The sand gobies are a group of 30 species in five genera (Knipowitschia, Pomatoschistus, Economidichthys, Ninnigobius and Orsinigobius) native to the seas and fresh waters of Europe and the Ponto-Caspian region. We construct a phylogeny incorporating new DNA sequence data (mitochondrial COI gene) for species in Greece and the Adriatic (Venetian Lagoon) with existing sequences sampled from throughout European waters. Our comprehensive analysis confirms the distinctness of Orsinigobius and Ninnigobius, supports that Gobiusculus is part of Pomatoschistus and supports the monophyly of Economidichthys and Knipowitschia. We then calibrate the phylogeny using fossils, interpret the phylogenetic biogeography of sand gobies throughout Europe and the Mediterranean and estimate the historical divergence patterns in the group. We infer the origin of the sand goby clade at 33.0 Mya, near the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, and show that radiations among marine Pomatoschistus clades in the Miocene are correlated with the closure of the Tethys seaway. Younger freshwater clades of Ninnigobius, Orsinigobius and subclades of Knipowitschia diversified in the late Miocene and early Pliocene, centred in the Adriatic region and concordant with the Lago Mare phase of the Messinian salinity crisis. Economidichthys is the exception to this pattern; it inhabits freshwater but originated and diversified during the mid-Miocene.

Phylogenetic analysis of 27 behavioural and life history traits for five Mediterranean sand goby species (Perciformes, Gobiidae) produced one tree with a consistency index (excluding uninformative characters) of 0.756. This tree agreed with previous molecular analyses in providing strong support for the monophyly of the sand gobies, indicating that Pomatoschistus and Knipowitschia are paraphyletic and helping to resolve the ambiguous position of Economidichthys pygmaeus, placing it as the basal member of the reduced data set. Although the tree was completely resolved, the branches above E. pygmaeus were only moderately supported in the bootstrap analysis. Overall, the behavioural data provide information that may eventually help clarify the speciation bursts within the Mediterranean sand goby clade as much as is possible. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 165, 916–924.

Fisheries Management and EcologyEffective management of invasive fishes depends on the availability of updated information 5 about their distribution and spatial dispersion. Forensic analysis was performed using online and 6 published data on the European catfish, Silurus glanis Linnaeus, 1758, a recent invader in the 7Tagus basin (Iberian Peninsula). Eighty records were obtained mainly from anglers' fora and 8 blogs and more recently from www.youtube.com. Since the first record in 1998, S. glanis 9 expanded its geographic range by ≈ 700 km of river network, occurring mainly in reservoirs and 10 in high order sections. Human-mediated and natural dispersal events were identified, with the 11 former occurring during the first years of invasion and involving movements of > 50 km. 12 Downstream dispersal directionality was predominant. This study demonstrates that the 13 analysis of online data from anglers can provide useful information on the distribution and 14 dispersal patterns of this non-native fish, potentially applicable as a preliminary, exploratory 15 assessment tool for other non-native fishes. 16 17

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