64 results on '"Vecchioni, L"'
Search Results
2. Guarding net effects on landings and discards in Mediterranean trammel net fishery: Case analysis of Egadi Islands Marine Protected Area (Central Mediterranean Sea, Italy)
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Sardo G., Vecchioni L., Milisenda G., Falsone F., Geraci M. L., Massi D., Rizzo P., Scannella D., Vitale S., Sardo, G, Vecchioni, L, Milisenda, G, Falsone, F, Geraci, ML, Massi, D, Rizzo, P, Scannella, D, Vitale, S, Sardo G., Vecchioni L., Milisenda G., Falsone F., Geraci M.L., Massi D., Rizzo P., Scannella D., and Vitale S.
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Settore BIO/07 - Ecologia ,Global and Planetary Change ,benthic assemblages ,by-catch reduction device ,benthic assemblage ,discard ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,conservation ,Ocean Engineering ,Aquatic Science ,sustainability ,Oceanography ,unwanted catches ,multivariate analysis ,unwanted catche ,multivariate analysi ,Water Science and Technology - Abstract
Discards remain among the main negative impacts of fishing activities, and their reductions are strengthened by the European Common Fisheries Policy (European Regulation 1380/2013). Trammel net fisheries appear more sustainable compared with other fishing techniques, especially from an ecological viewpoint. Despite this, reports show that trammel net fisheries deliver discard quantities between 10% and 43% of the total catch biomass. To supplement existing information, this current work attempts to address the discard reduction using guarding net in the small-scale fisheries of Egadi Islands MPA (Western Sicily, Central Mediterranean Sea). To assess the reduction of unwanted catches, 48 experimental fishing trials were conducted within a 6-month period. The experimental fishing trial employed a trammel net made up of 20 panels alternated with two different net configurations. The control panels (CN) held a large outer (180 mm) and small inner (31.25 mm) meshes. The test panels (GN) with guarding net constituted a three-mesh-high (50-mm mesh size) net placed between trammel net panels and a lead line. A total of 3,310 individuals belonging to 106 taxa and nine phyla were caught. Crustaceans were the most abundant unwanted catches in the control panels, whereas bioconstructions occurred in the guarding net panels. The discard ratios of CN and GN panels were statistically different (t-value = –2.55; p< 0.05). The analysis of catch per unit effort showed higher catches of CN panels for both commercial and discard fractions (p< 0.05). Moreover, the guarding net panels caught the main discarded species at 20% lower compared with the control. The overall value of the catch at the CN panels (€ 3,366.90) was higher than the total income (€ 2,043.70) generated using the GN panels, which suggests a significant commercial loss of 40% (p< 0.05).
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- 2023
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3. An update of the known distribution and status of Cherax spp. in Italy (Crustacea, Parastacidae)
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Vecchioni L., Marrone F., Chirco P., Arizza V., Tricarico E., Arculeo M., Vecchioni L., Marrone F., Chirco P., Arizza V., Tricarico E., and Arculeo M.
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aquaculture ,Ecology ,biological invasions ,Procambarus impact ,local extinction ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,cytochrome c oxidase subunit I ,ornamental trade ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics - Abstract
To date, only two Cherax species have been reported to occur in Italy, i.e., C. destructor Clark, 1936 and C. quadricarinatus (von Martens, 1868), both in the wild and in aquaculture farms. Therefore, we aimed to update their current status and distribution in Italian mainland and Sicily. In addition, we investigated the origin of their known populations, and their possible routes of invasion. In order to genetically characterize the Cherax populations occurring in Italian inland waters and aquaculture facilities, the barcode region of the mtDNA gene cytochrome oxidase subunit I was sequenced in the available specimens originating from an aquaculture facility and a museum collection. The sampling campaigns conducted in 2021 did not lead to the collection of any Cherax individuals in the sites where the species was formerly reported to occur. The recent failures to detect Cherax spp. from Italian inland waters might be due to the inability of the species to cope with the Italian climate, which is likely for C. quadricarinatus but less so for C. destructor, to the possible impact of the alien red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (as well as its indirect impact i.e., the spread of the crayfish plague for which yabby is susceptible), which occurs in both the sites where C. destructor was reported in Italy, or to the burrowing habits of the species, which might lead to overlook their presence when present at low densities. In the light of the well-known impact of invasive crayfish and considering the scant knowledge about the current distribution and status of Cherax species in Italy, a regular monitoring of their possible presence is recommended.
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- 2022
4. Distribution and natural history of Plutonium zwierleini(Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha) in Sicily (Italy)
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Faraone, F. P., Vecchioni, L., Goldenberg, J., Giacalone, G., Muscarella, C., Signorello, G., Battista, A., Nicolosi, G., and Marrone, F.
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AbstractPlutonium zwierleiniis a large plutoniumid centipede of great evolutionary interest, occurring with isolated populations along the western Mediterranean area, from Spain to Italy. Due to its rarity and the extreme paucity of available records, P. zwierleiniis among the least known Mediterranean chilopods, and scarce information is currently available on its ecology and natural history. Based on an extensive sampling effort carried out in Sicily between 2022 and 2023, we here provide additional occurrence localities for the species across Sicily, and new insights into its ecology. Overall, 29 novel Sicilian records of P. zwierleini, scattered across 21 localities, were collected thus increasing its known Sicilian distribution area by 117%, and the number of localities by 110%. The species was found in a wide range of habitats such as open areas, woods, buildings, and caves, characterizing Plutonium zwierleinias a habitat generalist, whose fine ecological preferendaneed to be further explored. Moreover, to explore the diet and behaviour of the species, some specimens were kept in captivity. The captive individuals fed mostly on dead or poorly mobile soft-bodied prey and inert food, without ever displaying predatory behaviour; this suggests that, contrarily to what is currently assumed, P. zwierleinimight be a scavenger rather than a predator. The potential distribution of Plutonium zwierleiniin Sicily was inferred based on georeferenced occurrence records and climatic variables. The implemented MaxEnt model forecasts the possible occurrence of P. zwierleinion the whole island, with the single exception of its south-easternmost part, possibly due to the local pattern of precipitation seasonality. We hope that the present work might pave the way for further surveys aimed at a better understanding of the ecology of Plutonium zwierleiniand the collection of new data in the other regions inhabited by this secretive species.
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- 2024
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5. New distributional data on Haemogregarina stepanowi (Apicomplexa) and Placobdella costata (Hirudinea) parasitising the Sicilian pond turtle Emys trinacris (Testudines)
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Scardino R., Arculeo M., Arizza V., Bazan G., Lo Valvo M., Marrone F., Vecchioni L., Scardino R., Arculeo M., Arizza V., Bazan G., Lo Valvo M., Marrone F., and Vecchioni L.
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blood parasites ,Haemogregarinidae ,conservation ,Glossiphoniidae ,Emydidae - Abstract
The host-parasite system "Emys trinacris - Placobdella costata - Haemogregarina stepanowi"is known for Sicily, but scarce information is available to date about the distribution of the two parasites P. costata and H. stepanowi on the island. Therefore, an extensive sampling effort through visual census and collection and analysis of blood smears of the endemic Sicilian pond turtle E. trinacris was carried out in 46 water bodies scattered throughout mainland Sicily. Our findings revealed that the distribution of both parasites is limited to the Nebrodi area, where the infection of H. stepanowi has shown a high incidence on the local turtle populations. Our data suggest no correlation between the current distribution of the two parasite species and environmental features. The current distribution of H. stepanowi and P. costata seems not to be relictual, but rather the outcome of a recent colonisation process. Considering the possible negative impact of both H. stepanowi and P. costata on their turtle host, their long-term effect on E. trinacris should be investigated.
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- 2022
6. First record of arctodiaptomus wierzejskii (Richard, 1888) (Copepoda Calanoida Diaptomidae) from Malta
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Montevago L., Vecchioni L., Marrone F., Montevago L., Vecchioni L., and Marrone F.
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Temporary waters ,Maltese inland waters ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,Microcrustaceans - Abstract
Diaptomid copepods belonging to the genus Arctodiaptomus Kiefer, 1932 were collected in two temporary water bodies in Malta. The morphological identification of the collected specimens proved that they belong to Arctodiaptomus wierzejskii (Richard, 1888) even if a morphological peculiarity pertaining to the morphology of the male right antennule of the Maltese populations was observed and here briefly discussed. This finding constitutes the first record of a calanoid copepod from the inland waters of the Maltese Islands.
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- 2020
7. Sicilians are not easily hooked! first assessment of the impact of recreational fishing on the endemic sicilian pond turtle emys trinacris (Testudines, emydidae)
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Vecchioni L., Cicerone A., Scardino R., Arizza V., Arculeo M., Marrone F., Vecchioni L., Cicerone A., Scardino R., Arizza V., Arculeo M., and Marrone F.
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Bycatch impact ,Illegal angling ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,Citizen science ,Sicily ,Wetland management - Abstract
The possible impact of recreational fishing on the Sicilian pond turtle Emys trinacris was investigated in two permanent water bodies in western Sicily (Italy). Overall, 120 specimens were temporarily captured and X-rayed in order to determine the possible presence of fishhooks in their mouth, throat, or gastrointestinal tract. At the studied sites, none of the Xrayed turtles showed any evidence of ingested fishhooks or other fishing gears, thus suggesting limited impact of recreational fishing. However, the occasional but not negligible findings of E. trinacris specimens injured by fishhooks or entangled in abandoned fishing lines prove the actual existence of such impact, raising some concerns about the long-term conservation of this endemic pond turtle. The need of monitoring the possible impacts of angling where pond turtles are present is briefly stressed.
