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WOS: 000363424700012, Indian Ocean twospot cardinalfish, Cheilodipterus novemstriatus (Ruppell, 1838), is recorded for the first time from the Turkish marine waters. Two specimens of C. novemstriatus were sampled with a purse seiner on 1 December 2014, and also a school of C. novemstriatus was photographed during scuba diving at a depth of 13 m on a rocky surface on 8 December 2014 in the Cevlik coast, Iskenderun Bay, north-eastern Mediterranean of Turkey. With the present report, the number of alien cardinal fish species reported in the Turkish coasts has reached five.

Publisher: Pensoft Publishers; International audience; Truly sustainable development in a human-altered, fragmented marine environment subject to unprecedented climate change, demands informed planning strategies in order to be successful. Beyond a simple understanding of the distribution of marine species, data describing how variations in spatio-temporal dynamics impact ecosystem functioning and the evolution of species are required. Marine Functional Connectivity (MFC) characterizes the flows of matter, genes and energy produced by organism movements and migrations across the seascape. As such, MFC determines the ecological and evolutionary interdependency of populations, and ultimately the fate of species and ecosystems. Gathering effective MFC knowledge can therefore improve predictions of the impacts of environmental change and help to refine management and conservation strategies for the seas and oceans. Gathering these data are challenging however, as access to, and survey of marine ecosystems still presents significant challenge. Over 50 European institutions currently investigate aspects of MFC using complementary methods across multiple research fields, to understand the ecology and evolution of marine species. The aim of SEA-UNICORN, a COST Action within the European Union Horizon 2020 framework programme, is to bring together this research effort, unite the multiple approaches to MFC, and to integrate these under a common conceptual and analytical framework. The consortium brings together a diverse group of scientists to collate existing MFC data, to identify knowledge gaps, to enhance complementarity among disciplines, and to devise common approaches to MFC. SEA-UNICORN will promote co-working between connectivity practitioners and ecosystem modelers to facilitate the incorporation of MFC data into the predictive models used to identify marine conservation priorities. Ultimately, SEA-UNICORN will forge strong forward-working links between scientists, policy-makers and stakeholders to facilitate the integration of MFC knowledge into decision support tools for marine management and environmental policies.

WOS: 000363424700002, Science Citation Index Expanded, Background. While some Lessepsian species provide economic benefits for Mediterranean fisheries, others cause economic losses. Lagocephalus sceleratus known as silver-cheeked toadfish poses a great risk to human health if consumed economic losses for fishers by damaging their fishing gears. This study aims to determine the socio-economic impact of silver-cheeked toadfish, with regards to its impact on biodiversity and socio-economic factors for small-scale fisheries. Materials and methods. Face-to-face interviews were completed with a total of 261 fishers from Izmir in the Middle Aegean region to Hatay in the Eastern Mediterranean region, to determine the problems arising from the presence of silver-cheeked toadfish species in the ecosystem and the resulting associated economic losses for a 1-year from 1 January to 30 December 2011. The elements, which should be taken into account in calculating silver-cheeked toadfish related economic losses, are related to fishing gear, labour and the associated losses in catches. However, losses associated with silver-cheeked toadfish predation were beyond the scope of this study. Results. Almost all fishers (91%) agree that silver-cheeked toadfish is a major problem, 82% believe that silver -cheeked toadfish negatively affects biodiversity, and 89% believe it lowers efficiency of their catches. Calculated silver-cheeked toadfish related losses were: 1300 TRY**. (approximate to 442 EUR) per year, per fisherman; 263 296 TRY (approximate to 89 521 EUR) per year, in total, for the interviewed fi shers (261), and 204 fi shers suffered economic losses relating to this species; which caused total losses of 6 033 577 TRY (approximate to 2 051 416 EUR) per year in total for the 4719 fi shers, which were 78% of all fi shers (6051) in the study area. Two-thirds of the study respondents think that the most effective way to battle this problem would be to try to eliminate this species from Turkish waters. Among them, 32% of the fi shers believe the most suitable gear to eliminate L. sceleratus from the marine ecosystem is the purse seine and 61% consent to fish L. sceleratus for 4 TRY each as a target species. Conclusion. To start a bounty system and a premium payment for each pufferfish caught will both help to reduce negative impact of the species on the ecosystem and provide an extra income for the fishers.