The Bigfin reef squid, Sepioteuthis lessoniana is one of the many alien species we record in the Aegean!
The biodiversity of our seas is changing due to climate change, but also due to human-induced factors such as the creation and more recently the expansion of the Suez Canal. However, what plays the most important role though for the large invasive species expansion plays overfishing – frequently and improvidently emptying several areas of our seas, especially the ones that were easily accessible. As a result, the “gaps” created within the marine ecosystems form the ideal conditions for alien species to spread and thrive.
It is a fact that our seas are changing and that all of us must observe and learn to live in the new conditions that are being formed:
> 1000 alien species have been introduced in the Mediterranean
> 650 have established viable populations
> 100 are invasive and threaten marine biodiversity and ecosystem services
Your observations are valuable and your questions are more than welcome.
Send your photographs and reports of unusual species you may have observed to Archipelagos’ Citizen Science Observatory. Help us record the spread of invasive species!
Send us your emails at [email protected] & [email protected]
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