The westernmost record of Rhopilema nomadica (Galil, 1990) in the Mediterranean - off the Maltese Islands

Abstract

In late autumn and early winter of 2004, two individuals of the Erythrean alien Rhopilema nomadica were sighted at two locations off the Maltese Islands, marking the westernmost records of this species in the Mediterranean Sea. Since only two adult specimens were ever reported from Maltese waters, in the species has yet to establish a reproducing population in the Sicily Channel. The record is considered as yet another hallmark of the warming trend of the Mediterranean Sea.