Dinamiche spaziotemporali del merlano (Merlangius merlangus, Linnaeus 1758) nel Mar Adriatico centro-settentrionale.

Le caratteristiche fisiche e ambientali dello spazio influenzano la disposizione degli organismi. La distribuzione e la densità delle specie possono subire dei mutamenti spaziotemporali a causa di plurimi fattori, sia biotici che abiotici. Conoscere i tratti ecologici degli organismi e comprendere come essi reagiscano a questi fattori è fondamentale per fare predizioni sulle possibili condizioni future delle loro popolazioni. La specie oggetto di questo studio è il merlano (Merlangius merlangus) un pesce molto comune nel Mare del Nord, in Adriatico centro-settentrionale, nell’Egeo e nel Mar Nero, localmente anche importante sul mercato. Attraverso il programma di ricerca Mediterranean Trawl Survey (MEDITS), che prevede monitoraggi annuali di pesca a strascico scientifica, è stato possibile più informazioni su questa specie che, in Adriatico, risulta essere poco studiata. I dati ottenuti coprono gli anni che vanno dal 1994 al 2020. Essi sono stati analizzati al fine di trarre informazioni sulla struttura per classi di taglia, sugli effetti di variabili ambientali quali profondità e temperatura sulla densità, sulla distribuzione spaziale della densità e stime annuali della stessa. I risultati evidenziano come le taglie predominanti in ogni anno raramente raggiungano i 20cm corrispondenti al primo anno di età, ma si attestino in media intorno ai 10-15cm con una tendenza verso taglie maggiori a fine estate/inizio autunno. I modelli Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) impiegati nelle analisi statistiche mostrano come M. merlangus pare preferire temperature inferiori a 20°C e profondità fino a 100 metri. Negli anni non si sono evidenziate tendenze positive o negative della densità, ma picchi e valli più o meno alternati. L’Adriatico settentrionale è risultata l’area maggiormente caratterizzata dalla presenza di M. merlangus. La raccolta di informazioni di questo tipo consente di gettare le basi per indagini più specifiche di valutazione dello stato di questa risorsa

New records of rarely reported species in the Mediterranean Sea (July 2023)

This Collective Article presents new information about the occurrence of 23 marine taxa that belong to five Phyla: two Chlorophyta, one Annelida, six Mollusca, three Arthropoda, eleven Chordata (one Ascidiacea, one Elasmobranchii and nine Teleostei) and extending from the Western Mediterranean to the Levantine Sea. All these records were reported from nine countries from the western to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, with a broad biogeographical coverage as follows: Spain: first records of the sacoglossans Cyerce graeca and Placida tardyi for the Alboran Sea and first records of the nudibranch Marionia gemmii for the Mediterranean waters of Spainfirst records of nudibranch Algarvia alba in the Mediterranean Sea. Italy: First report of the long-legged crab Paragalene longicrura, a further new Mediterranean record of the rare offshore rockfish Pontinus kuhlii, first documented record of the spiny butterfly ray Gymnura altavela in Sardinia (Tyrrhenian Sea), new record of the red‐spotted wrasse Lappanella fasciata from the Messina Strait, first documented record of the rarely observed brown moray Gymnothorax unicolor in the Ionian coast, first record of the colonial ascidian Botrylloides israeliensis, first record of the Morocco dentex Dentex maroccanus, first record of mottled shore crab Pachygrapsus maurus and of an adult specimen of barracudina Lestidiops sphyrenoides in the Adriatic Sea, and further new Mediterranean records of Ross worm Sabellaria spinulosa along the same coast. Tunisia: second record of smalleye squaretail Tetragonurus cuvieri from the African Mediterranean coast. Slovenia: first records of the sea slug Trapania graeffei and Melanochlamys wildpretii, with the last one also representing the northernmost finding of this species. Croatia: northernmost record of the endangered twaite shad Alosa fallax in the Adriatic coast. Albania: first records of the Mediterranean spearfish Tetrapturus belone. Türkiye: first record from the Aegean coasts for Türkiye of the green macroalgae Cladophora battersii and Valonia aegagropila. Israel: first record of the skeleton shrimp Caprella acanthifera in the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea. Syria: first record of the Smooth grenadier Nezumia aequalis from Syrian marine waters

