Ichthyofauna inventory of inland and transitional waters of Sicily (Italy)

Occurrence
Latest version published by Test Organization #1 on Apr 17, 2026 Test Organization #1
Publication date:
April 17, 2026
Published by:
Test Organization #1
License:
CC-BY 4.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 808 records in English (52 KB) - Update frequency: unknown
Metadata as an EML file download in English (33 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (15 KB)

Description

The dataset provides the first inventory of the fish fauna inhabiting inland and transitional waters of the Island of Sicily. The dataset unifies published data from scientific literature, administrative reports, and grey literature (e.g., conference papers) of the last 50 years, and recent unpublished data from monitoring campaigns conducted by ARPA Sicilia (Sicilian Regional Agency for Environmental Protection) in 2025, direct observations and fishermen interviews. A total of 808 occurrence records were listed, representing 90 species which belong to 26 orders 41 families and 68 genera. The dataset gathers 108 waterbodies and localities. It includes occurrences from different types of natural and artificial habitats, from coasts to mountains as lakes, rivers, lagoons, mires, ponds, coastal lakes, estuaries, reservoir, saltworks, urban underground flows and cattle troughs.

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 808 records.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Battiata M, Badalucco A, Pulieri M, Sarà G, Lo Brutto S (2026). Ichthyofauna inventory of inland and transitional waters of Sicily (Italy). Version 1.3. Test Organization #1. Occurrence dataset. https://ipt.gbif.org/resource?r=sicilianfishfauna&v=1.3

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Test Organization #1. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 375e3b2e-4c8e-4713-be29-50ac1301ddc5.  Test Organization #1 publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Secretariat.

Keywords

Occurrence; ichthyofauna; Brackish; Freshwater; Sicily

Contacts

Matteo Battiata
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator
  • PhD student
University of Palermo
IT
Antonina Badalucco
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator
PhD student
IT
Martina Pulieri
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Curator ●
  • Originator
  • PhD student
University of Palermo
IT
Gianluca Sarà
  • Originator
University of Palermo
IT
Sabrina Lo Brutto
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator ●
  • Point Of Contact
  • Professor
University of Palermo
IT
Benedetto Sirchia
  • Content Provider
  • Manager
ARPA Sicilia
IT
Andrea Li Vorsi
  • Content Provider
  • Advisor
ARPA Sicilia
IT
Giancarlo Bellissimo
  • Content Provider
  • Technical Officer
ARPA Sicilia
IT

Geographic Coverage

Inland and transitional water system of Sicily, Italy.

Bounding Coordinates South West [36.684, 12.464], North East [38.269, 15.637]

Taxonomic Coverage

No Description available

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Teleostei
Order Gobiiformes, Cyproniformes, Apogoniformes, Syngnathiformes, Beloniformes, Symphodus roissali, Blenniiformes, Perciformes, Scombriformes, Mulliformes, Esociformes, Tetraodontiformes, Cyprinodontiformes, Siluriformes, Dicentrarchus labrax, Callionymiformes, Salmoniformes, Chromis chromis, Carangiformes, Eupercaria, Mugiliformes, Anguilliformes, Atheriniformes, Gobiesociformes, Pleuronectiformes, Clupeiformes
Family Percoidei, Tincidae, Alosidae, Mugilidae, Leuciscidae, Callionymidae, Gobiesocidae, Carangidae, Ictaluridae, Esicudae, Epinephelidae, Anguillidae, Apogonidae, Gobiidae, Scorpaenidae, Moronidae, Triglidae, Pomacentridae, Atherinidae, Balistidae, Clupeidae, Centrolophidae, Congridae, Mullidae, Sparidae, Percidae, Serranidae, Scophthalmidae, Engraulidae, Labridae, Blenniidae, Bothidae, Dorosomatidae, Syngnathidae, Belonidae, Soleidae, Poecilidae, Centrarchidae, Salmonidae, Cyprinodontidae, Cyprinidae

Project Data

The National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC) is the first National Research and Innovation Center dedicated to biodiversity, funded by the MUR through European Union funds - NextGenerationEU. It is a coordinating structure that unites and enhances research efforts, while simultaneously making knowledge and technologies accessible to diverse actors working on the territory. There are more than 2,000 researchers from research centers, universities and companies working within the center implementing basic, applied and innovation research actions dedicated to Mediterranean biodiversity to generate value for the country. The objective of this project is to identify suitable strategies for monitoring, conserving, restoring and valorising the biodiversity of species and habitats in different Italian regions. The Center provides scientific knowledge and technological innovation that make it possible to face biodiversity loss, support ecosystem resilience, monitor endangered species, and restore disturbed biological communities, contributing to the goal of protecting 30% of Italy's territory by 2030, as required by the European Union.

Title National Biodiversity Future Center
Identifier CN_00000033
Funding "Project funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.4 - Call for tender No. 3138 of 16 December 2021, rectified by Decree n.3175 of 18 December 2021 of Italian Ministry of University and Research funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU Award Number: Project code CN_00000033, Concession Decree No. 1034 of 17 June 2022 adopted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, CUP B73C22000790001, Project title “National Biodiversity Future Center - NBFC”

The personnel involved in the project:

Matteo Battiata
  • Content Provider
Sabrina Lo Brutto
  • Principal Investigator
Gianluca Sarà
  • Principal Investigator

Sampling Methods

No Description available

Quality Control Taxonomic nomenclature was updated according to the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS Editorial Board, 2026) and Catalogue of Life (Banki et al., 2026). Unpublished records from ARPA Sicilia samples were identified with taxonomical keys from ISPRA guidelines (Catalano et al., 2017) while the other records were identified using Zerunian’s (Zerunian, 2004). Records have been georeferenced by WGS84 (World Geodetic System 1984) datum. Coordinates have been extracted from sources; when they were not explicit, they have been deducted based on the description of the site. Information on date have been extrapolated from literature; cells are empty when the information was not explicit. Coordinates and date of unpublished data have been reported.

Method step description:

  1. The dataset gathers published and unpublished sources. Published information was retrieved from scientific literature using online databases, including Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Because the dataset focuses on a regional scale, relatively limited information was available in international peer-reviewed literature; therefore, additional records were obtained from local journals, conference proceedings, books of abstracts, and conference papers. Further information was extracted from the Standard Data Forms (SDF) of Natura 2000 Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs), the Natura 2000 Viewer (https://natura2000.eea.europa.eu/), and management plans of local nature reserves. Additional records were also obtained through direct communication with Prof. Venera Ferrito (University of Catania).
  2. Unpublished information was collected through two main approaches. First, new data were integrated from two regional monitoring campaigns (spring and autumn) conducted by ARPA Sicilia in transitional water basins during 2025 as part of ecological status assessments required under the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). Field sampling followed standardized ISPRA protocols in accordance with WFD monitoring requirements. Second, complementary records were obtained through interviews with local fishermen and the collection of photographic evidence provided by citizens.
  3. Water Information System for Europe (WISE) nomenclature was used for unique identification of water bodies, to avoid homonyms; the identificative codes have been extrapolated from WISE web site (https://water.europa.eu/).

Additional Metadata

Alternative Identifiers 375e3b2e-4c8e-4713-be29-50ac1301ddc5
https://ipt.gbif.org/resource?r=sicilianfishfauna