1. All three species of angel sharks (genus Squatina) inhabiting the Mediterranean Sea are listed as Critically Endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species due to overexploitation. 2. New records from Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Libya were collected from citizenscientists and integrated with local knowledge obtained using structured interviews in the four countries. 3. Observations and reports, together with an analysis of the reconstructed fisheries data, resulted in the identification of areas of interest, a review of the illegal trade of the species and a debate about the credibility of fisheries data for assessing threatened and/or protected species. 4. Unconventional sources of information, such as social media, were identified as important tools for monitoring rare and endangered marine wildlife. 5. This work will contribute to promoting international cooperation for advancing angel shark conservation in line with the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Angel Shark Conservation Strategy.

The current article presents 18 new records from seven Mediterranean countries. These records include one rhodophyte, fournudibranchs, two crustaceans, one stingray and 10 bony fishes. They are grouped by country as follows: Lebanon - first record ofthe Striped bass Morone saxatilis, the stingray Himantura leoparda, the Areolate grouper Epinephelus areolatus and the Spot-finporcupinefish Diodon hystrix from various parts of the country; Turkey - first record of the invasive red alga Grateloupia turuturufrom the sea of Marmara (region of Bandırma), the sea slug Goniobranchus obsoletus and the crab Arcania brevifrons from theGulf of Antalya and the cladoceran Pleopis schmackeri from several locations along the Aegean Sea; Cyprus - first record of thealien sea slug Berthellina citrina from the region of Cape Greco and an observation of a butterflyfish Heniochus sp. from the northeasternside of the island; Greece - first record of the alien sea slug Anteaeolidiella lurana from the region of Heraklion in Creteand the record of the Atlantic spadefish Chaetodipterus faber and the Black surgeonfish Acanthurus cfr gahhm from SalaminaIsland; Slovenia - first record of the alien sea slug Thecacera pennigera from Izola; Italy - first record of the hybrid Striped bass(Morone saxatilis × Morone chrysops) from the northern Tyrrhenian Sea and a first record of the goldfish Carassius auratus fromthe region of Apulia; Libya - first record of the Red Sea goatfish Parupeneus forsskali and the African surgeonfish Acanthurusmonroviae, respectively from the eastern (Al-Tamimi area) and the western shore (Al-Khums area).

The Indo-Pacific Sergeant Abudefduf vaigiensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825) (Chordata: Pisces: Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Pomacentridae) is first recorded in the south-central Mediterranean Sea (Libya), based on the external morphology and the barcoding of a fragment of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene. Present sightings from field surveys and social media include juveniles, sub-adults, and a single adult specimen, suggesting that the species is now established in Libyan waters. No certainties occur regarding timing and possible pathway of arrival of this species in the area, and it may have simply gone undetected for years. The joint effort of field studies and citizen science projects in collaboration with international organizations continues shedding light on bioinvasions in Libya, with valuable outcomes for the Mediterranean marine biology as a whole.

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