The Collective Article ‘New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records’ of the Mediterranean Marine Science journal offers the means to publish biodiversity records in the Mediterranean Sea. The current article is divided in two parts, for records of alien and native species respectively. The new records of alien species include: the red alga Asparagopsis taxiformis (Crete and Lakonicos Gulf) (Greece); the red alga Grateloupia turutur...

Diet and feeding strategy of the blackmouth catshark Galeus melastomus in the deep waters of the eastern Ionian Sea were investigated. Sampling was carried out using experimental bottom longline fishing at depths ranging from 300 to 855 m in summer and autumn 2010. Diet variability with fish size, season, area, sex and depth zone was tested and only season was found to significantly affect the diet of the species. Of the 870 s...

Spatial distribution and life history aspects of Pagellus bogaraveo in the eastern Ionian Sea were investigated using the data from 13 different studies carried out in the area from 1983 to 2010. The spatial patterns of the abundance, biomass and mean size showed that the species inhabits the shallow waters of the shelf ( L T ), moving to deeper waters of the slope (mainly 400–500 m depth) as adults. The spatial pattern of abu...

The diet of the European conger eel Conger conger was investigated for the first time in the Eastern Mediterranean. Fish dominated the European conger eel diet in the deep waters of E. Ionian Sea. All other prey taxa were identified as accidental preys. However, intestine analysis showed that Natantia, Brachyura and Cephalopoda might have a more important contribution in the diet of the species. C. conger exhibited a benthopel...

This paper presents records extending or confirming the distribution of Mediterranean species. Three alien algae are included, namely Codium taylorii reported for the first time from the Aegean and Turkey (Izmir Gulf), Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea (Karpathos and Chalki Isl., Aegean Sea) and Ganonema farinosum (Karpathos Isl., Aegean Sea). As far as animals are concerned, Litarachna divergens (Acari: Hydrachnidia) was rec...

The pilotfish (Naucrates ductor) is an epipelagic oceanic species, whose 0-group specimens tend to aggregate below flotsam, constituting a principal by-catch of the western Mediterranean FAD fishery. During a one-year survey sampling, monthly experimental hauls using surrounding nets were conducted at sites in south Peloponnesian waters, where FADs were moored; during the summer-early autumn months bongo tows were also carried...

Cephalopod beaks are chitinous structures situated in the buccal mass lying at the base of their arms. Because they are among the few hard structures of cephalopods with high resistance to erosion during digestive process in predator stomachs, the study of the beak morphometry is of major importance for the species taxonomy, as well as, for the size estimation of the cephalopods consumed. In this study new information is provi...

The present study concerns faunal composition and distribution of cephalopods in the southern Aegean Sea (35Ζ 13’ 19’’- 37Ζ 55’ 25’’ N, 23Ζ 00’ 15’’ - 28Ζ 15’ 37’’ E). Samples were collected from 708 hauls, obtained by an experimental bottom trawl net during eight surveys carried out in the summers of the years 1994-2001, as well as by commercial trawl net during four surveys carried out in September 1995, December 1995, May a...