Corresponding author: Sarah Faulwetter (
Academic editor: Pavel Stoev
This paper describes a dataset of polychaetes (
The Mediterranean Sea is an enclosed water basin with a very low tidal range, in the range of 20–40 cm (
Despite the ecological importance and easy accessibility from the shore, only few studies have examined the species communities of the Mediterranean midlittoral zone (e.g.
This study attempts to increase our current knowledge of the rocky midlittoral zone of Mediterranean Sea by providing species occurrence data of polychaete species, assembled from four independent and previously unpublished datasets. Polychaetes are often used as a representative group of macrobenthic communities because they tend to be the dominant taxon in these communities and hence, they are used as indicators of environmental disturbance (e.g.
This dataset includes records from 14 sampling sites at 10 different locations: Alykes, Elounda, Evripos channel, Thermaikos Gulf, Nea Roda, Porto Karas and Porto Lagos in Greece and Balestrate, Zingaro and Capo Gallo in Italy (Table
Christos Arvanitidis, HCMR (project coordinator, sample collection), Georgios Chatzigeorgiou, HCMR (sample collection, sample identification), Sarah Faulwetter, HCMR (sample collection, sample identification, data management), Kleoniki Keklikoglou, HCMR/University of Crete (sample identification, data management), Fabio Badalamenti, CRN-IAMC, Italy (sample collection, sample identification), Militadis-Spyridonas Kitsos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (sample collection, sample identification), Lennert Tyberghein, VLIZ (data management), Wanda Plaiti, HCMR (sample collection), Vasiliki Markantonatou, HCMR (sample collection), Ioannis Pesmatzoglou, HCMR (sample collection), Rick Fernandez and students from Niceville High School, FL, USA (sample collection), Kalliopi Ousantzopoulou and students from Heraklion High School of Arts, Crete, Greece (sample collection).
The data cover several independent sampling events over a time period of 25 years (1984–2009) and originate from 14 sampling sites in Italy and Greece (Mediterranean Sea). Samples were collected from the midlittoral zone from a maximum depth of 1.5 m. Concerning the distribution of polychaetes, this habitat is understudied in the Mediterranean Sea — in fact, the
Samples from Crete were collected from two sites, Alykes and Elounda. Both sites were sampled in September 2007, Alykes in June 2008 and Elounda in February 2009. Strong wave action prevented the site in Elounda from being sampled concurrently with the site in Alykes during the second year. Samples were collected according to the NaGISA protocol (
Samples from Evripos channel, Thermaikos Gulf, Chalkidiki and Porto-Lagos were collected from September 1997 until October 1997. At each site, five random replicate units were collected. Two kind of samplers were used: (a) a metallic frame (20x20 cm) with a 0.5 mm mesh bag attached to its upper part (
Samples from Italy were collected in 1984, 1986 and 1989. In Zingaro, samples were collected in spring of 1984, in Capo Gallo in spring, autumn and winter of 1986 and in Balestrate once per season in 1989. The number of replicate units per sample vary between 4 and 13. Samples were collected by scraping the surface of a 20x20 cm square, stored in plastic bags and subsequently fixed in a 5% solution of sea water and formalin.In the laboratory, samples were sieved through a 0.5 mm mesh size and preserved in 75% ethanol. Polychaetes were sorted into families and then identified to species level using various identification keys.
All scientific names were standardised against the World Register of Marine species using the Taxon Match tool (
The samples had been obtained independently by three different research teams over a period of 25 years as described in detail above. In an attempt to assemble polychaete occurrence data of the Mediterranean midlittoral zone, the datasets included in this study were obtained from the respective colleagues, cross-checked, annotated, quality-controlled and transformed into a standard electronic format (Fig.
Samples were collected at 14 sampling sites in Italy and Greece, Mediterranean Sea, from a maximum depth of 1.5 m (Table
The present dataset contains the first electronically available quantitative data on midlittoral polychaetes in the entire Mediterranean Sea. Previous studies of the habitat in the region are scarce, often qualitative and not electronically available.
