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The alien opisthobranch, Aplysia dactylomela, is recorded for the first time from the Yeşilovacık Bay in 2017. One specimen of A. dactylomela was photographed at the infralittoral zone of the Bay. The length of the specimen was 35 cm. The individual was photographed while feeding on rocks covered with algae. The first record of the A. dactylomela f...
Citations
... It was first recorded in the Mediterranean Sea, from the Island of Lampedusa (AG), Sicily Channel (Trainito, 2003). Then, A. dactylomela was reported from the Adriatic Sea, Calabria, Crete, Cyprus, the Egadi Islands, the Eastern Sicily, Israel, the Ligurian Sea, Malta, Turkey (Ayas e Ağilkaya, 2017). The strong marine currents running along the coasts of North Africa from West to East probably allow the larval dispersion towards the Levantine basin where average temperatures are closer to those of its origin areas (Bernat e Molinari, 2016). ...
The non-indigenous spotted sea hare Aplysia dactylomela Rang, 1828, entered the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic, is recorded for the first time from shallow coastal waters of Pianosa Island in 2015. Aplysia dactylomela Rang, 1828 is a yellowish-brownish opistobranch with black rings that make it easily identifiable. It is distributed worldwide in tropical and warm temperature waters, even if molecular studies revealed that it takes origin from the Atlantic (Valdes et al., 2013). It was first recorded in the Mediterranean Sea, from the Island of Lampedusa (AG), Sicily Channel (Trainito, 2003). Then, A. dactylomela was reported from the Adriatic Sea, Calabria, Crete, Cyprus, the Egadi Islands, the Eastern coast of Sicily, Israel, the Ligurian Sea, Malta, Turkey (see Ayas e Ağilkaya, 2017). The strong marine currents running along the coasts of North Africa from West to East probably allow the larval dispersion towards the Levantine basin where average temperatures are closer to those of its origin areas (Bernat e Molinari, 2016). Moreover, an efficient chemical defense and communication system (highly effective deterrent and toxic molecules in the skin, mucus and gut and ink secretion, ability in sequestering metabolites from the algal diet and mobilizing them into skin and digestive gland secondary, and ability in converting photosynthetic pigments into chemical deterrents) may promote or facilitate the establishment of local populations and the expansion of A. dactylomela (Pasternak e Galil, 2010). In December 2015, a specimen of A. dactylomela was sighted and photographed at Pianosa Island (northern Tyrrhenian Sea) feeding on algae in shallow waters as previously observed (Mannino et al., 2014; Bernat e Molinari, 2016; Ayas e Ağilkaya, 2017). This record can be considered the first occurrence in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea.
