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Introduced non-indigenous species (iNIS) in Belgian marine and brackish water systems anno 2024
Citable as data publication
Verleye, T.J.; Kerkhove, T.R.H.; Van Hoey, G.; Pirlet, H.; Kerckhof, F.; Lescrauwaet, A-K.; Vandepitte, L.; Mees, J.; Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ); Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), Marine Ecology and Management (MARECO); Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO); (2025): Introduced non-indigenous species (iNIS) in Belgian marine and brackish water systems anno 2024. Marine Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.14284/758

Availability: Creative Commons License This dataset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Description

Overview of the introduced non-indigenous species (iNIS) in Belgian marine and brackish water systems anno 2024, also available as supplementary data with the article of Verleye et al. (2025) on https://neobiota.pensoft.net/.

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The following tables are included: APPENDIX 1. Overview of the iNIS in marine and brackish waters in Belgium, including the year of first observation in Belgium, the status of establishment in Belgium, the year of first observation in Europe and first observation in Western Europe, the native region(s), and the primary introduction pathways and vectors responsible for introductions in Western Europe. Abbreviations used to indicate introduction pathways and vectors are explained below. APPENDIX 2. Overview of the iNIS in marine and brackish waters in Belgium, as recorded in WRiMS and Verleye et al. (2024) prior to the present study, with an explanation of the actions taken to optimize (in terms of completeness) and align both inventories. APPENDIX 3. Inventory of marine and brackish iNIS first observed in Belgium after the initial MSFD benchmarking period (2011), including the data collection context and publication level of the first observation for each species, their habitat type, observed distribution and level of establishment in Belgium. Further, the table indicates whether the species occur within the legal implementation area of the MSFD, if they were included in formal Belgian MSFD reportings (Belgian State 2018a, Kerkhove and Kerckhof 2024) and if the species’ occurrences in Belgium were documented in reference databases prior to this study.

The dataset on introduced non-indigenous species in the Belgian marine and brackish waters can be considered complete for the period 1801–2024. However, as new species are introduced every year, the dataset represents a snapshot of the situation in 2024. Consequently, the status of the data collection was marked as 'completed' in the context of the present dataset and accompanying publication. In reality, however, monitoring continues and additional species will still be identified in the future.


Scope
Themes:
Biology
Keywords:
Marine/Coastal · Brackish water · Alien species · Environmental monitoring · Harbours · Introduced species · Inventories · Marine environment · Monitoring · Belgian part of the North Sea · Belgium

Geographical coverage
Belgian part of the North Sea [Marine Regions]
Belgium [Marine Regions]

Temporal coverage
1 January 1801 - 31 December 2024
Not relevant

Contributors
Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ), moreco-ordinatordata creator
Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen; Operationele Directie Natuurlijk Milieu; Aquatische en Terrestrische Ecologie; Mariene Ecologie en Beheer (MARECO), moredata creator
Instituut voor Landbouw-, Visserij- en Voedingsonderzoek (ILVO), moredata creator

Publication
Based on this dataset
Verleye, T.J. et al. (2025). National implementation of the European Union policy framework for monitoring introduced non-indigenous species in marine and brackish waters: a Belgian case study based on an updated species inventory. NeoBiota 103: 187-214. https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.103.159848, more

Dataset status: Completed
Data type: Data
Data origin: Data collection
Metadatarecord created: 2025-09-12
Information last updated: 2025-11-24
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy