Among the five groups of visual pigments in vertebrates, the rhodopsin type 2 (RH2) group shows the largest number of gene duplication events. We have isolated three intact and one nonfunctional RH2 opsin genes each from Northern lampfish (Stenobrachius leucopsarus) and scabbardfish (Lepidopus fitchi). Using the deduced amino acid sequences of these and other representative RH2 opsin genes in v...

Fifteen fish species, totalling 149 specimens, were cytochrome c oxidase I sequenced— barcoded—from Northern (Atlantic and Mediterranean) and Southern (Australasian) Hemisphere waters. Thirteen species showed no significant evidence of spatial genetic differentiation for this gene, although small sample sizes reduced statistical power. For marine fish, barcodes collected in one part of a specie...

The silver scabbardfish Lepidopus caudatus is a mesopelagic species living on the shelf and slope down to 600 m in temperate seas all around world. In Mediterranean, caught mainly by longlines with marked seasonality. early 90s Strait of Sicily (Central Mediterranean Sea), new fishery targeting L. was developed. This uses an ad hoc pelagic trawl gear called “ spatolara .” Vessels using have inc...