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To enrich spatio-temporal information on the distribution of alien, cryptogenic, andneonative species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, a collective effort by 173marine scientists was made to provide unpublished records and make them openaccess to the scientific community. Through this effort, we collected and harmonizeda dataset of 12,649 records. It includes 247 taxa, of which 217 are Animalia, 25 Plantaeand 5 Chromista, from 23 countries surrounding the Mediterranean and the BlackSea. Chordata was the most abundant taxonomic group, followed by Arthropoda,Mollusca, and Annelida. In terms of species records, Siganus luridus, Siganus rivulatus,Saurida lessepsianus, Pterois miles, Upeneus moluccensis, Charybdis (Archias)longicollis, and Caulerpa cylindracea were the most numerous. The temporaldistribution of the records ranges from 1973 to 2022, with 44% of the records in 2020–2021. Lethrinus borbonicus is reported for the first time in the MediterraneanSea, while Pomatoschistus quagga, Caulerpa cylindracea, Grateloupia turuturu, and Misophria pallida are first records for the Black Sea; Kapraunia schneideri isrecorded for the second time in the Mediterranean and for the first time in Israel;Prionospio depauperata and Pseudonereis anomala are reported for the first timefrom the Sea of Marmara. Many first country records are also included, namely:Amathia verticillata (Montenegro), Ampithoe valida (Italy), Antithamnionamphigeneum (Greece), Clavelina oblonga (Tunisia and Slovenia), Dendostrea cf.folium (Syria), Epinephelus fasciatus (Tunisia), Ganonema farinosum (Montenegro),Macrorhynchia philippina (Tunisia), Marenzelleria neglecta (Romania), Paratapestextilis (Tunisia), and Botrylloides diegensis (Tunisia).&nbsp

To enrich spatio-temporal information on the distribution of alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, a collective effort by 173 marine scientists was made to provide unpublished records and make them open access to the scientific community. Through this effort, we collected and harmonized a dataset of 12,649 records. It includes 247 taxa, of which 217 are Animalia, 25 Plantae and 5 Chromista, from 23 countries surrounding the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Chordata was the most abundant taxonomic group, followed by Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Annelida. In terms of species records, Siganus luridus, Siganus rivulatus, Saurida lessepsianus, Pterois miles, Upeneus moluccensis, Charybdis (Archias) longicollis, and Caulerpa cylindracea were the most numerous. The temporal distribution of the records ranges from 1973 to 2022, with 44% of the records in 2020–2021. Lethrinus borbonicus is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, while Pomatoschistus quagga, Caulerpa cylindracea, Grateloupia turuturu, and Misophria pallida are first records for the Black Sea; Kapraunia schneideri is recorded for the second time in the Mediterranean and for the first time in Israel; Prionospio depauperata and Pseudonereis anomala are reported for the first time from the Sea of Marmara. Many first country records are also included, namely: Amathia verticillata (Montenegro), Ampithoe valida (Italy), Antithamnion amphigeneum (Greece), Clavelina oblonga (Tunisia and Slovenia), Dendostrea cf. folium (Syria), Epinephelus fasciatus (Tunisia), Ganonema farinosum (Montenegro), Macrorhynchia philippina (Tunisia), Marenzelleria neglecta (Romania), Paratapes textilis (Tunisia), and Botrylloides diegensis (Tunisia)., peer-reviewed

