New records of the rare angular rough shark Oxynotus centrina from the Hellenic Seas are presented. Its occurrence is reported for the first time in the Corinthian Gulf. Some aspects of the species' biology are described and compared with previous studies.

Squalus blainville is one of the least studied Mediterranean shark species. Despite being intensively fished in several locations, biological knowledge is limited and no genetic structure information is available. This is the first study to examine the genetic structure of S. blainville in the Mediterranean Sea. Considering the high dispersal potential inferred for other squalid sharks, the hypothesis of panmixia was tested ba...

The main goal of this study was to examine otolith microstructure and to estimate the age and growth of European hake Merluccius merluccius from the eastern Mediterranean Sea. One hundred and twenty‐nine specimens ranging from 102 to 438 mm in total length ( L T ) were used. Age estimations were based on the study of the otolith microstructure, which was revealed after grinding both frontal sides of otoliths. The enumerations...

The present work reports on the extended distribution of nineteen species in the Mediterranean. These are: Upeneus pori(Fish:Turkey), Bursatella leachii (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia: eastern coast of Spain), Sparisoma cretense (Fish: Ionian coastof Greece), Pseudobryopsis myura (Chlorophyta: Turkey), Aplysia dactylomela (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia: Karpathos island,and Kyklades Archipelago, Greece), Asparagopsis armata and Botryo...

Seasonal changes of testicular activity of the swordfish Xiphias gladius and correlations of plasma levels of testosterone (T) and 11‐ketotestosterone (11‐KT) with proliferation and apoptosis of germ cells, determined, respectively, with monoclonal antibodies against proliferating cell nuclear antigen and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase‐mediated d’UTP nick end labelling, are described. Three phases of the reproductive cy...

The content (% wet mass) in water, ash, lipid, crude protein, DNA and RNA of different tissues was determined during sexual maturation of bonitos Sarda sarda from the Aegean Sea. A total of 220 specimens were collected in the following stages of sexual maturity: immature, resting, developing, mature, spawning and spent. Highest lipid levels in the white muscle, red muscle and liver were measured in immature specimens, while lo...

Otolith morphological characteristics were studied using image analysis techniques and the relationships between otolith growth and somatic growth and age, as estimated from counting daily otolith increments, were examined in young‐of‐the‐year (YOY) bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus ranging in fork length ( L F ) from 8·5 to 55·5 cm. Whole otolith length, width, area and perimeter, and three shape indexes, circularity, E value and...

The histological analysis of eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus ovaries caught from February to September 1999–2000, made it possible to distinguish the presence of seven oocyte developmental stages and allowed the characterization of six time‐dependent ovary maturity stages. The ovaries of mature (fork length, L F ≥ 110 cm) bluefin tuna were non‐active from August (spent period) to March (quiescent period) when the...

Estimated ages of 1136 individual albacore Thunnus alalunga (57–92 cm L F) from the Aegean and Ionian Sea ranged from 1 + to 9 years. Males grew faster and reached a greater size and age than females. No significant differences were found in the mean lengths at estimated ages between the two sampling areas. The von Bertalanffy growth model was fitted to mean lengths of estimated ages of individual fish and estimated growth par...