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heebiejbies · 6 years

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Limerence - The Final Chapter

Limerence Masterlist

Characters: Sehun, Suho, and OC (Ursula)

Warnings: This series contains mentions of assault, sexual violence, and stalking.

Word Count: 4.3k

Limerence: The state of being infatuated or obsessed with another person, typically experienced involuntarily and characterized by a strong desire for reciprocation of one’s feelings.

Eight months.

Eight months of pure misery.

Eight months of irreversible damage.

It took only eight months to break my heart.

Seeing Sehun’s face sitting at that table across from me with his hands handcuffed behind his back hurt worse than anything he did to me. Despite him being in that position because of me, he didn’t look at me with any trace of malice or hatred. He looked at me with a look of hurt, a look of betrayal. He had lost weight and he had dark circles under his eyes, he looked absolutely miserable and I knew I was the one to blame.

The judge was getting fed up with my silence. He asked me again and again if I’d like to press charges, but I couldn’t find it in my heart to say yes or no. I know that I should, but at the same time, I also know that I could never do something so horrible to the man I love. No matter what he did, I could never hurt him like that. My heart and brain were pulling me apart, and I was at my witts end.

“I-I’m sorry. I can’t do this!” I stood up from my seat and ran out of the courtroom and the courthouse. I ran outside to a pavilion nearby and fell to my knees on the concrete.

“Urs, are you alright?”

“No, I’m not alright! I can’t do this! I know I can’t do this!”

“But you have to! Don’t you understand that?”

“I can’t!” My body shook as I started sobbing. I couldn’t catch my breath, I couldn’t think properly, I couldn’t do anything but sit there in shambles under the pavilion.

They looked into everything in Sehun’s life. They found the software he installed on my phone, the pictures he had of me, the information he collected, they found all sorts of evidence of the crimes he committed. They had a solid case built against him but something was keeping an eye on him and watching out for him.

“He is incompetent to stand trial, so he won’t be sent to prison. He will be sent to a mental institution, though. He isn’t well in the head, Ursula, he needs treatment. I’m just thankful that the judge sees that he needs treatment and not prison.”

“What does that mean for me? Well, us?”

“I’m not sure, it’s still too early to tell the details.”

The day that the judge told Sehun’s fate had to be the worst day up until that point. The only thing that stood out to me that day was Sehun. He cried out to me, he cried out to me and begged me to help him but I couldn’t do anything but sit there and cry.

“N-no wait! Ursula! Please, Ursula, don’t let them take me away! Ursula, help me! Please!” I grasped my chest, feeling the pieces of my heart falling apart as I watched them drag him away.

“I’ll find you, I promise!” That is all I could say. They dragged him and the rest of my heart out that door and I never saw him again, not until three months later.

They wouldn’t allow me to see Sehun for a few months upon him being admitted, but his psychiatrist specifically requested that I be allowed to see him after he saw how much seeing me helped Sehun the first time.

They first let me see him through a two-way mirror. I looked at the man I love in complete shock, he looked completely different than the last time I saw him. His hair had dulled, the dark circles under his eyes had intensified, his skin had paled beyond belief, he looked absolutely miserable. He looked up at his psychiatrist, his eyes were cold and dead and showed no emotion in them.

“Sehun, I have something for you.” His psychiatrist motioned for me to enter the room. Sehun looked from his psychiatrist to me, then back to his psychiatrist. I walked over to the table where he sat, sitting next to him in a chair.

“Sehun, it’s me.” He looked at me as if I were a dream, a sweet dream that at any minute he could wake up from and realize that it was all a lie. He let his fingertips trace along my leg, that’s when he realized I was real. He didn’t say anything, but wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his head in my chest.

“I’m sick, Ursula… I’m so sick, I need help…”

“I know, angel, I know you do.” I rubbed his back to comfort him, he kept repeating over and over again that he was sick and needed help.

“Please, don’t leave me… I need you next to me, please don’t leave me all alone.” I could feel the pain in his words, and to say they hurt me would be an understatement. It felt like knives stabbing into my heart, him begging me not to leave him all alone.

