MEDITS-based information on the deep water red shrimps <i>Aristaeomorpha foliacea</i> and <i>Aristeus antennatus</i> (Crustacea: Decapoda: Aristeidae)

Abstract

SUMMARY: The application of statistical models on a time series of data arising from the MEDITS International Trawl Survey, an experimental demersal resources survey carried out during six years (1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999) in the same season of the year (late spring -early summer) using the same fishing gear in a large part of the Mediterranean, has allowed for a study to compare, for the first time, the space-time distribution, abundance, and size structure of the two Aristeids Aristaeomorpha foliacea and Aristeus antennatus throughout most of the Mediterranean Sea. This research has shown a large variability among the six reference areas, that were arbitrarily defined within the basin. In particular the two shrimps do not seem to present any correlation or yield continuity in the years. The same lack of homogeneity was also observed in the time trend of the abundances and frequencies of each of the two species. These data seem to confirm the intrinsic variability of the species, the cause of which is still unknown and undocumented. Nevertheless, a longitudinal gradient of catches has been observed where A. antennatus is more abundant in the west and A. foliacea in the east of the basin.

First isolation and characterization of genomic SSR markers for the giant red shrimp Aristaeomorpha foliacea (Risso, 1827)

“…In the western Mediterranean Sea, A. foliacea has a long traditional and economic significance, where it is the main target species for deep trawl fishery down to a depth of 800-1000 m (Cau et al, 2002), on the contrary in the eastern basin its commercial exploitation has not yet been developed (Cau et al, 2002;Politou et al, 2004).…”

Deep-sea shrimps (Decapoda: Aristeidae): new targets of the deep-water trawling fishery in Brazil

“…Shrimps of the family Aristeidae comprise one of the most valuable deep-water fishing resources, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea, where at least two species -Aristaeomorpha foliacea (Risso, 1816) and Aristeus antennatus (Risso, 1816) -sustain highly profitable fisheries (Cau et al, 2002;Belcari et al, 2003;Sardà et al, 2003a). In the Strait of Sicily only, landings in the order of 1,000 t of A. foliacea have sustained a US$ 10 million per year fishery (Bianchini et al, 2003).…”

Evidence of lipofuscin accumulation in the deep-water red shrimp Aristaeomorpha foliacea (Risso, 1827)

“…No other study on the lipofuscin of this species is known; nevertheless, it may be supposed that in the Mediterranean populations, living in a stable environment (CAU et al, 2002) and feeding on an ample range of preys, food and temperature are not likely to play a substantial role in fogging the lipofuscin pattern, at least in adults of the same sex.…”

“…The life history of this species has been examined in numerous contributions (BIANCHINI & RAGONESE, 1994;BIANCHINI, 1999) and recently reviewed by CAU et al (2002) and POLITOU et al (2004).…”

“…Still, despite the presence of well-defined modes in the length frequency distributions (4-5 and 2-3 modes in females and males of A. foliacea, respectively), estimates of growth rates and longevity parameters of the red shrimp are still hampered by the piling-up of larger and older specimens in the last mode, a phenomenon more pronounced in males, whose growth slows down after sexual maturity. Moreover, the trend in the most recent research into red shrimps is to assign them a longer life span, and obviously slower growth and lower natural mortality rates, than previously believed (CAU et al, 2002). In the search for more precise aging methods for crustaceans, the classic alternatives are rearing and tagging, whenever they are feasible; novel methods involve radionuclide ratios, examination of the ovoid bodies and lipofuscin accumulation (HARTNOLL, 2001).…”