APPROCCIO MULTIDISCIPLINARE ALLO STUDIO DELLE BIOCOSTRUZIONI DI Sabellaria sp. (Annelida: Polychaeta) NEL MEDITERRANEO E ALLA FAUNA AD ESSE ASSOCIATA

The morphological diversity within a species can obscure the correct identification

Critical points of various diagnostic characters and a paucity of information relating to the geographical distribution of several marine species can hinder real species delimitation, particularly if they are supposed to be cosmopolitan. Such constraints characterize many amphipod species and are mainly due to the variation in morphological characters during growth. Specifically, the benthic filter-feeding corophiid Cheiriphotis mediterranea Myers, 1983 displays different shapes for the male gnathopod 2 as it grows. This variation has hitherto never been described but an extensive sampling has provided us with the opportunity of studying it in detail. More than six thousand individuals, bel…

Reducing the data-deficiency of threatened European habitats: Spatial variation of sabellariid worm reefs and associated fauna in the Sicily Channel, Mediterranean Sea

Biogenic reefs, such as those produced by tube-dwelling polychaetes of the genus Sabellaria, are valuable marine habitats which are a focus of protection according to European legislation. The achievement of this goal is potentially hindered by the lack of essential empirical data, especially in the Mediterranean Sea. This study addresses some of the current knowledge gaps by quantifying and comparing multi-scale patterns of abundance and distribution of two habitat-forming species (Sabellaria alveolata and S. spinulosa) and their associated fauna along 190 km of coast on the Italian side of the Sicily Channel. While the abundance of the two sabellariids and the total number of associated t…

The Taxonomy Lab: a sentinel for Mediterranean bioinvasions

The Taxonomy Lab: a sentinel for Mediterranean bioinvasions

Assessment of the Sabellaria alveolata reefs’ structural features along the Southern coast of Sicily (Strait of Sicily, Mediterranean Sea)

The honeycomb worm Sabellaria alveolata is a gregarious tube-dwelling polychaete that builds remarkable biogenic reefs in marine coastal waters. Sabellaria alveolata reefs are considered valuable marine habitats requiring protection measures for their conservation, as they play a key role in the functioning of coastal ecosystems. Sabellarid reefs are extensively developed along the Atlantic coasts of Europe and reported for the Mediterranean Sea and the Italian coasts, where large reefs have been recorded in several localities. Fragmentary information is available on their health status, Sabellaria reefs thus being listed as “Data Deficient” in the Red List of Marine Habitats. To fill this …

First Mediterranean record and DNA-Barcode of Eulalia ornata (PHYLLODOCIDAE, ANNELIDA) associated to Sabellaria alveolata (SABELLARIIDAE, ANNELIDA)reef.