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The common two-banded seabream Diplodus vulgaris and Diplodus sargus were sampled from non-commercial fishing catches around the Maltese Islands between July 2012 and December 2017. A total of 1550 (D. vulgaris N=1204, D. sargus N=346) specimens were collected. In this study, age, growth, length-weight relationship (LWR), condition factor (K) and relative condition factor (Kn) were investigated. Ages ranged from 0 to 17 years for D. sargus and 0 to 16 years for D. vulgaris. A positive allometric growth was observed for D. sargus while growth in D. vulgaris was isometric. Average Kn was found to be 0.99 and 1.01 in D. vulgaris and 0.97 and 1.00 in D. sargus for males and females respectively. The growth parameters of the von Bertalanffy equation were: L∞=26.71 and 30.86 cm, K= 0.275 and 0.286 year-1 and tₒ = -2.27 and -1.61 year for all individuals of D. vulgaris and D. sargus respectively. This study is the first reference on the LWR equation parameters, Kn, K and Age for these species around the Maltese Islands and establishes a new maximum age for D. vulgaris of 16 years., peer-reviewed

Trabajo presentado en el 41st CIESM Congress, celebrado en Kiel del 12 al 16 de septiembre de 2016., The main aims of this study were to investigate the environmental parameters associated with blooming events of Carybdea marsupialis and to genetically compare the box jellyfish in Malta to other Mediterranean and Atlantic samples. The numbers of adult individuals, as well as abiotic and biotic factors were monitored in situ and analysed statistically. Phenological patterns were determined and the abundance of C. marsupialis at the Maltese sites was shown to be strongly and positively correlated with sea water temperature. Genetic analysis indicated a high degree of homology between the sequences derived from the analysed Mediterranean specimens, which was not apparent in the genetic material derived from specimens from the Eastern Atlantic (Cadiz).

This study focuses on the genetic structure of the population of the annular seabream, Diplodus annularis. A number of specimens were collected from thirteen sites around the Maltese Islands (Central Mediterraenan), and were analyzed for seven allozyme loci. This investigation showed a low genetic variation for the sampled population. Also this investigation explored the possibility of utilizing non-invasive sampling for allozyme analyses., peer-reviewed