The status of the Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries was evaluated for the period 1970-2010 on a subarea basis, using various indicators including the temporal variability of total landings, the number of recorded stocks, the mean trophic level of the catch, the fishing-in-balance index and the catch-based method of stock classification. All indicators confirmed that the fisheries resources ...

In the face of global overfishing of wild-caught seafood, ocean fish farming has augmented the supply of fresh fish to western markets and become one of the fastest growing global industries. Accurate reporting of quantities of wild-caught fish has been problematic and we questioned whether similar discrepancies in data exist in statistics for farmed fish production. In the Mediterranean Sea, o...

Biodiversity is the diversity of life at all scales, from genes to ecosystems. Predicting its patterns of variation across the globe is a fundamental issue in ecology and evolution. Diversity within species, that is, genetic diversity, is of prime importance for understanding past and present evolutionary patterns, and highlighting areas where conservation might be a priority. Using published d...

Archival bottom-mounted audio recorders were deployed in nine different areas of the western Mediterranean Sea, Strait of Gibraltar, and adjacent North Atlantic waters during 2006–2009 to study fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) seasonal presence and population structure. Analysis of 29,822 recording hours revealed typical long, patterned sequences of 20 Hz notes (here called “song”), back-beats...

Mediterranean river systems are characterised by more diverse fish assemblages and regional ecological processes compared with the rest of Europe. A data set from Mediterranean France, Iberia and Greece ( 2000 sites) was used to describe the characteristics of fish assemblages, explore their responses to anthropogenic disturbance and analyse the implications for river quality assessment. There ...

Introduction Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is the commonest hereditary autoinflammatory disease and it has mostly been reported in populations of Mediterranean ancestry, especially Armenians, Arabs, Turks, non-Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews. FMF has a very low prevalence amongst Western Europeans. Its hallmarks are autosomal recessive inheritance and short bursts of illness lasting up to 3 d...

Trematodes of Audouin 3 gull, La rus audouinii (Aves, Laridae), from Chafarinas lslands (W Mediterranean).-A survey was carried out on the trematode fauna of Larus audouinii Payraudeau, 1826 (Aves, Laridae) in the Alboran Sea, south-western Mediterranean. A total of 10 trematode species was found: Sch/josomaatinae gen. sp., Ornithobilharzia sp., Pachytrerna calculus, Renico/a lar( Brachylecithu...

Eight polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized for the Cardinal fish (Apogon imberbis), a coastal-reef fish endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. Characterization of 30 Cardinal fish individuals form the western Mediterranean showed moderate to high allelic diversity ranging from 6 to 19 alleles per locus. Two loci showed significant departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium...

This work reports a genetic data of Octopus vulgaris, marine species of high commercial value, from nineteen localities of Atlantic, Mediterranean and the Adriatic regions. We used mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene to investigate the genetic structure of common octopus. Our results indicated a significant genetic structuring in the study area (Phi = 0.136, P <0.001) an...

Tetramoriumsemilaeve André, 1883 is redescribed based on the type series and new material from terra typica (Pyrénées-Orientales). Lectotype worker is designated. Detailed descriptions of gyne and male are given. A review of material from the Mediterranean area suggests that in the past the name Tetramoriumsemilaeve has been applied to more than one species and the true Tetramoriumsemilaeve is ...