The alien lionfish, Pterois miles (Bennett, 1828), enters the Adriatic Sea, Central Mediterranean Sea

The alien lionfish, Pterois miles (Bennett, 1828), enters the Adriatic Sea, Central Mediterranean Sea

Vincenzo Di Martino, Bessy Stancanelli

ORCID IDs: V.D.M. 0000-0002-5987-0954; B.S. 0000-0001-7126-0633

CNR/ISAFOM, via Empedocle n° 58; 95128 Catania, ITALY
Aqua Stories, via Vampolieri n° 25; 95022 Aci Catena, ITALY

Abstract

The lionfish Pterois miles (Bennett, 1828), is considered one of the most dangerous invasive species for the Mediterranean biome. Since its first sighting back in 1991, the species spread widely along the Levantine Basin, in the central Mediterranean, along the North African coasts (from Egypt to Tunisia) and in Sicily. This paper reports the first sightings of the lionfish from the Adriatic Sea, in the coasts of Puglia and Albania, observed during July 2019 and August 2020.

Keywords: Pterois miles, northward dispersal, Puglia, Albania, Adriatic Sea, Mediterranean Sea

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