Macrozoobenthos in the Adriatic Sea ports: Soft-bottom communities with an overview of non-indigenous species

A Travizi; I Balković; T Bacci; F Bertasi; C Cuicchi; V Flander-Putrle; F Grati; L Grossi; A Jaklin; L Lipej; B Mavrič; B Mikac; V Marusso; L Montagnini; V Nerlović; M Penna; V Salvalaggio; A Santelli; T Scirocco; A Spagnolo; B Trabucco; D Vani

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.01.016

Macrozoobenthos in the Adriatic Sea ports: Soft-bottom communities with an overview of non-indigenous species

Mar Pollut Bull. 2019 Oct:147:159-170. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.01.016. Epub 2019 Feb 27.

Authors

A Travizi¹, I Balković², T Bacci³, F Bertasi³, C Cuicchi⁴, V Flander-Putrle⁵, F Grati⁶, L Grossi³, A Jaklin², L Lipej⁵, B Mavrič⁵, B Mikac², V Marusso³, L Montagnini⁴, V Nerlović², M Penna³, V Salvalaggio⁶, A Santelli⁶, T Scirocco⁷, A Spagnolo⁶, B Trabucco³, D Vani³

Affiliations

¹ Ruđer Bošković Institute, Center for Marine Research (RBI, CMR), G. Paliaga 5, 52210 Rovinj, Croatia. Electronic address: travizi@irb.hr.
² Ruđer Bošković Institute, Center for Marine Research (RBI, CMR), G. Paliaga 5, 52210 Rovinj, Croatia.
³ Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Via Vitaliano, Brancati 48, 00144 Rome, Italy.
⁴ Cooperativa Mare Ricerca, Via Enrico Cialdini 76, 60122 Ancona, Italy.
⁵ National Institute of Biology, Marine Biology Station (NIB, MBS), Fornače 41, 6330, Piran, Slovenia.
⁶ National Research Council - Institute of Biological Resources and Marine Biotechnologies (IRBIM), UOS Ancona, Largo Fiera della Pesca 2, 60125 Ancona, Italy.
⁷ National Research Council - Institute of Biological Resources and Marine Biotechnologies (IRBIM), UOS Lesina, via Pola 4, 71121 Foggia, Italy.

PMID: 30824304
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.01.016

Abstract

The present paper is a contribution to the first initiative of the Port Baseline Survey (PBS) for Non-indigenous species (NIS) in the Mediterranean Sea. It presents a report on the soft-bottom macrobenthos from the five Adriatic ports: Bari, Ancona (Italy), Koper (Slovenia), Pula, Rijeka (Croatia), with a focus on the presence and contribution of NIS to native assemblages. Out of 451 species identified, only four were common to all ports. A total of eight NIS were recorded, five in surveyed ports and three in the lagoon connected to the Port of Koper. The highest number of NIS was recorded in Bari, and the highest abundance in Ancona and Bari. Generally, the number, abundance and contribution of NIS seems too low to cause a substantial impact on native communities in surveyed ports. The suitability of methods adopted for PBS for soft-bottom NIS was discussed and suggestion for methodological improvement is provided.

Keywords: Adriatic; Macrozoobenthos; Mediterranean; Non-indigenous species; Ports; Soft-bottom community.

MeSH terms

Animals
Aquatic Organisms
Biological Monitoring / methods*
Croatia
Ecosystem
Introduced Species*
Invertebrates*
Italy
Mediterranean Sea
Ships
Slovenia
Surveys and Questionnaires