New records of marine biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea (April 2026)
This collective article presents new information about 18 species occurring in 12 Mediterranean countries from the Alboran Sea to the Levantine Sea. Five lessepsian species namely Erugosquilla massavensis, Syrnola fasciata, Plocamopherus ocellatus, Maritigrella fuscopunctata and Siganus javus have spread within 2025 to neighbouring MSFD areas. Another five are here reported as first country records [Polyandrocarpa zorritensis (Malta), Gonioinfradens giardi (Italy), Istiblennius meleagris (Egypt), Epinephelus fasciatus (Israel), Lophocladia trichoclados (Montenegro)]. Cladophora patentiramea has spread from the Levantine to the Aegean Sea, while Pinctada radiata has reached Granada, and Cádiz. The Atlantic fish Enchelycore anatina and Synodus synodus have expanded their distribution to Montenegro and Syria respectively. Three rare native species are reported for first time at country level, while a fourth (Mobula birostris) has made an appearance more than a century after its first Mediterranean record.
Authors
- Paola Clara Leotta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3870-3727)
- Francesco Tiralongo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1625-0149)
- Amani Fitori (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4907-1534)
- Ahmed Al-Beak
- Adriana Vella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2246-5354)
- Andrea Travaglini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9769-6873)
- Vesna Mačić (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9680-6284)
- ERGÜN TAŞKIN
- Noel Vella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0080-5709)
- Mouna Antit (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0420-7119)
- A. Trabelsi
- Nikola Đorđević
- Valentina Tanduo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9297-4958)
- Fabio Crocetta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2800-3735)
- Pero Ugarković
- Claudio Barría (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6769-4578)
- Juan A. Pujol
- RANIM MOHAMAD OTHMAN (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1573-5686)
- Bella Galil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5854-4228)
- ÖZNUR YAZILAN
- Francisco Sedano
- Víctor Orenes-Salazar
- Rino Stanić
- YACOPO BALDACCHINO
- ARGYRO ZENETOS
- ILIJA ĆETKOVIĆ
- MAURIZIO COSTA
- FARES NASSER ABD EL-GWAAD
- MOHAMAD YOUNES GALIYA
- OLIVERA MARKOVIĆ
- NEŽA LEBAN
- JAMILA RIZGALLA
- DANIEL GOLANI
- DOMEN TRKOV
- ALEKSANDAR JOKSIMOVIĆ
Institutions
- Tunis University (TN)
- Latakia University (SY)
- South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (US)
- Universidad de Oviedo (ES)
- Manisa Celal Bayar University (TR)
- University of Zagreb (HR)
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
- University of Malta (MT)
- University of Tripoli (LY)
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (IT)
- Instituto Español de Oceanografía (ES)
- Netivei Israel (Israel) (IL)
- Istituto di Scienze Marine del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IT)
- Arish University (EG)
- Ospedale Infermi di Rimini (IT)
- National Library of Israel (IL)
- Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (GR)
- National Institute of Biology (SI)
- Croatian Hydrographic Institute (HR)
- University of Montenegro (ME)
- Tunis El Manar University (TN)
- Universidad de Murcia (ES)
- University of Split (HR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Mediterranean Marine Science
- Published
- 2026-04-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.45101
- Primary Topic
- Marine Ecology and Invasive Species
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00