Search

The effect of thermophilic species invasion in the eastern Mediterranean is well-noted in the literature. During the last decade in western Greek waters, small-scale fisheries (SSF) catches exhibit increased relative contribution of rabbitfishes, which have originated from the Red Sea and inhabited the country's southeastern part since the Second World War. This study has used quantitative and qualitative information to assess the short-term economic effect of the rabbitfishes' expansion in the SSF métier targeting the indigenous thermophilic parrotfish in the South Ionian Sea. The short-term micro-level negative economic effects of the rabbitfishes' invasion and the corresponding adverse effects on fishers' economic wealth have been estimated. The results indicate attitudinal differences among fishers, although their local ecological knowledge may enable them to avoid rabbitfishes' hot spots and mitigate the respective economic losses, that particularly for smaller SSF vessels already seem to be quite important. As climate warming may further facilitate the expansion of rabbitfishes, outcompeting parrotfish, the latter métier may eventually become economically unsustainable. Fine-scale analysis at the métier level enables addressing the specificities of social-ecological systems and can contribute to informed and more effective decision making related to SSF, which is an important building block of Mediterranean coastal communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mediterranean Sea biodiversity is undergoing a rapid reshaping due to different factors, many of which are directly related to human activities (e.g., pollution, habitat destruction, overfishing and introduction of non-indigenous species). In this context, climate changes, and in particular water warming, are the main factors that favor the arrival and subsequent spread of thermophilic species, regardless of their area of origin (e.g., Red Sea, Atlantic Ocean). In this research, we report the third and eastern-most well-documented record of the thermophilic species Parapristipoma octolineatum (Valenciennes, 1833) in the Mediterranean Sea, providing new morphological, genetic, ecological and biological data on this rare species in the basin. The integrative taxonomical approach was robust and unambiguously identified the species as P. octolineatum. The specimen was a large-sized female in maturation. The first high-quality photographic illustrations of otoliths were provided. Recent direct observations of fishermen in the area suggested a species abundance increase. However, data from the Mediterranean Sea remain scarce and further efforts are needed to better understand the abundance and distribution of this species. Modified keys for a rapid color pattern-based determination of all Haemulidae species recorded in the Mediterranean Sea to date are also provided. Finally, the potential further expansion under the future prediction of climate changes of this Atlantic origin fish in the Mediterranean Sea is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]