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To enrich spatio-temporal information on the distribution of alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, a collective effort by 173 marine scientists was made to provide unpublished records and make them open access to the scientific community. Through this effort, we collected and harmonized a dataset of 12, 649 records. It includes 247 taxa, of which 217 are Animalia, 25 Plantae and 5 Chromista, from 23 countries surrounding the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Chordata was the most abundant taxonomic group, followed by Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Annelida. In terms of species records, Siganus luridus, Siganus rivulatus, Saurida lessepsianus, Pterois miles, Upeneus moluccensis, Charybdis (Archias) longicollis, and Caulerpa cylindracea were the most numerous. The temporal distribution of the records ranges from 1973 to 2022, with 44% of the records in 2020–2021. Lethrinus borbonicus is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, while Pomatoschistus quagga, Caulerpa cylindracea, Grateloupia turuturu, and Misophria pallida are first records for the Black Sea ; Kapraunia schneideri is recorded for the second time in the Mediterranean and for the first time in Israel ; Prionospio depauperata and Pseudonereis anomala are reported for the first time from the Sea of Marmara. Many first country records are also included, namely: Amathia verticillata (Montenegro), Ampithoe valida (Italy), Antithamnion amphigeneum (Greece), Clavelina oblonga (Tunisia and Slovenia), Dendostrea cf. folium (Syria), Epinephelus fasciatus (Tunisia), Ganonema farinosum (Montenegro), Macrorhynchia philippina (Tunisia), Marenzelleria neglecta (Romania), Paratapes textilis (Tunisia), and Botrylloides diegensis (Tunisia).

Fisheries are among the sectors hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) crisis due to the sudden decrease in the demand for seafood. This study employs demand-driven and supply-driven input-output models to conduct an economy-wide assessment of the contraction of the fisheries activities in Cyprus, as well as a questionnaire survey to reveal fishermen&rsquo, s perceptions of COVID-19 crisis impacts. The results at the macroeconomic level reveal that the contraction in the economic output of the fisheries sector does not have any significant impact on the wider economy due to the small size of the sector. However, the COVID-19 crisis has major negative effects on fishermen&rsquo, s income and the livelihoods of fishers&rsquo, households. The average gross margin of the interviewed fishermen for March 2020, i.e., the month where a national quarantine and lockdown was imposed, was four times less the average monthly gross margin for the winter period (December 2019&ndash, February 2020) and 2.5 times less compared to the average monthly gross margin of 2019. The recessionary impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in conjunction with the chronic challenges that fisheries are currently facing in Cyprus, negatively affect the viability of the sector.

The Mediterranean bryozoan fauna is considered to be well studied compared to other marine areas of the world. However, in the Levantine Basin, bryozoan diversity has not yet been adequately documented. This report presents the first systematic and most comprehensive study of bryozoans sampled in Cyprus during census surveys from 2011 to 2018. The specimens were collected between 9 and ~620 m depth from several habitat types (mainly soft-bottom environments but also hard natural/artificial substrata, ancient shipwrecks, a marine cave, and deep-water coral habitats) around the island by means of bottom trawls, remotely operated vehicles, and scuba diving. The surveys produced a total of 91 species, 26 of which (=28%) are new records for the Levantine Basin, and 10 (=11%) are probably new to science. Our results thus show that the diversity of bryozoans in the eastern Mediterranean Sea is still significantly underestimated.

The deep-sea of the Levantine Mediterranean basin is still a fairly undiscovered world. The outer insular shelf of Cyprus, a gateway to the deep realm, is not an exception, as very few deep areas in the waters surrounding this island have been explored up to now. Here we present a brief overview of the discovery of an extraordinary population of the scleractinian Dendrophyllia ramea at depths, substrate and densities which were previously unknown for this species. Our efforts in better defining the habitat of this unique and fragile coral population, along with solid evidence of alarming destruction (albeit unintentional) from fishing activity, will hopefully urge local authorities into enforcing protection/conservation measures.

