New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (July 2018)

In the present article, new recordsare given for 15 species (4 native and 9 alien and 2 cryptogenic), belonging to 6 Phyla (i.e. Chlorophyta, Ctenophora, Cnidaria, Mollusca, Arthropoda, and Chordata), from 10 Mediterranean countries: Morocco : the finding of the crab Callinectessapidus represents the westernmost one of the species in the Mediterranean; Italy: first recordsof the nudibranch Polycera hedgpethifrom the harbour of La Spezia, and first finding of the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsisleidyi in the Fiora River; Tunisia: Caulerpa taxifoliavar. distichophylla is recordedfor the first time, showing an even wider distribution in the Mediterranean; Greece: the finding of the jellyfish Pelagia benovicirepresents the first recordof the species in the IonianSea, while the finding of the smallscale codletBregmaceros nectabanus in the IonianSea is another interesting first report for the area; Malta: the cryptogenic scleractinian coral Oculinapatagonica was recorded; Slovenia: the parasitic copepod Demoleus heptapus was recordedfrom a sixgill bluntnose shark, Hexanchusgriseus ; Croatia : the Lessepsian cephalaspidean mollusc Haminoeacyanomarginata is recordedfor the first time from the area; Bulgaria: the Asian date mussel Arcuatula senhousiawas recordedfrom the Black Sea; Cyprus: the Lessepsian gastropod Viriola sp. [cf. corrugata ) was recordedfor the first time from the area, while two decapod species were recordedalso for the first time from Cyprus, i.e. the caridean shrimp Pasiphaea sivado and the anomuran Munidacurvimana ; Turkey: the acariLohmannella falcata is recordedfor the first time from Antalya and the Lessepsian fish Priacanthus sagittariusin the Levantine coasts of Turkey (off Hatay/Arsuz) showing that this species has extended its range in a very short time.