Issue 3 Summary by the Editors

The third issue of Aquatic Invasions includes 13 regular research articles and 5 short communications. The issue begins with a manuscript on the distribution pattern of the invasive green alga Codium fragile in its native range (Chavanich et al. 2006, pp 99-108). A joint study by Iraqi and Australian scientists reports the invasion of the palaemonid shrimp Macrobrachium nipponense into southern Iraqi marshes (Salman et al. 2006, pp 109-115). The paper by Gregory Ruiz with co-authors is a first contribution to Aquatic Invasions by North-American authors. They report the first records of the Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis in the Chesapeake Bay (Ruiz et al. 2006, pp 137-142).

Additional contributions focus on new alien species findings in European coastal and inland waters, specifically the Mediterranean region, including research articles on Indo-Pacific gastropod species in the Levantine and Aegean Seas (Öztürk and Can 2006, pp 124-129), records of the invasive grapsid crab Percnon gibbesi in coastal waters of Turkey and Greece (Yokes and Galil 2006, pp 30-132, Thessalou-Legaki et al. 2006, pp 133-136), first Mediterranean Sea records of the needle-spined urchin Diadema setosum (Yokes and Galil 2006, pp 188-190); the Indo-West Pacific mantis shrimp Clorida albolitura (Ahyong and Galil 2006, pp 191-193), the scyphomedusa Rhopilema nomadica (Siokou-Frangou et al. 2006, pp. 194-195) and a new record of the alien jellyfish Cassiopea andromeda from the Levantine coast of Turkey (Çevik et al. 2006, pp 196-197). Further, the rapid colonization of the Polish Baltic coast by an Atlantic palaemonid shrimp Palaemon elegans and the replacement of native Baltic palaemonid species is reported (Grabowski 2006, pp 116-123). The cryptogenic tunicate Didemnum sp. is found in Irish coastal waters fouling marina pontoons and leisure craft (Minchin and Sides 2006, pp 143-147). One short communication refers to the record of a blue crab Callinectes sapidus from northern Spain (Cabal et al. 2006, pp 186-187).

Five research articles in the third issue report on alien species in European inland waters: the establishment of the Ponto-Caspian amphipod Obesogammarus obesus in the Rhine River (Nehring 2006, pp 148-153), the Chinese pond mussel Anodonta (Sinanodonta) woodiana in inland waters of Serbia (Paunovich et al. 2006, pp 154-160), the invasion of the Ponto-Caspian gravel snail Lithoglyphus naticoides in Lake Lukomskoe in Belarus (Mastitsky and Samoilenko 2006, pp 161-170), the occurrence of the paddlefish Polyodon spathula in the Serbian part of the lower River Danube (Simonovic et al. 2006, pp 183-185), and a study of early life stages of the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha in the Lough Key lake in Ireland (Lucy 2006, pp 171-182).

First submissions for the fourth issue of Aquatic Invasions were already received and it is expected that this issue will be released in December 2006.