Discussion and conclusions
In the Mediterranean Sea, previous studies have ranked NIS by their risk and impact, which
has provided important information for resource allocation on NIS management (Streftaris
& Zenetos, 2006; Ojaveer et al., 2015). To this matter, AS-ISK and other screening tools
could allow a complementary information on NIS invasiveness (Copp et al., 2016; Vilizzi
et al., 2022). This is occurring for some non-indigenous fishes (Filiz et al., 2017a, b; Bilge
et al., 2019; Glamuzina et al., 2021; Yapici, 2021) and pelagic invertebrates, such as
jellyfish (Killi et al., 2020) and tunicates (Glamuzina et al., 2021). Among benthic
organisms, it has been carried out for some vagile molluscs and arthropods (Glamuzina et
al., 2021; Tarkan et al., 2021; Stasolla et al., 2021; Tomanić et al., 2022). However, the
risk posed by marine fouling NIS, which constitutes a high percentage of the Mediteranean
NIS diversity, has not been yet assessed, but for only a few molluscs and barnacle species,
such as Crassostrea gigas and Amphibalanus improvisus (see Glamuzina et al., 2021;
Stasolla et al., 2021). All these assessments have been carried out in the European coasts
of the Mediterranean. Therefore, Chebaane et al. (2022) constitutes, to our best knowledge,
the first assessment for the African coasts, and the first focused on the communities in
marinas, which are among the most invaded marine habitats of the Mediterranean Sea.
Results indicate that screening protocols, such as AS-ISK, can be a valuable tool to assess
the risk by NIS in marinas, including species that are not yet present in the Mediterranean
Sea but have risk of introduction (Copp et al., 2016; Vilizzi et al., 2022). These include
species prone to be introduced by known vectors, such as the aquaculture of mussels,
which has been introducing macroalgae and other NIS from the Pacific Ocean into the
Mediterranean Sea during the past decades (Katsanevakis et al., 2013; Verlaque &
Breton, 2019; Ruitton et al., 2021). Nevertheless, exhaustive and documented screening
of a high number of species requires a considerable effort. To this topic, this study
suggests that a subset of the AS-ISK questions can provide an accurate risk assessment
for the assessed species. As risk screening protocols are starting to be implemented in the
Mediterranean Sea, the identification of the most relevant questions could expedite the
assessment when working with a high number of NIS or when performing a quick scan
on recently introduced species. Therefore, these results might set the ground for a
screening protocol focused on the species on marine artificial coastal habitats in the
Mediterranean region towards an improvement of NIS management.
Aknowledgements
This work was financially supported by SPA/RAC, Tunisia, and the MAVA Foundation,
Switzerland (Tu-NIS-Risks project). JSV was supported by a FPI Grant (PRE2018-086266,
Project CGL 2017-82739-P) co-financed by ERDF European Union and Agencia Estatal de
Investigación, Gobierno de España. SC was supported by a pre-doctoral grant in the framework
of the 2015 ARDITI Grant Programme Madeira 14-20 (Project M1420-09-5369-FSE-000002).
Bibliography
BIANCHI C.N., MORRI C. (2000) - Marine Biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: Situation,
Problems and Prospects for Future Research. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 40(5), 367-376.
BILGE G., FILIZ H., YAPICI S., TARKAN A.S., VILIZZI L. (2019) - A risk screening study on
the potential invasiveness of Lessepsian fishes in the south-western coasts of Anatolia. Acta
Ichthyologica et Piscatoria, 49(1), 23–31.
CHEBAANE S., BENZARTI O., BOUHLEL R., SEMPERE-VALVERDE J. (2022) - Tu-NISRisk: Assessing the risk of invasion of the non-indigenous and cryptogenic species of the
marinas of Tunisia. [current issue].
2nd Mediterranean Symposium on the Non-Indigenous Species (Genoa, Italy, 22-23 September 2022)
71
In the Mediterranean Sea, previous studies have ranked NIS by their risk and impact, which
has provided important information for resource allocation on NIS management (Streftaris
& Zenetos, 2006; Ojaveer et al., 2015). To this matter, AS-ISK and other screening tools
could allow a complementary information on NIS invasiveness (Copp et al., 2016; Vilizzi
et al., 2022). This is occurring for some non-indigenous fishes (Filiz et al., 2017a, b; Bilge
et al., 2019; Glamuzina et al., 2021; Yapici, 2021) and pelagic invertebrates, such as
jellyfish (Killi et al., 2020) and tunicates (Glamuzina et al., 2021). Among benthic
organisms, it has been carried out for some vagile molluscs and arthropods (Glamuzina et
al., 2021; Tarkan et al., 2021; Stasolla et al., 2021; Tomanić et al., 2022). However, the
risk posed by marine fouling NIS, which constitutes a high percentage of the Mediteranean
NIS diversity, has not been yet assessed, but for only a few molluscs and barnacle species,
such as Crassostrea gigas and Amphibalanus improvisus (see Glamuzina et al., 2021;
Stasolla et al., 2021). All these assessments have been carried out in the European coasts
of the Mediterranean. Therefore, Chebaane et al. (2022) constitutes, to our best knowledge,
the first assessment for the African coasts, and the first focused on the communities in
marinas, which are among the most invaded marine habitats of the Mediterranean Sea.
Results indicate that screening protocols, such as AS-ISK, can be a valuable tool to assess
the risk by NIS in marinas, including species that are not yet present in the Mediterranean
Sea but have risk of introduction (Copp et al., 2016; Vilizzi et al., 2022). These include
species prone to be introduced by known vectors, such as the aquaculture of mussels,
which has been introducing macroalgae and other NIS from the Pacific Ocean into the
Mediterranean Sea during the past decades (Katsanevakis et al., 2013; Verlaque &
Breton, 2019; Ruitton et al., 2021). Nevertheless, exhaustive and documented screening
of a high number of species requires a considerable effort. To this topic, this study
suggests that a subset of the AS-ISK questions can provide an accurate risk assessment
for the assessed species. As risk screening protocols are starting to be implemented in the
Mediterranean Sea, the identification of the most relevant questions could expedite the
assessment when working with a high number of NIS or when performing a quick scan
on recently introduced species. Therefore, these results might set the ground for a
screening protocol focused on the species on marine artificial coastal habitats in the
Mediterranean region towards an improvement of NIS management.
Aknowledgements
This work was financially supported by SPA/RAC, Tunisia, and the MAVA Foundation,
Switzerland (Tu-NIS-Risks project). JSV was supported by a FPI Grant (PRE2018-086266,
Project CGL 2017-82739-P) co-financed by ERDF European Union and Agencia Estatal de
Investigación, Gobierno de España. SC was supported by a pre-doctoral grant in the framework
of the 2015 ARDITI Grant Programme Madeira 14-20 (Project M1420-09-5369-FSE-000002).
Bibliography
BIANCHI C.N., MORRI C. (2000) - Marine Biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: Situation,
Problems and Prospects for Future Research. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 40(5), 367-376.
BILGE G., FILIZ H., YAPICI S., TARKAN A.S., VILIZZI L. (2019) - A risk screening study on
the potential invasiveness of Lessepsian fishes in the south-western coasts of Anatolia. Acta
Ichthyologica et Piscatoria, 49(1), 23–31.
CHEBAANE S., BENZARTI O., BOUHLEL R., SEMPERE-VALVERDE J. (2022) - Tu-NISRisk: Assessing the risk of invasion of the non-indigenous and cryptogenic species of the
marinas of Tunisia. [current issue].
2nd Mediterranean Symposium on the Non-Indigenous Species (Genoa, Italy, 22-23 September 2022)
71