Gabriel Morey

Weight-length relationships of littoral to lower slope fishes from the western Mediterranean

Weight–length relationships (WLRs) are presented for 103 fish species inhabiting littoral to lower slope habitats of the Balearic Islands and the Iberian coast (western Mediterranean). Samples were collected using seven types of fishing gear and at depths ranging from 0.5 to 1713 m. Captures were made between the years 1991 and 2001. The b values in the WLR W = aL b varied between 2.072 and 3.847 and showed a mean value of 3.03 (S.E. =± 0.03). Whenever possible, the b values for the species obtained both in this study and some of the previously reported in the Mediterranean Sea were compared, showing the existence of spatial variation whose causes are discussed.

The occurrence of white sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, around the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean Sea)

The regular presence of the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, off the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean) is shown from 27 captures carried out with trap nets between the 1920s and 1970s and from eight attacks on cetaceans and marine turtles from the 1990s to the present. The geographic distribution, seasonality and population structure of the species in the area are analysed and discussed in relation to environmental conditions and to the proposed distribution of this species in the Mediterranean Sea.