“I won’t leave you, Sehun. I’ll be here with you through everything. The worst is over now, I’m here.”

They transferred him to an institution six hours away from me. For two months I drove three days a week to go see him before I finally moved near the institution. Dr. Scott helped with finding a different Veterinary Clinic I could transfer to. Thankfully, he knew a vet from school who had a place open and he put in a good word for me and I got the job easily.

Both Caspian and our mom didn’t agree with me moving so far away for Sehun. They could never begin to understand what either of us were going through, though, and that caused a rift in our relationships.

“Caspian is right, Ursula! Are you insane? Why would you move six hours away for some psycho?!”

“He is not a psycho, mom! He is ill and he needs me! He needs me now especially and I am going to be there for him no matter what you and Caspian think.”

“He doesn’t need you, Ursula! He kidnapped you for God’s sake, he stalked you and he murdered someone!”

“Neither of you understand, so just stay out of our business!”

I didn’t speak to either of them after that. They can say all they wanted to about me and Sehun, but I couldn’t leave him alone. He needed someone there for him throughout his treatment, and I knew that someone had to be me.

Sehun improved over my visits, he started turning back to the Sehun I fell in love with in the first place. It was around the fourth month after moving that his psychiatrist and I had a discussion about his mental health.

“Do you know what Limerence means, Ursula?”

“I do not, doctor. Does this have something to do with Sehun?”

“Yes, indeed it does.” He laid out Sehun’s file in front of me, filled with pages and pages of his recordings. There, on one of the pages, was the word he asked about—limerence.

Limerence: The state of being infatuated or obsessed with another person, typically experienced involuntarily and characterized by a strong desire for reciprocation of one's feelings but not primarily for a sexual relationship.

“I’m not quite sure what this has to do with Sehun.”

“Alright, let me explain this word a bit more. Some call it lovesickness, infatuation, etc. These feelings are not something Sehun can control, his mind will not stop thinking about you. Specific chemical responses in his brain have caused him to be this way, the responses are much like that of one addicted to drugs. The response that makes them crave more drugs makes him crave your affection. His mind is consumed with the thought of you, and it’s not something he can stop. He’s reminded of you everywhere. To put it simply, he’s addicted to you.

On the subject of the, well, crimes that were committed, Sehun isn’t quite to blame for this. He did things to please you, to make you happy and make your life easier. Such as the murder of your father and the attempted murder of Eric Revlin. What he experiences is so intense that it leaves all other concern in the dark, those are not important to him. He’s not a criminal, rather he is what I would define as mentally ill. I can explain more if you’d like at a later date, but I will say this. He is getting better. I can already see this limerence is slowly dying off. That is mostly thanks to you.”

Hearing that Sehun wasn’t in his right mind when he committed the acts that he did made me feel relieved. I already knew that he didn’t mean to do it, but hearing it from a psychiatrist reassured me. Sehun didn’t have any control over this, and the Sehun that did those horrible things wasn’t really him. Well, it was him, but it wasn’t on his own free-will.

“There are three ways in which Limerence subsides. One of which is called Consummation. This is where the one suffering limerence feels a certain feeling of reciprocation from the one that they are longing for. With what he has told me, I’m not sure why it took so long for the symptoms to start subsiding after you let your feelings for him be known, but it is subsiding and that is something we can be thankful for.”

“Are you sure you are ready to see him after so long?” After receiving a nasty bite from a dog at work, my arm was wrapped up nicely and I needed help putting on my coat. He helped me put it on with my injured arm and then put his on as well.

“He isn’t to blame for what he did, right? He was mentally ill, and he was my best friend. I love him, and I really want to see him again. Hopefully seeing me will help him recover.”

“Do you think we should tell him that we are living together? If what his psychiatrist said is to be believed then-”

“Then Sehun will understand why we are living together and won’t have any problem with it.” Sehun knew nothing of Suho after their last encounter. I wasn’t even sure if Sehun knew that Suho survived, or if he thought he had really killed him. Sehun never spoke about Suho, but hopefully, that would change with them being reunited after so long.

