A major threat to biodiversity is represented by Invasive Alien Species (IAS), particularly on freshwater ecosystems, which are already heavily altered by human activities. Two of the most pernicious IAS are the eastern and western mosquitofish, i.e., Gambusia holbrooki and G. affinis. These two poeciliids are morphologically very close to each other, and soon after their formal description, G. holbrooki was considered a subspecies of G. affinis. In the following years, several studies proved that these two entities belonged to two different species; nevertheless, it was only at the end of the 1990s that their separate taxonomic status was re-established. In the 1920s and 1930s, both G. holbrooki and G. affinis were asynchronously introduced from the United States into Europe and subsequently translocated globally as biocontrol agents of the malaria vector (i.e., the larvae of the Anopheles mosquitoes), with dramatic consequences for the inland water native fauna. However, due to taxonomic uncertainties and nomenclatural instability, for years, there were doubts about which Gambusia species had been introduced in different regions. The first available molecular studies confirmed the occurrence of G. holbrooki in Europe, but no evidence confirming the occurrence of G. affinis was found. Despite this, some records report the occurrence of western mosquitofish in Italy and Malta. Considering the negative effects that the mosquitofish has on the native biota, it is of paramount importance to know the precise biological diversity of the native and non-native species to better implement environmental management strategies to properly preserve the already-fragile waterbodies. Therefore, to check for the possible occurrence of G. affinis in Italy and Malta, we conducted extensive sampling in Sicily (Italy) and in the Maltese archipelago, aiming to verify the identity of Gambusia populations occurring in the study area. Based on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, we consistently observed the occurrence of only G. holbrooki in the investigated area, finding, almost exclusively, the most common haplotype known for the species in the whole invaded range (i.e., “HOL1”).

The Maltese Islands, located in the central Mediterranean, have a rich biodiversity influenced by their strategic position as a crossroads between Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Among the many species that have adapted to the island environment, cockroaches (Order: Blattodea) hold a unique position. Their presence reflects both natural dispersal and human activities over millennia. This essay explores the origins, distribution, and documented records of cockroach species in Malta, shedding light on their historical and ecological significance.This work also includes two new species for the islands.

The Strait of Sicily represents a biogeographically rich and complex region. The diverse geological origin and past continental connection of its islands have shaped a highly heterogeneous fauna, mainly composed of both African and European taxa. The Italian sea-slater, Ligia italica (Fabricius, 1798), is a small isopod inhabiting rocky shores of the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and Atlantic Ocean. Despite its wide distribution, the phylogeography of this species is poorly understood, with limited available data suggesting a remarkable level of cryptic diversity. In this study, we investigated the mitochondrial genetic diversity (COX1) of L. italica across nine Italian and Maltese islands across the Strait of Sicily, aiming to clarify the biogeographic patterns underlying the distribution of these insular populations. Our results reveal an unexpectedly high genetic diversity within our study area, with eight different haplogroups, each characterized by low internal genetic variation and mutual distances ranging from 5.5% to 17.9%. These values are comparable to those associated with species-level rank within the genus Ligia. Overall, the phylogenetic relationships between the lineages appear well supported; however, the same relationships are not clearly correlated with geographic proximity or connectivity among the sampled localities. The distribution patterns of some of the detected haplogroups suggest possible passive dispersal mechanisms (e.g., rafting), while others indicate more intricate biogeographic scenarios. The overall diversity of L. italica within the Strait of Sicily, as well as the unclear origin of some insular populations, cannot be fully explained with the current data. In particular, the high genetic structure observed within the Maltese Archipelago, may partially reflect human-mediated dispersal (e.g., maritime transport), possibly involving source populations that remain unsampled or genetically uncharacterized. Our results highlight that the Strait of Sicily can be considered a diversity hot spot for L. italica and support the designation of this taxon as a putative species complex, with a cryptic diversity worthy of an exhaustive taxonomic revision.

In this study, we conducted a survey in the only Maltese marine cave (Ħarq Ħammiem) to assess the amphipod communities. The investigation revealed the first record of Neogammarus karamani (Stock, 1971) for the Maltese archipelago and its eyeless habitus.

