Biological invasions constitute a major threat to native ecosystems and to global biodiversity

Natural products and their synthetic analogs and derivatives are a traditional source of bioactive molecules with potential development as drug candidates. In this context, Marine Natural Products (MNPs) represent a rich reservoir of diverse molecular skeletons with potential pharmacological activity that, so far, has been mostly explored in cancer and infectious diseases. Starting from the development of a novel bioassay-guided screening platform for immunomodulatory compounds from an in-house MNPs library, we report the identification of the alkaloid lepadin A as a new model compound for immune-based anticancer activity with characteristics that suggest a possible mechanism as Immunogenic Cell Death inducer. The work describes the molecular-based bioprospecting in the Gulf of Naples together with the bioassay-guided fractionation, the chemical characterization of the alkaloid, and the biological activity in mouse dendritic cells (D1).

Scyllarus Fabricius, 1775 includes nine species worldwide, three of which have been recorded from the Mediterranean Sea: S. arctus ( Linnaeus, 1758), S. caparti Holthuis, 1952, and S. pygmaeus Bate, 1888. A Scyllarus specimen not ascribable to any of the previous species was trawled in November 2020 in unconsolidated substrates in the Gulf of Naples, Italy. The sample was subsequently identified through an integrative taxonomic approach as Scyllarus subarctus Crosnier, 1970, a species originally described from southern Angola (Eastern Atlantic Ocean) and apparently expanding northward along Western Africa. It is possible that this taxon may have been already present in the Mediterranean but went overlooked or undetected. Results obtained through molecular analyses underlined the necessity of an extensive update of the supraspecific taxonomy of scyllarids.

The invasive fan worm Branchiomma luctuosum (Grube, 1870), originally described from the Red Sea, is first reported here from the Albanian coasts, based on records held in Vlora Bay, a locality near to Valona harbour and Narta Lagoon. Possible pathways of arrival in the area are uncertain. However, species’ larval ecology and life-history traits suggest a secondary spreading through shipping. Social media data mining allowed the confirmation of its establishment in the area, with specimens showing high densities in shallow waters on artificial hard substrates and to backdate its arrival in the area since at least November 2016. Citizen science continues supporting marine biology in the Mediterranean area, especially in countries where proper field studies and research projects are still limited.