Aplysia dactylomela in Sicily

August 7, 2006
From: Antonello Greco

On the eastern coast of Sicily (Giardini Naxos) I recently found a specimen of Aplysia dactylomela, an alien species for Mediterranean Sea. After some days I found two other specimens of the same species. I found all of them in rocky substrates, covered by red algae (Corallina sp, Jania sp., Peyssonnelia sp), in shallow water (-1/-2 m.).

Locality: Giardini Naxos, Sicily, -2 m, Italy, Mediterranean Sea, 24 July 2006, rocky substrate. Length: 20 cm. Photographer: Antonello Greco.

The three specimens makes me think they were not occasional findings. So I collected some information about the biology of the species. I took some photos and some videos about the specimens I found, to document the finding. I also wrote a scientific article, hoping that it can be published as the first record for the Italian coasts. I think alien species should be monitored, because of the ecological consequences they could bring in places different from theirs.

Dr. Antonello Greco

antonell78@hotmail.com

Greco, A., 2006 (Aug 7) Aplysia dactylomela in Sicily. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/17347

Dear Antonello,
Thanks for another record from the Mediterranean. If you have a look at the earlier messages on this species on the Forum [see Fact Sheet] you woll see we have quite a few Mediterranean records now, mostly from the eastern end, but the first record I know of was in Egidio Trainito's book where he photographed it at Lampedusa Island [between Malta and Tunisia] in 2002. The interesting puzzle is not so much how it got into the Meditteranean, but why it took so long getting there? It is a well known inhabitant of the Caribbean and has been reported long ago from the Canary Islands.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Aug 7). Comment on Aplysia dactylomela in Sicily by Antonello Greco. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/17347

Factsheet

Aplysia dactylomela

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