One of the most frequently translocated species outside their native range in Europe are water frogs of the genus Pelophylax . Recently, water frogs belonging to the same genus have also been recorded on the island of Gozo in Malta. To trace their origin, we genetically examined 17 individuals from three Gozitan localities where water frogs have been recorded recently. We analysed one mitochondrial (NADH dehydrogenase 2, ND2 ) and one nuclear (serum albumin intron 1, SAI-1 ) fragment to identify the geographic origin of the frogs and a set of microsatellite markers to determine their population-genetic structure and the predicted number of source populations. Based on the ND2 and SAI-1 markers, the water frogs on the island of Gozo originate from southern Anatolia, Turkey. According to sequence variation in ND2 , they were assigned to a caralitanus mtDNA clade, which is endemic to southern Anatolia and taxonomically represents either an evolutionary lineage within P. cf. bedriagae or a separate species P. caralitanus . All Gozo water frogs had only one haplotype in the ND2 and one allele in the SAI-1 fragment, indicating a recent and single introduction event. These results are supported by microsatellite analysis, which revealed low genetic variability and the absence of any population-genetic structure, suggesting that Gozo water frogs originate from only one source population.

The invasive portunid species Callinectes sapidus is hereby recorded for the first time from Maltese waters, thus updating the known distribution of this decapod of Atlantic origin within the Mediterranean. Potential introduction pathways of the species to Maltese waters are discussed.

The marbled crayfish ( Procambarus virginalis ) represents a very recently evolved parthenogenetic freshwater crayfish species that has invaded diverse habitats in Europe and in Madagascar. However, population genetic analyses have been hindered by the homogeneous genetic structure of the population and the lack of suitable tools for data analysis. We have used whole-genome sequencing to characterize reference specimens from various known wild populations. In parallel, we established a whole-genome sequencing data analysis pipeline for the population genetic analysis of nearly monoclonal genomes. Our results provide evidence for systematic genetic differences between geographically separated populations and illustrate the emerging differentiation of the marbled crayfish genome. We also used mark-recapture population size estimation in combination with genetic data to model the growth pattern of marbled crayfish populations. Our findings uncover evolutionary dynamics in the marbled crayfish genome over a very short evolutionary timescale and identify the rapid growth of marbled crayfish populations as an important factor for ecological monitoring.

The distribution and knowledge on the Mediterranean mantid Iris oratoria (Linnaeus, 1785) are here updated. Despite its beautiful appearance and presence in the social media, the scientific knowledge on its real distribution is poor and incomplete and this may affect its conservation at local scales. Citizen science records have been here compared with traditional science records, and updated with many new and original localities: this species is reported for the first time for Libya, Calabria and many Mediterranean islands and islets. The ecological preferences have been explored in a retrodunal transect to investigate the preferred vegetation patterns for this species. The general value of citizen science records in evaluating the real distribution of a species have been tested here, using Iris oratoria as a case study for further investigations.

Cockroach (Blattodea, Blaberoidea) fauna of the Maltese Islands. Hitherto seven species of cockroaches were known from the Maltese Archipelago (Schembri 1980): four of them are synanthropic species introduced by man: Blatta orientalis, Blattella germanica, Periplaneta americana and Supella longipalpa; the remaining three are indigenous species: Ectobius kraussianus, Loboptera decipiens and Polyphaga aegyptiaca. The earlier reports almost exclusively concern the largest island Malta; only one report (L. decipiens) applies to the islet Comino. Faunistic part. By recent collectings of the authors (mainly A.S.) including also the smaller islands Gozo, Comino and some rock islets (Cominotto, Filfla, Fungus Rock, Large Blue Lagoon Rock, Pigean Rock) the known distribution of the species could be largely widened; two further obviously indigenous species were found, both new to science and presumably endemic to Malta: Ectobius melitensis, sp. nov. (Ectobiidae, Ectobiinae) and Heterogamisca jeffreyana, sp. nov. (Corydiidae, Corydiinae). E. kraussianus presumably has to be eliminated from the list of Maltese cockroaches; the older report most likely concerns a misidentified E. melitensis. During the last years the number of introduced species was strongly increased (1) by escapees of species cultivated for the nourishment of amphibia and reptilia, as are Blaptica dubia, Gromphadorhina sp., Nauphoeta cinerea, Periplaneta fuliginosa, Shelfordella lateralis and Symploce pallens, and (2) by species presumably imported with gardening materials: Pycnoscelus surinamensis and Phoetalia pallida. The mentioned species have repeatedly been found in human buildings and adjacent gardens of a number of settlements, mostly in the surroundings of the capital Valetta. They seem to be well established there; part of them has even been observed in the wild. The newly introduced species are in spite of their successful establishment and reproduction in Malta not considered as a danger for the indigenous species: The great differences in the requirements between the two groups most likely exclude competition between them. Three species, Ectobius vittiventris, Henschoutedenis flexivitta, and Periplaneta australasiae, have only occasionally been found and can, therefore, scarcely be considered as members of the Maltese fauna; the latter also applies to species of the genus Panchlora which were repeatedly observed on fruit markets at freshly imported bananas, but never found outside, neither in the Maltese banana plantations. Taxonomic part. The new species are described and compared with their closest relatives, colouration and characteristic structures are shown in several figures. Ectobius melitensis belongs to the kraussianus-species group of Ectobius known from Sicily and surrounding islands (Ustica, Aeolian Islands, Ponza), but with one species also reaching Albania; the nearest relatives of Heterogamisca jeffreyana are occurring on the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia).