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- 2020
8. New molecular data attest to the absence of cospeciation patterns between Placobdella costata (Fr. Müller, 1846) (Hirudinea) and freshwater turtles (Emys spp.) in Italy
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Vecchioni, L., primary, Marrone, F., additional, Liuzzo, M., additional, Seglie, D., additional, Cavalcante, R., additional, Bazan, G., additional, Arizza, V., additional, and Arculeo, M., additional
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- 2021
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9. An exhaustive phylogeny of the combtooth blenny genus Salaria (Pisces, Blenniidae) shows introgressive hybridization and lack of reciprocal mtDNA monophyly between the marine species Salaria basilisca and Salaria pavo
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Belaiba, E., primary, Marrone, F., additional, Vecchioni, L., additional, Bahri-Sfar, L., additional, and Arculeo, M., additional
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- 2019
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10. New molecular data attest to the absence of cospeciation patterns between Placobdella costata(Fr. Müller, 1846) (Hirudinea) and freshwater turtles (Emysspp.) in Italy
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Vecchioni, L., Marrone, F., Liuzzo, M., Seglie, D., Cavalcante, R., Bazan, G., Arizza, V., and Arculeo, M.
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AbstractThe only Palearctic representative of the leech genus PlacobdellaBlanchard, 1893 is P. costata, an ectoparasite of freshwater turtles. To date, no conclusive evidence about the possible presence of coevolutionary patterns between this leech and its turtle hosts is available due to the paucity of DNA sequence data available for P. costata; moreover, comparative host data is also mostly lacking, making any inferences more difficult. The discovery of new populations of the species in northern Italy and Sicily allowed us to generate novel mitochondrial DNA sequences and to compare the topology of the resulting phylogenetic trees with the phylogeny of the turtle hosts occurring in the study area, i.e., Emys orbicularisand E. trinacris. The branching pattern of the phylogenetic tree for P. costatais not congruent with that of its turtle hosts, thus suggesting the lack of coevolutionary or cospeciation phenomena between these taxa. The lack of a coevolutionary pattern might be ascribed to the different dispersal ability of Placobdella costataand Emysspp. and to the host generality of the leech, as confirmed by the occurrence of P. costataon aquatic turtles belonging to the genus Mauremysin areas where Emysspp. are rare or absent.A single leech cytochrome coxidase subunit 1 haplotype was found in each study region, and the overall nucleotide diversity was very low throughout the investigated distribution. This apparent lack of a clear phylogeographical pattern was unexpected in the P. costatapopulations occurring in the circum-Mediterranean areas, where the occurrence of high haplotype and nucleotide diversity is customary for most terrestrial and freshwater species. Based on the available data, we suggest a recent, post-glacial origin of the studied P. costatapopulations.
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- 2021
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11. Are there autochthonousFerrissia(Mollusca: Planorbidae) in the Palaearctic? Molecular evidence of a widespread North American invasion of the Old World
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Vecchioni, L., primary, Marrone, F., additional, Arculeo, M., additional, and Arizza, V., additional
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- 2017
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12. The late Pleistocene origin of the Italian and Maltese populations ofPotamon fluviatile(Malacostraca: Decapoda): insights from an expanded sampling of molecular data
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Vecchioni, L., primary, Deidun, A., additional, Sciberras, J., additional, Sciberras, A., additional, Marrone, F., additional, and Arculeo, M., additional
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- 2017
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13. The late Pleistocene origin of the Italian and Maltese populations of Potamon fluviatile (Malacostraca: Decapoda): insights from an expanded sampling of molecular data.
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Vecchioni, L., Deidun, A., Sciberras, J., Sciberras, A., Marrone, F., and Arculeo, M.
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FRESHWATER crabs , *MITOCHONDRIAL DNA , *CYTOCHROME oxidase , *MALACOSTRACA , *DECAPODA - Abstract
Evidence available for most inland water and terrestrial organisms highlights the significant role played by southern Italy, Sicily and the Maltese islands as refuges during Pleistocene climatic fluctuations. However, to date, the hypothesis that these areas may have acted as Pleistocene refugia for the freshwater crab Potamon fluviatile has not been explicitly tested, and a recent origin of local P. fluviatile populations was proposed on the basis of a small set of analysed molecular data. We have thus expanded the currently available data set on the population genetic structure of P. fluviatile through dedicated samplings in Sicily (Italy, 18 specimens), the Maltese Islands (Malta, 15 specimens) and the island of Corfu (Greece, seven specimens), with the explicit aim of testing the role of southern Italy, Sicily and the Maltese archipelago as refugia where early Pleistocene or pre-Quaternary populations of the freshwater crab could have persisted to date. Based on the analysis of both novel and published cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequence data, we gathered evidence supporting a recent origin of the southern Italian, Sicilian and Maltese populations of Potamon fluviatile from the Balkans, thus rejecting the hypothesised Pleistocene persistence in the area of pre-existing local populations of the same species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2017
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14. Are there autochthonous Ferrissia (Mollusca: Planorbidae) in the Palaearctic? Molecular evidence of a widespread North American invasion of the Old World.
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Vecchioni, L., Marrone, F., Arculeo, M., and Arizza, V.
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FERRISSIA , *MOLLUSKS , *PLANORBIDAE , *BIOLOGICAL invasions , *PALEARCTIC - Abstract
In the last few decades, findings of freshwater limpets belonging to the genus Ferrissia have been frequent and widely distributed throughout the Palaearctic and beyond. The widespread presence of a Nearctic alien taxon was proved, but no consensus was achieved about the possible existence of autochthonous Ferrissia taxa in the area, an occurrence which would be supported by the presence of gastropod fossils attributed to the genus throughout Eurasia and North Africa. In order to test the hypothesis of a possible persistence of autochthonous Ferrissia taxa in the Palaearctic to the present day, all the published data on the genetic diversity of Ferrissia populations occurring in the area were reviewed, expanding also the currently available dataset through dedicated sampling surveys in Italy, Malta and Spain. Here, based on currently published and novel large ribosomal subunit 16S rRNA (16S) and cytochrome oxidase sub-unit 1 (COI) sequences, the presence of the allochthonous Ferrissia californica in the whole Palaearctic was confirmed. Conversely, no evidence supporting the presence of autochthonous Ferrissia taxa was obtained. Ferrissia californica proved to be a highly invasive taxon (in spite of its extremely low genetic diversity) throughout the invaded regions, which is possibly related to the species' ability of asexual reproduction. Finally, the need to investigate the possible impact exerted by F. californica on the autochthonous Palaearctic biota is briefly stressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2017
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15. The late Pleistocene origin of the Italian and Maltese populations of Potamon fluviatile(Malacostraca: Decapoda): insights from an expanded sampling of molecular data
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Vecchioni, L., Deidun, A., Sciberras, J., Sciberras, A., Marrone, F., and Arculeo, M.
- Abstract
AbstractEvidence available for most inland water and terrestrial organisms highlights the significant role played by southern Italy, Sicily and the Maltese islands as refuges during Pleistocene climatic fluctuations. However, to date, the hypothesis that these areas may have acted as Pleistocene refugia for the freshwater crab Potamon fluviatilehas not been explicitly tested, and a recent origin of local P. fluviatilepopulations was proposed on the basis of a small set of analysed molecular data. We have thus expanded the currently available data set on the population genetic structure of P. fluviatilethrough dedicated samplings in Sicily (Italy, 18 specimens), the Maltese Islands (Malta, 15 specimens) and the island of Corfu (Greece, seven specimens), with the explicit aim of testing the role of southern Italy, Sicily and the Maltese archipelago as refugia where early Pleistocene or pre-Quaternary populations of the freshwater crab could have persisted to date. Based on the analysis of both novel and published cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequence data, we gathered evidence supporting a recent origin of the southern Italian, Sicilian and Maltese populations of Potamon fluviatilefrom the Balkans, thus rejecting the hypothesised Pleistocene persistence in the area of pre-existing local populations of the same species.
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- 2017
- Full Text
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16. Are there autochthonous Ferrissia(Mollusca: Planorbidae) in the Palaearctic? Molecular evidence of a widespread North American invasion of the Old World
- Author
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Vecchioni, L., Marrone, F., Arculeo, M., and Arizza, V.
- Abstract
AbstractIn the last few decades, findings of freshwater limpets belonging to the genus Ferrissiahave been frequent and widely distributed throughout the Palaearctic and beyond. The widespread presence of a Nearctic alien taxon was proved, but no consensus was achieved about the possible existence of autochthonous Ferrissiataxa in the area, an occurrence which would be supported by the presence of gastropod fossils attributed to the genus throughout Eurasia and North Africa. In order to test the hypothesis of a possible persistence of autochthonous Ferrissiataxa in the Palaearctic to the present day, all the published data on the genetic diversity of Ferrissiapopulations occurring in the area were reviewed, expanding also the currently available dataset through dedicated sampling surveys in Italy, Malta and Spain. Here, based on currently published and novel large ribosomal subunit 16S rRNA (16S) and cytochrome oxidase sub-unit 1 (COI) sequences, the presence of the allochthonous Ferrissia californicain the whole Palaearctic was confirmed. Conversely, no evidence supporting the presence of autochthonous Ferrissiataxa was obtained. Ferrissia californicaproved to be a highly invasive taxon (in spite of its extremely low genetic diversity) throughout the invaded regions, which is possibly related to the species’ ability of asexual reproduction. Finally, the need to investigate the possible impact exerted by F. californicaon the autochthonous Palaearctic biota is briefly stressed.
