control sites on soft bottom where, however, only C. lucerna occurred. All of the three predators showed diet spe...

Fish assemblages associated with extractive platforms were surveyed, for the first time, using traditional fishing surveys (bottom gill net) and an underwater visual census (UVC) technique in order to test the effectiveness and to identify strengths and weaknesses of both methods. The study was carried out during three seasons at two offshore gas p...

Fish assemblages associated with extractive platforms were surveyed, for the first time, using traditional fishing surveys (bottom gill net) and an underwater visual census (UVC) technique in order to test the effectiveness and to identify strengths and weaknesses of both methods. The study was carried out during three seasons at two offshore gas p...

The Mediterranean Sea is witnessing an unprecedented influx of non-indigenous species from contiguous marine areas. The influx of Atlantic species is gaining attraction, although it has been overshadowed in terms of species numbers by the Lessepsian migration, with the number of Atlantic additions to the Mediterranean marine biota on the increase....