New Fisheries-related data from the Mediterranean Sea (October 2015)

In this third Collective Article, with fisheries-related data from the Mediterranean Sea, we present the historical length distribution of Lophius budegassa in the catch of commercial trawlers in the Greek seas; length-weight and length-length relationships of five flatfish species (Lepidorhombus boscii, L. whiffiagonis, Platichthys flesus, Pegusa lascaris and Solea solea) from different coastal areas of Turkey (Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean Sea); growth of settled Polyprion americanus and length-weight relationships of this species and of Deltentosteus quadrimaculatus, Capros aper and three commercially important groupers in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea; the age, growth and mortality of Zosterisessor ophiocephalus in the Eastern Adriatic Sea; the length-weight relationship and condition factor of Atherina boyeri in a Central Mediterranean semi-isolated lagoon, and also the length-weight and length-length relationships of three Alburnus species from different inland waters in Turkey

New Fisheries-related data from the Mediterranean Sea (April 2015)

In this second Collective Article with fisheries-related data from the Mediterranean Sea we present the evaluation of bony structures in aging of Barbus tauricus, otolith dimensions-body length relationships for two species (Trachinus draco and Synchiropus phaeton), information on the growth of juvenile Thunnus thynnus and of Ruvettus pretiosus, weight-length relationships for three species (Aulopus fiamentosus, Thunnus thynnus and Tylosurus acus imperialis) and data on feeding habits and reproduction of Aulopus fiamentosus

A Checklist of the Non-indigenous Fishes in Turkish Marine Waters

A checklist of non-indigenous marine fishes including bony, cartilaginous and jawless distributed along the Turkish Marine Waters was for the first time generated in the present study. The number of records of non-indigenous fish species found in Turkish marine waters were 101 of which 89 bony, 11 cartilaginous and 1 jawless. In terms of occurrence of non-indigenous fish species in the surrounding Turkish marine waters, the Mediterranean coast has the highest diversity (92 species), followed by the Aegean Sea (50 species), the Marmara Sea (11 species) and the Black Sea (2 species). The Indo-Pacific origin of the non-indigenous fish species is represented with 73 species while the Atlantic origin of the non-indigenous species is represented with 22 species. Only first occurrence of a species in the Mediterranean, Aegean, Marmara and Black Sea Coasts of Turkey is given with its literature in the list

New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (April, 2014)

According to reports, the following 16 species have extended their distribution to other Mediterranean areas or have made a new appearance in other regions. The first category includes the following organisms: The rare and common Indo-Pacific seaweed Codium arabicum (Lebanese coasts), the acari Thalassarachna affinis (Marmara Sea), and the non-indigenous nudibranch Flabellina rubrolineata, which has also been found in many other areas of the Aegean Sea. In addition, the rare sea slug Thecacera pennigera (Piccolo of Taranto), the fangtooth moray Enchelycore anatina (National Marine Park of Zakynthos, Ionian Sea), the carangid Seriola fasciata (Gulf of Antalya), Lagocephalus sceleratus (SE. Ionian Sea), the reticulated leatherjacket Stephanolepis diaspros (Slovenia, N. Adriatic Sea), the marbled stingray, Dasyatis marmorata (NE Levantine), the starry smooth-hound Mustelus asterias (Iskenderun Bay, NE Mediterranean), the cephalopod Ommastrephes bartramii (Ionian Sea) have also been reported. The Atlantic crab Dyspanopeus sayi has expanded to many Italian areas and the blue crab Callinectes sapidus to a lake in N. Greece and in the S. Adriatic Sea. Finally, Farfantepenaeus aztecus has been found in the Ionian Sea, thus showing its wide expansion in the Mediterranean. The larval stages of Faccionella oxyrhyncha have been found, after many years, in the Aegean Sea and the first report of an existence on intersexual acari Litarachna duboscqi in Split(Adriatic Sea) was reported

Age and growth of the phaeton dragonet, Synchiropus phaeton (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Callionymidae), from the Gulf of Iskenderun, north-eastern Mediterranean, Turkey

