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First record of the freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii Lankester, 1880 in Greece suggests distinct European invasion events

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Abstract

This contribution presents the first record of the freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii Lankester, 1880 in Greece. The species was found in a water transfer canal adjacent to Lake Marathon, 45 km northeast of Athens; this is the southernmost record of this invasive alien medusa in the Balkan Peninsula and Europe. A review of recently published records shows that this species has expanded its range in Europe and the Mediterranean countries. Genetic analysis of the Greek specimen suggests that the phylogeny of C. sowerbii needs further evaluation since we are probably dealing with a distinct species within the genus Craspedacusta, and that the Greek population represents a distinct invasion event from that previously recorded in central Europe. However, due to a lack of molecular information on the native and invasive ranges, further phylogenetic studies are necessary to clarify this issue.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their appreciation to the two anonymous reviewers and the handling editor of this work for their valuable comments which helped to improve this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, 46.7 km Athens-Sounio Av., 19013, Anavissos, Attica, Greece

    Ioannis Karaouzas & Stamatis Zogaris

  2. CIIMAR/CIMAR: Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Rua dos Bragas 289, 4050-123, Porto, Portugal

    Manuel Lopes-Lima, Elsa Froufe & Ronaldo Sousa

  3. CITAB-UTAD: Centre for Research and Technology of Agro-Environment and Biological Sciences, University of Trasos-Montes and Alto Douro, Apartado 1013, 5001-811, Vila Real, Portugal

    Simone Varandas

  4. CIMO-ESA-IPB: Mountain Research Centre, School of Agriculture, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, Apartado 1172, 5301-854, Bragança, Portugal

    Amílcar Teixeira

  5. CBMA: Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Ronaldo Sousa

Authors
  1. Ioannis Karaouzas
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  2. Stamatis Zogaris
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  3. Manuel Lopes-Lima
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  4. Elsa Froufe
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  5. Simone Varandas
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  6. Amílcar Teixeira
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  7. Ronaldo Sousa
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Correspondence to Ioannis Karaouzas.

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Handling Editor: Toshifumi Minamoto.

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Karaouzas, I., Zogaris, S., Lopes-Lima, M. et al. First record of the freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii Lankester, 1880 in Greece suggests distinct European invasion events. Limnology 16, 171–177 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-015-0452-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-015-0452-9

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