A call to ARMS: new records of invasive alien decapods in the Mediterranean Sea

Eleven species of Erythraean alien decapod crustaceans were identified in the fouling communities collected between 2021 and 2023 from Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) stationed along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, of which, three are new records for the Mediterranean Sea: Athanas dimorphus Ortmann, 1894, Pilumnus longicornis Hilgendorf, 1879, Pilumnus savignyi Heller, 1861; additionally, two are new records for the Israeli coast: Sphaerozius nitidus Stimpson, 1858, and Liomera rugipes (Heller, 1861). The results substantiate the role of marine infrastructure as steppingstones for fouling-associated alien species. As Israel advances the construction of littoral, shelf, and off-shore maritime infrastructure, it is essential to address the shortcomings in its existing National Monitoring Program. A comprehensive and standardized monitoring system must be implemented to enable the timely detection of invasive fouling taxa. The deployment of ARMS arrays has been established as a fundamental approach in achieving this objective, and serve, in addition, as a Mediterranean-wide early warning system.