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- 2017
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17. On the occurrence of the invasive Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun 1896 (Decapoda: Brachyura: Portunidae) in Sicilian inland waters
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Luca Vecchioni, Salvatore Russotto, Marco Arculeo, Federico Marrone, Vecchioni L., Russotto S., Arculeo M., and Marrone F.
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COI gene ,crustaceans ,biological invasions ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,Paleontology ,Geology ,Animal Science and Zoology ,DNA barcoding ,Plant Science ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics - Abstract
The Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 is included among the worst invasive alien species in the Mediterranean Sea. Here, we report the finding of the species in two Sicilian rivers, the Irminio and the Imera Meridionale, where it was collected up to 6 km from the river mouths. Although several records of the species are already available from Italy, this is the first evidence of the occurrence of this invasive crab so far from the coastline in the whole country. In the light of the well-known impact of the Atlantic blue crab on the invaded water bodies, the monitoring of the species and appropriate mitigation strategies should be implemented in order to protect the threatened native biota of Sicilian inland waters.
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- 2022
18. On Caretta caretta’s shell: first spatial analysis of micro- and macro-epibionts on the Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtle carapace
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Monica Francesca Blasi, Alice Rotini, Tiziano Bacci, Monica Targusi, Giusy Bonanno Ferraro, Luca Vecchioni, Rosa Alduina, Luciana Migliore, Blasi M.F., Rotini A., Bacci T., Targusi M., Ferraro G.B., Vecchioni L., Alduina R., and Migliore L.
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Caretta caretta ,Settore BIO/07 ,firmicutes ,Kilonelliaceae ,Aquatic Science ,Oceanography ,cyanobacteria ,proteobacteria ,biofilm ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics - Abstract
The loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758), is the most common sea turtle species in the Mediterranean Sea, where it can experience severe anthropogenic impacts. Although C. caretta is known to host more than 200 epibiotic taxa (crustaceans, algae and cyanobacteria), no reports have included a detailed evaluation of the microbial community of its carapace scutes. Thus, this study aimed to determine the diversity and composition of the visible and invisible communities on the carapace scutes of wild loggerhead turtles from the Aeolian Archipelago (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) by using a combined approach of morphological/spatial examination and molecular analyses. Altogether, our results displayed a higher abundance of crustaceans, macroalgae and Proteobacteria on the posterior carapace scutes, while Firmicutes were more abundant on the anterior scutes. For the first time, this study showed the complexity of the microbial (invisible) and visible epibionts of the loggerhead sea turtles from the Mediterranean Sea and suggests the importance of including evaluation of the microbial components when studying epibiont communities.
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- 2021
19. Current Status of and Threats to Sicilian Turtles
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Luca Vecchioni, Marco Arculeo, Melita Vamberger, Federico Marrone, Vecchioni L., Arculeo M., Vamberger M., and Marrone F.
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Caretta caretta ,Ecology ,Emys trinacris ,Ecological Modeling ,biological invasions ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) ,Sicily ,Testudo hermanni ,Nature and Landscape Conservation ,Trachemys scripta - Abstract
Based on the critical review of the literature published in the last 22 years, an attempt was made to evaluate the current knowledge gap on the distribution and status of the native Testudines taxa occurring in Sicily (namely Caretta caretta, Emys trinacris, and Testudo hermanni hermanni), as well as the available knowledge of the only non-native species with putative viable populations occurring on the island, i.e., Trachemys scripta. Summarizing the current information, all of the Testudines species occurring in Sicily showed a fragmented and incompletely-known distribution, and only scarce data are available about their phenology. Moreover, despite their inclusion of international and national laws (Bern Convention, CITES, Habitat directive), all three native species are facing several threats (e.g., habitat alteration, the occurrence of invasive species, parasite spillover) leading to a reduction of their populations on the island. Future monitoring programs on the island should be enhanced, with an emphasis on those taxa in decline. Moreover, involve Citizen Science programs should also be implemented in order to increase the awareness of non-experts and facilitate the monitoring task.
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- 2022
20. The European Pine Marten Martes martes (Linnaeus, 1758) Is Autochthonous in Sicily and Constitutes a Well-Characterised Major Phylogroup within the Species (Carnivora, Mustelidae)
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Luca Vecchioni, Federico Marrone, Simone Costa, Calogero Muscarella, Elena Carra, Vincenzo Arizza, Marco Arculeo, Francesco Paolo Faraone, Vecchioni L., Marrone F., Costa S., Muscarella C., Carra E., Arizza V., Arculeo M., and Faraone F.P.
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General Veterinary ,biodiversity on islands ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,Animal Science and Zoology ,mitochondrial DNA ,Pleistocene refugia ,Quaternary glaciations - Abstract
No molecular data are currently available for the Sicilian populations of the European pine marten Martes martes, thus preventing any sound inference about its native or non-native status on the island, as well as the local phylogeography of the species. In order to investigate these issues, we sequenced two mtDNA markers in road-killed specimens collected in Sicily. Both markers consistently demonstrated the existence of a well-characterised Sicilian clade of the species, which is endemic to the island and constitutes the sister group of a clade including the Mediterranean and Central–North European major phylogroups of the European pine marten. Such evidence supports the autochthony of Martes martes in Sicily and points to a natural Pleistocene colonisation of the island followed by isolation. The occurrence of a, to date undetected, major phylogroup of the species in Sicily calls for the dedicated monitoring of the Sicilian populations of the species in order to preserve this evolutionarily significant unit.
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- 2022
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21. The valid genus name of the European freshwater blennies, Ichthyocoris or Salariopsis (Teleostei: Blenniidae)?
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LUCA VECCHIONI, MARCO ARCULEO, PETER J. HUNDT, FEDERICO MARRONE, Vecchioni L., Arculeo M., Hundt P.J., and Marrone F.
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Fishes ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,Animals ,Animal Science and Zoology ,Fresh Water ,Biodiversity ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Perciformes ,Taxonomy - Abstract
Vecchioni, Luca, Arculeo, Marco, Hundt, Peter J., Marrone, Federico (2022): The valid genus name of the European freshwater blennies, Ichthyocoris or Salariopsis (Teleostei: Blenniidae)? Zootaxa 5162 (1): 99-100, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5162.1.8
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- 2022
22. Unveiling the egg microbiota of the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta in nesting beaches of the Mediterranean Sea
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Luca Vecchioni, Antonino Pace, Arianna Sucato, Flavia Berlinghieri, Irene Cambera, Giulia Visconti, Sandra Hochscheid, Marco Arculeo, Rosa Alduina, Groothuis lab, Vecchioni L., Pace A., Sucato A., Berlinghieri F., Cambera I., Visconti G., Hochscheid S., Arculeo M., and Alduina R.
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Bird eggs, turtles, eggs, gut bacteria, beaches, actinodacteria, bacteria, gastrointestinal tract ,Multidisciplinary ,Bacteria ,Sand ,caretta caretta ,RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ,microbiota ,Mediterranean Sea ,Animals ,egg ,human activities ,Nesting Behavior ,Turtles - Abstract
Microbes have central roles in the development and health of animals, being the introduction of specific microbial species a potential conservation strategy to protect animals from emerging diseases. Thus, insight into the microbiota of the species and their habitats is essential. In this manuscript, we report for the first time the bacterial composition of all the components (eggshells of hatched and unhatched eggs, internal content of unhatched eggs, intestinal content of hatchling and pipping sea turtles, and sand) of three nesting beaches of Caretta caretta along the Italian coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. The analysis of 26 amplicon samples was carried out using next-generation sequencing analysis, targeting V3–V4 regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Samples featured mainly Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes, whose percentages depended on the sample type. Our results showed that, although from different sampling sites, the internal content of the unhatched eggs, intestinal content of hatchling and pipping sea turtles share the microbiota, which was yet different from that of eggshells and sand of the same nesting beach. This study suggests the maternal and environmental influence alongside a protective role of eggshells in shaping the egg microbiota of Caretta caretta sea turtles.
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- 2022
23. Extensive sampling sheds light on species-level diversity in Palearctic Placobdella (Annelida: Clitellata: Glossiphoniiformes)
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Sebastian Kvist, Serge Utevsky, Federico Marrone, Raja Ben Ahmed, Łukasz Gajda, Clemens Grosser, Mair Huseynov, Uwe Jueg, Andrii Khomenko, Alejandro Oceguera-Figueroa, Vladimir Pešić, Mihails Pupins, Rachid Rouag, Naim Sağlam, Piotr Świątek, Peter Trontelj, Luca Vecchioni, Christian Müller, Kvist S., Utevsky S., Marrone F., Ben Ahmed R., Gajda L., Grosser C., Huseynov M., Jueg U., Khomenko A., Oceguera-Figueroa A., Pesic V., Pupins M., Rouag R., Saglam N., Swiatek P., Trontelj P., Vecchioni L., and Muller C.
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Placobdella costata ,Hirudinea ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I ,Internal Transcribed Spacer ,Biodiversity ,Genetic variation ,Aquatic Science - Abstract
The bloodfeeding leech genus Placobdella is dominated by North American diversity, with only a single nominal species known from Central America and one from the Palearctic region. This is likely due to considerable underestimation of Palearctic biodiversity, but investigations into potential hidden diversity are lacking. To shed light on this, the present study introduces new data for specimens initially identified as Placobdella costata from Ukraine (close to the type locality), Italy, Germany, Latvia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Tunisia, and Algeria, and uses both nuclear (Internal Transcribed Spacer [ITS] region) and mitochondrial (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I [COI]) sequence data in phylogenetic and DNA barcoding frameworks, in order to better understand species-level diversity. Seven independent lineages are present in the trees, five of which show adequate separation at the COI locus to suggest their unique species-level status (COI distances between these clades range from 4.86 to 8.10%). However, the ITS data suggest that speciation is recent or incipient in these clades, and that not enough time has passed for clear separation at this locus. We discuss the evolutionary and taxonomic implications of our findings and speculate on dispersal events that may have contributed to shaping this pattern of geographic distribution.
