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Paranthura japonica Richardson, 1909 (Anthuridea, Isopoda): current state of the invasion in the Mediterranean Sea J. Tempesti, J. Langeneck, A. Castelli Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Pisa, via Derna 1, 56126 Pisa (PI), Italy Paranthura japonica Richardson, 1909 (Fig. 1a), first- ly described from Hokkaido Island (Japan) by Richard- son (1909), was recently discovered in the southern Bay of Biscay (Arcachon Bay, France) and was identified as NIS (non-indigenous species). Likely the process of co- lonisation started from atlantic coast of France, after the Lagoon of Venice reached La Spezia and Olbia harbours in Italy. Subsequently it was found in several mediterra- nean areas such as La Grande Motte marina (Camargue, France), Mar Piccolo lagoon (Taranto, Italy), in Heraklion (Crete, Greece) and El Kantaoui (Tunisia) harbours and, finally, into Marina of Rome (Lazio, Italy), Ortona har - bour (Abruzzo, Italy), Livorno harbour (Tuscany, Italy) and Tortolì pond (Sardinia, Italy) (Fig.2). The main hypothesis for the arrival and spread of P. japo- nica was oysters and mussels trade and farming and the wrong attribution of the species as a local one could have been the cause of its late identification; however, eafood trading and processing was supposed to be the main cause of unintentional introduction. The present review documents the actual distribution of the species P. japonica in Mediterranean Sea basin, where it was found during samplings of fouling and soft bottom assemblages of mediterranean commercial and touristic harbours and marinas. P. japonica can be distinguished by the native, and often co-occurring Paranthura nigropunctata (Lucas, 1846) from several characte- ristics: pleonites 1-5 fused medially but not laterally, uropod exopods with distal concavity on mesial margin and pleotelson not rea- ching beyond tip of uropod endopods (Fig. 1b). Figure 1. a) Paranthura japonica collected in the commercial harbour of Livorno. b) Close-up of the last pleonites and telson showing the medial fusion of the pleonites and the shape of uropods. Arcachon Bay La Spezia Harbour Olbia Harbour Venice Lagoon El Kantaoui Harbour Heraklion Harbour Mar Piccolo of Taranto La Grande-Motte marina Marina of Rome Ortona Harbour Livorno Harbour Tortolì pond Lavesque et al., 2013 Marchini et al., 2014 Marchini et al., 2014 Marchini et al., 2014 Tempesti et al., 2016 Tempesti et al., 2016 Lorenti et al., 2015 Marchini et al., 2015 Ferrario et al., 2015 Dailianis et al., 2016 Tempesti et al., in press personal observation 2007 2010 2010 2012 2012 2012 2013 2014 2015 2015 2015 2016 Locality Year Reference Figure 2. Current distribution of Paranthura japonica in the North-Eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. References • Dailianis T., Akyol O., Babali N., Bariche M., Crocetta F., Gerovasileiou V., Ghanem R., Gökoğlu M., Hasiotis T., Izquierdo-Muñoz A., Julian D., Katsanevakis S., Lipej L., Mancini E., Mytilineou Ch., Ounifi Ben Amor K., Özgül A., Ragkousis M., Rubio-Portillo E., Servello G., Sini M., Stamouli C., Sterioti A., Teker S., Tiralongo F., Trkov D. (2016). New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (July 2016). Mediterranean Marine Science 17: 608-626. • Ferrario J., Ulman A., Marchini A., Saracino F., Occhipinti Ambrogi A. (2016). Non-indigenous fouling speces in the marina of Rome. Biologia Marina Mediterranea, in press. • Lavesque N., Sorbe J.C., Bachelet G., Goillieux B., Montau-Douin, et al. (2013). Recent discovery of Paranthura japonica Richardson, 1909 (Crustacea: Isopoda: Paranthuridae) in European marine waters (Arcachon Bay, Bay of Biscay). BioInvasion Records 2: 215-219. • Lorenti M., Keppel E., Petrocelli A., Sigovini M., Tagliapietra D. (2015). The non-indigenous Paranthura japonica Richardson, 1909 (Isopoda: Anthuroidea: Paranthuridae) from the Mar Piccolo lagoon, Taranto (Italy, Mediterranean Sea). Environmental Science and Pollution Research , DOI 10.1007/s11356-015-4994-5 • Marchini A., Ferrario J., Minchin D. (2015). Marinas may act as hubs for the spread of the pseudo-indigenous bryozoan Amathia verticillata (Delle Chiaje, 1822) and its associates. Scientia Marina 79: 355-365. • Marchini A., Sorbe J.C., Torelli F., Lodola A., Occhipinti-Ambrogi A. (2014). The non-indigenous Paranthura japonica Richardson, 1909 in the Mediterranean Sea: travelling with shellfish? Mediterranean Marine Science 15: 545-553. • Tempesti J., Rossano C., Gambineri S., Plaiti W., Scapini F. (2016). New records in the Mediterranean for the non-indigenous species Paranthura japonica (Richardson, 1909) (Anthuridea, Isopoda). Biologia Marina Mediterranea, in press. It is interesting to note that P. japonica was found in the most protected area of several harbours, along the docks. Specimens fit clear - ly into the descriptions of P. japonica provided by Richardson (1909), Nunomura (1977) and Frutos (2011). This records supports the hypotesis that the species has a preference for both natural and artificial hard substrate but this does not exclude the possibility to find it on soft sediments as epibenthic macrofauna. This review within Mediterranean harbours, along with others already reported in the literature, can help to understand the dynamics of temporal and spatial distribution of the species and show signals of a quick range expansion in the Mediterranean Sea, facilitated by port activities and trades. a b 2015