The original dataset comprises distribution information for 123 polychaete species in 22 families. However, following recent taxonomic literature, several of the 127 species are currently regarded as synonyms. The present dataset, after updating the taxonomy, contains therefore distribution records for 123 species (Table
The species richness of the 22 families is very heterogeneous.
Species richness at the different sampling sites is very heterogenous, with only a single species found in Porto Karas to 34 species found in Capo Gallo. Likewise, the number of higher taxa is different across locations, e.g. the 24 species recorded in Balestrate belong to 15 different families, whereas the 30 species recorded each in Alykes and Evripos St. 1c belong to only 10 families (Fig.
Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL)
The dataset can be freely used provided it is cited.
The dataset is available via the GBIF Internet Publishing Toolkit (IPT) of the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ). This IPT installation serves as the European node of the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (EurOBIS). The data will also be harvested by and made available through the International OBIS database, as well as through the data portal of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). The dataset is available as a DarwinCoreArchive, all fields are mapped to DarwinCore terms (
This publication refers to the most recent version of the dataset available through the IPT server or EurOBIS. Future changes to the dataset due to quality control activities might change its content or structure.
Column label | Column description |
---|---|
recordNumber | A unique identifier for the record within the data set or collection. |
scientificName | The scientific name of the taxon, including authorship. |
scientificNameAuthorship | The authorship information for the scientificName formatted according to the conventions of the applicable nomenclaturalCode. |
acceptedNameUsage | The full name, with authorship and date information if known, of the currently valid (zoological) taxon. |
taxonRemarks | Comments or notes about the taxon or name. |
specificEpithet | The species epithet of the scientificName. |
identificationQualifier | A brief phrase or a standard term ("cf.", "aff.") to express the determiner\'s doubts about the Identification. |
genus | The full scientific name of the genus in which the taxon is classified. |
family | The full scientific name of the family in which the taxon is classified. |
order | The full scientific name of the orde in which the taxon is classified. |
class | The full scientific name of the class in which the taxon is classified. |
phylum | The full scientific name of the phylum in which the taxon is classified. |
kingdom | The full scientific name of the kingdom in which the taxon is classified. |
fieldNumber | Denotes the code of each replicate unit. |
fieldNotes | Notes about this occurrence record. |
EventDate | The sampling date. |
verbatimEventDate | The verbatim expression of the sampling date. |
year | The sampling year. |
month | The sampling month. |
day | The sampling day. |
locality | The specific location where the sample was taken. |
municipality | The full, unabbreviated name of the next smaller administrative region than county (city, municipality, etc.) in which the sampling location occurs. |
island | The name of the island on or near which the sampling location occurs. |
country | The name of the country in which the sampling location occurs. |
countryCode | The standard code of the country in which the sampling location occurs. |
continent | The name of the continent in which the sampling location occurs. |
waterBody | The name of the water body in which the sampling location occurs. |
decimalLatitude | The geographic latitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum) of the geographic center of a Location. Positive values are north of the Equator, negative values are south of it. Legal values lie between -90 and 90, inclusive. |
decimalLongitude | The geographic longitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum) of the geographic center of a Location. Positive values are east of the Greenwich Meridian, negative values are west of it. Legal values lie between -180 and 180, inclusive. |
GeoreferenceSources | A list (concatenated and separated) of maps, gazetteers, or other resources used to georeference the Location, described specifically enough to allow anyone in the future to use the same resources. |
coordinateUncertaintyInMeters | The horizontal distance (in meters) from the given decimalLatitude and decimalLongitude describing the smallest circle containing the whole of the sampling location. |
habitat | A category or description of the habitat from which the samples were collected. |
minimumDepthInMeters | The lesser depth of a range of depth below the local surface, in meters. |
