Recent cases of swordfish attacks on harpoon fishing vessels of the Sicilian fleet were examined and the particular behavior adopted by this fish during the approach to fishermen was described. The information was collected in the period between 1999 and 2014 in Sicilian waters (Mediterranean Sea) through interviews with harpoon fishermen and through direct observations during research activiti...

The structure of native squid pen (gladius) was investigated in two different species on different length scales. By combining microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and X-ray diffraction, the experiments probed length scales from millimetres down to nanometres. The gladii showed a hierarchical, self-similar structure in the optical experiments with fibres of different size oriented along t...

The present work focused on the synthesis of β-chitosan submicron particles (CSPs) from Todarodes pacificus using mechanochemical techniques. The gladius was submitted to a sequence of mechanical and chemical treatments to synthesize β-chitin (CT), which was further deacetylated to form spherical chitosan submicron particles with an average diameter of ⩽100 nm. The surface morphology of β-chiti...

We report the synthesis, characterization, and biological properties of chitosan nanoaggregates from gladius of squid, Uroteuthis duvauceli. β-Chitin extracted from gladius was deacetylated to chitosan and further reduced to nanosize using ionic gelation process. The morphology and occurrence of chitosan nanoaggregates (CSNA) were observed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The degre...

Five specimens of Xiphias gladius Linnaeus, 1758 were sampled from the eastern coast Algeria and examined for their metazoan parasites. Pathological effects collected parasites whole body X. gladius. Four species collected: two monogeneans (Tristoma coccineum Cuvier, 1817; T. integrum Diesing, 1850), one copepod (Pennella instructa (Wilson, 1917)) parasitic nematode (Hysterothylacium aduncum (R...

The hypothesis that Mediterranean top predator species, such as large pelagic fish, are potentially at risk due to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), is investigated. The potential estrogenic effects of PHAHs in three fish species of commercial interest, the top predators bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus thynnus), swordfish (Xiphias gladius), and Mediterranean spearfish (Tetrapturus belone), w...

Eleven species of the genus Tephritis with an uncommon banded wing pattern and/or solid apical crossband/spot instead of apical fork, mainly from the Palaearctic Middle East, are described and keyed, including Tephritis afrostriata new species, T. cameo new species, T gladius new species, T. ochroptera new species, and T. robusta new species. The following synonymy is established: Tephritis adm...

An adult swordfish (Xiphias gladius L.) was reported for the first time at coastal Mediterranean fish-farm facilities. This record highlights the necessity to assess the potential ecological changes to wild fish assemblages caused by coastal farming activity, especially to this type of endangered large migratory fish predator, which could be taken into account in future management strategies.

Directed fishing effort for Atlantic bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), their primary spawning grounds in the western Atlantic, has been prohibited since the 1980s due to a precipitous decline of the spawning stock biomass. However, pelagic longlines targeted at other species, primarily yellowfin tuna and swordfish, continue to catch Atlantic bluefin tuna in the GOM as bycatch. Spatial a...