The slender scalyhead Trematomus lepidorhinus and the scaly rockcod T. loennbergii are closely related species with similar streamlined body morphology, epibenthic lifestyle and ecological niche. They are distributed in relatively deep waters on the continental shelf and slope of the Weddell Sea, although with some differences in preferential depth of occurrence. As previously reported, the peak of abundance of T. loennbergii...

Despite the general belief that the Southern Ocean harbors low fish biodiversity, the Weddell Sea hosts one of the richest fish communities in the region. Parallelly, the Weddell Sea is also known for the presence of dense and diverse macrobenthos. Most macrobenthic invertebrates, such as gorgonians, sponges and bryozoans, are considered ecosystem engineers as they generate a three-dimensional structure that increases habitat...

Accurate species identification is essential to assess biodiversity and species richness in ecosystems threatened by rapid and recent environmental changes, such as warming in most Antarctic waters. The Lepidonotothen species complex comprises demersal notothenioid fishes which inhabit the shelf areas of the Antarctic Peninsula, the Scotia Arc and sub‐Antarctic islands with a circum‐Antarctic distribution. Species determinatio...

From 1 June 2010 in the Italian coastal waters of the Northern Adriatic Sea, trawl fishery within three nautical miles became banned. This activity was previously allowed for some species as an exception to legislation. In order to evaluate the consequences both on demersal resources and economic yields of the trawl which will oblige fishermen to trawl beyond three miles, a pilot study was performed. Twenty hauls comparing cat...

Ichthyoplankton assemblages in the south central Tyrrhenian Sea are not known in spite of this being an intensely fished area. There are two large canyons in this region: Dohrn, in the Gulf of Naples, and Cuma, at the south end of the Gulf of Gaeta. In this study, we provide the first description of summer ichthyoplankton assemblages in the vicinity of the two canyons and present the physical features and Lagrangian particle t...

The Mediterranean Sea has a long-lasting history of fishery exploitation that, together with other anthropogenic impacts, has led to declines in several marine organisms. In particular, elasmobranch populations have been severely impacted, with drastic decreases in abundance and species diversity. Based on their experience, fishers can provide information on marine species occurrence, abundance and behavioural traits on a long...

The adoption of parental care behaviours is the distinctive reproductive characteristic associated with the diversification and divergence of notothenioid fishes into an array of habitats in the subzero shelf and upper slope waters around Antarctica and sub‐Antarctic environments. These include a variety of pre‐ and post‐fertilization activities, including courtship behaviour and mate choice, linked to the development of sexua...

In this study, life‐history traits (maximum and average size, size at maturity and fecundity) of two congeneric smooth‐hounds, Mustelus mustelus and Mustelus punctulatus , which share a geographical distribution and experience a similar fishing exploitation, were estimated and compared between species. The results indicated a lower maximum and average size, a lower size at maturity and a higher fecundity in M. punctulatus comp...