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In this paper, we identify some sponge specimens collected in the Faro Lake in Sicily, and belonging to Haliclona (Halicoclona) by using morphological analysis accompanied by molecular analysis through amplification of several molecular markers (18S and 28S rRNA, CO1 and ITS). The samples are identified as. H. (Halichoclona) vansoesti de Weerdt, de KluijverGómez, 1999, a species native to the Caribbean, and therefore this is the first record of an alien species of the Demospongiae class (Porifera) from the Mediterranean Sea. This presence can be ascribed as results of global change (mainly global warming) that are affecting marine environment.

The first record from Sicily of the introduced facelinid nudibranch Godiva quadricolor allowed the detection of trophic relationships with the polycerid Polycera hedgpethi, another non-native nudibranch, and with two bryozoan species, namely the naturalized Cheilostomatida Bugula neritina and the cryptogenic Ctenostomatida Amathia verticillata. The settlement of both nudibranchs was presumably promoted by a trophic shift of P. hedgpethi from the natural prey B. neritina towards the largely available and not exploited A. verticillata. This short food web, without evident links with native fauna and having G. quadricolor as the top predator, is described. A DNA barcoding approach was used to confirm the identity of this facelinid species and to explore the possible genetic divergence occurring among the samples analysed.

The ecology and distribution of Pomatoschistus bathi are discussed on the basis of the first record from central-south Italy. A comparison with the co-generic and apparently similar P. tortonesei, indicated the two species are ecologically distinct and their areal does not overlap. The present record, from an area whose surface waters are cooled by upwelling currents, agrees with the hypothesis of a fragmented distribution restricted to the north. The species, which has not been of conservation interest, might be thus emblematic of ongoing habitat regression and fragmentation in strictly cold-water Mediterranean species. The present record, from a deeply anthropized basin, also represents a profitable case-study on the conservation dynamics in human-mediated aquatic ecosystems.

The number of tropical species established in the Mediterranean Sea has risen at an unprecedented rate in the last 40–50 years, often entering the basin from the Red Sea and to a lesser extent by shipping or mariculture. The taxonomic identity of these alien species can be difficult to determine and DNA barcoding can help to clarify the status of questionable species. One of these cases is the W-shaped mark Aglajidae slug usually identified as being the Indo-West Pacific species Chelidonura fulvipunctata Baba, 1938 but was first described in the Mediterranean Sea as a native species under the name C. mediterranea Swennen, 1961. A Bayesian phylogeny using the barcode marker cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and an ABGD species delimitation analysis unequivocally showed that specimens from the eastern and central Mediterranean Sea are conspecific with specimens from the Indian and Pacific Oceans. In this work, we hypothesize that C. fulvipunctata (presently occurring in the entire Mediterranean Sea and Indo-West Pacific; only once recorded in the Red Sea) has entered the Red Sea through the Mediterranean Sea. Thus the Red Sea can also be a receiver of tropical species that have arrived in the Mediterranean by other routes than Lessepsian immigration, with the Suez Canal acting as a “revolving door” allowing both species of Indo-Pacific origin to enter the Mediterranean and species established in the Mediterranean resilient to tropical/subtropical environmental conditions to move into the Red Sea. publishedVersion

The Mediterranean endemic Knipowitschia panizzae (Verga 1841) has been recorded in the protected area of “Capo Peloro Lagoon”, north-eastern Sicily, and 12 specimens have been collected. The record represents the first finding of the Adriatic dwarf goby in Sicily and the most southern one in the Mediterranean Sea. This record significantly extends the known distribution of K. panizzae and shows the invasive potential of this species in vulnerable transitional water habitats, making K. panizzae at the same time in different localities a possible threat for conservation and threatened species.