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- 2022
24. Morphological and molecular diversity patterns of the genus Tropodiaptomus Kiefer, 1932 (Copepoda, Calanoida, Diaptomidae) in Thailand
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Thanida Saetang, Federico Marrone, Luca Vecchioni, Supiyanit Maiphae, Saetang T., Marrone F., Vecchioni L., and Maiphae S.
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Male ,Multidisciplinary ,Science ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,Thailand ,DNA, Mitochondrial ,Copepoda ,Evolution, Molecular ,Medicine ,Animals ,Female ,Sequence Alignment ,Phylogeny - Abstract
Tropodiaptomus is one of the most specious genera in the family Diaptomidae, but it is often rare in terms of distribution and abundance. Moreover, Tropodiaptomus species show a noteworthy variability in some of the morphological characters considered of prime importance in diaptomid taxonomy, and the presence of cryptic or pseudocryptic species is likely. Thus, through a geographically-wide sampling in Thailand, we aimed to investigate the local diversity of the genus and to compare the morphological and molecular diversity pattern based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes sequences. DNA taxonomy was also implemented in order to check whether the Tropodiaptomus lineages were independent species according to the “evolutionary genetic species concept”. Six Tropodiaptomus morphospecies were found, three of which are putative species new to Science pending a formal description. The finding of such a high incidence of undescribed species stresses the existence of a significant “Linnean shortfall” affecting Thai diaptomids. The molecular results showed that most of the studied species could be identified consistently with their morphology-based taxonomy. However, Tropodiaptomus vicinus and T. cf. lanaonus showed a high level of genetic diversity, suggesting that traditional morphological techniques might be inadequate for correctly assessing their taxonomical status.
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- 2022
25. Multi-Locus Phylogenetic Analyses of the Almadablennius Clade Reveals Inconsistencies with the Present Taxonomy of Blenniid Fishes
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Luca Vecchioni, Andrew C. Ching, Federico Marrone, Marco Arculeo, Peter J. Hundt, Andrew M. Simons, Vecchioni L., Ching A.C., Marrone F., Arculeo M., Hundt P.J., and Simons A.M.
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Ecology ,Parablennius ,Salaria ,QH301-705.5 ,Ecological Modeling ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,Biology (General) ,Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) ,Blenniidae ,Phylogeny ,Nature and Landscape Conservation - Abstract
We used a multi-locus phylogenetic approach (i.e., combining both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA fragments) to address some long-standing taxonomic inconsistencies within the diverse fish clade of Combtooth Blennies (Blenniidae—unranked clade Almadablennius). The obtained phylogenetic trees revealed some major inconsistencies in the current taxonomy of Parablennini, such as the paraphyletic status of the Salaria and Parablennius genera, casting some doubt regarding their actual phylogenetic relationship. Furthermore, a scarce-to-absent genetic differentiation was observed among the three species belonging to the genus Chasmodes. This study provides an updated taxonomy and phylogeny of the former genus Salaria, ascribing some species to the new genus Salariopsis gen. nov., and emphasizes the need for a revision of the genus Parablennius.
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- 2022
26. Molecular data attest to the occurrence of autochthonous Daphnia pulex (Crustacea, Branchiopoda) populations in Sicily, Italy
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Luca Vecchioni, Marco Arculeo, Federico Marrone, Vecchioni L., Arculeo M., and Marrone F.
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Cryptic invasions ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,Biological invasions ,Aquatic Science ,Cladocera ,Oceanography ,Anomopoda - Abstract
Biological invasions are known to be among the most important threats to the long-term conservation of native biota, and their effects might be even more difficult to contrast when they are cryptic, i.e., when the non-native invaders cannot be easily recognised based on morphology, and can thus be confused with native taxa. Such cryptic invasions are known to widely occur in the cladoceran genus Daphnia O.F. Müller, 1785, so that the actual distribution and status of most species and lineages need to be checked with a genetic approach. In the frame of this work, we investigated if the Sicilian populations of D. (Daphnia) pulex Leydig, 1860 belonged to the allochthonous North American lineage, which is known to occur in several regions of the Palearctic and Afrotropical biogeographical regions, or rather to the autochthonous European lineage of the species. The molecular results obtained, based on a fragment of the mitochondrial gene encoding for NADH subunit dehydrogenase 5 (ND5), allowed us to rule out the allochthonous status of the species, confirming the presence of autochthonous relictual lineages of D. pulex in Sicily. The native status of these populations is in agreement with their local distribution, limited to natural and poorly-impacted water bodies mostly located in wooded areas at medium and high altitudes. The current local distribution of D. pulex in Sicily is possibly linked to the end of the last glacial maximum and the onset of warmer climatic conditions in the early Holocene, which led the species to take refuge in colder microthermal refugia located at high altitudes, determining their current relictual distribution.
- Published
- 2021
27. Conservation state of two paintings in the Santa Margherita cliff cave: role of the environment and of the microbial community
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Francesco Armetta, Josue Cardenas, Rosa Alduina, Luca Vecchioni, Alessandro Presentato, Maria Luisa Saladino, Eugenio Caponetti, Alberto Spinella, Pietro Di Stefano, Armetta F., Cardenas J., Caponetti E., Alduina R., Presentato A., Vecchioni L., di Stefano P., Spinella A., and Saladino M.L.
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Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Natural (archaeology) ,Cave painting ,State (polity) ,Cave ,Cliff ,Environmental Chemistry ,Sulfates and chlorides ,media_common ,geography ,Painting ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,Bacteria ,Microbiota ,Temperature ,Conservation Plan ,Plan (archaeology) ,Humidity ,Environmental monitoring ,General Medicine ,Pollution ,Archaeology ,humanities ,Conservation plan ,Paintings ,Bacterial community - Abstract
The conservation of ancient paintings sited in humid environments is an actual challenge for restorers, because it needs the knowledge of the materials the paintings are made up and of their interaction with a peculiar surrounding environment; thus, tailored procedures and strategies aimed at restoring and preserving paintings are necessary. The Santa Margherita’s cave in Castellammare del Golfo (Trapani, Italy) is a natural cave, containing the remains of paintings, in a poor state of conservation, belonging to an ancient church dated back to the Middle Age. The present manuscript reports the monitoring of environmental conditions (i.e., temperature and humidity) in a full year as well as a study on the materials constituting the stone support and the paintings together with a survey of the microbial community. The findings allow us to define the causes which mainly involve the degradation of the paintings. In detail, the degradation of the east and the west wall occurred differently because of the exposure to the sea aerosol, which influenced the salt composition, also contributing to diversifying the bacterial community. Some specific actions to plan the conservation and restoration of paintings and to preserve the site are suggested.
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- 2021
28. The Inland Water Copepod Fauna of a Traditional Rural Landscape in a Mediterranean Island (Crustacea, Copepoda)
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Marta Marchese, Luca Vecchioni, Giuseppe Bazan, Marco Arculeo, Federico Marrone, Marchese M., Vecchioni L., Bazan G., Arculeo M., and Marrone F.
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inland water ,Calanoida ,Cyclopoida ,Harpacticoida ,inland waters ,Sicily ,biological invasions ,temporary ponds ,Geography, Planning and Development ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,biological invasion ,Aquatic Science ,Biochemistry ,Water Science and Technology - Abstract
Although the Mediterranean area is a well-known hotspot of biological diversity, the crustacean assemblages inhabiting inland waters of the Mediterranean islands are to date unevenly known, and detailed information is missing for most taxa and areas. In the frame of this paper, we provide a checklist and a characterization of the copepod fauna of the lentic water bodies occurring in a traditional rural landscape of Sicily, where the co-existence of agriculture, woodlands, and pastoral activities lead to the presence of a wide range of different aquatic habitats. Overall, 22 copepod species belonging to the orders Calanoida, Cyclopoida, and Harpacticoida have been found in the 92 surveyed sites, stressing the conservation value of the area. In the study area, species widespread in the west Palaearctic region co-exist with strictly Mediterranean elements and a small but biogeographically significant group of species with northern or Balkan affinities, which support the role of the investigated area as a refugium for species that colonised Sicily during Pleistocene climate fluctuations and are now restricted to the more wet parts of the island. A single non-native species has been found, and its distribution is currently limited to permanent, man-made reservoirs.
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- 2022
29. Comparison of the intestinal microbiome of italian patients with multiple sclerosis and their household relatives
- Author
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Domenico Nuzzo, Luca Scalisi, Fanny Claire Capri, Sabrina Realmuto, Luca Vecchioni, Salvatore Cottone, Rosa Alduina, Paola Galluzzo, Galluzzo P., Capri F.C., Vecchioni L., Realmuto S., Scalisi L., Cottone S., Nuzzo D., and Alduina R.