Background. Synchiropus phaeton (Günther, 1861) is a sexually dimorphic, benthic species that inhabits mud bottoms. This fish is one of the important by catch species in the trawl fishing. There is no commercial value. But it has ecological importance in this area. The information about the biology of S. phaeton is very limited. This study was conducted to investigate the age and growth relation of phaeton dragonet inhabiting the Gulf of Iskenderun, north-eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. t_abstract=' Materials and methods. A total of 289 phaeton dragonets were collected as discards during the commercial trawl fishing at the depth range of 100–150 m in the Gulf of Iskenderun, north-eastern Mediterranean. The fish age was determined from sagittal otoliths. The age readings were performed using Leica S8APO microscope and were documented with the Leica Application Suite (Ver. 4.8.0) software. The index of the mean percentage error (IMPE) was calculated to assess the precision of the age determination between two independent readers. Growth parameters for all specimens were subsequently determined by fitting the observed and the length-at-age data using the von Bertalanffy growth equations. Total length–weight relations (LWRs) and the condition factor (CF) were determined. Results. The total length and weight of S. phaeton ranged from 7.0 to 19.0 cm and from 2.01 to 22.0 g, respectively. The age of the studied individuals ranged from 2 to 7 years. The parameters of von Bertalanffy growth fitted to the mean observed total lengths-at age for each sex separately and were estimated as L∞ = 23.358 cm, K = 0.248 year–1, t0 = –0.501 years for females and L∞ = 26.543 cm,  K = 0.156 year–1, t0 = –0.662 years for males, respectively. The overall growth performance index (G) value was determined as 3.46 for the combined sexes. The total length–weight relations were determined as W = 0.0121TL2.55, R² = 0.94; 95% confidence intervals of b = 2.395–2.687, t-test P < 0.05 for females and W = 0.0094TL2.64, R2 = 0.93; 95% confidence intervals of b = 2.470–2.803, t-test P < 0.05 for males. The types of growth were found negatively allometric (b < 3). The highest condition factor was found at the age of 2 (0.62), while the lowest was found at the age of 6 (0.26). Conclusion. The presently reported study provides the first data on the age and growth of the S. phaeton that had not been studied previously in the Gulf of Iskenderun, north-eastern Mediterranean of Turkey. This study will contribute significantly to the conservation and management strategies of the species of S. phaeton in the future

Age and growth of the blackchin guitarfish Glaucostegus cemiculus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817) from Iskenderun Bay (Northeastern Mediterranean)

Between September 2010 and June 2012, a total 291 (166 females and 125 males) blackchin guitarfish Glaucostegus cemiculus were captured by a commercial bottom trawler (F/V Coskun Reis) in Iskenderun Bay, Turkey (northeastern Mediterranean Sea). The total length (L) and total weight (W) of the female and male guitarfish ranged between 32.0-165.0 cm and 88 g-16.68 kg, and 34.3-128.3 cm and 112 g-6.00 kg, respectively. Vertebral age estimates ranged from 0 to 8 years for females and 0 to 5 years for males. The growth models of von Bertanlanffy and Gompertz were fitted to the length at age data using the nonlinear regression method. Model selection was based on the values of the residual standard error and the Akaike's information criterion corrected for small sample size (AIC(C)) associated with each fit. The von Bertalanffy growth model provided the best fitting growth curves for each sex with parameters reaching L-infinity = 187.17 cm, K = 0.195 year(-1), t(0) = -1.38 year for females, and L-infinity = 144.85 cm, K = 0.321 year(-1), t(0) = -1.13 year(-1) for males. The W-L relationship parameters did not differ significantly between sexes, the estimated values of a and b were 0.0018 and 3.11, respectively. By using these values of a and b, and also respective estimates of L-infinity, the values of W-infinity were obtained as 20.53 kg for females and 9.25 kg for males. The overall percentage ratios of females and males in the samples were 57% and 43% respectively

Age and growth of the common guitarfish, Rhinobatos rhinobatos, in Iskenderun Bay (north-eastern Mediterranean, Turkey)

Age and growth of the common guitarfish (Rhinobatos rhinobatos) were estimated from the north-eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. A total of 115 common guitarfish (66 females and 49 males) were sampled. Age determinations were carried out using vertebral sections. Alcian blue dying techniques were used to enhance the visibility of the band on vertebrae. The techniques have been used for the first time on elasmobranchs vertebrae successfully in this study. A total of 97 vertebrae of 115 were visible on the vertebral band in this study. Male and female common guitarfish ranged in age from 1 to 15 and 1 to 24 y respectively. Total length ranged from 42 to 147 cm for females and 39 to 124 cm for males. The relationships between total length (TL) and total weight (TW) were presented as TW = 0.0014*TL3.1672 (R2 = 0.98) for females, TW = 0.0012*TL3.1947 (R2 = 0.98) for males and TW = 0.0012*TL3.1915 (R2 = 0.98) for both sexes. The parameters for von Bertalanffy growth curves were estimated as Linf = 137.70±9.38 cm, K = 0.159±0.047, to = -2.180 ± 0.90 for pooled data. ©2008 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

