The Ichthyofauna of Mediterranean Islands: A Review of Sicilian River Systems

The Ichthyofauna of Mediterranean Islands: A Review of Sicilian River Systems | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Systematic Review The Ichthyofauna of Mediterranean Islands: A Review of Sicilian River Systems Matteo Battiata, Donatella Termini, Venera Ferrito This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9071532/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Fish fauna in Mediterranean islands has been understudied. The objective of this study is to define the current state of knowledge regarding ichthyofaunal communities inhabiting Sicilian rivers. This review demonstrates that the existing data on the region's fish fauna are fragmented, outdated, and incomplete. However, for the first time, a complete checklist of fish taxa documented in Sicilian rivers is presented, identifying 31 species, of which 19 are autochthonous and 12 are allochthonous. From ecological perspective, excluding sporadic species, only five autochthone species have been found in the inland waters ( Anguilla anguilla, Salmo cettii, Saliaropsis fluviatilis, Aphanius fasciatus, Atherina boyeri ), suffering a strong reduction of their populations along years. A geographical disparity from East to West, with rivers from the first side hosting higher fish biodiversity has been observed. This is probably due to the few information available from West Sicily and the presence of perennial rivers in the East. These knowledge gaps hinder the assessment of environmental degradation and the identification of urgent conservation priorities. A concerted effort to fill them is therefore essential for preserving the island's fish fauna and the health and resilience of its entire riverine ecosystem. Marine and Freshwater Biology Environmental Engineering Mediterranean area Sicily Rivers Fish fauna monitoring endemism Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9071532","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Systematic Review","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":603018132,"identity":"6a330848-aa35-44f1-bffd-604fc800b1e1","order_by":0,"name":"Matteo Battiata","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Palermo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Matteo","middleName":"","lastName":"Battiata","suffix":""},{"id":603018133,"identity":"b5720740-f285-430c-89d9-12c0d85127dc","order_by":1,"name":"Donatella Termini","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABD0lEQVRIie3OMUvDQBTA8SsH1+WRru+oJF8hJRAziJ8loeAUXASpWPSCUBf9DH6L0PGOgFlO544WVwfFxS7iJY0iJYmrw/2H4x7cj3uE2Gz/MVmf0V4zImFDQUhsrqyPSIJACG0IyIZ0mR1Sqbi5dBCnvFXvrzOEkRip57M0Onb4S/i0Xh4SxxOthOvHKUqNgJLSyUOOJ2yc7vuJnnYu5q9SH9XCLCYp41mOyWKchuakfST4UJ8InqTDTU24rshlHwlRCQTf/DKoCUJFik7CtQ4jfY8wKWiwXQyOTjHRJTAWtxKnvAlWs/mB65bZ+i3LL5K76yLnm+W5613J9m9+or+HgSDwx/vdDLHZbDbbd1/hwFTodkCqDwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3243-7103","institution":"University of Palermo","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Donatella","middleName":"","lastName":"Termini","suffix":""},{"id":603018134,"identity":"0b9886b4-5a0b-49d3-bf9e-ca72f967a960","order_by":2,"name":"Venera Ferrito","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Catania","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Venera","middleName":"","lastName":"Ferrito","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-09 10:10:43","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9071532/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9071532/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104299203,"identity":"9841ba5e-278a-431e-adcf-b1798ccafd60","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-10 08:35:00","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":759011,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript1.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9071532/v1_covered_d4ba9939-ce17-42a0-9cc2-fbf07c32b89c.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Ichthyofauna of Mediterranean Islands: A Review of Sicilian River Systems\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"University of Palermo","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Mediterranean area, Sicily, Rivers, Fish fauna, monitoring, endemism","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9071532/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9071532/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eFish fauna in Mediterranean islands has been understudied. 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