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Ruminococcaceae ,Bacteroidaceae ,Science ,Veillonellaceae ,Disease ,Gut flora ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Article ,Multiple sclerosis ,medicine ,Microbiome ,Desulfovibrionaceae christensenellaceae ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Genetics ,Clostridiales ,biology ,Burkholderiaceae ,Paleontology ,biology.organism_classification ,medicine.disease ,Space and Planetary Science ,Tannerellaceae - Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system, caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. In recent years, a role in MS pathogenesis was assigned to the gut microbiota. However, different signatures of gut dysbiosis have been shown to depend on environmental factors, like diet and lifestyle. In this study, we compared the gut microbiome in MS patients and their household healthy relatives sharing lifestyle and environmental factors. Faecal metagenomic DNA was extracted and the V3–V4 regions of the conserved bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene were amplified and sequenced. While overall bacterial communities were similar, specific families differed between healthy and MS subjects. We observed an increase in Ruminococcaceae, Christensenellaceae, Desulfovibrionaceae, Clostridiales, and Family XIII in MS patients, while Bacteroidaceae, Tannerellaceae, Veillonellaceae, and Burkholderiaceae were more abundant in healthy controls. In addition, principle coordinate analysis showed that the gut microbiome of all MS patients formed a cluster being less diverse than the household relatives and that gut microbiota of MS patients with EDSS 4.5–7 formed a distinct cluster in respect to their controls. Overall, our study is consistent with the hypothesis that MS patients have gut microbial dysbiosis and evidenced the importance of environmental factors in shaping the gut microbiome.
- Published
- 2021
30. Range-wide phylogeography and taxonomy of the marine rock pools dweller Tigriopus fulvus (Fischer, 1860) (Copepoda, Harpacticoida)
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Marco Arculeo, Federico Marrone, Vezio Cottarelli, Luca Vecchioni, Vecchioni L., Arculeo M., Cottarelli V., and Marrone F.
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geography ,rocky shore communities ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,biology ,Ecology ,Range (biology) ,Tigriopus fulvus ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,biology.organism_classification ,Harpacticidae ,Phylogeography ,genetic structuring ,Genetics ,Animal Science and Zoology ,Taxonomy (biology) ,Dna taxonomy ,Molecular Biology ,Tide pool ,Harpacticoida ,DNA taxonomy ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics - Abstract
In the light of the wide distribution and ecological importance of the genus Tigriopus in coastal rock pool habitats, and of its frequent use in aquaculture and as a model organism, we investigated the identity of the Atlantic–Mediterranean Tigriopus populations and elucidated their taxonomy and patterns of morphological and genetic diversity. In order to reach these goals, an “integrative taxonomy” multisource approach was implemented. First, we investigated the constancy and taxonomical value of the morphological characters currently used to distinguish among the Tigriopus species occurring in the Mediterranean and in Eastern Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer, and checked the actual morphological differences possibly present among topotypical samples of Tigriopus fulvus fulvus (Fischer, 1860) and its two subspecies Tigriopus fulvus adriaticus Van Douwe, 1913 and Tigriopus fulvus algiricus Monard, 1935. Then, we sequenced fragments of mitochondrial (12S) and nuclear (28S) genes. In the frame of this study, different “DNA taxonomy” approaches were implemented in order to check whether the subspecies of Tigriopus fulvus were actually lineages evolving independently, that is, valid species according to the “evolutionary genetic species concept.” The results coherently indicate the presence of a single species, characterized by constant morphology and a noteworthy geographically based genetic structure in the whole study area. No morphological or genetic support was found for the taxa of allegedly subspecific rank within T. fulvus, which are thus to be considered junior synonyms of T. fulvus s.s. Finally, a restricted locus typicus is established for T. fulvus, and a neotype is designated.
- Published
- 2021
31. First record of Temnosewellia minor (Platyhelminthes, Temnocephalidae) in Sicily, with a plea for a re-examination of the identity of the publicly available molecular sequences of the genus
- Author
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Federico Marrone, Vincenzo Arizza, Luca Vecchioni, Giuseppe Bazan, Marco Arculeo, Pietro Chirco, Vecchioni L., Chirco P., Bazan G., Marrone F., Arizza V., and Arculeo M.
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Global and Planetary Change ,education.field_of_study ,Ecology ,Phylogenetic tree ,28S rDNA ,business.industry ,Fauna ,Population ,Identity (social science) ,Alien species ,Cherax destructor ,Archaeology ,language.human_language ,Ectosymbionts ,Geography ,Plea ,Aquaculture ,Genus ,language ,business ,education ,Sicilian ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics - Abstract
Author(s): Vecchioni, Luca; Chirco, Pietro; Bazan, Giuseppe; Marrone, Federico; Arizza, Vincenzo; Arculeo, Marco | Abstract: Ectosymbiotic temnocephalan flatworms belonging to the genus Temnosewellia Damborenea and Cannon, 2001 were collected on Cherax destructor Clark, 1936 in an aquaculture farm in Sicily, Italy. This represents the first record of a temnocephalan species for the fauna of the island. Morphological and molecular identification of the collected specimens proved that they belong to the allochthonous species Temnosewellia minor Haswell, 1888, which was introduced along with crayfishes bred in aquaculture farms. The phylogenetic analyses carried out for the molecular identification of the Sicilian population highlighted some inconsistencies in the grouping of the Temnosewellia sequences available online, thus stressing the opportunity of a careful re-examination of the voucher samples and their identifications. The risks of a its unwary introduction in the wild and the need of monitoring its possible impacts on native biota are briefly discussed.
- Published
- 2021
32. New distributional data for the Mediterranean medicinal leech Hirudo verbana Carena, 1820 (Hirudinea, Hirudinidae) in Italy, with a note on its feeding on amphibians
- Author
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Riccardo Novaga, Luca Vecchioni, Giovanni Farina, Fabio Stoch, Enrico Schifani, Marco Pecoraro, Simone Costa, Emiliano Mori, Pietro Brandmayr, Federico Marrone, Giuseppe Alfonso, Angelina Iannarelli, Reinhard Gerecke, Rosario Barbagallo, A Mazzei, Giuseppe Mazza, Giacomo Bruni, Mattia Menchetti, Valerio Moretti, Marrone F., Alfonso G., Barbagallo R., Brandmayr P., Bruni G., Costa S., Farina G., Gerecke R., Iannarelli A., Mazza G., Mazzei A., Menchetti M., Moretti V., Mori E., Novaga R., Pecoraro M., Schifani E., Stoch F., and Vecchioni L.
- Subjects
Mediterranean climate ,Scarce data ,Global and Planetary Change ,Ecology ,biology ,Monitoring ,business.industry ,Annelida ,Habitats directive ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,Distribution (economics) ,Leech ,Hirudo ,Baseline data ,biology.organism_classification ,Habitats Directive ,Geography ,Feeding behaviour ,Ethnology ,business ,Hirudo verbana ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics - Abstract
Author(s): Marrone, Federico; Alfonso, Giuseppe; Barbagallo, Rosario; Brandmayr, Pietro; Bruni, Giacomo; Costa, Simone; Farina, Giovanni; Gerecke, Reinhard; Iannarelli, Angelina; Mazza, Giuseppe; Mazzei, Antonio; Menchetti, Mattia; Moretti, Valerio; Mori, Emiliano; Novaga, Riccardo; Pecoraro, Marco; Schifani, Enrico; Stoch, Fabio; Vecchioni, Luca | Abstract: Scarce data are currently available about the distribution of the Mediterranean medicinal leech Hirudo verbana in Italy, and most of the known occurrence localities are based on records collected in the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, which were not confirmed in the last decades, mostly due to a lack of surveys. Accordingly, the available knowledge on the distribution of the species is far from being updated and representative, although a significant negative trend of H. verbana throughout the country is supposed. The lack of sound distribution data is a significant shortfall, which hinders the implementation of the monitoring of the species as required by the Article 17 of the “Habitats Directive” on the species of Union concern. To provide recent, validated distributional data for the Mediterranean medicinal leech in Italy to be used as baseline data for further surveys and monitoring, we present herein a set of unpublished observations collected in the last decades in peninsular Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia. Moreover, we report observation of H. verbana feeding on amphibians, a feeding habit to date poorly documented for the Mediterranean medicinal leech. Based on both published and novel data, H. verbana is characterised by a large but fragmented distribution in Italy. Therefore, dedicated monitoring programs and the collection of validated occasional observations are highly desirable to get a clearer picture of the real distribution of the species.
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
33. Can phthalates move into the eggs of the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta? The case of the nests on the Linosa Island in the Mediterranean Sea
- Author
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Giulia Visconti, Irene Cambera, Vincenzo Arizza, Silvestre Buscemi, Dario Savoca, Antonio Palumbo Piccionello, Raffaella Melfi, Andrea Pace, Luca Vecchioni, Marco Arculeo, Savoca D., Arculeo M., Vecchioni L., Cambera I., Visconti G., Melfi R., Arizza V., Palumbo Piccionello A., Buscemi S., and Pace A.
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,food.ingredient ,Yolk ,Phthalic Acids ,Zoology ,010501 environmental sciences ,Aquatic Science ,Oceanography ,01 natural sciences ,Loggerhead sea turtle ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Mediterranean sea ,food ,Plasticizers ,Mediterranean Sea ,Animals ,Eggshell ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Islands ,Albumen ,biology ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,Maternal transfer ,Persistent organic pollutants ,Phthalate ,Contamination ,biology.organism_classification ,Pollution ,Dibutyl Phthalate ,Turtles ,Phthalic acid ,chemistry ,Vitellogenesis ,Plastics - Abstract
During the monitoring of Caretta caretta nests on the island of Linosa, 30 unhatched eggs from four nests were collected to study the presence of phthalates in their three components (shell, yolk, and albumen). Four phthalates, namely diethyl (DEP), dibutyl (DBP), di-(2-ethylhexyl) (DEHP), and dioctyl (DOTP) phthalic acid esters (PAE), which are widely used as additives in plastics, were detected in all egg components. The most frequently found phthalate was DBP, followed by DEHP in eggshell and yolk. Dimethyl- (DMP) and butylbenzyl-phthalate (BBP) were below the limits of detection for all samples. The high total phthalate recorded in the yolk suggests that contamination could arise by vitellogenesis. PERMANOVA analysis (p = 0.01) confirmed significant differences in the PAEs contamination profiles in the eggs from the four nests. This study confirms the negative impact of plastic related compounds posing questions about the potential adverse effects on organisms and their conservation status.
