In situ video observations of benthic megafauna and fishes from the deep eastern Mediterranean Sea off Egypt

Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) video observations were used to document benthic fauna at a hydrocarbon drilling location, at 2 720 m depth, in the poorly studied deep water off northern Egypt. The decapod Chaceon mediterraneus was the most common organism at the site and the only benthic megafaunal invertebrate observed. Three species of fish, Coryphaenoides mediterraneus, Cataetyx laticeps and Bathypterois mediterraneus, were also encountered. These findings confirmed these three species as the deepest-distributed benthic fish in the eastern Mediterranean, and confirmed that the deep Mediterranean, in particular the eastern basin, is one of the world's poorest deep-sea ecosystems in terms of diversity. The behaviour exhibited by the species observed was consistent with their natatory capacity, deduced from their feeding intensity (gut fullness) and diet (mainly suprabenthic prey were consumed), and conservative life strategies adapted to an extremely low energy environment.     

Relationships between adult population size, recruitment, and year-class strength in a labrid fish in the Mediterranean Sea

The influence of distinct demographic factors on determining population size in a littoral nesting fish (Symphodus roissali) was studied. Differences in the overall abundances were studied at three sites in the NW Mediterranean Sea for three years, to examine whether: 1) the adult population determined the number of successful nests; 2) the number of successful nests determined recruitment levels; 3) recruitment levels were subsequently related to the number of young of the year (YOY) joining the population after the recruitment period; and 4) the YOY value determined the size of the year class 1 cohort in the following year's adult reproductive population. The results show that there was a significant relationship between the number of spawners and the number of successful nests. However, the number of successful nests does not always correlate well with recruitment level. Furthermore, recruitment levels are not good indicators of the Young of the Year (measured three months after settlement) in number joining the populations, though YOY in number was related to the strength of the year class joining the adult reproductive population the following year. Therefore, the magnitude of the recruitment and probably the size of the adult population did not determine the year-class strength in S. roissali.