Catch and discardfish species of trawl fisheries in the Iskenderun Bay (Northeastern Mediterranean) with emphasis on lessepsian and chondricthyan species

Fish species in catch and discard of trawl fisheries in and around Iskenderun Bay were examined within the fishing closure period and fishingperiod.The sampling was performed from May 2010 to January 2011 by a commercial trawl vessel.Chondricthyan species composed 49 % of discard catch biomass whileGymnura altavela and Dasyatis pastinacawere dominant in hauls. 27 lessepsian fish species were captured during the study,nine of them beingtarget species for trawl fisheries. In total, 14 of the lessepsian fish species were determined as discard species.In both sampling periods, Equulites klunzingeriand Citharus linguatula contributed to discard fish catch dissimilarity among depth ranges (deeper and shallower than 60 m). E. klunzingerishowed high abundance in discard catch.There were no significant differences in the distribution of the discard fish biomass between the sampling periods (ANOVA test, p>0.05). However, depth range pointed out significantdifferences in discard fish catch composition (p<0.05).Among major commercial fish species of trawl fisheries, Mullus surmuletus and Sparus aurata were not separated as discard in anyhaul by fishermen. Any size of these two species  were included in commercial catch (Total length ranged from 61 to 721 mm)

New records of rare species in the Mediterranean Sea (October 2021)

This Collective Article presents information about 27 taxa belonging to five Phyla (one Ochrophyta, one Cnidaria, three Arthropoda, two Mollusca and twenty Chordata) and extending from the Western Mediterranean Sea to the Levantine Sea and theBlack Sea (Sea of Marmara). The new records were reported from 11 countries as follows: Algeria: occurrence of the Africanstriped grunt Parapristipoma octolineatum; Spain: new records of eight uncommon fish species (Gadella maraldi, Hypleurochilusbananensis, Lobotes surinamensis, Parapristipoma octolineatum, Selene dorsalis, Sphoeroides marmoratus, Tetragonuruscuvieri, and Trachyrincus scabrus) from the Spanish Mediterranean; Italy: new record of the football octopus Ocythoe tuberculatafrom the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea; a rare sighting of a juvenile phase of a moray eel of the genus Gymnothorax, tentativelyidentified as Gymnothorax cf. unicolor in the Ligurian Sea; first record of adult Facciola’s sorcerer Facciolella oxyrhynchus inthe Adriatic Sea; occurrence of the tope shark Galeorhinus galeus in the Northern Adriatic Sea; Libya: first confirmed recordof the pen shell Pinna rudis; first documented record of the palaemonid shrimp Brachycarpus biunguiculatus; first record of thefish Sudis hyalina; Malta: new records of Grant’s rockling, Gaidropsarus granti; multiple concomitant reports of the rare hydromedusanspecies Aequorea forskalea; Croatia: a record of the skipjack tuna Katsuwonus pelamis in the Southern Adriatic Sea;Albania: new record of the bigeye thresher shark Alopias superciliosus; Greece: confirmation of the rare brown alga Sargassumflavifolium occurrence in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea; first record of the scaleless dragonfish Bathophilus nigerrimus; Turkey:first occurrence of the calanoid copepod Pteriacartia josephinae in the Aegean Sea; first documented record of the Cremona’s seaslug Placida cremoniana for the easternmost Mediterranean Sea; new record of the yellow-headed goby Gobius xanthocephalusin the Sea of Marmara; Cyprus: first record of the Liechtenstein’s goby Corcyrogobius liechtensteini; an individual of the Yellowfintuna Thunnus albacares captured with handline by an artisanal fisher; Lebanon: an individual of the Black marlin Istiompaxindica captured in a gill ne

Age, growth, and reproductive biology of turbot, Scophthalmus maximus (Actinopterygii: Pleuronectiformes: Scophthalmidae), from the south-western coasts of Black Sea, Turkey

Background. The turbot, Scophthalmus maximus (Linnaeus, 1758), is of high economical value in Turkey and its biological characteristics have hitherto not been studied in the South-western Black Sea. The purpose of this study was to determine the age and growth, length–weight relation, condition factor, sex ratio, age and length at first maturity, and reproduction period of the turbot in the south-western Black Sea coast of Turkey. Materials and methods. Turbots were collected monthly in the south-western Black Sea coast of Turkey using bottom trawl and turbot gillnets. The fish samples were obtained between October 2004 and September 2005. Results. A total of 264 turbots were sampled and the age groups ranged from I to X (no individuals found at age group IX). Total lengths were between 14.0 and 70.0 cm, while weights varied from 34 to 5550 g. The length–weight relation for combined sexes was determined as W = 0.0085L3.1581. The von Bertalanffy growth equation parameters were: L¥ = 73.55 cm, k = 0.17 year–1, t0 = –0.12 year. The observed sex ratio (female : male) was 1 : 0.35. The length at first maturity (L50) of the species was 20.38 cm for females and 24.68 cm for males (both at two years old). Monthly gonadosomatic index (GSI) values suggest the spawning activity extends from 15 April to late June. Conclusion. The legal fishing season of the turbot, imposed in 2012, begins on 15 June. We recommend that this date should be postponed to 30 of June due to turbot’s reproduction extending to late June

The Arabian scad Trachurus indicus, a new Indo-Pacific species in the Mediterranean Sea

The Arabian scad Trachurus indicus is recorded for the first time from the Mediterranean Sea (Iskenderun Bay, Turkey). The presence of this Indo-Pacific fish in the Mediterranean Sea is probably because of migration from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal

Are perceptions of organizational justice universal? An exploration of measurement invariance across thirteen cultures

Previous research examined whether justice effects are comparable, focusing on quantitative differences in justice effects. This study examines whether justice perceptions are structured similarly or whether they are qualitatively different across working populations from 13 nations. Confirmatory factor analysis and multi-group analysis show that Colquitt’s (J Appl Psychol 86:386–400, 2001) four-dimensional model of justice works well across these samples. However, factor intercorrelations and reliabilities are found to systematically vary between cultural samples. Perceptions of justice are more highly intercorrelated in power distant and collectivistic samples, in line with extensions of the relational model of authority. Score reliabilities were lower in collectivistic settings