New Mediterranean biodiversity records (October, 2014)

The Collective Article 'New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records' of the Mediterranean Marine Science journal offers the means to publish biodiversity records in the Mediterranean Sea. The current article is divided in two parts, for records of alien and native species respectively. The new records of alien species include: the red alga Asparagopsis taxiformis (Crete and Lakonikos Gulf, Greece); the red alga Grateloupia turuturu (along the Israeli Mediterranean shore); the mantis shrimp Clorida albolitura (Gulf of Antalya, Turkey); the mud crab Dyspanopeus sayi (Mar Piccolo of Taranto, Ionian Sea); the blue crab Callinectes sapidus (Chios Island, Greece); the isopod Paracerceis sculpta (northern Aegean Sea, Greece); the sea urchin Diadema setosum (Gökova Bay, Turkey); the molluscs Smaragdia souverbiana, Murex forskoehlii, Fusinus verrucosus, Circenita callipyga, and Aplysia dactylomela (Syria); the cephalaspidean mollusc Haminoea cyanomarginata (Baia di Puolo, Massa Lubrense, Campania, southern Italy); the topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva (Civitavecchia, Tyrrhenian Sea); the fangtooth moray Enchelycore anatina (Plemmirio marine reserve, Sicily); the silver-cheeked toadfish Lagocephalus sceleratus (Saros Bay, Turkey; and Ibiza channel, Spain); the Indo-Pacific ascidian Herdmania momus in Kastelorizo Island (Greece); and the foraminiferal Clavulina multicamerata (Saronikos Gulf, Greece). The record of L. sceleratus in Spain consists the deepest (350-400m depth) record of the species in the Mediterranean Sea. The new records of native species include: first record of the ctenophore Cestum veneris in Turkish marine waters; the presence of Holothuria tubulosa and Holothuria polii in the Bay of Igoumenitsa (Greece); the first recorded sighting of the bull ray Pteromylaeus bovinus in Maltese waters; and a new record of the fish Lobotes surinamensis from Maliakos Gulf.peer-reviewe

Determinations of Reproductive Characteristics of Dusky Grouper, (Epinephelus Guaza, Linnaeus, 1758) in Antalya Bay of Eastern Mediterranean

Describing of the various reproductive characteristics of the dusky grouper (Epinephelus guaza) is a protogynous hermaphrodite fish that fallows a monandric pathway to sexual development. The samples (n=104) were collected during a year by spear-fishing. Their 13 developmental stages of reproduction were determined. The first step was named as juvenile; the gonads of the fish were ovo-testes in which the sexual cells were not localized due to immaturities. The female characters started to begin after the juvenile form. All the fishes had different six female stages (F1 to F6) according to gonadal ripening. The first sexual maturity of the females was observed in F3 stage which they were I+ - III years old and 39.1cm (LS). Tree transitional periods (T1, T2, T3,) were seen beyond of the female period (IV -VI years old). Intersexual periods were followed by testicular phases, the fishes underwent to male sex which include tree stages (M1, M2, M3,). The first sexual maturity of the males (M2; VII-VIII years old) was started at 83.5cm (LS). However the gonado-somatic index (GSI) is most common used index for the fish. According to data; GSI were peaked in July and September in female while they were peaked in May and July in male as per cent. Furthermore, mating time was started in May according to the data of GSI and IRG, so it was means that data were parallel to both of them in the present study