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- 2021
34. Diversity and Distribution of the Inland Water Decapods of Sicily (Crustacea, Malacostraca)
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Luca Vecchioni, Francesco Paolo Faraone, Fabio Stoch, Marco Arculeo, Federico Marrone, Vecchioni L., Faraone F.P., Stoch F., Arculeo M., and Marrone F.
- Subjects
alien species ,Decapoda ,Malacostraca ,Mediterranean island ,Ecology ,Ecological Modeling ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) ,Nature and Landscape Conservation - Abstract
The current knowledge of Sicilian inland water decapod malacostracans is scarce and an updated synopsis on species distribution is lacking. Therefore, we reviewed the checklist and recent distribution of Sicilian inland water decapods based on published and unpublished records and novel observations with the aim of providing an exhaustive repository, also to be used as a sound baseline for future surveys. Overall, five native decapod species occur in the study area, i.e., the atyid shrimp Atyaephyra desmarestii, the palaemonid shrimps Palaemon adspersus, P. antennarius, and P. elegans, and the freshwater crab Potamon fluviatile, and their current local distributions are described. In addition, three alien species were recorded: the common yabby Cherax destructor and the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii, strictly linked to inland waters, and the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus, a mainly marine species that can also colonise the lower stretches of rivers and coastal brackish waters. The collected data suggest the existence of a partial segregation of native versus non-native species, with the latter currently confined to coastal water bodies and the lower stretches of rivers. Moreover, the exclusively freshwater caridean A. desmarestii and P. antennarius show a parapatric distribution in the study area, which may suggest the existence of mutual exclusion phenomena. The results obtained raise some concerns about the effects of alien species on the native biota, and dedicated monitoring and management strategies should be implemented in order to better understand and mitigate their impact.
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- 2022
35. Stand out from the Crowd: Small-Scale Genetic Structuring in the Endemic Sicilian Pond Turtle
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Marco Arculeo, Luca Vecchioni, Federico Marrone, Melita Vamberger, Uwe Fritz, Vecchioni L., Marrone F., Arculeo M., Fritz U., and Vamberger M.
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Range (biology) ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,Emydidae ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,microsatellites ,law.invention ,03 medical and health sciences ,genetic structuring ,law ,Genetic variability ,Turtle (robot) ,lcsh:QH301-705.5 ,Sicily ,030304 developmental biology ,Nature and Landscape Conservation ,0303 health sciences ,Genetic diversity ,Habitat fragmentation ,Ecology ,biology ,Ecological Modeling ,Emys trinacris ,biology.organism_classification ,Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) ,lcsh:Biology (General) ,Microsatellite - Abstract
The geographical pattern of genetic diversity was investigated in the endemic Sicilian pond turtle Emys trinacris across its entire distribution range, using 16 microsatellite loci. Overall, 245 specimens of E. trinacris were studied, showing high polymorphic microsatellite loci, with allele numbers ranging from 7 to 30. STRUCTURE and GENELAND analyses showed a noteworthy, geographically based structuring of the studied populations in five well-characterized clusters, supported by a moderate degree of genetic diversity (FST values between 0.075 and 0.160). Possible explanations for the genetic fragmentation observed are provided, where both natural and human-mediated habitat fragmentation of the Sicilian wetlands played a major role in this process. Finally, some conservation and management suggestions aimed at preventing the loss of genetic variability of the species are briefly reported, stressing the importance of considering the five detected clusters as independent Management Units.
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- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
36. Morphological and molecular characterization of three new parastenocarididae (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) from caves in Southern Italy
- Author
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Federico Marrone, Maria Cristina Bruno, Luca Vecchioni, Rosario Grasso, Vezio Cottarelli, Maria Teresa Spena, Erika Stefani, Bruno M.C., Cottarelli V., Marrone F., Grasso R., Stefani E., Vecchioni L., and Spena M.T.
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Arthropoda ,18S rDNA gene ,Stygofauna ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,Crustacean ,Karstic cave ,Monophyly ,Cave ,Genus ,Animalia ,Parastenocarididae ,Clade ,Harpacticoida ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Taxonomy ,Synapomorphy ,crustacean, COI gene, 18S rDNA gene, karstic cave, evaporitic cave, stygofauna ,geography ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,biology ,Phylogenetic tree ,Botany ,Biodiversity ,biology.organism_classification ,Evaporitic cave ,COI gene ,QL1-991 ,Evolutionary biology ,QK1-989 ,Zoology ,Maxillopoda - Abstract
We describe three new parastenocaridid: Cottarellicaris sanctiangeli Bruno & Cottarelli sp. nov., Stammericaris vincentimariae Bruno & Cottarelli sp. nov. and Proserpinicars specincola Bruno & Cottarelli sp. nov., collected in the pools of five different caves located in Calabria (Southern Italy). We conducted a phylogenetic analysis based on the mitochondrial COI and ribosomal 18S sequences of C. sanctiangeli sp. nov. and S. vincentimariae sp. nov., and of four more species of Stammericaris and one Proserpinicaris available from literature. Based on the molecular study, the specimens of C. sanctiangeli sp. nov. are clearly separated from the species belonging to the closely-related genus Stammericaris. The morphological and molecular data indicate that the genera belonging to the two subfamilies Parastenocaridinae and Fontinalicaridinae form two monophyletic and distinct clades, thus supporting their status. We also provide insights on the genus Proserpinicaris based on morphological data only; in particular, the most important synapomorphic character of the genus, i.e., the taxonomic value of the hyaline structure inserted on the anterior surface of the male leg 4 basis, is discussed based on the development of the P4 endopod, as observed in the last copepodid stage of some species of this genus. Finally, we widen the biogeographic and ecological knowledge of the three genera.
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- 2020
37. The late Pleistocene origin of the Italian and Maltese populations of Potamon fluviatile (Malacostraca: Decapoda): insights from an expanded sampling of molecular data
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Jeffrey Sciberras, Luca Vecchioni, Marco Arculeo, Arnold Sciberras, Federico Marrone, Alan Deidun, Vecchioni, L., Deidun, A., Sciberras, J., Sciberras, A., Marrone, F., and Arculeo, M.
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0106 biological sciences ,0301 basic medicine ,Early Pleistocene ,Pleistocene ,Freshwater crabs -- Malta ,refuge area ,Population ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,refuge areas ,Freshwater crabs -- Italy ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,03 medical and health sciences ,Cytochrome oxidase -- Congresses ,Malacostraca ,lcsh:Zoology ,lcsh:QL1-991 ,education ,Freshwater crab ,range expansion ,education.field_of_study ,Potamon fluviatile ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,biology ,Ecology ,biology.organism_classification ,Mitochondrial DNA ,language.human_language ,Maltese ,030104 developmental biology ,Geography ,Archipelago ,language ,Cytochromes ,Animal Science and Zoology ,mtDNA Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) - Abstract
Evidence available for most inland water and terrestrial organisms highlights the significant role played by southern Italy, Sicily and the Maltese islands as refuges during Pleistocene climatic fluctuations. However, to date, the hypothesis that these areas may have acted as Pleistocene refugia for the freshwater crab Potamon fluviatile has not been explicitly tested, and a recent origin of local P. fluviatile populations was proposed on the basis of a small set of analysed molecular data. We have thus expanded the currently available data set on the population genetic structure of P. fluviatile through dedicated samplings in Sicily (Italy, 18 specimens), the Maltese Islands (Malta, 15 specimens) and the island of Corfu (Greece, seven specimens), with the explicit aim of testing the role of southern Italy, Sicily and the Maltese archipelago as refugia where early Pleistocene or pre-Quaternary populations of the freshwater crab could have persisted to date. Based on the analysis of both novel and published cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequence data, we gathered evidence supporting a recent origin of the southern Italian, Sicilian and Maltese populations of Potamon fluviatile from the Balkans, thus rejecting the hypothesised Pleistocene persistence in the area of pre-existing local populations of the same species., peer-reviewed
- Published
- 2017
38. On the occurrence and distribution of Calanipeda aquaedulcis Kritschagin, 1873 (Copepoda, Calanoida, Pseudodiaptomidae) in Sicily, Italy, with some notes on coexistence and species replacement in calanoid copepods
- Author
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VECCHIONI, Luca, Marrone F., Naselli-Flores L., Vecchioni L., Marrone F., and Naselli-Flores L.
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Settore BIO/07 - Ecologia ,Crustacea ,Mediterranean basin ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,Species replacement ,Zooplankton local extinction - Abstract
The only population of the pseudodiaptomid copepod Calanipeda aquaedulcis Kritschagin, 1873 to date reported to occur in Sicily disappeared at the beginning of the XXI century due to deep environmental changes which affected the single site (Lake Biviere di Gela) known for this species on the island. In that site C. aquaedulcis is now replaced by Copidodiaptomus numidicus (Gurney, 1909), a diaptomid copepod whose distribution has been greatly increasing since the second half of the last century. In the present note, the occurrence of C. aquaedulcis in 12 novel water bodies spread throughout Sicily is reported, and some environmental data on the sites where the species was collected are provided. Moreover, in a few sites C. aquaedulcis was found to co-occur with Copidodiaptomus numidicus. The recorded co-occurrence of these two species and the replacement of C. aquaedulcis with C. numidicus in Lake Biviere di Gela are briefly discussed.
