Eastern Mediterranean Sea (eastern + mediterranean_sea)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Essential elements and contaminants in tissues of commercial pelagic fish from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 9 2009
Beyza Ersoy
Abstract BACKGROUND: It is important to determine the concentrations of essential and non-essential metals in fish for human health. The essential elements and contaminants (Pb and Cd) were determined seasonally in the muscle and liver of some pelagic fish species round herring (Etrumeus teres), chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus), golden grey mullet (Liza aurata) and Mediterranean horse mackerel (Trachurus mediterraneus) from the Iskenderun Bay, Eastern Mediterranean Sea. RESULTS: The Na, K, Ca and Mg were the most abundant elements in muscle and liver tissues. The Na, K, Ca and Mg concentrations in fish tissues were between 51.7 and 3426 mg kg,1. Muscle accumulated the lowest levels of elements. Trace element and contaminant levels in muscle were highest in spring and summer. The Cu, Zn and Cr concentrations were highest in summer. The Ni, Mn and Fe concentrations were highest in spring. The maximum Pb concentrations in the muscle and liver of fish species was 0.39 and 0.80 mg kg,1 in autumn. The maximum Cd concentration in the muscle of fish was 0.27 mg kg,1 in spring and the maximum Cd concentration in the liver was 0.78 mg kg,1 in summer. CONCLUSION: The Cr, Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn levels in muscle were found to be lower than permissible limits reported by various authorities. Estimated weekly and daily intake for Pb and Cd by consumption of fish muscle were far below the PTWI and PTDI values established by FAO/WHO. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry [source]


Growth and mortality of the brushtooth lizardfish (Saurida undosquamis) in Iskenderun Bay (eastern Mediterranean Sea) using length frequency analysis

JOURNAL OF APPLIED ICHTHYOLOGY, Issue 6 2007
G. Gökçe
Summary The growth and mortality of brushtooth lizardfish Saurida undosquamis (Richardson, 1848) in Iskenderun Bay (eastern Mediterranean Sea) were investigated based on length frequency data using the fisat software. Total length of the sampled 4711 fish ranged from 6.0 to 39.0 cm. The von Bertalanffy growth function estimates were L, = 42.00 cm, k = 0.51 year -1, t0 = ,0.29 years. Total mortality rate (Z) was computed as 1.76 year -1 and the exploitation ratio was 0.51, indicating that the brushtooth lizardfish stock is on the verge being overfished. [source]


Further evidence of spawning of bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus L., 1758) and the tuna species (Auxis rochei Ris., 1810, Euthynnus alletteratus Raf., 1810) in the eastern Mediterranean Sea: preliminary results of TUNALEV larval survey in 2004

JOURNAL OF APPLIED ICHTHYOLOGY, Issue 3 2005
I. K. Oray
Summary A tuna larval survey (TUNALEV) in the Northern Levantine Basin (Cilician Basin) was conducted onboard a trawler from 5 to 18 June 2004. To determine the spatial distribution and abundance of tuna larvae, Bongo 60 and Bongo 90 nets were used. Ichtyoplankton samples from 104 stations were taken. In total, 121 bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), 94 bullet tuna (Auxis rochei) and 22 Atlantic black skipjack (Euthynnus alletteratus) larvae were collected. In comparison with the other tuna larvae, the concentration of bluefin tuna larvae was highest in the Bay of Mersin. The collected larvae in this area were composed mainly of 5,9 mm size specimens. [source]


Biochemical composition of the Atlantic bonito Sarda sarda from the Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean Sea) in different stages of sexual maturity

JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2006
N. Zaboukas
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 lowest levels were found in spawning bonitos. The gradual percentage of lipid reduction from immature to spawning bonitos was relatively higher in the liver (females 71·2% and males 64·4%) than in the white (females 59·2% and males 53·5%) and red (females 62·1% and males 51·7%) muscle. Lipid levels in the gonads increased gradually from the immature to spawning stage. The decrease of lipid in the somatic tissues was more intense in females than in males, and gonadal lipid content was higher in females than in males. There was a strong reverse correlation between water and lipid percentage in all tissues. Protein content decreased significantly only in spawning bonitos. The percentage of protein reduction from immature to spawning stage was relatively higher in males than in females in both white (females 3·4% and males 4·6%) and red (females 4·6% and males 5·1%) muscles. Protein content in the liver was significantly lower than in the other tissues, being highest in mature females. Gonadal protein content in females increased with maturation and decreased after spawning. The content in ash exhibited considerable stability. The RNA:DNA ratio exhibited a similar pattern of variation in both muscles. The RNA:DNA ratio increased during gonadal development gradually from the developing to spent stage. It was concluded that in S. sarda during gonadal development, there was an increase in gonadal lipid accompanied by a decrease in somatic tissue lipid reserves. Thus, reproductive inactive bonitos have more lipid in their edible part and a higher nutritional value than active ones. [source]


Genetic differentiation of Mediterranean horse mackerel (Trachurus mediterraneus) populations as revealed by mtDNA PCR-RFLP analysis

JOURNAL OF APPLIED ICHTHYOLOGY, Issue 2 2009
By C. Turan
Summary The genetic population structure of Mediterranean horse mackerel, Trachurus mediterraneus, from seven locations throughout the Black, Marmara, Aegean and eastern Mediterranean seas was investigated using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the mtDNA 16S rDNA region. An approximately 2000-bp segment was screened in 280 individuals using six restriction enzymes, resulting in 10 composite haplotypes. The most common haplotype was present in 56.42% individuals; the next most frequent haplotype was present in 22.85% individuals. Average haplotype diversity within samples was moderate (0.38), and nucleotide diversity was low (0.00435). Mean nucleotide divergence for the seven sampling sites was 0.0028. Nucleotide divergence among samples was moderate, with the highest value detected between the Aegean Sea (Izmir) and the eastern Black Sea (Trabzon) populations (0.007055), and the lowest (,0.000043) between the Marmara Sea (Adalar) and the western Black Sea (Sile) populations. In Monte Carlo pairwise comparisons of haplotype frequencies, the Sinop from the middle Black Sea, Trabzon from the eastern Black Sea, and Iskenderun Bay from the north-eastern Mediterranean Sea exhibited highly significant (P < 0.001) geographical differentiation from each other and from all other populations. Mantel's test indicated that the nucleotide divergence among populations of T. mediterraneus was not significantly associated with their geographical isolation (r = ,0.2963; P > 0.05). Consequently, the mtDNA 16S rDNA region provided evidence for the existence of three distinct T. mediterraneus populations (Sinop, Trabzon and Iskenderun Bay) in the Black and north-eastern Mediterranean seas. [source]