‘IN CONVERSATION’ with Dr Bella Galil (Senior Scientist, Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research, Nafa) – “The Marine Caravan – the Suez Canal and Bioinvasion of the Mediterranean Sea”

Six hundred and eighty alien marine multicellular species have been recorded in the Mediterranean Sea, and many have established viable populations. Examination of the profound ecological and economical impacts of some of the most conspicuous invasive species underscores their role, among other anthropogenic stressors, in altering the littoral communities. Some of the native biota of the upper shelf in the Levantine Sea has been substituted by species that have entered the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal (Erythraean aliens). The latter form the majority of aliens in the eastern Mediterranean, whereas shipping and mariculture are powerful means of introduction in the northwestern Mediterranean. The implications of the enlargement of Suez Canal, reflecting patterns in global trade, are briefly discussed. Thermophilic species have been introduced for much of the 20th century, yet few spread outside the Levantine Basin until the 1990s. It is proposed that the rising seawater-surface temperature favors the thermophilic aliens reproduction, growth, and survival, and provides them with a distinct advantage over native temperate Mediterranean taxa.