I regained consciousness when the paramedics lifted me up onto a gurney. They were attempting to speak to me, but I had a ringing in my ear that made it impossible to hear what they were saying to me. As they wheeled me into the ambulance, another face appeared beside me on a gurney. Despite being bruised and bloodied, I knew who it was instantly.

“S-Suho?” He reached out and grabbed my hand in his, then laid his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. Our hands stayed connected until we arrived at the hospital and we were taken to separate operating rooms.

Suho saved me that day. Something was looking out for the both of us, and we survived. Suho was the person who knocked Sehun off of me. He hit him over the head with a shovel and tried to help me stay conscious while we both waited for the ambulance. He didn’t tell me just exactly what Sehun did to him, but he told me how he ended up saving me.

“All I remember is one night I was watching TV, and then I blacked out and woke up at that house. I was locked down there and tied up, so I guess Sehun just thought if he tossed me down there I would eventually die. He only came down there a few times, and I pretended to be dead every time. He didn’t even look to see, which I am thankful for.”

The stories about being out of town, that was all Sehun’s doing. He had Suho’s phone and was using it to try and cover his tracks. Despite all of that, though, Suho didn’t hate Sehun. After the first few visits, I told Suho what the psychiatrist said about Sehun, and I think that’s when Suho understood.

“Sehun isn’t this person, he would never do these types of things. I’ve known him for a long time, I know he wouldn’t. He just changed, but if you can change then you can change back. He’s getting the help he needs, and with the doctors and you there I know he will be back to who he was before this all started.”

Upon entering the floor Sehun’s room was on, I could hear the faint sound of a piano being played. Then, I could hear singing. Sehun’s psychiatrist asked us to be quiet as he led us to the room where the music was coming from. He led us to another two-way mirror, there we were both shocked to see that it was Sehun playing the piano and singing. The psychiatrist knocked on the door to the room and entered, the music ceasing immediately. He motioned for us to enter the room, but I stopped Suho before he could enter.

“Maybe it’s… Best if I go first. Don’t you think? Just so it won’t overwhelm him.” Suho nodded in agreement, then handed Vivi to me. I took the bichon inside the room, Sehun jumping up from his seat upon seeing the two of us.

“Oh, Vivi my boy! I missed you so so so much! Thank you for taking care of him, Urs. I know he’s happy that his mommy is taking care of him.” Vivi yipped and licked Sehun’s face, happy to see him after so long. “I missed you so much, when I get out of here I promise you I will give you lots of cuddles and love to make up for the time apart!”

Sehun took Vivi and sat back down at the piano. He had him on his lap as he began mindlessly playing the piano. He pet Vivi with one hand, and his fingers on the other danced across the keys. Despite him not paying attention to what he was playing, he still played beautifully. I walked closer to peek over his shoulder, a piece of music laying on the piano caught my eye.

Scribbled in blue ink was a title. For Life. Then, there was a dedication. For Ursula. I read what lyrics I could make out, and I almost cried on spot. Sehun had poured his heart and soul out into this song, this song he wrote for me. He noticed me reading over his shoulder and laughed shyly.

“Ah, this? Yeah… This helps get my anxiety out. I wrote it for you, would you like to hear it?” I nodded my head vigorously, then sat down beside Sehun. I held it together until the end of the song.

“The storms will come and winds will blow I’ll be your shelter for life. This love, this love, I mean it ‘till the day I die Oh, never gonna let you go Givin’ you my heart and soul I’ll be right here with you for life Oh, baby all I wanna do Is spend my every second with you So look in my eyes, I’ll be by your side Yeah look in my eyes, I’ll be by your side For life”

Watching him perform the song, the song he wrote for me, it made my heart skip a beat. He looked so angelic, he didn’t look like a real person. He was more perfect in this one moment than he had ever been, I couldn’t help but shed a tear as the last note faded.

