Originally from the Red Sea, entered via the Suez Canal and could pose a serious threat to the biodiversity of the Mediterranean
What happens in the heart of the Mediterranean? A new scientific research ofUniversity of Catania warns of a new invasion that would represent a serious threat to biomarine diversity. Science, nature and the environment are increasingly crucial issues in the contemporary world. Attention must be paid to safeguarding ecological systems. What are the theses of the new study published in the specialized international scientific journal BioInvasions Records? A alien speciesthe mezzobecco, arrived in Ionian Sea.
In the Ionian
Its appearance in the Sicilian Ionian Sea, eight years after the first sighting in Italian waters a Lampedusa, could be the beginning of a new invasion. Hence the need to continue to monitor, thanks to the collaboration of hundreds of citizen-scientists of the AlienFish project – promoted by the Mediterranean Marine Fauna Authority on the monitoring and study of rare and non-indigenous fish species in Italian waters – most of the fishermen of profession, the presence of this and other invasive alien species that could represent a serious threat to the Mediterranean marine biodiversity. With this analysis, the scholar Francesco Tiralongo, researcher and ichthyologist at the University of Catania and national manager of AlienFish, begins to outline the results that emerged from the research and focused on the mezzobecco (Hemiramphus far).
Alien
This fish first appeared in the Mediterranean in 1927 when it was observed in Palestinian waters. However, despite its early entry, the species remained mainly confined to the eastern sector of the basin, appearing in Italian waters for the first time. in 2013, when some specimens were captured in Lampedusa. Since then, the species has not been observed in Italy until May 2021, when Tiralongo was able, thanks to the citizen science and with the collaboration of Salvatore Canzonieri and Corrado Caruso of Avola, to study a specimen captured in the Municipality of Noto. This identification was crucial, as it took place in the heart of the Ionian Sea that bathes South-Eastern Sicily.
From the Red Sea
In the Mediterranean many alien species originate from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal, Egypt. Biological invasion represents, together with other environmental problems such as habitat destruction, pollution and excessive exploitation of resources, one of the main threats to biodiversity. Tiralongo argues: This fish species can, under some conditions, show an invasive character and therefore could potentially invade other Italian coastal areas in a short time and move westward, as other species from the Suez Canal have already done. Excluding the case of Lampedusa, this fish had never been observed in Italian waters.
The resemblance to garfish
Bianca Maria Lombardo, head of the Laboratory of Biology of Mediterranean Marine Fauna of the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences of the Catania University, highlights: This species, although it shows some similarities with the common garfish (belone belone), belongs to a different family. However, this generic similarity could have helped to make it go unnoticed by the most distracted citizen scientists, even if, through a more careful observation, the species can be easily distinguished and therefore identified. Continuing to study and monitor the processes of biological invasions remains a key point today, especially for a semi-enclosed basin such as that represented by the Mediterranean. Other researchers from the University of Catania also contributed to the research: Giuseppina Messina of the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Daniele Tibullo of the Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, and also Iuri Peri and Clara Monaco of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment . Researchers Adriana Vella and Noel Vella from the University of Malta also collaborated. A multidisciplinary study to study a complex phenomenon that presents different aspects and has possible different repercussions on marine biodiversity.
May 17, 2022 (change May 17, 2022 | 20:35)
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