The Influence of Sea Surface Temperatures on Biodiversity of Gaeta Gulf, Italy

Climate change in the last decades has become an undisputed event with visible effects in many fields of research. One of the most striking effects with high-impact consequences is the one linked to biodiversity. In this study, the relationships between temperature variations and variations in marine fauna in the Gulf of Gaeta are investigated. Sea temperature from 1986 to 2009 were collected, this is a period in which the AVHRR sensor installed on NOAA satellite is available. It has estimated changes in the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) from satellite using GIS software. In addition, research on native species was carried out using the barcoding technique. The first sightings are related to Fistularia commersonii and Sphoeroides pachygaster identified since 2009 and well reported in our previous publication. They have penetrated the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal, respectively, and are still sporadic. These tests were linked for the first time to water heating, which increased by about 0.4 °C between 1989–1999 and 1999–2009. In addition, there are other sightings, such as that of Pomadasys incisus penetrating from Gibraltar, which until 2009 was previously isolated and is now sighted in groups and is well integrated in recent years; or even the Arothron diadematus from the Suez Canal although still sporadically sighted, has a tetrodotoxin in its fillet. These phenomena could lead to radical and sudden upheavals in the Mediterranean marine ecosystem.