“This is beautiful… Sehun I… I don’t know what to say...” He sat with his hands by his side for a moment, before turning and wrapping his arms around my waist. He nuzzled his face into my neck and sighed.

“I’ve been thinking for a long time, and being here has helped me clear my thoughts. Urs, it’s okay if you want to go… It’s okay if you want to leave me, I’ll let you go.”

In that moment, I tried to think about a future where I left Sehun. I tried to see my future, my future without him. However, no matter how hard I thought and no matter how hard I imagined, I couldn’t see my future without him.

“But what if I want to stay?”

I couldn’t imagine a future without Sehun. He had become such an important person in my life, and no matter what he did I would never want to be without him. That’s why I sacrificed so much for him when basically everyone else would have left him.

“No, Urs, you… You deserve better than me. I’m not well, you need to be with someone who is normal and, well, sane.” His voice cracked, his tone trailing off and his gaze fell to his lap.

“Sehun,” I grabbed his face and made him look me in the eyes, “Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, I need you? That’s what I need, Sehun. You. Not anyone else, you.”

“But-”

“No, no more arguing, angel, I forbid it,” I laughed and kissed his cheek, “I’ll be right back.” I stood up from the piano and smiled at him, he didn’t argue with me further. Instead, he went back to playing the piano while I exited the room to grab Suho. A reunion I hoped would do wonders for his recovery.

Before we knew it, winter came, and with winter comes Christmas. After the first initial visit with Suho, Sehun’s progress sped up more than it had been before. I remember talking to Suho later that night about the visit, and he opened up to me in a way he had never done before.

“He’s really starting to be back to the Sehun I met so many years ago. He’s reverting back to himself, it almost brings tears to my eyes to see how well his progress is going.” Suho had been serious the entire night, more serious than I had seen him in a long time, “Urs, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for you. You’re such an amazing person to do all of this. I know what he did to you must have been difficult to deal with, but the fact that you are still with him and helping him recover says a lot about the type of person you are. Thank you for loving him, he really deserves someone as dedicated as you.”

He had a point, there were months where I cried myself to sleep every night because of what happened. I didn’t sleep a night through for the longest of times, no matter what form of medications they put me on or what methods they tried to aid me. However, no matter what those events did to me I couldn’t bring myself to hate Sehun. I could never hate Sehun.

Sehun’s psychiatrist allowed him to come home for the holidays, he could only be home for a few days but I knew I would make every second of those few days count. On the ride home, he acted as if he were a kid on his way to the candy store. He was bouncing in his seat, all smiles and giggles. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t as excited as he was, though. My love was finally coming home. Only for a few short days, but he was coming home.

“This is home? Our home?” Sehun stared in awe at the entrance of our house. Vivi came running over to him, jumping up at him begging to be picked up. Sehun picked him up and took a few more steps into the house. He entered each room with the same amazed expression that he had the moment he laid eyes on the house.

I showed him our room, and the first thing he did was go jump on the bed and snuggle up with one of the decorative pillows. He hummed to himself and relaxed for a bit, “I’m so happy to be home… I can’t wait until I can be home for good.”

“Me neither, angel, me neither.” I laid down on the bed beside him and couldn’t help but stare in awe. Seeing him laying on our bed, looking so at peace with himself and the world, there are no words that could explain the pure bliss I felt at that moment.

On Sehun’s last day home, he and Suho decided to cook for all of us. The two of them in the kitchen brought back one fond memory in particular.

After dinner, I helped Suho in the kitchen with the dishes. “You have a dishwasher, don’t you?” I asked. “Yeah, but neither of us really like using it,” He said.

“Oh, both of you will make such wonderful housewives one day!” I nudged Suho on the shoulder, teasing him.

“Are you saying I’m spouse material?” Sehun came behind me with a smirk on his face.

“That’s for me to know, and you to find out.”

I helped Suho with the dishes, much like that day, and I couldn’t help but dwell on the comment I made to Sehun. Something about the memory made me feel sentimental, especially when I realized that Sehun never had found out my answer.

