Tracking Population Status and Structure of Mediterranean Pen Shell Pinna Nobilis After a Mass Mortality Outbreak

Abstract The dramatic Mass Mortality Event, MME, of Pinna nobilis populations initially detected in 2016 in the western Mediterranean basin, has also spread rapidly to the central and eastern basin. Unfortunately, there is still a significant lack of information on the status and health of P. nobilis, since only a fragmentary picture of the mortality rate affecting these populations is available. Regarding the Italian coast, several surveys have given only localized or point-like views on the distribution of species and the effect of the MME. Therefore, for the first time, this study investigated P. nobilis densities, distribution and mortality in 164 surveys covering a total of 800 km along the southeast coast of Italy (Apulia region). The geographical scale of this investigation made it the largest ever conducted in Italy, and this was achieved through a rapid and standardized protocol. No live individuals were observed along the 92 km linear transects, allowing us to assess that the P. nobilis populations had totally collapsed, with a mortality rate of 100% in Apulia. The distributional pattern of the species showed a strong overlap with seagrass meadows on meso and macro geographical scale, however this was not the case on a micro scale. This result indicates that although there is a relationship between P. nobilis and seagrass meadows, it is not limited to the habitat patch but crosses the boundaries of seagrass. This observation led us to the conclusion that the distribution of P. nobilis shows a trophic link through the cross-boundary subsidy occurring from seagrass meadows to the nearby habitat, by means of the refractory detrital pathway.