Sponges host cryptic endobionts within their network of canals, with representatives from all major animal phyla. This study investigates the endobiotic community of four sponge species (Spongia officinalis, Sarcotragus spinosulus, Ircinia cf. variabilis and Ircinia oros) that were collected during scientific trawl surveys in the coastal area of Cyprus. Moreover, it examines the endobiotic community composition of S. spinosulus in relation to sponges' volume, and various environmental variables. In general, the four sponge endobiotic communities were similar; S. officinalis had a significantly different community composition to I. cf. variabilis and I. oros. The phyla identified followed the general infauna composition of sponges, with the relative abundances of the dominant phyla, Arthropoda and Annelida, ranging from 66.9 - 83.7 % and 4.8–26.5 %, respectively. The highest intensity (I) corresponded to the isopod Cymodoce truncata in S. officinalis (I = 85 individuals/sponge) and S. spinosulus (I = 27.2 individuals/sponge). A general linear model also suggested that distance from shore influenced the total endobiotic abundance of S. spinosulus. This is the first sponge endobiotic community baseline study that covers the whole coastal area of the Republic of Cyprus and is particularly important due to potential changes of Eastern Mediterranean endobiotic communities due to the invasion through the Suez Canal of non-indigenous species.

The recent invasion of the lionfish Pterois miles to the Mediterranean draws major concerns to the fate of the indigenous ecosystem, based on previous knowledge of the species' detrimental capabilities as an introduced species in the Western Atlantic Ocean. In order to determine invasive patterns in the Eastern Mediterranean, we compared the genetic divergence of two mtDNA markers, the COI and D-loop, between and within the introduced Levantine and native range Red Sea populations of the lionfish. COI region presented a remarkably shallow genealogy, and both genes have failed to show a definite geographic population structure, with non-significant AMOVA and low pairwise FST values. A shared haplotype across all localities in the D-loop provided probable confirmation for the Red Sea origin of the invasive population, and a number of introduced haplotypes indicated that the Mediterranean populations are a product of multiple invasion events. Finally, we observed large haplotype diversity in the Red Sea samples that were absent from the introduced localities, implying a possible future enforcement to the invasive genetic pool in the Mediterranean Sea.

The marine ecosystems in the Mediterranean are in alarming condition due to the complex and cumulative impacts of anthropogenic activities and natural disturbances. Management, conservation, and restoration of resources in these impacted ecosystems are among the priorities set by Mediterranean countries. Artificial reefs (ARs) are one of the countermeasures widely promoted. The present study describes the hard substrate epibenthic communities found on three ARs (Ierisssos, Kalymnos, and Preveza) located in the Aegean and Ionian Seas (Greece). Samples were collected from the ARs seasonally (four times/year), during 2013 and 2014. Overall, 117 species were identified and a multivariate analysis showed that each area holds a distinct diversity. Serpulid polychaetes dominate Ierissos and Preveza communities, while gastropods were identified as the prevailing taxa in Kalymnos. No seasonal effects were detected, suggesting “stability” and good adaptation of the communities to the local environmental conditions. Salinity was found to affect the community structure. The results of this study illustrate the need for comparative research on ecological processes under contrasting environmental abiotic and biotic local conditions affecting epibenthic communities.

The biostalactites from the Kakoskali cave in Cyprus represent a new example of the complex biotic relationships between skeletal organisms and microbial communities in building bioconstructions of cryptic marine environments. Biostalactites are mainly constituted of polychaetes of the family Serpulidae and, to a lesser degree, foraminifers and bryozoans. Within the skeletal framework of these organisms, two types of microcrystalline calcite (micrite) have been recognized: autochthonous and detrital micrite. The autochthonous fraction is syndepositionally lithified and occurs as clotted peloidal and, subordinately, aphanitic (structureless) textures, suggesting the presence of heterotrophic microbial activities thriving on decaying metazoan organic matter. This fraction is limited to the protected portions of the bioconstructions, especially in the inner and lower parts. The presence of iron and manganesiferous oxidizing bacteria is suggested by the deposition of ferromanganesiferous crusts and Frutexites-like structures. These microbial-induced biomineralizations are the main evidence of carbonatogenetic and Fe–Mn, autotrophic and chemoheterotrophic, bacterial activities. The Kakoskali cave is frequently visited by divers who, during their immersions, resuspend the fine bottom sediment, which later covers the surface of the bioconstructions, disturbing the delicate equilibrium of the biotic association. This perturbation, which is also caused by strong waves and currents, during winter months, reflects on the bioconstruction morphologies, community composition, and colonization pattern. Bioconstructions exhibit an upper smooth surface, produced by few taxa (e.g., polychaetes, foraminifers), hosting a low number of living individuals, and a lower comparably rough surface, colonized by a more abundant community showing a higher species richness. The ratio surface roughness/smoothness is related to micrite sediment type: the upper part is mainly characterized by loose detrital micrite while the internal and lower parts by syndepositional cemented autochthonous micrite.