maximumDepthInMeters | The greater depth of a range of depth below the local surface, in meters. |
samplingProtocol | The description of the method or protocol used for sample collection. |
basisOfRecord | The specific nature of the data record, as described in |
preparations | Preparations and preservation methods for a specimen. |
individualCount | The number of individuals in a replicate sample unit. In cases where replicates had been pooled, the average abundances are not included under "individualCount" but under "dynamicProperties" |
dynamicProperties | Includes here as the only attribute "meanAbundance". These are the average abundances of those samples where the replicates had been pooled. |
recordedBy | A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people responsible for recording the original Occurrence. |
identifiedBy | A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups, or organizations who identified the specimen. |
dateIdentified | The date on which the specimen was identified. |
identificationReferences | A list (concatenated and separated) of references (publication, global unique identifier, URI) used for identifying the specimen. |
institutionCode | The name (or acronym) in use by the institution having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record. |
institutionID | An identifier for the institution having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record. |
datasetID | An identifier for the set of data. |
datasetName | The name identifying the data set from which the record was derived. |
rights | Information about rights held in and over the resource (copyright, intellectual property, etc.). |
rightsHolder | A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. |
id | A unique identifier for the record within the data set or collection, auto-incrementing number automatically added by the system. |
taxonID | Aphia ID (Unique Identifier for the taxon within the World Register of Marine Species - |
Keklikoglou, K., Faulwetter, S., Chatzigeorgiou, G., Badalamenti, F., Kitsos, MS., Arvanitidis, C. (2013). MidMedPol: Polychaetes from midlittoral rocky shores in Greece and Italy (Mediterranean Sea). 788 records, Contributed by Arvanitidis, C. (project coordinator, sample collection), Chatzigeorgiou, G. (sample collection, sample identification), Faulwetter, S. (sample collection, sample identification, data management), Keklikoglou, K. (sample identification, data management), Badalamenti, F. (sample collection, sample identification), Kitsos, MS. (sample collection, sample identification), Tyberghein, L. (data management), Plaiti, W. (sample collection), Markantonatou, V. (sample collection), Pesmatzoglou, I. (sample collection), Fernandez R. and students from Niceville High School, FL, USA (sample collection) and Ousantzopoulou K. and students from Heraklion High School of Arts, Crete, Greece (sample collection), Online
Number of polychaete records in the Mediterranean in five-year intervals since 1960. Data from the Ocean Biogeographic information system, plus additions from the present dataset.
Summary of the number of species per family.
Overview of the number of taxa per sampling station
Map of the sampling locations
Temporal distribution of the number of polychaete records in the Mediterranean Sea present in the
Overview of all steps leading to the final release of the dataset:
Distribution of species per family (abundance and percentage) for the most species-rich families in the MidMedPol dataset. Families with less than four species were combined in the category "Others". These are:
Number of species, genera and families per sampling location. Diagram based on the data from Suppl. material
Coordinates, depth and sampling dates of the sampling localities
Greece | Alykes | 0 | 0.5 | 09/2007 and 06/2008 | ||
Greece | Elounda | 0 | 0.5 | 09/2007 and 05/2009 | ||
Greece | Evripos channel (St. 1a) | 0 | 0.2 | 09/1997-10/1997 | ||
Greece | Evripos channel (St. 1b) | 0 | 0.2 | 09/1997-10/1997 | ||
Greece | Evripos channel (St. 1c) | 0 | 0.2 | 09/1997-10/1997 | ||
Greece | Thermaikos Gulf (St.2a) | 0 | 0.2 | 09/1997-10/1997 | ||
Greece | Thermaikos Gulf (St.2b) | 0 | 0.2 | 09/1997-10/1997 | ||
Greece | Thermaikos Gulf (St.2c) | 0 | 0.2 | 09/1997-10/1997 | ||
Greece | Nea Roda | 0 | 1.5 | 09/1997-10/1997 | ||
Greece | Porto Karas | 0 | 0.3 | 09/1997-10/1997 | ||
Greece | Porto Lagos | 0 | 0.2 | 09/1997-10/1997 | ||
Italy | Balestrate | 0 | 0.3 | 1989 (spring, summer, autumn, winter) | ||
Italy | Zingaro | 0 | 0.3 | 1984 (spring) | ||
Italy | Capo Gallo | 0 | 0.3 | 1986 (spring, autumn, winter) |
Taxa identified to species-level are included in the dataset and new records for the geographic areas.
Family | Species | New record for area | References used for identification |
Aegean Sea, Greece | |||
Eastern Mediterranean | |||
Aegean Sea, Greece | |||
Aegean Sea, Greece | |||
Italy | |||