During the last decade, the authors visited several stacks (Faraglione) which are satellites islets around the main circum-sicilian islands.Most of these stacks are inaccessible to the general public due to their geographical and topographical positions/inclinations.Literature is often scarce or non-existent.The current work provides a preliminary data on the floral diversity recorded during the brief expeditions between the years 2008-2018.All of these islets were observed once, so this study does not reflect all of the possibly existing species of these islets.The current study caters the Faraglione di Colombara of Ustica, Isola dei Conigli, Scoglio del Sacramento and Scoglio di Faraglione of Lampedusa, Faraglione di Tracino and Faraglione di Ficaria/indietro l'isola of Pantelleria.Another islet is the Scoglio dello Zio Gennaro, Taormina, Sicily.

The use of mantids as indicators for biodiversity and environmental conservation has been studied on different islands of the Mediterranean Basin, specifically the Maltese and Balearic archipelago. The study focused on three model species: a generalist and cosmopolitan species (Mantis religiosa); a species that is uncommon but widespread in the Mediterranean area, adapted to maquis and garrigue environments (Ameles spallanzania); and a rare species linked to dry and semi-desertic biotopes (Rivetina baetica). Their presence and distribution have been found to be significantly correlated with the species richness of Orthoptera, already known to be sound indicators of biodiversity, as well as other elements of their complementary network. All three species preferred both natural and well-preserved habitats over areas subject to human impacts on the land, such as medium to intensive agriculture or habitat degradation. This therefore qualifies them as sound bioindicators for habitat conservation, and their role as such is discussed within both local and global contexts. Key policy insights ● Praying mantids proved to be good indicators for biodiversity and environmental conservation in some representative Mediterranean environments and may be used also in some more global contexts. ● Some land-uses and human activities have a significant impact on the biology of at least three wide-spread mantid species and their complementary network. ● Ecological corridors of unmanaged natural vegetation can have a key role in maintaining the presence of these insects and the biodiversity they represent.

Tucked away in the south-east coastal corner of the island of Gozo, a stone’s throw from the busy Mġarr Harbour, is Xatt l-Aħmar. It owes its name to the reddish hues of the surrounding soils and of the sand it contains. The site is a treasure trove both for geologists and geomorphologists, because of the variety of its landforms (e.g. the widest shore platformShore platform on Gozo), and for naturalists, in view of numerous, highly restricted floral and faunal species, which still thrive despite the extremely restricted dimensions of the two sandy beachesSandy beaches and dune remnants that are found in this locality. Its lack of accessibility by car has largely shielded the enclave from mass tourism and its impacts. A snapshot of the geological assets and biodiversityBiodiversity of Xatt l-Aħmar, which may be termed ‘Gozo’s best-kept secret’, is presented in this short chapter.

