Population structure and exploitation of Bolinus brandaris (Mollusca: Gastropoda) off the Catalan coast (northwestern Mediterranean)

Relative growth and reproductive cycle in two populations of Bolinus brandaris (Gastropoda: Muricidae) from northern Tunisia (Bizerta Lagoon and small Gulf of Tunis)

“…These slight differences in size distribution between collecting sites can be also explained by differences in depth, because for the same species caught in Saint Carles de la Ràpita (Catalan coast), Martín et al (1995) showed that the size distribution was significantly correlated with depth. The present results corroborate Ramón & Amor (2002), who found that both sexes were distributed from 26 mm to 52 mm SLWS.…”

“…This is a medium-sized species with total shell length up to 120 mm (Houart 2001). It is distributed throughout the Mediterranean Sea and in the NE Atlantic Ocean, from Morocco (as far south as Tangier) to Portugal (as far north as Cascais) (Martín et al 1995). This muricid has been exploited since ancient times and used for producing a purple dye during the Roman Empire.…”

“…Among previous studies performed with this muricid species, we cite the fishery and biology (Bartolome 1985), the fishery and population structure (Martín et al 1995;Vasconcelos et al 2008a), growth of hatchlings and juveniles (Ramón & Flos 2001) and adults (Vasconcelos et al in press), reproductive cycle (Ramón & Amor 2002;Vasconcelos et al 2011) and gametogenesis (Amor & Durfort 1990;Amor et al 2004). In the Mediterranean Sea, studies on the biology of B. brandaris are scarce and restricted to populations from the northern shore (Martín et al 1995;Ramón & Flos 2001;Ramón & Amor 2002). On the southern shore, such type of investigations are not available, therefore, the main objective of this study was to complete gaps of knowledge in the biology of B. brandaris from the southern Mediterranean.…”

“…This muricid has been exploited since ancient times and used for producing a purple dye during the Roman Empire. Because of its high organoleptic quality, B. brandaris became a target species for artisanal fisheries along the coasts of France (Bartolome 1985), Spain, Italy and Turkey (Martín et al 1995) and Portugal (Vasconcelos et al 2008a). For example, in the Ria Formosa lagoon (southern Portugal), B. brandaris is greatly appreciated seafood with high commercial value (reaching values around 20 /kg) (Vasconcelos et al 2008a).…”

“…The purple dye murex, Bolinus brandaris (L., 1758), is a prosobranch neogastropod that inhabits sandy and sandy-muddy bottoms down to 200 m depth (Poppe & Goto 1991;Martín et al 1995;Houart 2001). This is a medium-sized species with total shell length up to 120 mm (Houart 2001).…”