New Mediterranean Marine biodiversity records

Based on recent biodiversity studies carried out in different parts of the Mediterranean, the following 19 species are included as new records on the floral or faunal lists of the relevant ecosystems: the green algae Penicillus capitatus (Maltese waters); the nemertean Amphiporus allucens (Iberian Peninsula, Spain); the salp Salpa maxima (Syria); the opistobranchs Felimida britoi and Berghia coerulescens (Aegean Sea, Greece); the dusky shark Carcharhinus obscurus (central-west Mediterranean and Ionian Sea, Italy); Randall’s threadfin bream Nemipterus randalli, the broadbanded cardinalfish Apogon fasciatus and the goby Gobius kolombatovici (Aegean Sea, Turkey); the reticulated leatherjack Stephanolepis diaspros and the halacarid Agaue chevreuxi (Sea of Marmara, Turkey); the slimy liagora Ganonema farinosum, the yellowstripe barracuda Sphyraena chrysotaenia, the rayed pearl oyster Pinctada imbricata radiata and the Persian conch Conomurex persicus (south-eastern Kriti, Greece); the blenny Microlipophrys dalmatinus and the bastard grunt Pomadasys incisus (Ionian Sea, Italy); the brown shrimp Farfantepenaeus aztecus (north-eastern Levant, Turkey); the blue-crab Callinectes sapidus (Corfu, Ionian Sea, Greece). In addition, the findings of the following rare species improve currently available biogeographical knowledge: the oceanic pufferfish Lagocephalus lagocephalus (Malta); the yellow sea chub Kyphosus incisor (Almuñécar coast of Spain); the basking shark Cetorhinus maximus and the shortfin mako Isurus oxyrinchus (north-eastern Levant, Turkey)

First record for two species [Balanoglossus clavigerus delle Chiaje, 1829, Glandiceps talaboti (Marion, 1876) of the phylum Hemichordata on the coast of Turkey

In this study, for the first time, 2 species (Balanoglossus clavigerus delle Chiaje, 1829 and Glandiceps talaboti (Marion, 1876)) belonging to the phylum Hemichortada, which have not previously been encountered in Turkish seas, are recorded from the northeastern Mediterranean Sea (Yumurtalik Bight, and Babadil port). © Tübi·tak

Confirmation of the presence of the sea lamprey, petromyzon marinus linnaeus, 1758 in the levantine sea (petromyzoniformes: petromyzonidae)

[No abstract available

The growth features of pontic shad Alosa pontica (Eichwald, 1838) in the Sea of Marmara, Turkey

In this study the growth properties of shad Alosa pontica (Eichwald, 1838) in the Sea of Marmara coasts between November 2005 and January 2006 were studied. A total of 307 samples (156 males and 151 females) were examined. Age compositions of the individuals varied between I-V. The first age group was the dominant in the population. The fork length distribution ranged from 12 to 33 cm and the average weight distribution ranged from 19.73 to 367.35 g. Length-weight relationship was found to be W = 0.0163 L2.8511 (R = 0.92). © 2007 Asian Network for Scientific Information

Deep Sea Fisheries in Mersin Bay, Turkey, Eastern Mediterranean: Diversity and Abundance of Shrimps and Benthic Fish Fauna

10 pages,1 figure, 5 tablesThis study was carried out by trawling at depths between 300-601 m in the Mersin Bay (Eastern Mediterranean) between May and June 2014. Seven shrimp species (Aristaeomorpha foliacea, Aristeus antennatus, Parapenaeus longirostris, Plesionika edwardsii, Plesionika martia, Pasiphae sivado and Pontocaris lacazei) were collected as a result of ten trawl operations with a commercial bottom trawl. The most abundant species were P. longirostris (52.06%), A. foliacea (35.64%) and P. edwardsii (9.50%), representing 97.20% of all captured shrimps. The catch per unit effort (CPUE) ranged from 3.094 kg/h to 9.251 kg/h, with an average value of 5.44 ± 2.01 kg/h for shrimps. A total of 37 fish species (28 teleosts and nine elasmobranchs) were captured. The prevailing fish species in catches were Chlorophthalmus agassizi, Merluccius merluccius and Etmopterus spinax in terms of biomass and Helicolenus dactylopterus, Hoplostethus mediterraneus, Trachurus trachurus and Lepidopus caudatus in terms of abundance. Seventeen or 45.95% of the captured fish species were with commercial value, while the remaining 20 (54.05%) consisted of discard fishesPeer Reviewe

First record of the Alien sea slug Elysia grandifolia Kelaart, 1858 (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia, Elysiidae) in the Iskenderun Bay

This paper presents the first report of Elysia grandifolia Kelaart, 1858 in the Iskenderun Bay (the northeast end of the Levantine Sea (EM), the southeastern coast of Turkey). It is also, the second record of E. grandifolia in the Turkish Levantine coast. © Biharean Biologist, Oradea, Romania, 2016

