Alfonso Matarrese

Biodiversity of the white coral reefs in the Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean)

Three surveys were carried out off Cape Santa Maria di Leuca (Southern Italy). Samples were taken using an ‘ingegno’, trawl net and traps at 630–1100 m depth. The white coral biocoenosis in this area of the Ionian Sea consists of living corals mainly represented by the framework builders Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata. The solitary corals Desmophyllum cristagalli and Stenocyathus vermiformis were also obtained alive. The polychaete Eunice norvegica is another characteristic species. A list of 58 species were compiled, indicating the Atlantic character of this biocoenosis and confirming Mediterranean biodiversity to be lower than that of ocean.

Demersal fish assemblages from the bathyal grounds of the Ionian Sea (middle‐eastern Mediterranean)

Abstract Data collected during four trawl surveys conducted in the Ionian Sea were used to describe the structure and spatial distribution of the demersal assemblages (fishes, crustaceans and cephalopods) on the bathyal grounds. Samples were taken from depths of 200 to 700 m during spring and autumn of 1994 and 1995. Classification and ordination of the demersal communities were conducted with cluster and correspondence analyses, respectively. Speciesasswere associated with depth. Two faunal assemblages were identified in the uppermost (about 200–400 m) and in the deepest (about 400–700 m) investigated bottoms. The former was characterized by greater abundance and biomass of mostly hake, blue whiting, rose shrimp and Norway lobster. The latter was represented by deep‐water sharks, macrourids and deep‐water decapod crustaceans. On the upper slope, two main geographic areas (one north of the Taranto valley the other south) were distinguished in the correspondence analysis.

Occurrence of Musculista senhousia (Mollusca: Bivalvia) in the Taranto seas (eastern-central Mediterranean Sea)

Department of Zoology,Via Orabona, 4,70125 Bari, Italy*Corresponding author, e-mail: f.mastrototaro@biologia.uniba.itThe ¢rst record of Musculista senhousia in theTaranto seas (eastern-central Mediterranean Sea) is reported.The species wasmostly found on bottoms with pleustophytic algal felt where densities up to 3800 specimens per square metre were estimated.The sizes in the sampled population ranged from 5.16 to 30.59mm. Two main modal components were detected around11.67 0.67mm and 18.00 2.38mm.Musculista senhousia (Benson in Cantor,1842) is a small musselwidespread in several regions of the earth from the Asian conti-nent (locus tipicus) to the western coast of the USA, to the NewZealand and Australian coasts, along the Israel coast to the RedSea, oi the islands of Zanzibar and Madagascar as well as inIndo-China and Japan (Lazzari & Rinaldi, 1994). This smallmussel was recorded as an immigrant species for the ¢rst time inthe western Mediterranean along the French coast (Hoenselaar& Hoenselaar,1989). Successively it was recorded in Italy, in theAdriatic Sea, in the brackish lagoons of Ravenna (Lazzari R Mistri et al., 2001) and in theTyrrhenian Sea inthe Gulf of Olbia (Savarino & Turolla, 2000).The ¢rst occurrence of M. senhousia in theTaranto seas (north-western Ionian Sea) is reported in this note.The town of Taranto is located on the coast of the north-western Ionian Sea (eastern-central Mediterranean). To thesouth-west it overlooks the open sea in the Mar Grande basinand north-eastwards the basin of the Mar Piccolo which ismade up of two smaller inlets (I and II seno) (Figure 1). TheMar Piccolo covers an area of 20.72km

Mapping of the benthic communities in the Taranto seas using side-scan sonar and an underwater video camera

Side-scan sonar and underwater video camera records as well as dredging samples were used to map the bottom morphology and biocoenoses in the Taranto seas. A 1:20,000 scale chart has been produced with all the data recorded. Most of the study area consists of biocoenoses affected by the anthropogenic activities of the town of Taranto. Some native broadly tolerant species seem to benefit from these activities and become increasingly dominant. Environmental modifications also seem to favour the settlement of exotic species.

Benthic diversity of the soft bottoms in a semi-enclosed basin of the Mediterranean Sea

The benthic diversity of the soft bottoms in the Taranto Seas (Mar Grande and Mar Piccolo) (eastern-central Mediterranean Sea) was studied during July 2002. Quantitative samples were taken using a Van Veen grab and granulometric analysis of the sediment was carried out. A total of 131 species were identified. Molluscs and annelids made up 77% of the species and 87% of the individual number. Data from these two groups were used for hierarchical clustering and multidimensional scaling. The diversity was calculated using the rarefaction method. Two main benthic species assemblages were identified. The first corresponded to the stations characterized by pelitic sediment and located in the Mar Piccolo, the second was made up by the stations with pelite with increasing percentages of sand and distributed in the Mar Grande. The first assemblage consisted of species that usually live on muddy bottoms rich in organic matter; the second consisted of a greater number of species, usually occurring on different types of bottoms. Diversity was found to be higher in the Mar Grande than in the Mar Piccolo, indicating that physico-chemical alterations of the environment probably play a leading role in controlling community structure.

Spawning and recruitment of Phycis blennoides (Phycidae) from the north‐western Ionian Sea (middle‐eastern Mediterranean)

Abstract Specimens of Phycis blennoides were collected in the Ionian Sea by means of trawl surveys from August 1993 to July 1995. Ripe females and mature males were caught during November through January and between August and March, respectively. Recruitment, represented by individuals of 6–8 cm total length modal group, took place during March at depths between 200 and 600 m. Modal progression analysis of juveniles indicated a growth rate of about 1 cm/month during the first year. Otoliths were examined from juveniles. A transition zone was generally observed in the otolith nucleus. Females and males had mean size of 15.6 and 15.4 cm TL, respectively, during the first year, while during the 2nd year individuals attained a mean size of 20.7 and 20.3 cm TL, respectively. The fastest growth occurred during the spring and summer seasons.