Project “Biodiversity MARE Tricase”: A Species Inventory of the Coastal Area of Southeastern Salento (Ionian Sea, Italy)

Abstract

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 first multi-taxa inventory of marine organisms and coastal terrestrial flora recorded in southeastern Salento (Ionian Sea, Italy), realized during the project “Biodiversity MARE Tricase”, which provided the first baseline of species living in the area. Sampling was carried out by SCUBA and free diving, fishing gears, and citizen science from 0 to 70 m. Overall, 697 taxa were found between March 2016 and October 2017, 94% of which were identified to the species level. Of these, 19 taxa represented new records for the Ionian Sea (36 additional new records had been reported in previous publications on specific groups, namely Porifera and Mollusca Heterobranchia), and two findings represented the easternmost records in the Mediterranean Sea (Helicosalpa virgula and Lampea pancerina). For eight other taxa, our findings represented the only locality in the Ionian Sea, besides the Straits of Messina. In addition to the species list, phenological events (e.g., blooms, presence of reproductive traits and behaviour) were also reported, with a focus on gelatinous plankton. Our results reveal that even for a relatively well-known area, current biodiversity knowledge may still be limited, and targeted investigations are needed to fill the gaps. Further research is needed to understand the distribution and temporal trends of Mediterranean biodiversity and to provide baseline data to identify ongoing and future changes.

Sponge Fauna of the Apulian Marine Caves (Southern Italy): Current State of Knowledge

“…This may be explained by the fact that the studied caves are characterized by diverse topographic features, which suggests that peculiar features characterize each cave. The high level of distinctiveness of marine cave assemblages has been highlighted in previous research [39], and comparable ideas have been reported in the literature: Sarà [66] emphasized that marine cave assemblages typically exhibit a high level of individuality, while Harmelin [67] proposed that populations that are well represented in certain caves but absent or rare in the adjacent ones could persist because of the relative stability of environmental conditions in the internal zones of the caves. Nevertheless, it should be noted that sponge communities differed enough to allow a clear differentiation among the three defined areas through statistical analysis.…”

“…Furthermore, articles published in journals without impact factor, grey literature available (e.g., degree thesis, abstracts at congresses, technical reports) and authors' unpublished data were considered. As a result of this search, 21 publications containing records of sponges in marine caves on the Apulian coast were found [6,9,10,[21][22][23][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] (Table S1, Supplementary Materials). For each marine cave, the submerged (S) or semi-submerged (SS) typology was considered using data found in the related articles and/or in the Apulian cave register accessible online at http://www.catasto.fspuglia.it/ (accessed on 30 January 2023).…”

Non-indigenous polychaetes along the Salento Peninsula: new records and first molecular data

“…The first documented record dates back to 1964 (Zibrowius, 1970), even though this species is known in the Mediterranean Sea since the 19 th Century (Langeneck et al, 2020) and this is possibly true for the Salento Peninsula as well. The record by Micaroni et al (2022) for coralligenous outcrops at around 60 m depth is most likely a misidentification of the native H. norvegica, a species widespread on deep bioconstructions along the whole Salento coastline.…”

New records of rarely reported species in the Mediterranean Sea (July 2023)

“…It was fixed in 4% buffered formalin and preserved in 70% ethanol in the Marine Biology Museum "Pietro Parenzan" of Porto Cesareo. A recent checklist of the marine fauna from the same locality does not include D. maroccanus, suggesting the hypothesis that this uncommon species is a recent newcomer to the Italian Ionian Sea (Micaroni et al, 2022). However, the general appearance of this species is not very distinctive, and the possibility that it has been misidentified with other, more frequent Sparidae species cannot be completely ruled out.…”

“…The occurrence of Lestidiops sphyrenoides in the Adriatic Sea was previously based only on two postlarval specimens (Kovačić et al, 2020). The morocco dentex Dentex maroccanus in Tricase Porto, represents the first record for the Italian Adriatic Sea, at the southern limit with Ionian Sea, suggesting the hypothesis that this uncommon species is a recent newcomer to this area (Micaroni et al, 2022). The supposed range expansion is potentially related to the ongoing warming scenario occurring in the Mediterranean Sea.…”