We report the presence of the non-indigenous species (NIS) Celleporaria brunnea (Bryozoa, Ascophora) in the Central Mediterranean. It was found in the Gulf of Taranto (Ionian Sea, southern Italy), which represents one of the most important hotspots for NIS in the Mediterranean. Using PVC plates as species collectors, immersed in different times of the year, we observed a recruitment of C. brunnea during the warmer period of the year from July to October. This work highlights a range expansion of C. brunnea and provides information about its autoecology traits in the host environment.

Bryozoans are common fouling species present on ships and artificial substrates. A number of projects reporting the presence of bryozoans in Portugal have been carried out in recent years. As part of a field survey to examine and quantify the non-indigenous marine fouling species in several marinas in Portugal, we detected the bryozoan Celleporaria brunnea for the first time. The native range of C. brunnea seems to extend from British Columbia to the Galapagos, Ecuador. Our discovery indicates that this is the first record of C. brunnea across the East Atlantic and the first record of a species in this genus in the north-eastern Atlantic. The fouling nature of Celleporaria brunnea may have facilitated its spread to the western Pacific, the Mediterranean and now the eastern Atlantic from the Americas.