This study investigates the growth and calcification of the appendicular skeleton in Raja asterias (Delaroche, 1809), a member of the Batoidea, to explore the relationship between histomorphology and the mechanics of batoid locomotion within the water column. Although much prior research has focused on the “tessellated pattern” in these fishes, the variable structure of the appendicular skeleton provides fresh insights into th...

Since 2013, loggerhead sea turtle ( Caretta caretta , Linnaeus 1758) nesting has been observed further north along the Italian coast, reaching the Tuscan coast (NW Mediterranean Sea). The four nesting events that occurred in Tuscany in the summer of 2019 spurred the scientific community to monitor these occurrences more carefully, following them from egg deposition to hatching. This provided an opportunity to collect samples f...

Population structure and phylogeography of the loggerhead sea turtle ( Caretta caretta ) have so far been assessed mainly by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) single-gene sequencing studies. However, phylogenetic relationships amongst matrilines, genetic characterisation of rookeries and mixed-stock analyses have suffered from the limited resolution obtained by comparison of relatively short sequences such as from the mtDNA control re...

The common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is a cosmopolitan delphinid, regularly present in the Mediterranean Sea. According to previous studies, this dolphin tends to form resident geographical units scattered on the continental shelf. We investigated how the physiographic characteristics of the area of residence, with special reference to the size and shape of the continental shelf, affect the home range and the gro...

The Mediterranean Large Elasmobranchs Monitoring (MEDLEM) database contains over 3000 records (more than 4000 individuals) of large elasmobranch species from 20 different countries around the Mediterranean and Black seas, observed from 1666 to 2017. The main species included in the archive are the devil fish (1 813 individuals), the basking shark (939 individuals), the blue shark (585 individuals) and the great white shark (33...