The island of Cyprus has been divided since 1974 into the Turkish Cypriot north and the Greek Cypriot south. Here, we have reconstructed the total marine fishery removals for the island in its entirety, and then for each side. Cyprus’s total marine fisheries catches were reconstructed for the 1950–2010 time period by estimating all fishery removals, including unreported commercial, subsistence and recreational catches, and major discards. These estimates were added to the ‘officially reported’ data, as represented by data submitted by countries to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Such data were submitted by the south, but were absent from the north for years following the 1974 partitioning of the island. The total reconstructed catch for 1950–2010 was nearly 243,000 t, which is 2.6 times the 93,200 t officially reported by FAO on behalf of Cyprus. The unreported components consisted of nearly 57,000 t of large-scale commercial landings, 43,000 t of small-scale commercial landings, 11,000 t each for recreational and subsistence landings and nearly 28,000 t of discards. Improving the accuracy of fishery statistics by accounting for all removals is fundamental for better understanding fisheries resource use thus increasing the opportunities for sustainable development through enhancing fisheries management capacity.

The spatial effects of 2 tuna farms on the benthic community were investigated in the Eastern Mediterranean during the fattening period. The impact on benthic fauna was assessed in the vicinity of the fish farms (beneath and at various distances from the cages) using a variety of benthic indicators used for the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). There was a general consensus that most of the samples (95%) were acceptable, i.e. of 'good' or 'high' ecological status. The biotic indices were also compared between 2 different mesh sizes, total (resulting from the sum of the fractions of 1 and 0.5 mm mesh fractions) and 1 mm mesh, in order to assess the variability of the results. The indicators showed the same pattern between the 2 different sieve mesh sizes. The variability in the ecological status assigned by each indicator was also examined among the replicates taken from each station. Our results showed that one repli- cate is not sufficient for monitoring purposes, and we suggest obtaining more replicates while using indicators requiring less taxonomic effort for sample processing. Neither fish farm had a sig- nificant impact on benthic communities, due mainly to the exposed nature of the study site.

Artificial reefs, in the Eastern Mediterranean (Cyprus,) became a popular and frequently used tool, in fisheries and biodiversity conservation management. Even though evaluation studies about the efficacy of artificial reefs are plentiful in the rest of the Mediterranean (Central and Western), in the Eastern Basin they are largely absent. As the Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea is characterised by unique physical parameters, the necessity to study artificial reefs under these contrasting regimes increases. The epibenthic communities of two unintentional artificial reefs (modern shipwrecks) in Cyprus (Zenobia) and Lebanon (Alice-B) were evaluated in 2010. Both shipwrecks are at similar depth, type of sea bottom, made of the same material (steel) and were sunk approximately the same period of time. However, Alice-B shipwreck off the coast of Lebanon is constantly exposed to higher levels of nutrients than Zenobia in Cyprus. Significant dissimilarities were observed in the composition, percentage of benthic cover of predominant taxonomic groups and development of the epibenthic communities. Differences in physical and chemical parameters between sides lay mainly in the nutrient and thermal regimes affecting the shipwrecks and most likely bring about the differences in the observed community structure. The results of this study suggest that epibenthic communities could be highly impacted by eutrophication caused by anthropogenic activities, leading to less biodiverse communities dominated by specific species that are favoured by the eutrophic conditions.

A mortality event of Cladocora caespitosa corals and the extent of bleaching, necrosis and pigmented areas in the colonies were studied at the southeastern coast of Cyprus during a prolonged period of higher than average sea temperature anomalies (summer/autumn 2012). With the use of scuba diving and image analysis software, we monitored the extent of mortality of 29 colonies of C. caespitosa by measuring and comparing the area percentage of healthy tissue, affected tissue (bleached, necrotic) and older mortality events (encrusted skeleton). In September 2012, on average, 24 % of the colonies surface area was affected (bleaching and/or necrosis). In October 2012, C. caespitosa showed on average 26.3 % of the colony surface area affected, evidence of continuing deterioration. At the same time, 10 % (3 of 29) of the colonies showed an increase in the pigmentation of previously bleached polyps in small and marginal areas (6–8 %). Irrespective of the amount, the regaining of pigments recorded is considered an important find. Corals and marine organisms in general in the Levantine Sea are affected greatly by warming events, to the extent where a very small percentage of polyps/colonies show resilience under thermal stress. Natural bleaching of C. caespitosa, even though limited to a few colonies and very small portions of tissue/polyps, was documented for the first time in the Levantine Sea. We conclude that temperature anomalies are associated with the mortality event. Whether prolonged higher temperature is the direct cause, or whether it acts synergistically with other factors should be the subject of further investigations.