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New record of the alien seagrass Halophila stipulacea (Hydrocharitaceae) in the western Mediterranean: a further clue to changing Mediterranean Sea biogeography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2009

Maria Cristina Gambi ,
Fabio Barbieri  and
Carlo Nike Bianchi
Maria Cristina Gambi*
Affiliation:
Laboratorio di Ecologia del Benthos – Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy
Fabio Barbieri
Affiliation:
Palinuro Sub, Via Porto, Palinuro (Salerno), Italy
Carlo Nike Bianchi
Affiliation:
DipTeRis (Dipartimento per lo studio del Territorio e delle sue Risorse), Università di Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genoa, Italy
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: M.C. Gambi, Laboratorio di Ecologia del Benthos – Stazione Zoologica, Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The occurrence of the tropical seagrass species Halophila stipulacea (Hydrocharitaceae) is reported within the harbour of Palinuro (Salerno, central Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). The bottom covered by the seagrass has been evaluated in about 16 m2, fragmented in various small patches distributed in a narrow belt between 0.5 and 5 m depth, and all settled on dead matte of the endemic Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica. Mean density was 10,500 shoots m−2. This record documents a displacement of about 180 km north of the previously documented limit of Halophila stipulacea in the western Mediterranean, likely mediated by pleasure boat traffic and anchoring, and favoured by climate change. This record illustrates a further example of the changing Mediterranean Sea biogeography: north–south patterns in biotic ranges will probably replace the presently well established west–east patterns in the Mediterranean Sea of tomorrow.

Keywords

marine angiospermsintroduced speciesHalophila stipulaceaTyrrhenia Seaclimate change
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 2 , January 2009 , e84
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

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References

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