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ABSTRACTThe invasive seaweed Rugulopteryx okamuraehas recently arrived in Europe from the western Pacific. Its explosive spread on coastal areas of the Gulf of Cádiz (GoC), Strait of Gibraltar and Alboran Sea is spoiling native coastal ecosystems and inflicting heavy losses on ecosystem services. We discovered for the first time large amounts (up to 17 g m–2) of detached R. okamuraethalli on deep-sea bottoms of the GoC that are being dragged from the Strait of Gibraltar shores into the NE Atlantic by the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW). Laboratory experiments revealed that collected unattached macroalgae from deep-sea locations were alive and healthy and maintained intact photosynthetic capacity after long dark periods, suggesting a tremendous resilience and invasive potential. Given the rapid transport of healthy thalli by the MOW and massive accumulation of them in the GoC basin, R. okamuraecould represent a major threat to NE Atlantic ecosystems, affecting not only coastal but also deep-sea habitats.

Temperature and salinity series near the seafloor at Espartel Sill (Strait of Gibraltar) have been used to analyze the thermohaline variability of the Mediterranean outflow. The series shows temperature drops by the end of most winters/early springs, which are the remote response to Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW) formation events in the Gulf of Lion that uplift old WMDW nearby the strait. This process distorts the seasonal cycle of colder/warmer water flowing out in summer/winter likely linked to the seasonality of the Western Alborán Gyre. The series shows positive trends in agreement with previous values, which are largely increased after 2013. It is tentatively interpreted as the Western Mediterranean Transition (WMT) signature that started with the very cold winters of 2005 and 2006. It was only after the large new WMDW production of 2012 and 2013 harsh winters that WMT waters were made available to flow out of the Mediterranean Sea. Temperature and salinity of the Mediterranean outflow in the Strait of Gibraltar have been monitored for the period 2004‐2016The monthly mean temperature shows a seasonal cycle with lower temperature during summerTemperature and salinity of the Mediterranean outflow in the Strait of Gibraltar reveal an increasing trend during the last decade