Approximately 14,000 species have been introduced outside their native range to Europe, with some of them becoming invasive as they establish, spread and cause impacts on people and nature. Terrestrial arthropods and particularly insects represent a large percentage of these non-native species, with phytophagous insects largely following the introduction of their host plants to new regions. Situated in the Eastern Mediterranean, the island of Cyprus hosts more than 350 non-native species of insects, with the majority being phytophagous agricultural and horticultural pests. In this study, ten non-native, cryptogenic or data deficient taxa are reported for the first time i.e., harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), seed-beetle Bruchidius siliquastri (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae), coffee bean weevil Araecerus fasciculatus (Coleoptera: Anthribidae), true bugs Corythauma ayyari, Stephanitis lauri (Hemiptera: Tingidae) and Montandoniola indica (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), ringlegged earwig Euborellia annulipes (Dermaptera: Anisolabididae), spiderling plume moth Megalorhipida leucodactylus (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae), as well as flies Horidiplosis ficifolii (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) and Phytoliriomyza jacarandae (Diptera: Agromyzidae). Furthermore, we confirm the presence of the pyriform scale insect Protopulvinaria pyriformis (Hemiptera: Coccidae) on Cyprus. These species are considered likely to be established with a wide distribution on the island, given the common use of recorded host plants as ornamentals in both urban and rural parks and gardens. Their observed and potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts are discussed.
The myzozoa Perkinsus marinus (Myzozoa: Perkinsidae) is a pathogen initially described in the Atlantic Ocean and subsequently detected along the Pacific coast, including the Gulf of California (GC). In this region, P. marinus has been reported in multiple bivalve hosts, yet its presence in the commercially important mud cockle, Anadara mazatlanica (Bivalvia: Arcidae), remains undocumented. We conducted a year-long (March 2022-February 2023) surveillance study in two GC lagoons to evaluate the occurrence of P. marinus in A. mazatlanica. Each month, 30 individuals per site were assayed by Ray's fluid thioglycolate medium to screen for presumptive hypnospores. Overall prevalence peaked at 26.7%, with infection intensities ranging from negative to light. Polymerase chain reaction amplification confirmed P. marinus identity in positive specimens from both lagoons. These data expand the known host range of P. marinus to include A. mazatlanica in the GC and underscore the necessity for ongoing monitoring to mitigate potential impacts on wild stocks of local mollusks species.
The global aquarium trade is based on private and public keeping of ornamental species, especially fishes, but also underlays transport of countless biota into foreign biogeographic provinces. Invasive fish represent a threat to native fish fauna through direct competition for resources, predation and vectors for pathogens. Here, we document detection of an initial incursion of three-spot gourami Trichopodus trichopterus (originating from Asia and a species traded in Australia for > 50 years) into an urban waterway in the Australian Wet Tropics. In this instance, the advantageous air breathing characteristic of the focal species and the role it has as a vector for spreading pathogens, parasites and disease, are among the attributes of relevance to protecting native Australian fish assemblages and ecosystems.
The northern brown shrimp, Penaeus aztecus, a penaeid species native to the western Atlantic, has rapidly expanded across the Mediterranean since its first record in Turkey (2009). Here, we report data supporting the establishment of P. aztecus in Maltese waters and along the southern shores of Sicily in the central Mediterranean, following the recent first record of the species from the same waters, suggesting an aggressive expansion by the species within the region. On 16th December 2024, two P. aztecus specimens were captured in Marsaxlokk Bay at a depth of 2 m using a trammel net. Subsequently, new records were documented in other Maltese localities by professional fishers, as well as in Porto Santo Stefano (northern Tyrrhenian Sea) and southeastern Sicily (Ionian Sea), confirming the species' continuous and widespread expansion. In several cases, P. aztecus cooccurred with the native and congeneric P. kerathurus, raising concerns about potential inter-specific competition. The species is already exploited in Turkey and Italy, yet its ecological and economic impacts remain uncertain. Further studies are needed to assess its interactions with native species and fisheries.
The widely invasive brown mussel Perna perna reappeared along the Mediterranean coast of Israel in 2020, 55 years after a previous short-lived presence. Within a year, the mussel formed patchy but dense aggregations, before suffering catastrophic mortality following an extended mid-summer heatwave in August 2021. The emergent post-mortality population structure was studied over a 3-year period at four sites of varying emersion and sedimentation conditions. The collected data (8,560 mussels) exhibit distinct patterns in population abundance and size structure in response to local natural and manmade features. At a sediment-free site, spat was observed already in January; on low-lying rocky outcrops settlement began as soon as winter storm-induced sand accumulation cleared, whereas in outcrops reburied by beach nourishment, settlement surges were delayed until sediment cleared. Sites submerged for shorter periods exhibited a unimodal distribution and lacked the larger-size cohort observed at the lower intertidal. An examination of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (42 specimens) revealed no significant changes in haplotype diversity between pre-and post-marine mortality events in this genetically highly polymorphic species, indicating recovery resulting from a remnant population. With an increasing number of marine invasive non-indigenous species, information on their introduction and settlement patterns is essential for guiding environmentally sensitive policies and conservation efforts.
