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Molecular identity of the non-indigenous Cassiopea sp. from Palermo Harbour (central Mediterranean Sea)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2019

Teresa Maggio Open the ORCID record for Teresa Maggio [Opens in a new window] ,
Alessandro Allegra ,
Mar Bosch-Belmar ,
Tiziana Cillari ,
Angela Cuttitta ,
Manuela Falautano ,
Giacomo Milisenda ,
Aldo Nicosia ,
Patrizia Perzia  and
Mauro Sinopoli Open the ORCID record for Mauro Sinopoli [Opens in a new window]
...Show all authors
Teresa Maggio*
Affiliation:
Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, BIO-CIT Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo n. 4521 (ex complesso Roosevelt), Località Addaura, 90149, Palermo, Italy
Alessandro Allegra
Affiliation:
GRAM Gruppo di Ricerca Applicata al Mare Soc. Coop., Via Roma 471, 90139 Palermo, Italy
Mar Bosch-Belmar
Affiliation:
CONISMA, Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Piazzale Flaminio 9, 00196 Roma, Italy
Tiziana Cillari
Affiliation:
Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, BIO-CIT Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo n. 4521 (ex complesso Roosevelt), Località Addaura, 90149, Palermo, Italy
Angela Cuttitta
Affiliation:
Institute for Studies on the Mediterranean, National Research Council, Sanfelice, 8-80134 Napoli, Italy
Manuela Falautano
Affiliation:
Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, BIO-CIT Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo n. 4521 (ex complesso Roosevelt), Località Addaura, 90149, Palermo, Italy
Giacomo Milisenda
Affiliation:
Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation, National Research Council, via Ugo La Malfa 153, 90136 Palermo, Italy
Aldo Nicosia
Affiliation:
Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation, National Research Council, via Ugo La Malfa 153, 90136 Palermo, Italy
Patrizia Perzia
Affiliation:
Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, BIO-CIT Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo n. 4521 (ex complesso Roosevelt), Località Addaura, 90149, Palermo, Italy
Mauro Sinopoli
Affiliation:
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Napoli, Palermo branch, Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo n. 4521 (ex complesso Roosevelt), Località Addaura, 90149, Palermo, Italy
Luca Castriota
Affiliation:
Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, BIO-CIT Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo n. 4521 (ex complesso Roosevelt), Località Addaura, 90149, Palermo, Italy
*
Author for correspondence: Teresa Maggio, Email: teresa.maggio@isprambiente.it
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Abstract

The upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea is a benthic scyphozoan, considered a non-indigenous invasive species in the Mediterranean, forming large blooms in eutrophic areas. Taxonomy of the genus Cassiopea is extremely difficult because morphological/meristic characters used are variable within the same species, overlapping among different species, and cryptic species have been identified by molecular markers; nine Cassiopea species are recognized on the basis of molecular study. Mediterranean records of Cassiopea have been ascribed to andromeda species on the basis of a hypothesized invasion pathway from the Suez Canal. In the current study, an analysis of the main morphological characters of the sampled Cassiopea jellyfish from Palermo (Tyrrhenian Sea) was carried out and subsequently, molecular analyses were performed by using COI barcode in order to identify the species. Molecular data were compared with published information in GenBank. Morphological characters were highly variable, but molecular analyses confirmed that Mediterranean Cassiopea specimens belong to andromeda species. Moreover, high values of sequence divergence were found between Mediterranean Cassiopea and the other C. andromeda from the Red Sea, Hawaii and Florida. These results lead to a discussion of possible explanations linked to life history features of the species. Two different explanations are proposed; the first is that Mediterranean C. andromeda, finding a suitable ecological niche good for colonization and proliferation, could have been isolated in Palermo Harbour. The second considers the possibility of multiple introduction events by human transport as demonstrated for other non-indigenous jellyfish; in this case Cassiopea genetic differences increased in the invaded area.

Keywords

Cassiopea andromedajellyfish bloomsMediterranean Seamolecular taxonomynon-indigenous species
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 99 , Issue 8 , December 2019 , pp. 1765 - 1773
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2019 

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