Version 1
: Received: 16 May 2024 / Approved: 17 May 2024 / Online: 20 May 2024 (07:20:39 CEST)
How to cite:
Rubino, F.; Fanelli, G.; Denti, G. The Queen Is Dead, Long Live the Queen: The Vanishing of Pinna nobilis and the Onset of the Congeneric P. rudis (Mollusca: Bivalvia). Preprints2024, 2024051205. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.1205.v1
Rubino, F.; Fanelli, G.; Denti, G. The Queen Is Dead, Long Live the Queen: The Vanishing of Pinna nobilis and the Onset of the Congeneric P. rudis (Mollusca: Bivalvia). Preprints 2024, 2024051205. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.1205.v1
Rubino, F.; Fanelli, G.; Denti, G. The Queen Is Dead, Long Live the Queen: The Vanishing of Pinna nobilis and the Onset of the Congeneric P. rudis (Mollusca: Bivalvia). Preprints2024, 2024051205. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.1205.v1
APA Style
Rubino, F., Fanelli, G., & Denti, G. (2024). The Queen Is Dead, Long Live the Queen: The Vanishing of <em>Pinna nobilis </em>and the Onset of the Congeneric<em> P. rudis </em>(Mollusca: Bivalvia). Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.1205.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Rubino, F., Giovanni Fanelli and Giuseppe Denti. 2024 "The Queen Is Dead, Long Live the Queen: The Vanishing of <em>Pinna nobilis </em>and the Onset of the Congeneric<em> P. rudis </em>(Mollusca: Bivalvia)" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.1205.v1
Abstract
The bivalve mollusc Pinna nobilis, endemic to the Mediterranean Sea, since 2016 is vanishing from the whole basin because of an infection by multiple pathogens that caused mass mortality events. In the Eastern Mediterranean some little populations seem to be resistant to the infection. These individuals could represent the only possibility for the species to recolonize now desert habitats. Thus, according to the recommendations of IUCN, the looking for living specimens of P. nobilis is a priority. As a result of a monitoring activity carried out in 2022-2024, along the Ionian cost of Apulia, in Southern Italy, the species has completely disappeared leaving only empty shells. Concurrent to the vanishing of P. nobilis, its congeneric P. rudis, resistant to the infection, seems to be taking advantage, becoming more common and colonizing habitats once exclusive of P. nobilis. In fact, from different areas of the Mediterranean, the sightings of P. rudis are increasing, together with the discovering of individuals exhibiting morphological traits that are a mixing between the two species. In some cases, these morphological features are not easy to detect, anyway the presence of these hybrids, resistant to the infection, is important for the conservation of the species.
Keywords
Pinna nobilis; Pinna rudis; endangered species; mass mortality; Ionian Sea; Mediterranean Sea
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Ecology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