This Collective Article includes records of 29 alien and cryptogenic species in the Mediterranean Sea, belonging to eight Phyla (Rhodophyta, Ochrophyta, Cnidaria, Annelida, Mollusca, Arthropoda, Echinodermata, and Chordata) and coming from 11 countries. Notes published here can be divided into three different categories: occupancy estimation for wide areas, new records for the Mediterranean Sea, and new records of species expanding within the Mediterranean Sea. The first category includes a visual survey held along the coastline of Peloponnese (Greece), which yielded records of 15 species. The second category includes the first Mediterranean records of the Coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch (Greece) and of the Arabian monocle bream Scolopsis ghanam (Tunisia). The third category includes new records for countries (Ganonema farinosum in Malta, Cassiopea andromeda in Libya, Cingulina isseli in Greece, Okenia picoensis in Italy, Callinectes sapidus in Slovenia, Charybdis cf. hellerii in Malta, Urocaridella pulchella in Cyprus, Ablennes hians and Aluterus monoceros in Lebanon, and Fistularia petimba in Greece and Lebanon), new records for MSFD areas or regional seas (Septifer cumingii in the Greek Ionian Sea and F. petimba in the Marmara Sea), and confirmation of old, doubtful, or spurious records/statements (Branchiomma luctuosum in Tunisia, Thalamita poissonii in the Saronikos Gulf, and Pterois miles in Albania). Noteworthy, the three new records of F. petimba suggest that it may soon spread further in the Mediterranean Sea, as already happened for its congeneric Fistularia commersonii. Distributional data reported here will help tracing colonization routes of alien species in the basin and may facilitate the development of mitigation measures., peer-reviewed

This article includes 23 new records of alien and cryptogenic species in the Mediterranean Sea, belonging to 4 Phyla (Chordata, Echinodermata, Arthropoda and Mollusca), distributed from the Alboran to the Levantine Sea. Records are reported from eight countries listed from West to East as follows: Algeria: new records of the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus; Spain: further spread and establishment of the sea slug Lamprohaminoea ovalis in continental shores; Tunisia: first record of the Atlantic Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus in the Gulf of Gabes; Italy: a new occurrence of the pufferfish Lagocephalus sceleratus in Northern Ionian waters; first record of Cephalopholis taeniops in the Ionian Sea; first record of the redlip blenny, Ophioblennius atlanticus in the Ionian Sea; Slovenia: first record of the isopod Paranthura japonica in Slovenia; Greece: first record of the molluscs Eunaticina papilla, Plocamopherus ocellatus and the fish Cheilodipterus novemstriatus; first record of the ascidian Ecteinascidia turbinata in Kriti; the long-spined sea urchin Diadema setosum in the Ionian Sea; Turkey: first record of the sea spider Ammothea hilgendorfi; the stomatopod Cloridina cf. ichneumon; the fishes Pempheris rhomboidea from the Sea of Marmara and Paranthias furcifer from the Aegean Sea; Lebanon: new records of the fishes Arothron hispidus, Rachycentron canadum, Heniochus intermedius and Acanthurus monroviae; first record of Acanthostracion polygonius. The records of Cloridina cf. ichneumon from southern Turkey and the fish Acanthostracion polygonius from Lebanon, both being the first Mediterranean records, are noteworthy.

