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 comparative cytogenetic analysis, using both conventional staining techniques and fluorescence in situ hybridization, of six Indo‐Pacific moray eels from three different genera ( Gymnothorax fimbriatus , Gymnothorax flavimarginatus , Gymnothorax javanicus , Gymnothorax undulatus , Echidna nebulosa and Gymnomuraena zebra ), was carried out to investigate the chromosomal differentiation in the family Muraenidae. Four species d...

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 the present study the life history of blonde ray Raja brachyura from Sardinian waters (central-western Mediterranean) was investigated and the results compared with previously published data on this species. The age, growth and reproduction were studied using 1792 specimens caught between 2005 and 2013. Females ranged from 13.1 to 105.5 cm in Total length (TL) and males from 18 to 96.5 cm TL. This species was sexually dimor...