Identification Key to Fishes in Fresh Waters of Greece

The European Environmental Agency formulated a biodiversity initiative in 1996 specifying a freshwater stream-monitoring program to inventory, identify and describe aquatic and terrestrial species in European Union countries. With one of the richest freshwater ichthyofaunas in Europe (126 fish taxa: 97 species and 29 subspecies of primary or secondary freshwater fishes), Greece has two extinct fish species, five listed as critically endangered, and 29 considered endangered and/or vulnerable. There are, however, no published identification guides that are available for identifying fish specimens from fresh waters in Greece. We present an English translation of the only available identification key (in Greek) to 97 fish species (20 families) in fresh waters of Greece. Our intent is to create an illustrated identification guide in the future as new species are identified and ranges of all lotic and lentic species are clarified. In the interim, we believe that the current guide can be used effectively in the field to reduce the number of voucher specimens required to authenticate inventories of the freshwater ichthyofauna of Greece as repeated heavy sampling has the potential to decimate local populations that are already vulnerable

Tres nuevas especies de peces exóticos registrados en el área marina de la isla de Rodas (Mar Egeo sud oriental, Grecia)

Three exotic fish, Iniistius pavo (Labridae) and Lagocephalus sceleratus (Tetraodontidae), Lessepsian immigrants, and Seriola fasciata (Carangidae) of Atlantic origin, were recorded in the marine area of Rhodes Island (SE Aegean Sea, Greece). The first species is a new record for the Mediterranean Sea, the second is new for Greek waters, while the occurrence of the third is registered for the first time in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.Tres peces exóticos, Iniistius pavo (Labridae), Lagocephalus sceleratus (Tetraodontidae), inmigrantes lessepsianos, y Seriola fasciata (Carangidae), especie del Atlántico, se registraron en el área marina de la isla de Rodas (mar Egeo sudoriental, Grecia). La primera especie es nueva para el Mediterráneo, la segunda es nueva para aguas griegas, y la tercera es registrada por la primera vez en el Mediterráneo oriental.

Creating a Geographical Information System for Freshwater Crabs and Fishes in Greece

A geographical information system (GIS) for freshwater crabs and fishes in Greece was created in response to the European Environmental Agency\u27s (EEA) biodiversity initiative for European Union countries. A total of 1931 collections, made with seines, dipnets, and backpack electroshockers in 32 drainages of Greece, yielded 126 species of fishes and crabs in 2,359 data records including species, latitude, longitude, drainage, prefecture, and locality, 731 also include stream order, elevation, gradient, stream width and depth, pH, temperature, and distance to river mouth. Our GIS indicates current distributions of species, species rich and poor areas, anomalous species distributions, areas warranting further sampling, and cogeneric species whose overlapping ecological distributions call for taxonomic and phylogenetic investigation. In applied studies, the freshwater GIS can be an integral tool for EEA\u27s biodiversity inventory of the southern Balkan peninsula, an inland fisheries management plan, designs for environmental impact studies, and conducting gap analyses for the region

Comportamiento de asociación al sustrato de las larvas bentónicas de Oblada melanura (Linnaeus, 1758) (Osteichthyes: Sparidae): una aproximación cuantitativa

The site-attachment behaviour of O. melanura settlers was examined in an estuarine area of western Greece. The approach that was followed included underwater assignments of shoal identities and continuous recording of specific behavioural traits. Variations between ontogenetic stages with respect to the pattern of residence at the sites were quantified via an index (the residence-persistence index (RPI)) devised for this purpose. Our findings suggest that this species initiates settlement in small shoals that occupy specific sites at the substratum where they reside for various days. This behavioural trait is stage-specific and gradually diminishes as the fish complete metamorphosis, while at the same time they change their social organisation. Such an ontogeny-dependent site-attachment behaviour has not been described before and is markedly different from that described for other members of the Sparidae family.En este trabajo se ha examinado el comportamiento de asociación al substrato de los individuos recién asentados de Oblada melanura en un área estuárica de Grecia occidental. El estudio se hizo en base a la identificación de los bancos y al seguimiento continuo de las características conductuales específicas a lo largo del tiempo. Las variaciones ontogenéticas respecto a la pauta de residencia en los diferentes lugares han sido cuantificadas mediante un índice (índice de residencia-persistencia (RPI) específicamente desarrollado para este fin. Nuestros resultados sugieren que esta especie inicia el asentamiento en pequeños bancos que ocupan lugares específicos del substrato en donde residen varios días. Esta característica conductual es específica del estadio de desarrollo y disminuye gradualmente a medida que los peces acaban su metamorfosis, mientras que, al mismo tiempo, cambian su organización social. Esta conducta de asociación con el lugar de asentamiento, dependiente de la ontogenia, no se había descrito anteriormente y es marcadamente diferente a la que ha sido documentada para otros miembros de la familia Sparidae

Širenje područja rasprostranjenja britke jedroglavke, Lophotus lacepede Giorna 1809 u vodama sjevernog Egejskog mora, Grčka

On September 20th 2011, a rather large specimen of 134 cm total length (mature, female), weighing 6974 g, of the rare crested oarfish Lophotus lacepede Giorna 1809, was obtained from a fisherman fishing off Halkidiki Peninsula, north Aegean Sea (Greece). This capture represents the northernmost record in the Aegean Sea for one of the scarcest species in Eastern Mediterranean.Dana 20. rujna 2011. godine, prilično velika jedinka 134 cm ukupne dužine (zrela ženka), mase 6974 g, rijetke vrste britka jedroglavka Lophotus lacepede Giorna 1809, je ulovljena pokraj poluotoka Halkidiki, sjeverno egejsko more (Grčka). Ovaj ulov predstavlja najsjeverniji nalaz u egejskom moru jedne od najrjeđih vrsta u istočnom Mediteranu

First record of Cobitis puncticulata from Europe with comments on its conservation status (Teleostei : Cobitidae)

Cobitis puncticulata is first recorded from Anatolian Lake Ulubat and from Greek lower River Evros drainage