The Mediterranean Spearfish in Ancient Greek and Latin

The article discusses the problem of identifying a Mediterranean fish called γλαῦκος in Ancient Greek and glaucus in Latin. It was a big and well-known fish living in the Mediterranean Sea. It appears in numerous literary sources of the classical (Greek and Roman) world. After analyzing all preserved attestations of the Greco-Latin ichthyonym, the authors of the present article suggest that this fish should be identified with the Mediterranean spearfish (Tetrapturus belone Rafinesque, 1810). It is possible that the fish name γλαῦκος/glaucus referred to the roundscale spearfish (Tetrapturus georgii R.T. Lowe, 1841) and also to the Atlantic white marlin (Kajikia albida Poey, 1860, syn. Tetrapturus albidus Poey, 1860).

The Effects of Marine Microplastics on Marine Life and Human Health in the Bay of Bengal

Marine microplastics are an emerging pollutant that has already shown adverse effects in fish, mice, and other lower-order organisms. Based on the impact microplastics have on these organisms, human health will likely be affected, especially in areas where fish and other marine life are a significant part of the diet. A wide range of previously conducted research was used to study the effects and predict the dangers of microplastic consumption on human health. The sources covered three general topics: the effects of microplastics on commonly consumed European and Mediterranean fish, their effects on the gut microbiome of mice, and the transmission of microplastics across trophic levels. A prediction was made using the presented data, stating that there will be and there is already a likely effect on the human neuroendocrine and digestive systems. This assumption was drawn from the known health effects of microplastics on fish and mice and the processes of bioaccumulation and biomagnification. In conclusion, it was predicted that the regular consumption of contaminated fish is likely already affecting human health in the region. Furthermore, the current policies and regulations focused on plastic pollution in India and Bangladesh are either not strong enough or not enforced well enough to reduce the amount of plastic pollution in the bodies of water in the region.

What the Fish: Tracing geographical origin by Stable Isotope, Multielement profile and NIR spectroscopy

<p>Commercialization of seafood industry has led to better accessibility of seafood around the globe and is an important part of global food chain to ensure food requirements worldwide. It forms one of the most complex international food chains and this makes it particularly vulnerable to fraud. In Europe, species substitution and origin mislabelling are the most common frauds faced by the seafood industry. Europe imports over 75% of its seafood with demand for it rising every year, which further increases chances of fraud and make authentication of seafood difficult. Owing to this complex global scenario, traceability of seafood becomes even more important to protect consumer’s rights and ensure safety in food systems. Origin mislabelling includes concealment of geographical origin of illegally harvested fish species whereas species substitution includes replacement of low-value species for a more expensive one for economic gain. Fish growing in different regions have different composition of fatty acids, elemental and isotopic compounds depending on their surroundings. Same differences occur between different species of fish living in the same region due to their varying feeding habits. These traits are used to identify origin mislabelling and species substitution. Several techniques have been employed to identify fish frauds such as DNA based methods, immunological assays, spectroscopic methods, stable isotopes, trace element analysis, fish microbiome analysis, etc. Multielement and stable isotope analyses and NIR spectroscopy are reliable analytical techniques providing useful information and thus accurate chemometric-based traceability models. Multielement profile can also allow to assess the fish nutritional quality and possible presence of contaminants. Stable isotope analysis of elements such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and strontium enables to discriminate fish provenance, natural vs feed-based diet, frozen vs fresh fish. NIR is a non-destructive and cost-effective analytical tool. A combined use of these methodologies to identify the fish fraud can strengthen the traceability models, minimising the occurrence of possible prediction errors.</p><p>In this context, SUREFISH* PRIMA project aims at deploying innovative solutions to achieve unequivocal traceability of Mediterranean fish products, preventing possible frauds. It gathers 13 partners from Italy, Spain, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon and 4 pilot sites fishing/growing and processing the following fish species: anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus), sardine (Sardina pilchardus), bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), tilapia (Tilapia spp.) and grouper (Epinephelus itajara). In the framework of WP3, we will develop and harmonise multi-element, isotope and NIR based analytical methodologies to trace the provenance of these Mediterranean fish species. Basically, we will analyse fresh or thawed fish meat and additional samples such as fish bones and otoliths, aquaculture feeds and sea or fresh waters. The findings will be gathered in a database useful for comparison with data from literature and other FAO fishing areas.</p><p> </p><p>* SUREFISH PRIMA project: Fostering Mediterranean fish ensuring traceability and authenticity, https://surefish.eu/. PRIMA Call 2019 Section 1 - Agro-food Value Chain 2019, Topic 1.3.1.</p>

