Search results for "Amphistegina"
showing 4 items of 4 documents
“Hidden invaders” conquer the Sicily Channel and knock on the door of the Western Mediterranean sea
2019
Abstract This study updates the current distribution, range expansion and establishment status of the non-indigenous species Amphistegina lobifera Larsen, 1976 and other foraminifera that are cryptogenic in the Sicily Channel. Prior to this study, amphisteginids were reported from the Levantine Basin, the Central Mediterranean (Tunisia, Malta, Pelagian islands) and the southern Adriatic Sea. Here, we provide new records documenting a north-western expansion in the Central Mediterranean. In summer-autumn 2017 and spring-summer 2018, we collected algae and sediment samples from shallow coastal habitats along the shores of the Maltese archipelago, southern and north-western Sicily, Pantelleria…
The first colonization of the Genus Amphistegina and other exotic benthic foraminifera of the Pelagian Islands and south-eastern Sicily (central Medi…
2014
Abstract A detailed study of the marine sediments collected on the inner shelf of some of the selected areas of the central Mediterranean Sea has been carried out in order to verify the presence of exotic benthic foraminiferal species. Since 2000, the coastal marine environments of the Pelagian Islands and of Sicily (central Mediterranean) have been increasingly colonized by exotic species (i.e. fishes and algae) originating both from the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea. The studied areas (Pelagian Islands and SE Sicily) are located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, they represent an ideal place to understand how exotic species, coming from different Oceans, may have coloniz…
Invasive Amphisteginids conquer the Sicily Channel and knock on the door of the Western Mediterranean Sea
2018
This study reports an updated overview of the current distribution and establishment status of the invasive species Amphistegina lobifera Larsen, 1979 and of other non-indigenous foraminifera in the Sicily Channel. The dispersal of marine non-indigenous species (NIS) by human activities is redefining the biogeography of the oceans and is one aspect of global change. Understanding the role of NIS in altering the structure of marine communities requires accurate information on their temporal occurrence, spatial distribution and effect on native ecosystems. However many NIS, particularly those belonging to small-sized unicellular taxa, such as benthic foraminifera, are largely unrecognized and…