Dinner went along smoothly, Sehun kept feeding Vivi meatballs under the table thinking Suho and I weren’t noticing. When Suho made a joke to Sehun, he simply responded with, “Vivi loves his daddy the most because I spoil him. You’re just jealous~” Vivi yipped in response, then begged for another meatball which Sehun gave to him immediately. I smiled bitterly at the sight, knowing that in a few short hours it would all be over.

Later that night, before we were ready to take Sehun back, we had one last moment alone. We were sitting out on the back porch in a swing, I held him in my arms like it would be the last time I would see him. I peppered kisses atop of his head, his cheeks were flushed red the entire time.

“Sehun, do you remember a few months after we met when I joked about you and Suho being housewives? I said you would have to find out if I was saying you would be spouse material?” He looked up at me, silently saying yes, “Well, I’ve thought about it, and I think it’s time you find out. I’m not sure what I was thinking then, but now, you’re the perfect spouse material for me. I... I couldn’t imagine someone better.”

“But Urs-”

“Sehun, no listen, the past doesn’t matter to me now. Nothing that happened matters, what matters is what’s happening now. Right now, that’s what matters. I love you, I love you more than you can ever imagine. Having you here in my arms with me, I couldn’t ask for a better Christmas miracle. I’m here with you until the end, I swear on my life.” He sat up in a sitting position and I wrapped my arms tightly around him. I pet his head with my right hand, the left gently rubbed his back, “I love you, Sehun. Only you.”

“I love you too, Ursula. You make me so happy… I couldn’t ask for a better woman. You’re such an angel, you have to be. Thank you for staying with me, thank you for loving and helping me. You mean the world to me, I couldn’t imagine doing any of this without you.” Sehun sniffled, indicating that he had started crying. I pulled away and used my thumbs to wipe his tears, then I placed a chaste kiss on his forehead.

We held one another for the remaining minutes we had together, then it was time to say goodbye. I helped Sehun gather his things, making sure he had everything he needed before we left to take him back.

Suho wanted to join us, so we waited while he grabbed something from his room. While we were patiently waiting, a knock on the door sounded throughout the house. I checked the clock by the door to see it was almost 11:30pm, curious as to who would be knocking on our door around that time of night. Sehun kept close behind me as I went over to the front door, and when I opened the door his face darkened beyond all belief. In fact, he looked grimmer in that moment than ever before. The softhearted face that I had seen since him being home was gone, now it was replaced with a menacing one.

“Hey, who is at the-” Suho stopped halfway down the staircase. I looked over at him and he looked at Sehun, shocked to see his facial expression as well. Sehun still hadn’t removed his eyes from the person standing in the doorway, that’s when I decided to look at the stranger. I didn’t recognize him, but it seemed like Sehun didn’t like him in the least. He smiled Sehun’s glare off and introduced himself.

“Hi, I apologize that I am here so late. I live next door with my older brother, and I have just now gotten around to come introduce myself to you all,” He smiled at me, his eyes crinkling at the corner, “It’s nice to meet you,” He ignored Sehun and spoke to me directly, taking my hand in his.

“I’m Zitao, but you can call me Tao.”

Author’s Note: Ahh my baby is over 😭 I want to say a big thank you to everyone who tagged along with my first ever series and supported it! It means a lot to me 💜 Also, I hope you all enjoy the ending 😉 I know I did~

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juniperpublishersoceanography · 4 years

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Rendez-Vous at the Baltic? The Ongoing Dispersion of the Black-Striped Pipefish, Syngnathus abaster- Juniper Publishers