The distribution area of the tufted ghost crab Ocypode cursor includes two widely separate sub-areas, i.e. the tropical and subtropical Atlantic coasts of Africa and Macaronesia, and the central-eastern Mediterranean basin. The current disjunct distribution of the species is possibly the remnant of a previous wider and continuous distribution area that was fragmented during the Pleistocene, with the disappearance of the species from the temperate Atlantic Ocean and the western Mediterranean basin, and its survival in the warmer areas of the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. Such disjunction is thus compatible with an ancient isolation between the Mediterranean and Atlantic populations of the species, which could in fact constitute two well-characterized independent evolutionary lineages, or even two cryptic species. Unexpectedly, the sequencing of a fragment of the mtDNA COI gene from Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocypode cursor allopatric populations showed the cohesion of the species throughout its distribution range, and the nesting of Mediterranean populations within the single Atlantic population studied. This pattern is hereby tentatively ascribed to an incomplete lineage sorting due to the large population sizes of both the Atlantic and Mediterranean subpopulations of the species. The current westward expansion of the species in the Mediterranean Sea originating from the Levantine basin, due to ongoing regional sea warming, follows a typical phalanx dispersal mode.

1. Spatial patterns of macrofauna community structure in multiple scales Tatiana M.B. Cabrini , Carlos A.M. Barboza, Ricardo S. Cardoso 1 Departamento de Ecologia e Recursos Marinhos, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Avenida Pasteur, 458, sala 407, Urca. 22240290. Núcleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Sócio Ambiental NUPEM, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil email: tatianacabrini@gmail.com Our study aimed to characterize the macrofauna biodiversity of 60 sandy beaches in Rio de Janeiro state, and thus to evaluate their relationships with morphodynamic factors and the influence of spatial patterns in different scales. Relationships between values of species richness, abundance, biomass and morphodynamic and sedimentological variables of the beaches were investigated using GAM. PCA was used to investigate patterns of spatial variability in macrofauna composition of the studied beaches. The beta diversity of the coast and the sectors of the coast of RJ were also estimated. In general, patterns of relationship between species richness, abundance, biomass and the predictors used were distinct when considering different spatial scales. Species richness was lower in the Metropolitan region when considering all beaches included in this study. However, when considering only continental beaches, we found a gradient of increasing richness towards the North Coast. The PCA separated beaches into two large groups: beaches of the South Coast and beaches of Metropolitan /North Coast. As expected, highest values of beta diversity were found when considering the scale along the entire coast of RJ. This pattern was more evident for the South Coast, sector with greater spatial heterogeneity.

Invasive species can cause significant changes in local and regional ecologies, especially in freshwater ecosystems. It is thus important to monitor and document the spread of non-indigenous species to such habitats as such information can be critical to preserving habitats and species. We document the spread of the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852) (Cambaridae), a highly invasive non-indigenous species, in Malta and south Sicily. We also document the first records of other non-indigenous decapods important in the pet trade or in aquaculture, Procambarus virginalis Lyko, 2017 (Cambaridae), Pontastacus leptodactylus (Eschscholtz, 1823) (Astacidae), Cherax quadricarinatus von Martens, 1868 (Parastacidae), Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana, 1852) (Astacidae), and Atyopsis moluccensis (De Haan, 1849 (Atyidae) from freshwater localities in the Maltese Archipelago and Cherax destructor Clark, 1936 (Parastacidae) from southeastern Sicily. The study provides recommendations on the adoption of control measures by the competent national authorities with respect to these non-indigenous species.

The occurrence of the white-spotted Australian jellyfish Phyllorhiza punctata Lendenfeld, 1884, an Indo-Pacific scyphozoan species mainly restricted to the Levantine Basin, is hereby reported for the first time from Maltese waters (western Mediterranean) and from the Ionian coast of Italy. Considerations on possible vectors of introduction of the jellyfish species to this part of the Mediterranean are made.

The occurrence of the blue swimmer crab Portunus segnis, a Lessepsian species, within Maltese coastal waters is recorded for the second time. A single male was caught form the shore by means of rod fishing. The individual was caught from a depth of 3 m in close proximity to a busy cargo-handling port. The first record of the species from Maltese waters was made in 1984. P. segnis represents yet another Lessepsian species which has established large populations in the Gulf of Gabes, within Tunisian waters to the south of Malta, but only occurs occasionally in Maltese waters.

A new species of chigger mite, Lacertacarus sardiniensis sp. nov., is described from a lizard Podarcis tiliguerta (Gmelin) collected in Sardinia. One species, Ericotrombidium caucasicum (Schluger, 1967), previously known from Southern Russia and Southern Ukraine, is recorded for the first time on the lizards Podarcis filfolensis (Bedriaga) and Podarcis siculus (Rafinesque-Schmaltz), and on Malta, Lipari Island and Alicudi Island (Aeolian Islands, Sicily, Italy).[GRAPHICS]