This work investigates life‐history traits of the long‐nosed skate Dipturus oxyrinchus , which is a common by‐catch in Sardinian waters. The reproductive variables were analysed from 979 specimens sampled during scientific and commercial hauls. Females (10·4–117·5 cm total length, L T ) attained larger sizes than males (14·5–99·5 cm L T ). To evaluate age and growth, a sub‐sample of 130 individuals (76 females and 54 males) we...

This study quantifies the main reproductive features of the long-lived red coral Corallium rubrum, an octocoral endemic to the Mediterranean Sea and neighboring Atlantic areas and one of the most valuable of all marine species, at different depths (38-40 m versus 96-115 m) in north-western Sardinian waters (Central-Western Mediterranean Sea). Different population structures between depths were observed with shallow colonies sm...

A total of 255 longnosed skate Dipturus oxyrinchus caught in Sardinian waters (central‐western Mediterranean Sea), was analysed with respect to fish total length ( L T ), season and depth, in order to provide information on diet and feeding behaviour. Specimens ranging from 93 to 1153 mm L T , were collected at depths between 121 and 671 m, during experimental trawl surveys carried out from 2005 to 2010. The diet comprised cru...

In this paper we report information about the sexual maturity process of 245 Octopus vulgaris specimens (75 females and 170 males) from the Mediterranean Sea. For both sexes, six stages of sexual maturity (immature, developing, maturing, mature, spawning, and spent) are identified on the basis of macroscopic and microscopic observations of the reproductive system and linked with some reproductive indices. A good correspondence...