Abstract

Syngnathus abaster is a pipefish whose distribution is commonly referred as encompassing the Mediterranean and Black Sea, as well as the Atlantic Coast northwards up to the Bay of Biscay. Given the species ability to endure large variation in water salinity, this euryhaline pipefish may now be encountered in a wider variety of aquatic environments, not only marine or brackish but also in purely freshwater habitats. During the last decades, information on the biology of the black-striped pipefish grew, and new data emerged. As this information derives from populations that are geographically distant, it is important to review the available data across the distribution in order to understand the more general processes occurring. While summarizing the distributional information, collected data suggests that S. abaster is expanding its spatial distribution in two very distinct ways, either by slowly moving north through the Eastern Atlantic Coast, or by successively establishing viable populations in freshwater ecosystems, in the east. Available data on reproduction suggests that all the sampled populations reproduce at roughly identical temperature ranges, advocating that this species is mainly a spring and summer spawner, at least when inhabiting marine environments. Nevertheless, important inter-populational differences exist in several reproduction-related variables, such as the maximum egg number carried by pregnant males, hinting that the current taxonomy is in need of an extended revision. Open questions related to the causes and implications of freshwater colonization are also further discussed.

Keywords: Syngnathus abaster; Distribution; Reproduction; Freshwater expansion; Breeding season

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Introduction

The black-striped pipefish, Syngnathus abaster [1], is a small brown-green syngnathid, with dark or pale spots on the trunk and tail. Adults of both sexes can be easily distinguished by the presence of an inverted brood pouch (marsupium) located in the tail, formed by two skin-folds that contact medially with their free edges. Females lay eggs into the marsupium, where they are fertilised and incubated for about 20-30 days, depending on water temperature. The biogeographic distribution of this pipefish is commonly referred as encompassing the Mediterranean and Black Seas, as well as the Atlantic Coast northwards up to southern Biscay [2]. Nevertheless, given the species ability to endure a large range of salinities, this euryhaline pipefish may now be encountered in a wider variety of aquatic environments, not only marine or brackish but in purely freshwater habitats. In fact, during the last few decades, stable populations of S. abaster have been reported inhabiting rivers, such as the Danube, more than 900km away from the river mouth [3,4]. Interestingly, on the other side of the salinity spectrum, it is also common to observe the black-striped pipefish breeding in reservoirs traditionally used to concentrate water that will ultimately feed salt pans. Altogether, these observations highlight the need for a more up-to-date representation of the species geographical distribution, merging sightings from coastal sites together with the most recent data on freshwater colonisations.

At a micro-geographical scale, at least in coastal areas, S. abaster can be found among vegetation, detritus or even sand or mud substrates [2,5]. Nevertheless, a clear preference for sea grass meadows has been generally reported [6-8] where this pipefish tends to occupy a position close to the bottom [6]. In this type of microhabitat, S. abaster feeds on small preys hidden in the vegetation, sucking them through its cone shaped snout [9-12]. The presence of this pipefish in freshwater habitats seems also to be closely related with vegetated areas, where it tends to occupy the lower part of the channels [13]. Although the conservation status of S. abaster is currently catalogued as "Least Concern", according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species [14], the close relationship with vegetation, namely sea grass, might explain the steep population decline that can be observed in estuarine areas which are increasingly subjected to strong anthropogenic pressure [15,16].

During the last decade, information on the biology of the black-striped pipefish grew, and new data on the biology of the species emerged. The courtship and mating ritual has been described [17] showing that the general behavioral patterns seem reasonably conserved within the Syngnathidae. Also, the embryonic and larval development was characterized, highlighting the fact that newborn juveniles immediately adopt a benthic distribution [18]. The absence of a pelagic life phase probably has important repercussions in terms of population connectivity given the ongoing fragmentation and degradation of the preferred eelgrass habitat.

A closer analysis of S. abaster mating dynamics revealed that this sex-role reversed pipefish tends to mate size-assortatively [19] and that male brooding space did not appear to be the only limitation to female reproduction as neither large nor small individuals presented a fully occupied pouch during the breeding season [20]. Besides revealing a multiple mating strategy and the fact that females do not seem to produce enough eggs to fully occupy a male's brood pouch during the extent of a pregnancy, [21,22] also showed that different-sized individuals adopt different investment tactics, through a continuous scan of the social environment. Temperature fluctuations seem also to play an important role in S. abaster reproduction, acting as an effective agent in the modulation of the reproductive behavior, directly affecting sexual recognition, mate preferences and female-female interactions [23]. Given the current climatic changes, the local expression of a species mating system will surely vary [24], with consequences that cannot yet be foreseen given the small amount of information available on estuarine, coastal and freshwater populations.

