THE ALIEN ALGA CAULERPA TAXIFOLIA (VAHL) C. AGARDH VAR. DISTICHOPHYLLA (SONDER) VERLAQUE, HUISMAN AND PROCACCINI MOVE THEIR NORTHERN AND WESTERN LIMITS

12/12/2018 Arda Tonay

The alien alga Caulerpa taxifolia (Vahl) C. Agardh var. distichophylla (Sonder) Verlaque, Huisman and Procaccini move their northern and western limits

Vicenzo Di Martino, Bessy Stancanelli, Nicola Cantasano

CNR / ISAFoM (National Research Council of Italy) / Institute for Agricultural and Forest System in the Mediterranean), via Empedocle, 58, 95125 Catania, ITALY
Aqua Stories, via Vampolieri, 25/31 int. 27, 95022 Aci Catena, Catania, ITALY
CNR / ISAFoM (National Research Council of Italy) / Institute for Agricultural and Forest System in the Mediterranean, via Cavour 4/6, 87036 Rende Cosenza, ITALY

Abstract

Caulerpa taxifolia (Vahl) C. Agardh var. distichophylla (Sonder) Verlaque, Huisman and Procacini is an invasive green alga recently reported in the Mediterranean Sea. The first record was in Turkey in 2007 and later it has been reported in Sicily (2009), Cyprus (2013), Malta (2015), Rhodes (2016) and Libya (2017). In the current study we present additional records of this species expanding its range into the Eastern and Western Mediterranean Sea (Eastern and Western Sicilian shoreline, Calabrian Tyrrhenian coast, Sardinia and Tunisia) as well as in the eastern Mediterranean basin. Our specimens were collected on various substrates and identified morphologically.

Keywords: Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla, alien species, Mediterranean Sea, Italy, Tunisia

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