A most northern record of alien tunicate Phallusia nigra Savigny, 1816, population from the Argolic Gulf, Greece

Year 2020, Volume: 5 Issue: 3, 192 - 197, 27.11.2020

Panagiotis Latsoudis

https://doi.org/10.28978/nesciences.832997

Abstract

The black tunicate Phallusia nigra, Savigny, 1816 (Ascidiacea) is considered an alien species that has colonized the Levantine Sea. During a littoral zone search in July 2019 into the Porto Heli Bay (Argolid Peninsula, Peloponnese, Greece), a well-established population of the species was observed on a floating jetty. A large number of individuals (more than 50) suggests that the species is recently expanding its distribution into the northern and western part of the East Mediterranean Sea, after 67 years of occurrence in the Mediterranean Sea.

Keywords

Argolic Peninsula, Phallusia nigra, Alien species, Ascidian, Greek waters

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