First Estimates of Age and Growth of the Lusitanian Cownose Ray (<i>Rhinoptera marginata</i>) from the Mediterranean Sea

Within the eastern Mediterranean, increased fishing pressure coupled with a lack of basic biological information is threatening the sustainability of the rare Lusitanian cownose ray (Rhinoptera marginata). To provide baseline life-history data for this species, age estimates were obtained from vertebral band counts of 224 rays (size range: 210–998 mm disc width and 140 to 13,600 g weight) collected from Iskenderun Bay. Females ranged in size from 210 to 998 mm disc width and 238 to 13,600 g weight, while males ranged from 130 to 866 mm disc width and 140 to 8250 g weight. The index of average percent error (2.8%) and age-bias plot suggest that the aging method used represents a precise and non-biased approach. Marginal increment analysis indicated that a single opaque band is deposited annually between August and September. The oldest ages obtained for R. marginata were 9 years for males and 19 years for females, which corresponded to total lengths of 866 and 998 mm disc width, respectively. For males, limited samples prevented the accurate calculation of growth rates; however, for combined sexes, observed and disc width-at-age data resulted in the following von Bertalanffy growth parameters: DW∞ = 1102.16 mm, k = 0.148 and t0 = −0.2167. Although additional samples are necessary to determine growth rates in males, the results of the present study indicate that R. marginata females exhibit life history characteristics similar to other Rhinoptera species

First Estimates of Age and Growth of the Lusitanian Cownose Ray (Rhinoptera marginata) from the Mediterranean Sea

Within the eastern Mediterranean, increased fishing pressure coupled with a lack of basic biological information is threatening the sustainability of the rare Lusitanian cownose ray (Rhinoptera marginata). To provide baseline life-history data for this species, age estimates were obtained from vertebral band counts of 224 rays (size range: 210&ndash;998 mm disc width and 140 to 13,600 g weight) collected from Iskenderun Bay. Females ranged in size from 210 to 998 mm disc width and 238 to 13,600 g weight, while males ranged from 130 to 866 mm disc width and 140 to 8250 g weight. The index of average percent error (2.8%) and age-bias plot suggest that the aging method used represents a precise and non-biased approach. Marginal increment analysis indicated that a single opaque band is deposited annually between August and September. The oldest ages obtained for R. marginata were 9 years for males and 19 years for females, which corresponded to total lengths of 866 and 998 mm disc width, respectively. For males, limited samples prevented the accurate calculation of growth rates; however, for combined sexes, observed and disc width-at-age data resulted in the following von Bertalanffy growth parameters: DW&infin; = 1102.16 mm, k = 0.148 and t0 = &minus;0.2167. Although additional samples are necessary to determine growth rates in males, the results of the present study indicate that R. marginata females exhibit life history characteristics similar to other Rhinoptera species

A new record of Pontobdella muricata (Annelida: Hirudinea: Piscicolidae) from Iskenderun Bay, northeastern Mediterranean Turkey

The aim of this study is to report a new record of marine leech, Pontobdella muricata (Linnaeus, 1758) from Iskenderun Bay, northeastern Mediterranean. Fish samples were collected during a trawl fishing conducted at a depth ranging from 150 to 300 m in Iskenderun Bay, Turkey. Fish samples, infected with marine leech, was transferred to the ecophysiology laboratory in Fisheries Faculty of the Firat University. One infected fish was photographed and the parasite was removed from the host and fixed in ethanol for further morphological examinations and measurements. The parasite was identified as Pontobdella muricata. Dipturus oxyrinchus constitutes new host for Pontobdella muricata which is one of the most common species of leeches found on skates and rays. ©Biharean Biologist, Oradea, Romania, 2019Firat University Scientific Research Projects Management UnitAcknowledgement. This work was partially supported by Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit of Fırat University. Project Number SUF.15.04