- Published
- 2019
39. A Comparative Analysis of Aquatic and Polyethylene-Associated Antibiotic-Resistant Microbiota in the Mediterranean Sea
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Alessandro Presentato, Arianna Sucato, Rosa Alduina, Luca Vecchioni, Marco Arculeo, Dario Savoca, Sucato A., Vecchioni L., Savoca D., Presentato A., Arculeo M., and Alduina R.
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0301 basic medicine ,Aquatic environments ,030106 microbiology ,Plastisphere ,Biology ,Integron ,Article ,Resistome ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Antibiotic resistance ,Mediterranean sea ,Antibiotic resistance genes ,Food science ,Microbiome ,lcsh:QH301-705.5 ,General Immunology and Microbiology ,Aquatic ecosystem ,030104 developmental biology ,lcsh:Biology (General) ,Antibiotic resistant bacteria ,Polyethylene ,biology.protein ,Seawater ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences - Abstract
Simple Summary In recent years, a growing interest has been devoted to the bacterial characterization of marine plastic debris. So far, a few publications have explored the composition of microbial communities on polyethylene (PE) waste items and the occurrence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB). The occurrence of ARB in natural matrices can contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) among environmental bacteria. In this study, we compared the microbial composition and the presence of ARGs in water and PE fragments collected from a stream and the seawater in a coastal area of Northwestern Sicily. Our findings showed more ARGs on PE fragments than the corresponding water samples, confirming that PE can act as a carrier of antibiotic-resistance genes causing high damage to the marine environment and living organisms. Abstract In this study, we evaluated the microbiome and the resistome profile of water and fragments of polyethylene (PE) waste collected at the same time from a stream and the seawater in a coastal area of Northwestern Sicily. Although a core microbiome was determined by sequencing of the V3–V4 region of the bacterial 16S rDNA gene, quantitative differences were found among the microbial communities on PE waste and the corresponding water samples. Our findings indicated that PE waste contains a more abundant and increased core microbiome diversity than the corresponding water samples. Moreover, PCR analysis of specific antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) showed that PE waste harbors more ARGs than the water samples. Thus, PE waste could act as a carrier of antibiotic-resistant microbiota, representing an increased danger for the marine environment and living organisms, as well.
- Published
- 2021
40. Dimensions and predictors of clinical and personal recovery in first-episode psychoses: Results from a cross-sectional study.
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Ferrara M, Zaffarami G, Simonelli G, Domenicano I, Vecchioni L, Toffanin T, Folesani F, Zotos S, Scrignoli C, Bertelli R, Carozza P, and Grassi L
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- Humans, Male, Female, Cross-Sectional Studies, Adult, Young Adult, Antipsychotic Agents therapeutic use, Hospitalization statistics & numerical data, Adolescent, Psychotic Disorders diagnosis, Psychotic Disorders psychology, Psychotic Disorders drug therapy
- Abstract
Introduction: First episode psychosis (FEP) services ensure higher recovery rates compared to usual care. The aim of this study was to investigate the different dimensions of recovery and its predictors., Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited within those admitted to the Ferrara FEP service since 2012 that at the time of analysis were still receiving psychiatric care. At admission, demographic, social and clinical information were collected. In September 2022, patients were assessed with the Health of the Nation Outcome Scale to evaluate clinical/functional recovery, the Recovery Assessment Scale to evaluate personal recovery, and the G12 item of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale to evaluate insight. Patients in recovery were compared to those not in recovery by bivariate analyses. Adjusted logistic regressions were performed to investigate predictors of recovery., Results: Within 141 admitted, and 105 still receiving care, 54 patients completed the assessment. Most (51.9%) were in clinical/functional, 61.1% in personal recovery, and 38.8% both. Psychiatric hospitalization positively predicted clinical/functional recovery, whereas being prescribed oral antipsychotics was a negative predictor. Personal recovery was predicted by male sex and showed a negative association with overall severity of symptomatology. Those in personal recovery were more likely to have been prescribed long-acting antipsychotics, but this was not significant in the multivariable analysis. Poor insight negatively predicted clinical/functional recovery but had no impact on personal recovery., Conclusion: Our findings confirm that clinical/functional and personal recovery are semi-independent dimensions and not always overlap. Further research is needed to promote interventions targeted at all recovery dimensions., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)
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- 2024
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41. Distribution and Genetic Lineages of the Craspedacusta sowerbii Species Complex (Cnidaria, Olindiidae) in Italy.
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Morpurgo M, Marrone F, Ciutti F, Cappelletti C, Vorhauser S, Alber R, Dossena M, Salmaso N, Fontaneto D, Caputo L, and Vecchioni L
- Abstract
Olindiid freshwater jellyfishes of the genus Craspedacusta Lankester, 1880 are native to eastern Asia; however, some species within the genus have been introduced worldwide and are nowadays present in all continents except Antarctica. To date, there is no consensus regarding the taxonomy within the genus Craspedacusta due to the morphological plasticity of the medusa stages. The species Craspedacusta sowerbii Lankester, 1880 was first recorded in Italy in 1946, and until 2017, sightings of the jellyfish Craspedacusta were reported for 40 water bodies. Here, we shed new light on the presence of the freshwater jellyfishes belonging to the genus Craspedacusta across the Italian peninsula, Sardinia, and Sicily. First, we report 21 new observations of this non-native taxon, of which eighteen refer to medusae sightings, two to environmental DNA sequencing, and one to the finding of polyps. Then, we investigate the molecular diversity of collected Craspedacusta specimens, using a Bayesian analysis of sequences of the mitochondrial gene encoding for Cytochrome c Oxidase Subunit I (mtDNA COI). Our molecular analysis shows the presence of two distinctive genetic lineages: (i) a group that comprises sequences obtained from populations ranging from central to northern Italy; (ii) a group that comprises three populations from northern Italy-i.e., those from the Lake Levico, the Lake Santo of Monte Terlago, and the Lake Endine-and the single known Sicilian population. We also report for the first time a mtDNA COI sequence obtained from a Craspedacusta medusa collected in Spain.
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- 2024
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42. Sex differences in schizophrenia-spectrum diagnoses: results from a 30-year health record registry.
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Ferrara M, Curtarello EMA, Gentili E, Domenicano I, Vecchioni L, Zese R, Alberti M, Franchini G, Sorio C, Benini L, Little J, Carozza P, Dazzan P, and Grassi L
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- Humans, Female, Male, Middle Aged, Retrospective Studies, Sex Characteristics, Registries, Schizophrenia diagnosis, Schizophrenia drug therapy, Schizophrenia epidemiology, Antipsychotic Agents therapeutic use
- Abstract
This study investigated sociodemographic and clinical differences between the sexes in individuals affected by schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSD) who accessed outpatient mental health services. Within a retrospective cohort of 45,361 outpatients receiving care in Ferrara (Italy) from 1991 to 2021, those with a SSD diagnosis were compared between the sexes for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics before and after the index date (when the ICD-9: 295.*diagnosis was first recorded) to assess early trajectory, age and type of diagnosis, and severity of illness indicated by medication use, hospitalization, and duration of psychiatric care. Predictors of discharge were also investigated. Among 2439 patients, 1191 were women (48.8%). Compared to men, women were significantly older at first visit (43.7 vs. 36.8 years) and at index date (47.8 vs. 40.6) with peak frequency at age 48 (vs. 30). The most frequent last diagnosis recorded before the index date was delusional disorder (27.7%) or personality disorder (24.3%) in men and depression (24%) and delusional disorder (30.1%) in women. After the index date, long-acting antipsychotics and clozapine were more frequently prescribed to men (46.5% vs. 36.3%; 13.2% vs. 9.4%, p < 0.05) and mood stabilizers and antidepressants to women (24.3% vs. 21.1%; 50.1% vs. 35.5%; p < 0.05). Women had fewer involuntary admissions (10.1% vs. 13.6%) and were more likely to be discharged as the time under care increased (p = 0.009). After adjusting for covariates, sex was not a significant predictor of discharge. Our study confirmed that sex differences exist in clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of outpatients with SSD and that gender considerations might influence the rapidity of diagnosis and medications prescribed. These findings highlight the need to implement a women-tailored approach in specialist care programs for psychoses., (© 2023. The Author(s).)
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- 2024
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43. Disentangling cryptic species in Parastenocarididae (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) with an integrative approach: the case of Stammericaris similior sp. nov. and Stammericaris destillans Bruno & Cottarelli 2017.
