The Mediterranean Sea is a semi-enclosed sea characterized by high salinities, temperatures and densities. The net evaporation exceeds the precipitation, driving an anti-estuarine circulation through the Strait of Gibraltar, contributing to very low nutrient concentrations. The Mediterranean Sea has an active overturning circulation, one shallow cell that communicates directly with the Atlantic...

The gills of 31 skipjack tuna Katsuwonus pelamis (L.) caught in the Alboran Sea (western Mediterranean Sea) were examined for metazoan parasites, and the gills of 4 specimens from the Balearic Sea (also western Mediterranean Sea) were analysed for comparative purposes. Nine -species of parasites were found, including 8 didymozoid trematodes (Atalostrophion cf. bio-varium, Didymocylindrus filifo...

The marbled goby Pomatoschistus marmoratus, a species inhabiting coastal Mediterranean lagoons, has been studied by measuring its mitochondrial DNA variation. This analysis revealed a Mediterranean west vs east split and, subsequently, an eastern differentiation among the Libyan-Tunisian Gulf, the Adriatic Sea and the Aegean Sea. The high cohesion between the samples collected in the vast area ...

Atlantic-Mediterranean anchovies were genetically characterized at two polymorphic nuclear loci (intron 6 of two creatine-kinase genes) and compared to reference Engraulis albidus and E. encrasicolus samples from the northern Western Mediterranean to provide new insights into their geographic structure. Northeastern Atlantic anchovy, represented by one sample from the Canary archipelago and one...

During the last two decades, several satellite algorithms have been proposed to retrieve information about phytoplankton groups using ocean color data. One of these algorithms, the so-called PHYSAT-Med, was developed specifically for the Mediterranean Sea due to the optical peculiarities of this basin. The method allows the detection from ocean color images of the dominant Mediterranean phytopl...

Population genetic structures of the mackerel (Scomber scombrus) and chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) were studied in the Mediterranean Sea. Fragments of 272 bp (S. scomber) and 387 bp (S. japonicus) of the 5'-end of the mitochondrial control region were sequenced from spawning individuals collected off the coasts of Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. High levels of mitochondrial control regi...

The increasing necessity of scientific evidence on the socioeconomic impacts of MPAs, as well as acknowledging them, is of relevance for marine policies. This is especially important at the regional level, such as for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. However, since a previous work carried out in 2000, no study has analyzed the most recent findings, or performed a comparative review of the s...

Despite attention focused on the population status and rebuilding trajectory of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), the reproduction and spawning biology remains poorly understood, especially in the NW Atlantic. At present, the eastern and western spawning populations are believed to exhibit different reproductive characteristics and, consequently, stock productivity. However, our study su...

Vision is an important source of information for many animals. The crystalline lens plays a central role in the visual pathway and hence the ecology of fishes. In this study, we tested whether the different light regimes in the Mediterranean and Red Seas have an effect on the optical properties of the lenses in the rivulated rabbitfish, Siganus rivulatus. This species has migrated through the S...