Attitudes, behaviours and perceptions of Italian General Practitioner trainees towards influenza vaccination in Western Sicily (Italy)

Background: General practitioners (GPs) have to be considered as key figures of health promotion among health care workers since they are strongly asked to recommend influenza vaccination to their patients and perform on them. Despite this consideration, GPs have influenza vaccination rates that are significantly below the 75% coverage proposed by International Public Health guidelines. In order to increase future coverage of influenza vaccination within GPs, and through them within the population, the aim of this study was to assess determinants associated with influenza vaccine uptake among GP trainees. Methods: A survey was carried out on GP trainees attending the training course in Community Medicine of Western Sicily (Italy). Each participant was interviewed via an anonymous self-administered questionnaire which included questions on attitudes, behaviours and perceptions regarding influenza and influenza vaccination. Results: Vaccination coverage was 26.2% for seasonal 2008-2009 influenza, 20.0% for pandemic A (H1N1) influenza and 18.7% for seasonal 2009-2010 influenza. Considering themselves as a high risk group for developing influenza was significantly associated with seasonal 2009-2010 influenza vaccine (adj-OR 2.35). Vaccination for seasonal 2009-2010 influenza (adj-OR 1 063), pandemic A (H1N1) influenza (adj-OR 16.77) and seasonal 2010-2011 influenza (adj-OR 38.08) were significantly more frequent in GP trainees who had been vaccinated more than three times in the previous five influenza seasons. Conclusion: Influenza vaccine uptake among GP trainees is more a habit than a professional responsibility, and influenza vaccination is still administrated to patients on the basis of GP trainees’ clinical evaluation or patient willingness. Multidisciplinary learning pathways may implement vaccination coverage in the attempt to modify the current GP trainees’ attitude towards recommended influenza vaccination

New records of rarely reported species in the Mediterranean Sea (July 2023)

This Collective Article presents new information about the occurrence of 23 marine taxa that belong to five Phyla: two Chlo-rophyta, one Annelida, six Mollusca, three Arthropoda, eleven Chordata (one Ascidiacea, one Elasmobranchii and nine Teleostei) and extending from the Western Mediterranean to the Levantine Sea. All these records were reported from nine countries from the western to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, with a broad biogeographical coverage as follows: Spain: first records of the sacoglos-sans Cyerce graeca and Placida tardyi for the Alboran Sea and first records of the nudibranch Marionia gemmii for the Mediter-ranean waters of Spain; first records of nudibranch Algarvia alba in the Mediterranean Sea. Italy: First report of the long-legged crab Paragalene longicrura, a further new Mediterranean record of the rare offshore rockfish Pontinus kuhlii, first documented record of the spiny butterfly ray Gymnura altavela in Sardinia (Tyrrhenian Sea), new record of the red-spotted wrasse Lappanella fasciata from the Messina Strait, first documented record of the rarely observed brown moray Gymnothorax unicolor in the Ionian coast, first record of the colonial ascidian Botrylloides israeliensis, first record of the Morocco dentex Dentex maroccanus, first record of mottled shore crab Pachygrapsus maurus and of an adult specimen of barracudina Lestidiops sphyrenoides in the Adri-atic Sea, and further new Mediterranean records of Ross worm Sabellaria spinulosa along the same coast. Tunisia: second record of smalleye squaretail Tetragonurus cuvieri from the African Mediterranean coast. Slovenia: first records of the sea slug Trapania graeffei and Melanochlamys wildpretii, with the last one also representing the northernmost finding of this species. Croatia: northernmost record of the endangered twaite shad Alosa fallax in the Adriatic coast. Albania: first records of the Mediterranean spearfish Tetrapturus belone. Turkiye: first record from the Aegean coasts for Turkiye of the green macroalgae Cladophora bat-tersii and Valonia aegagropila. Israel: first record of the skeleton shrimp Caprella acanthifera in the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea. Syria: first record of the Smooth grenadier Nezumia aequalis from Syrian marine waters