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Bruno MC, Cottarelli V, Grasso R, Spena MT, Caccamo DV, Marrone F, and Vecchioni L
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- Male, Animals, Phylogeny, Animal Structures anatomy & histology, Microscopy, Electron, Scanning, Copepoda
- Abstract
Stammericaris similior sp. nov. is described combining light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and genetic barcoding. The new species was collected from rimstone pools in Scrivilleri Cave, a cave in Sicily with so far unexplored microcrustacean fauna. The new species is particularly interesting because it is morphologically very similar to Stammericaris destillans, an epikarstic parastenocaridid endemic to a different Sicilian cave; however, the phylogenetic analysis based on the mitochondrial COI gene of sixteen parastenocaridids shows that these two Stammericaris are two distinct species, with an uncorrected p-distance of 22.9, and the sequences of Stammericaris similior sp. nov. cluster together in a well-supported monophyletic clade, with two different haplotypes. To our knowledge, the presence of different species of almost identical morphology had not been recorded before for the genus Stammericaris. The integrated molecular and morphological analysis, the latter conducted with the support of SEM, allows disentangling the affinities of the new species and identifying a few distinctive characters: the males of the new species are characterized by the caudal rami shorter than the anal somite; the morphology of the P3, which is thin and slightly arched, with three proximal spinules on exp-1; the peculiar structure of the P4 enp; the P4 basis ornamented with two spinules of different length, the one closest to the endopod being the shortest one, and a half-moon shaped lamella. The new species differs from S. destillans for its larger size, the presence of: three spinules, instead of two, on the P3 exp-1; the half-moon shaped lamella on the P4 basis; a row of spinules along the inner margin of P4 exp-1. We also provide data on the ecology and distribution of the new species, a list of the other copepod species collected, and a dichotomic key for the males of all species presently assigned to the genus.
- Published
- 2023
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44. The European Pine Marten Martes martes (Linnaeus, 1758) Is Autochthonous in Sicily and Constitutes a Well-Characterised Major Phylogroup within the Species (Carnivora, Mustelidae).
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Vecchioni L, Marrone F, Costa S, Muscarella C, Carra E, Arizza V, Arculeo M, and Faraone FP
- Abstract
No molecular data are currently available for the Sicilian populations of the European pine marten Martes martes , thus preventing any sound inference about its native or non-native status on the island, as well as the local phylogeography of the species. In order to investigate these issues, we sequenced two mtDNA markers in road-killed specimens collected in Sicily. Both markers consistently demonstrated the existence of a well-characterised Sicilian clade of the species, which is endemic to the island and constitutes the sister group of a clade including the Mediterranean and Central-North European major phylogroups of the European pine marten. Such evidence supports the autochthony of Martes martes in Sicily and points to a natural Pleistocene colonisation of the island followed by isolation. The occurrence of a, to date undetected, major phylogroup of the species in Sicily calls for the dedicated monitoring of the Sicilian populations of the species in order to preserve this evolutionarily significant unit.
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- 2022
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45. The valid genus name of the European freshwater blennies, Ichthyocoris or Salariopsis (Teleostei: Blenniidae)?
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Vecchioni L, Arculeo M, Hundt PJ, and Marrone F
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- Animals, Fishes, Fresh Water, Perciformes
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- 2022
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46. Unveiling the egg microbiota of the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta in nesting beaches of the Mediterranean Sea.
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Vecchioni L, Pace A, Sucato A, Berlinghieri F, Cambera I, Visconti G, Hochscheid S, Arculeo M, and Alduina R
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- Animals, Bacteria genetics, Mediterranean Sea, Nesting Behavior, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S genetics, Sand, Microbiota genetics, Turtles microbiology
- Abstract
Microbes have central roles in the development and health of animals, being the introduction of specific microbial species a potential conservation strategy to protect animals from emerging diseases. Thus, insight into the microbiota of the species and their habitats is essential. In this manuscript, we report for the first time the bacterial composition of all the components (eggshells of hatched and unhatched eggs, internal content of unhatched eggs, intestinal content of hatchling and pipping sea turtles, and sand) of three nesting beaches of Caretta caretta along the Italian coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. The analysis of 26 amplicon samples was carried out using next-generation sequencing analysis, targeting V3-V4 regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Samples featured mainly Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes, whose percentages depended on the sample type. Our results showed that, although from different sampling sites, the internal content of the unhatched eggs, intestinal content of hatchling and pipping sea turtles share the microbiota, which was yet different from that of eggshells and sand of the same nesting beach. This study suggests the maternal and environmental influence alongside a protective role of eggshells in shaping the egg microbiota of Caretta caretta sea turtles., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
- Published
- 2022
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47. Conservation state of two paintings in the Santa Margherita cliff cave: role of the environment and of the microbial community.
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Armetta F, Cardenas J, Caponetti E, Alduina R, Presentato A, Vecchioni L, di Stefano P, Spinella A, and Saladino ML
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- Bacteria, Humidity, Temperature, Microbiota, Paintings
- Abstract
The conservation of ancient paintings sited in humid environments is an actual challenge for restorers, because it needs the knowledge of the materials the paintings are made up and of their interaction with a peculiar surrounding environment; thus, tailored procedures and strategies aimed at restoring and preserving paintings are necessary. Santa Margherita's cave in Castellammare del Golfo (Trapani, Italy) is a natural cave, containing the remains of paintings, in a poor state of conservation, belonging to an ancient church dated back to the Middle Age. The present manuscript reports the monitoring of environmental conditions (i.e., temperature and humidity) in a full year, as well as a study on the materials constituting the stone support and the paintings together with a survey of the microbial community. The findings allow us to define the causes that mainly involve the degradation of the paintings. In detail, the degradation of the east and the west walls occurred differently because of the exposure to the sea aerosol, which influenced the salt composition, also contributing to diversifying the bacterial community. Some specific actions to plan the conservation and restoration of paintings and to preserve the site are suggested., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)
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- 2022
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48. Morphological and molecular diversity patterns of the genus Tropodiaptomus Kiefer, 1932 (Copepoda, Calanoida, Diaptomidae) in Thailand.
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Saetang T, Marrone F, Vecchioni L, and Maiphae S
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- Animals, Copepoda classification, DNA, Mitochondrial, Evolution, Molecular, Female, Male, Phylogeny, Sequence Alignment, Thailand, Copepoda anatomy & histology, Copepoda genetics
- Abstract
Tropodiaptomus is one of the most specious genera in the family Diaptomidae, but it is often rare in terms of distribution and abundance. Moreover, Tropodiaptomus species show a noteworthy variability in some of the morphological characters considered of prime importance in diaptomid taxonomy, and the presence of cryptic or pseudocryptic species is likely. Thus, through a geographically-wide sampling in Thailand, we aimed to investigate the local diversity of the genus and to compare the morphological and molecular diversity pattern based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes sequences. DNA taxonomy was also implemented in order to check whether the Tropodiaptomus lineages were independent species according to the "evolutionary genetic species concept". Six Tropodiaptomus morphospecies were found, three of which are putative species new to Science pending a formal description. The finding of such a high incidence of undescribed species stresses the existence of a significant "Linnean shortfall" affecting Thai diaptomids. The molecular results showed that most of the studied species could be identified consistently with their morphology-based taxonomy. However, Tropodiaptomus vicinus and T. cf. lanaonus showed a high level of genetic diversity, suggesting that traditional morphological techniques might be inadequate for correctly assessing their taxonomical status., (© 2022. The Author(s).)
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- 2022
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49. Can phthalates move into the eggs of the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta? The case of the nests on the Linosa Island in the Mediterranean Sea.
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Savoca D, Arculeo M, Vecchioni L, Cambera I, Visconti G, Melfi R, Arizza V, Palumbo Piccionello A, Buscemi S, and Pace A
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- Animals, Dibutyl Phthalate, Islands, Mediterranean Sea, Plastics, Phthalic Acids analysis, Turtles
- Abstract
During the monitoring of Caretta caretta nests on the island of Linosa, 30 unhatched eggs from four nests were collected to study the presence of phthalates in their three components (shell, yolk, and albumen). Four phthalates, namely diethyl (DEP), dibutyl (DBP), di-(2-ethylhexyl) (DEHP), and dioctyl (DOTP) phthalic acid esters (PAE), which are widely used as additives in plastics, were detected in all egg components. The most frequently found phthalate was DBP, followed by DEHP in eggshell and yolk. Dimethyl- (DMP) and butylbenzyl-phthalate (BBP) were below the limits of detection for all samples. The high total phthalate recorded in the yolk suggests that contamination could arise by vitellogenesis. PERMANOVA analysis (p = 0.01) confirmed significant differences in the PAEs contamination profiles in the eggs from the four nests. This study confirms the negative impact of plastic related compounds posing questions about the potential adverse effects on organisms and their conservation status., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2021
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50. Comparison of the Intestinal Microbiome of Italian Patients with Multiple Sclerosis and Their Household Relatives.
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Galluzzo P, Capri FC, Vecchioni L, Realmuto S, Scalisi L, Cottone S, Nuzzo D, and Alduina R
- Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system, caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. In recent years, a role in MS pathogenesis was assigned to the gut microbiota. However, different signatures of gut dysbiosis have been shown to depend on environmental factors, like diet and lifestyle. In this study, we compared the gut microbiome in MS patients and their household healthy relatives sharing lifestyle and environmental factors. Faecal metagenomic DNA was extracted and the V3-V4 regions of the conserved bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene were amplified and sequenced. While overall bacterial communities were similar, specific families differed between healthy and MS subjects. We observed an increase in Ruminococcaceae, Christensenellaceae, Desulfovibrionaceae, Clostridiales, and Family XIII in MS patients, while Bacteroidaceae, Tannerellaceae, Veillonellaceae, and Burkholderiaceae were more abundant in healthy controls. In addition, principle coordinate analysis showed that the gut microbiome of all MS patients formed a cluster being less diverse than the household relatives and that gut microbiota of MS patients with EDSS 4.5-7 formed a distinct cluster in respect to their controls. Overall, our study is consistent with the hypothesis that MS patients have gut microbial dysbiosis and evidenced the importance of environmental factors in shaping the gut microbiome.
- Published
- 2021
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