Although information on S. abaster life history is growing, it is frequently sparse and often times superficial, namely that related to the species life span or reproductive ecology. As an example, for a population inhabiting the brackish bay of the Po river delta [9], authors predicts a life span of approximately 17 months. Full life-cycle aquarium experiments (N. Monteiro, personal observation), conducted with individuals from the Portuguese coast, suggest that the values presented by Freyhof & Kottelat [25], which mention a life span up to 4 years, might be much more realistic. Large discrepancies exist also on the number of eggs that a male can carry during a pregnancy event. Franzoi et al. [9]. show that males carry on average 109 eggs while data from Atlantic populations reveals a much smaller number of potential offspring (e.g. 69 in the Tagus Estuary). As this information derives from populations that are geographically distant, it seems crucial to review the available data from all across the species distribution, in order to extend our knowledge on the more general processes that might be occurring. This approach could not only allows for a better understanding on general trends versus local adaptations, but also generates a predictive potential able to assess ongoing or future alterations under a climate change scenario. To this extent, this work attempts to summarize the information on the biogeography of the black-striped pipefish, and further extend our knowledge on the species distribution by including the most recent recordings, namely in the European Atlantic coast, as well as in recently colonized freshwater habitats.

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Materials And Methods

Information on the biogeographic distribution of Syngnathus abaster was collected from numerous different source types. Basically, the data presented by Dawson [2] was complemented with information provided by Freyhof & Kottelat [25]. The distributional area was further extended by the addition of recordings from Belarus [26], the Atlantic coast of France (GBIF Data Portal, data.gbif.org) and Germany (sesam.senckenberg. de). Additionally, apart from the above-mentioned sources, a bibliographic survey was conducted in order to gather site- specific information on the presence of S. abaster and, when possible, data on the species reproductive season and migratory vs. resident behavior. Given that this species has numerous synonyms, some still recurrently found in the literature, the survey was conducted also using the terms S. algeriensis, S. agassizii or S. nigrolineatus.The summary of the obtained data was plotted in, based on the following information (here discriminated by country): Portugal [27-32]; Spain [33,34]; France [35-37]; Italy [5,6,8-10,38-43]; Croatia [44]; Serbia [4]; Greece [38,45,46]; Turkey [47,48]; Bulgaria [49]; Ukraine [4,13,50]; Belarus [26]; Russian Federation [13,51,52]; Iran [5355]; Egypt [38]; Tunisia [1,56]; and Algeria [57].

In order to construct a more general view of S. abaster reproductive season across the species' geographical distribution see Table 1, the information available in the literature was used Portugal [27]; Spain [33]; France [36]; Italy [9,10,41]; Greece [45,54]. New data is provided for Aveiro, Portugal (40° 38’N, 8°39'W).

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Results

What seems to be the most up-to-date map of Syngnathus abaster distribution is depicted in Figure 1. The distribution presented by [2] had already been considerable extended by[25] , mainly by the inclusion of the Caspian Sea, Sea of Azov, and freshwater locations (e.g. Danube, Dnieper, Don and Volga). The presence of the black-striped pipefish in these locations was confirmed, following a literature review, . Additionally, the presence in Rybinskoye Reservoir (Russia) was also validated through an in-situ observation (S. Drovetsky, personal observation). A northwards colonization of the Dnieper seems to be occurring, as S. abaster is now present in Belarus)[26] . In the European Atlantic Coast, new observations exist northwards of Biscay, the reported northern limit of distribution in the Atlantic. These new locations, both in France and Germany, if further validated through repeated observations, suggest a rapid colonisation of the Atlantic up to the Baltic Sea.