Spanish Marine National Parks: Priority areas for the conservation of a vulnerable family of fishes

Background: Syngnathid fishes (Actinopterygii, Syngnathidae) are flagship species highly associated to seaweed and seagrass habitats of marine ecosystems biodiversity. Seahorses and pipefish are highly vulnerable to anthropogenic and environmental disturbances, but most species are currently Data Defficient by IUCN (IUCN, 2019), requiring more biological and ecological research. This study provides the first insights on syngnathid populations in two Spanish National Parks (PNIA –Atlantic- and PNAC –Mediterranean-). Fish were collected periodically, marked, morphologically identified, analyzed for size, weight, gender and sexual maturity, and sampled for further stable isotope and genetic identification. Due the scarcity of previous information, habitat characteristics were also assessed in PNIA. Results: Syngnathid diversity and abundances were low, with two species identified in PNIA ( Hippocampus guttulatus and Syngnathus acus ) and four in PNAC ( S. abaster , S. acus , S. typhle and Nerophis maculatus ). Syngnathids from both NPs differed isotopically, with much lower δ15 N in PNAC. The dominant species were S. abaster in PNAC and particularly S. acus in PNIA. Syngnathids preferred less exposed sites in macroalgal assemblages in PNIA and Cymodocea meadows in PNAC. In S. acus from PNIA, the occurrence of very large specimens, the absence of small-medium sizes and the isotopic comparison with a nearby population suggest that the population is mainly founded by breeders that migrate seasonally. Novel 16S rDNA haplotypes and sequence variants were detected for Hippocampus guttulatus , N. maculatus , S. acus, and S. abaster . Our data suggest the presence of a cryptic Syngnathus species in PNAC, Conclusions: This is the first multidisciplinary approach to the study of syngnathids in Spanish marine NPs. Habitat preferences and population characteristics in both NPs differed. Further studies are needed to assess potential misidentifications of Syngnathus genus in PNAC, and migratory events in PNIA. We propose several preferential sites in both NPs for future monitoring of syngnathid populations and some recommendations to undertake.

An Experimental Brackish Aquaponic System Using Juvenile Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus aurata) and Rock Samphire (Crithmum maritimum)

Brackish aquaponics using Mediterranean fish and plants provides an alternative opportunity for a combined production of high-quality food products with high commercial and nutritional value. This is the first study that investigates the effect of two different salinities (8 and 20 ppt) on growth and survival of Sparus aurata and Crithmum maritimum along with the cellular stress pathways using the activation of heat shock proteins (HSPs) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) protein family members and the water bacterial abundance. In total, 156 fish were used (average initial weight of 2.55 g, length of 5.57 cm) and 36 plants (average initial height of 8.23 cm) in floating racks above the 135 L fish tanks. Survival rate for both organisms was 100%. C. crithmum grew better at 8 ppt (t-test, p < 0.05). The growth rate of S. aurata was similar for both treatments (p > 0.05). HSPs and MAPK were differentially expressed, showing tissue-specific responses. The average bacterial abundance at the end of the experiment was higher (p < 0.05) in the 20 ppt (18.6 ± 0.91 cells × 105/mL) compared to the 8 ppt (6.8 ± 1.9 cells × 105/mL). The results suggest that the combined culture of euryhaline fish and halophytes provides good quality products in brackish aquaponics systems.