Paleobathymetric history of the Western Mediterranean Sea shelf during the latest glacial period and the Holocene: Quantitative reconstructions based on foraminiferal transfer functions

In the present study the life history of blonde ray Raja brachyura from Sardinian waters (central-western Mediterranean) was investigated and the results compared with previously published data on this species. The age, growth and reproduction were studied using 1792 specimens caught between 2005 and 2013. Females ranged from 13.1 to 105.5 cm in Total length (TL) and males from 18 to 96.5 cm TL. This species was sexually dimorphic, with TL females attaining a larger size than males. Both females and males showed allometric growth (b>3) and we found significant differences in the relationship between length and weight among sexes. The von Bertalanffy growth function (3 parameters), which provided the following values: L∞ = 111.14 cm TL, k = 0.10 and t0 = -1.3 for females, and L∞ = 108.81 cm TL, k = 0.11 and t0 = -1.2 for males, was the best-fit age model. R. brachyura showed a relatively slow growth rate with males slightly more rapid than females. Length and age at maturity were 87.2 cm and 14 years for females and 80.8 cm and 10 years for males. This ray exhibited a restricted reproductive cycle from late May to August, confirmed by the seasonal evolution of GSI values. Ovarian fecundity reached a maximum of 44 yolked follicles. Given the relative abundance in the Sardinian seas, it is hoped that the results can be useful in the implementation of basic management measures in order to ensure the sustainability of catches of this species in the Mediterranean Sea.

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Abundance of Pelagia noctiluca early life stages in the western Mediterranean Sea scales with surface chlorophyll

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13423 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

D Ottmann ◽

D Álvarez-Berastegui ◽

L Prieto ◽

R Balbín ◽

F Alemany ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Early Life ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Life Stages ◽

Early Life Stages ◽

Western Mediterranean Sea ◽

Pelagia Noctiluca

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A closer look at the bycatch of medium‐sized and large sharks in the northern Catalan coast (north‐western Mediterranean Sea): Evidence of an ongoing decline?

Aquatic Conservation Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems ◽

10.1002/aqc.3651 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ignasi Nuez ◽

Manel Gazo ◽

Luis Cardona

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Western Mediterranean Sea ◽

Catalan Coast ◽

North Western

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Parasites of the head of Scomber colias (Osteichthyes: Scombridae) from the western Mediterranean Sea

Acta Parasitologica ◽

10.2478/s11686-014-0207-5 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 59 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Salvatore Mele ◽

Maria Pennino ◽

Maria Piras ◽

José Bellido ◽

Giovanni Garippa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Eastern Mediterranean ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Parasite Fauna ◽

Point Of View ◽

Published Data ◽

Multivariate Techniques ◽

Western Mediterranean Sea ◽

Scomber Colias ◽

Non Parametric

AbstractThe metazoan parasite assemblage of the head of 30 specimens of the Atlantic chub mackerel (Scomber colias) from the western Mediterranean Sea was analysed. Eight species of parasites were found, four mazocraeid monogeneans: Grubea cochlear (prevalence = 10%), Kuhnia scombercolias (59%), K. scombri (52%), Pseudokuhnia minor (86%); three didymozoid trematodes: Nematobothrium cf. faciale (21%), N. filiforme (41%), N. scombri (7%); and one laerneopodid copepod: Clavelissa scombri (7%). Results were compared with previously published data from 14 localities of the eastern Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, using non-parametric univariate and multivariate analyses, and the whole parasite fauna of S. colias was compared with that of the congeners (S. australasicus, S. japonicus and S. scombrus). Parasites showed to reflect the biogeographical and phylogenetic history of host. From a methodological point of view, the use of both non-parametric univariate and multivariate techniques proved to be effective tools to detect dissimilarities between parasite assemblages.

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An algorithmic model for invasive species: Application to Caulerpa taxifolia (Vahl) C. Agardh development in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea

Ecological Modelling ◽

10.1016/s0304-3800(98)00058-1 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 109 (3) ◽

pp. 251-266 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

David Hill ◽

Patrick Coquillard ◽

Jean de Vaugelas ◽

Alexandre Meinesz

Keyword(s):

Invasive Species ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Caulerpa Taxifolia ◽

The North ◽

Western Mediterranean Sea ◽

Algorithmic Model ◽

North Western

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Dynamical Downscaling of ERA5 Data on the North-Western Mediterranean Sea: From Atmosphere to High-Resolution Coastal Wave Climate

Journal of Marine Science and Engineering ◽

10.3390/jmse9020208 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 208

Author(s):

Valentina Vannucchi ◽

Stefano Taddei ◽

Valerio Capecchi ◽

Michele Bendoni ◽

Carlo Brandini

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Wind Wave ◽

Dynamical Downscaling ◽

Wave Climate ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Limited Area ◽

Computational Domain ◽

Wave Hindcast ◽

The North ◽

Western Mediterranean Sea

A 29-year wind/wave hindcast is produced over the Mediterranean Sea for the period 1990–2018. The dataset is obtained by downscaling the ERA5 global atmospheric reanalyses, which provide the initial and boundary conditions for a numerical chain based on limited-area weather and wave models: the BOLAM, MOLOCH and WaveWatch III (WW3) models. In the WW3 computational domain, an unstructured mesh is used. The variable resolutions reach up to 500 m along the coasts of the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian seas (Italy), the main objects of the study. The wind/wave hindcast is validated using observations from coastal weather stations and buoys. The wind validation provides velocity correlations between 0.45 and 0.76, while significant wave height correlations are much higher—between 0.89 and 0.96. The results are also compared to the original low-resolution ERA5 dataset, based on assimilated models. The comparison shows that the downscaling improves the hindcast reliability, particularly in the coastal regions, and especially with regard to wind and wave directions.

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