In Aveiro (Portugal), the breeding season of S. abaster occurs from March to September [19]. Sampling campaigns conducted outside the breeding season, that included the trawling of several locations within this estuarine lagoon, did not allow the capture of any individual. These observations suggest that this pipefish uses this specific location as a reproduction area, abandoning the area at the end of the breeding season. This data, when integrated with that already available for other locations (see Figure 1) suggests that the breeding season occurs generally from March to October (Table 1), probably dependent on the warmer water temperatures.

When looking at the maximum number of eggs present in pregnant males, large discrepancies are observed. While in Portugal (53 eggs recorded during the 2010 field season) and France 52 eggs; [36] the reported values are similar, the maximum number of eggs reported for the Italian populations, in the Adriatic area [9,41], are clearly much higher (Venice, 122 eggs; Po River Delta, 136 eggs).

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Discussion

Syngnathus abaster has been traditionally viewed as a Mediterranean pipefish, as the main bulks of observations were concentrated in this area, although it has been reported also in the Black Sea and throughout the Iberian Peninsula Coast [see 2]. More recent data, however, suggest that this species has greatly increased its distribution, in two very distinct manners occurring in geographically opposite locations:

-Firstly, by expanding its northern limit of distribution in the Atlantic coast, surpassing the Bay of Biscay, towards the Baltic Sea. If the collected observations are further corroborated by additional captures, it suggests a pattern of colonization consistent with what is currently being observed with other warm-water species whose northern limit of distribution is moving polewards [58-60], probably as a consequence of climate change see [61]. If this rapid colonization of the Atlantic is indeed taking place, as evidence suggests, the monitoring of the reproductive ecology of Atlantic populations gains a renewed importance as it can potentially provide new insights on previously undescribed adaptive responses exhibited by this pipefish.

-And secondly, by establishing viable populations in freshwater ecosystems in the eastern part of the species' distribution. A closer inspection of Figure 1 immediately generates an inescapable question: Why has this freshwater colonisation occurred only in the eastern part of the distribution, when there are rivers in the West as well? The simplest explanation to this phenomenon might just be that this freshwater invasion is a result of anthropogenic action rather than an active migration performed by this pipefish. If fish indeed actively colonised freshwater environments, there were no obvious reasons that obstructed their presence in rivers that flowed into more western sections of the Mediterranean. If, on the other hand, S. abaster, is being introduced into freshwater ecosystem, then it could be hypothesised that rivers large enough to harbour ship traffic are more prone to receive these guests from marine or brackish areas. With the exception of the Rhone, large enough rivers able to accommodate high levels of traffic (such as the Loire, Seine, Loire or Rhine) do not flow into the Mediterranean in its western section. Such rivers do exist in the east, however, and they all seem to be recently colonized by S. abaster (e.g. Danube, Dnieper, Don or Volga). Indeed, Semenchenko & Cakic et al. [4,26] state that commercial ships acted as vectors, probably through ship ballast-water. The presence of the black-striped pipefish in water reservoirs could also be due to accidental introductions, as seems to have occurred in middle and lower Volga region, where these fish where brought together with mysids from the Don estuary [52]. The existence of dams, for instance, probably eased the establishment of freshwater S. abaster populations by creating more favourable hydrodynamic conditions.

The Mediterranean populations from where data exists on the timing of the breeding season all seem to reproduce at roughly identical temperature ranges, suggesting that this species is mainly a spring and summer spawner. But, when observing the distributional data, it seems obvious that freshwater populations are subjected to very distinct temperature regimes. This fact raises several interesting questions, such as when and how breeding takes place in these cooler locations, thus reinforcing the need for more complete sampling campaigns all over the species distribution [62].

Even within the Mediterranean basin, there seem to exist important differences among populations in several reproduction related variables, either behavioral (there are resident populations that inhabit a certain location throughout the year while in other places individuals migrate to coastal areas to breed) or morphological/physiological (the maximum number of eggs that is dependent on either male/marsupium size, egg size or a combination of both, greatly varies in certain locations). A thorough molecular analysis will surely help answer many of the questions that still persist such as the most basic one: are we really talking about just one species.

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