This article includes 23 new records of alien and cryptogenic species in the Mediterranean Sea, belonging to 4 Phyla (Chordata, Echinodermata, Arthropoda and Mollusca), distributed from the Alboran to the Levantine Sea. Records are reported from eight countries listed from West to East as follows: Algeria: new records of the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus; Spain: further spread and establishment of the sea slug Lamprohaminoea ovalis in continental shores; Tunisia: first record of the Atlantic Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus in the Gulf of Gabes; Italy: a new occurrence of the pufferfish Lagocephalus sceleratus in Northern Ionian waters; first record of Cephalopholis taeniops in the Ionian Sea; first record of the redlip blenny, Ophioblennius atlanticus in the Ionian Sea; Slovenia: first record of the isopod Paranthura japonica in Slovenia; Greece: first record of the molluscs Eunaticina papilla, Plocamopherus ocellatus and the fish Cheilodipterus novemstriatus; first record of the ascidian Ecteinascidia turbinata in Kriti; the long-spined sea urchin Diadema setosum in the Ionian Sea; Turkey: first record of the sea spider Ammothea hilgendorfi; the stomatopod Cloridina cf. ichneumon; the fishes Pempheris rhomboidea from the Sea of Marmara and Paranthias furcifer from the Aegean Sea; Lebanon: new records of the fishes Arothron hispidus, Rachycentron canadum, Heniochus intermedius and Acanthurus monroviae; first record of Acanthostracion polygonius. The records of Cloridina cf. ichneumon from southern Turkey and the fish Acanthostracion polygonius from Lebanon, both being the first Mediterranean records, are noteworthy., European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme [730984]; Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation [HFRI-FM17-1597]; Ege University Scientific Research Projects CouncilEge University [2011 SUF/020]; Kamal Shair CRSL research fund at the American University of Beirut [24584/103599], N. Abdelali and S. Grimes wish to express their sincere gratitude to Mahjoubi Ramy, aquaculture technician at Aquadora farm, from Bonaine, who provided them with the photos of the specimen reported and handed it over to them, and to Haseine Youcef Yasser, fisherman who captured the specimen. M. Pontes and F. Crocetta are grateful to Daniel Munoz Rodriguez (Madrid, Spain) for sharing the observation data and photos of Lamprohaminoea ovalis. R. El Zrelli and L. Rabaoui would like to thank all local fishermen who provided information about the Atlantic Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus, in the Gulf of Gabes (south-eastern Tunisia). C. Licchelli and F. Denitto would like to thank Vincenzo Bruno, the local fisherman who shared data and information about their record. Andrea Spinelli and Dyana Vitale are grateful to Mr. Concetto Felice who filmed the C. taeniops specimen studied. F. Tiralongo and E. Azzurro are grateful to Giorgio Cavallaro (G.R.O. Sub Catania) for providing them with photos documenting the presence of Ophioblennius atlanticus in the Ionian Sea. A. Fortic and B. Mavric would like to thank Lovrenc Lipej and Domen Trkov for their help and support with the determination of specimens. F. Montesanto and F. Mastrototaro were supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement No 730984, ASSEMBLE Plus project and thank G. Chatzigeorgiou and P. Kasapidis for the assistance provided. Michail Ragkousis, Alexandros Tsatiris, Markos Digenis, Vasilis Gerovasileiou and Stelios Katsanevakis were supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.) under the "First Call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Faculty members and Researchers and the procurement of high-cost research equipment grant" (Project ALAS -`ALiens in the Aegean-a Sea under siege'; Project Number: HFRI-FM17-1597). C. Kocak's work was supported by the Ege University Scientific Research Projects Council, Project Number 2011 SUF/020. C. Kocak would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Atakan Sukatar (Ege University, Faculty of Science, Izmir) for his help in identifying the algal species and Naciye Alan for her helpful assistance in the fieldwork. S. Yapici and F.Yalgin would like to thank Orhan Yilmaz for providing video and information on their specimen. M. Bariche and S. Mavruk would like to express their gratitude to the citizen scientists Messrs Wahib Nini, Ramzi Allenby Gargour, Ali Haydar, Mostafa Saeed, Georges Taza, and Mohamad Ali Ibrahim for regularly reporting their observations and findings. Their study was partly supported by the Kamal Shair CRSL research fund (24584/103599) at the American University of Beirut. G. Bitar and A. Badreddine wish to thank Dr. Ricardo Aguilar for his help on the identification of their specimen, the professional fisher Amin Mezher for providing them with photos and a video recording of the species, and the director of the "Lebanese fishermen" Facebook page Mr. Georges Taza for his cooperation.

Synaptula reciprocans was reported in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time back in 1986. Since then there have been numerous reports, following the species' gradual expansion and establishment in the eastern Mediterranean basin. Here we report, by using citizen science methods, from the project titled "Is it Alien to you? Share it" of iSea, the most recent known expansion sites of S. reciprocans, including its new northern-most frontier. Furthermore, the provided photographic evidence testifies for possible interspecies relationships, for the first time.