Width/length-weight and relationships of the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1986) population living in Camlik Lagoon Lake (Yumurtalik)

In this study, the width/length-weight relationships of the blue crab population (Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1986) living in Camlik Lagoon Lake (Adana) were investigated considering sex and maturity. A total of 743 samples were collected and analyzed. The Carapace Width (CW) distribution ranged from 2.30 to 17.80 cm and the weight distribution ranged from 0.70 to 301 g. Carapace width/carapace length-weight relationships was found to be as W = 0.4782CL 3.106 (R = 0.987) and W = 0.0902CW2.932 (R = 0.982). © 2006 Asian Network for Scientific Information

Redescription of Garra turcica from southern Anatolia (Teleostei: Cyprinidae)

PubMedID: 30486123Garra turcica, from the rivers Kizil, Seyhan, Ceyhan and Arsuz, is re-diagnosed and re-described. The species was treated as a synonym of G. rufa but molecular data strongly suggest that G. turcica represent an own species. It is distinguished from G. rufa by being more slender bodied, having a blunt snout and usually a short rostral cap. Based on COI sequence data, G. turcica is closely related to a group of species from the Persian Gulf basin, all having very small distribution areas nested in or adjacent to the range of G. rufa. The closest relatives of G. turcica are G. elegans, G. mondica and G. amirhosseini from which G. turcica differs by having a free posterior edge of the mental disc, the predorsal back covered by scales and the scales on the chest about as large as on the belly as well as by a minimum K2P distance of 2.2% in its COI barcode region. © Copyright 2018 Magnolia Press.Society for the Anthropology of WorkWe are pleased to thank Ralf Thiel and Irina Eidus (ZMH) for allowing JF to study the type of G. turcica. Many thanks to Matthias Geiger (Bonn) for unpublished genetic data, İsmail Aksu (Rize) for the help in interpreting the genetic results and Oğuz Ergül (Rize) and Yunus Dedeoğlu (Rize) for helping with photography. Ayşe Demirbaş (Rize) read the manuscript and improved the language. We thank the two reviewers for useful comments. This study is a product of the FREDIE project, supported by the Leibniz Association Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation (SAW)

Molecular systematic analysis of shad species (Alosa spp.) from turkish marine waters using mtDNA genes [MtDNA genleri kullanarak türk deniz sularında tirsi türlerinin (Alosa spp.) moleküler sistematik analizi]

The phylogenetic relationship among five shad species (Alosa caspia, A. fallax nilotica, Alosa maeotica, Alosa immaculata, Alosa tanaica) from Turkish marine waters was investigated with mitochondrial DNA polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism.The six genesegments, NADH 5/6, NADH 3/4cytochrome b, COX, 16 SrRNA and D-Loop,of mtDNA amplified by PCR were digested with seven restriction enzymes, BsurI, AluI, EheI, Hin6I, RsaI, XhoI Bsh1236I,respectively.When all the six genes were combined together for phylogenetic analysis, a total of 45 haplotypes were detected from the five shad species, and the average haplotype diversity and nucleotide diversity within species were 0.8809 and 0.0022 respectively. The average nucleotide diversity and nucleotide divergence among species were 0.009248 and 0.007080 respectively. The highest genetic divergence was observed between A. caspiaand A. maeotica (0.013727) and the lowest between A. immaculataand A. tanaica (0.003073). Monte Carlo (X2) pairwise genetic comparison revealed highly significant differences between all species (P<0.001). In the Neighbour-joining tree, there were two main grouping, and in the first group, A. caspia and A. f. nilotica exhibited the closest genetic similarity which was the sister group to A. immaculata. A.tanaicaseems to be the most divergent in this grouping. Another group contained only A. maeotica which showed the highest genetic differentiation among Alosa genus. © Published by Central Fisheries Research Institute (CFRI) Trabzon, Turkey

New pelagic gastropoda species encountered on the Turkish coast of the Levant Sea

In this work, 9 species of pelagic gastropods were studied during bottom trawling and net sampling for zooplankton of Akkuyu in Erdemli and in İskenderun Bay (the northeastern Mediterranean). Among those, Pterotrachea hippocampus Phlippi, 1836, Cavolinia tridentate (Forsskal, 1775), Limacina (Munthea) trochiformis (D'Orbigny, 1836), and Corolla spectabilis (Dall, 1871) were first records for Turkish mollusk fauna, and the remaining, Atlanta peronii Lesuer, 1817, Şroloida desmarestia Lesuer, 1817, Clio pyramidata Linné, 1767, Creseis acicula Rang, 1828, and Creseis virgula Rang, 1828 were first records for the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. © TÜBİTAK