Biodiversity Data Journal :
Short Communication
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Corresponding author: Valentina Tanduo (valentina.tanduo@szn.it)
Academic editor: Yasen Mutafchiev
Received: 27 May 2020 | Accepted: 03 Aug 2020 | Published: 05 Aug 2020
© 2020 Valentina Tanduo, Aleksander Golemaj, Fabio Crocetta
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Tanduo V, Golemaj A, Crocetta F (2020) Citizen-science detects the arrival and establishment of Branchiomma luctuosum (Grube, 1870) (Annelida: Polychaeta: Sabellidae) in Albania. Biodiversity Data Journal 8: e54790. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.8.e54790
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The invasive fan worm Branchiomma luctuosum (Grube, 1870), originally described from the Red Sea, is first reported here from the Albanian coasts, based on records held in Vlora Bay, a locality near to Valona harbour and Narta Lagoon. Possible pathways of arrival in the area are uncertain. However, species’ larval ecology and life-history traits suggest a secondary spreading through shipping. Social media data mining allowed the confirmation of its establishment in the area, with specimens showing high densities in shallow waters on artificial hard substrates and to backdate its arrival in the area since at least November 2016. Citizen science continues supporting marine biology in the Mediterranean area, especially in countries where proper field studies and research projects are still limited.
Mediterranean Sea, social media data mining, bioinvasions, shipping, Sabellidae
The Mediterranean Sea is considered a hotspot of biodiversity, with around 17,000 accepted species, of which around one fourth is endemic (
Despite Descriptor 2 of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (
Amongst NIS species invading the Mediterranean Sea, the phylum Annelida ranks high (
The present record falls within the framework of an ongoing project that aims at monitoring the marine biodiversity in Albania. In particular, a folder of photos and videos of an unknown annelid species living in the shallow waters of Vlora Bay, Albania (
The unknown annelid specimens were identified as Branchiomma luctuosum (Grube, 1870) based on their large sizes, external appearance/general colour pattern with a brownish/greenish body and a dark velvet crown and absence of macrostylodes. These characters altogether make this species easier to identify with respect to the other alien and native Branchiomma species living in the Mediterranean Sea, even from underwater photographs and videos. This is confirmed by the fact that the species has already been widely recorded in the Mediterranean Sea based on ROV observations and visual census (
The sabellid polychaete Branchiomma luctuosum (Grube, 1870) from Vlora Bay (Albania, Adriatic Sea). A. Folder of photos and videos posted in October 2019 on the Facebook group Regjistri Elektronik i Specieve Shqiptare; B-C. A magnification of selected photos; D. An artificial hard substrate dominated by B. luctuosum (red circles) and the spaghetti bryozoan Amathia verticillata (delle Chiaje, 1822), posted in May 2019 on the Facebook® profile of Aleksander Golemaj; E-F. The photo backdating the presence of B. luctuosum in Albania, posted in November 2016 on the Facebook® profile of Albanian Mollusca, and its magnification.
Map of the known records of Branchiomma luctuosum (Grube, 1870) in the Mediterranean Sea, with first year of collection per area. Larger dots correspond to the presence of more than one locality known per wider geographic area. Green dot highlights the present sighting. Localities, coordinates and references reported in Table S1 (arranged for first finding date per paper).
The present paper confirms the presence of Branchiomma luctuosum in the Adriatic Sea and supports the hypothesis that, after 50 years from its arrival, this taxon is well established in the Mediterranean region, as already suggested in recent literature reviews (e.g.
No certainties occur regarding a possible pathway of arrival of B. luctuosum in the Vlora Bay. This taxon is a hermaphrodite with a short life cycle, a rapid growth and a high fecundity (
Generally, when an alien species colonises a new area, it could enter in competition with the local biota; in the case of B. luctuosum, its major antagonist may be the Mediterranean annelid Sabella spallanzanii (Gmelin, 1791), that occupies the same niche (
Finally, worth a mention, the number of alien species detected in recent years in the Mediterranean Sea is also increasing thanks to citizen science projects and related field surveys (e.g.
Pasqualina Fiorentino (Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy) provided literature upon request.
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.