En As part of the identification of African material in the collections of MSNS and the author, a new species is described: Cyana (Idiovulpecula) tertia n. sp. In addition, a re-description of Cyana (Idiovulpecula) togoana (Strand, 1912) is provided, and a series of male specimens diagnosed herein is thought to represent the hitherto undiscovered male of Cyana magnitrigutta Karisch, 2013. It Nel corso di classificazione del materiale africano delle collezioni del MSNS e dell'autore, si descrive una nuova specie: Cyana (Idiovulpecula) tertia n. sp. Inoltre, si fornisce la ridescrizione di Cyana (Idiovulpecula) togoana (Strand, 1912) e si suppone che una serie di soli maschi qui diagnosticata possa rappresentare il maschio non ancora scoperto di Cyana magnitrigutta Karisch, 2013.
The present short note reports the finding of five Nudipleura species: one (Taringa cf. telopia) new for the Mediterranean, two (Doto maculata and Okenia longiductis) new for Sicily, one (Berthella stellata) new for the central-eastern coast of Sicily and, finally, a new record of Taringa tritorquis for the same area. For each species, information on date and site of finding, external morphology, taxonomic history, previous reports and remarks, are discussed. The finding of these species could depend on two different reasons: 1) the examined areas are transit zones for several ships which could transport the veligers or/and juvenile stages through fouling or ballast water; 2) since in these areas the marine Heterobranchia fauna has been poorly studied, many of the found species could have been overlooked until now. This work highlights the importance of a continuous monitoring to expand and deepen the knowledge of marine Heterobranchia fauna.
Relationships between fish length and otolith length and width were examined in the blueline snapper Lutjanus coeruleolineatus (Lutjanidae) collected from the coasts of Oman, Arabian Sea. The values of exponent b from the relationships between fish total length and otolith length and total length and otolith width were estimated representing the close fitness of otolith size with fish size. Both relationships were statistically significant, which means both otolith length and width can be used to retrieve the fish original size. The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the effect of the categorical factor of species in the fish length and otolith length relationship. This study represents the first reference available on the relationship of fish size and otolith size for L. coeruleolineatus in the Arabian Sea area. Results from this study will offer original data on quantitative biometric relationships between body and otolith measurements of fish species in Arabian Sea region. By obtaining the mathematical model showing the relationship of the otolith size and fish length will enable fisheries biologists to know the size of the fish that has been eaten an information which important for fish biologists.
First record of the common dolphinfish Coryphaena hippurus from the Iraqi marine waters is reported in the present study. One adult specimen (762 mm total length) was caught from the waters surrounding the Khor Abdullah within the Iraqi marine territory. It is a new ichthyofaunal record for the area.
The authors report in the present paper the capture of two specimens of a rare shark, angular rough shark Oxynotus centrina (Linnaeus, 1758), from the northern coast of Tunisia. A first specimen was a juvenile female caught off Ras Jebel, the second specimen was a juvenile male caught off Kelibia. These captures occurred after two decades in the area where it appears that the species is not totally exctincted. The Mediterranean distribution of O. centrina appears to be different according to the region, absent from the coast of France, specimens were still sporadically caught in the Adriatic Sea, and mainly in the Aegean Sea and the eastern Basin.
