The phylogenetic relationships of the order Pleuronectiformes are controversial and at some crucial points remain unresolved. To date most phylogenetic studies on this order have been based on morpho-anatomical criteria, whereas only a few sequence comparisons based studies have been reported. In the present study, the phylogenetic relationships of 30 flatfish species pertaining to seven different families were examined by sequence analysis of the first half of the 16S mitochondrial DNA gene. The results obtained did not support percoids as the sister group of pleuronectiforms. The monophyletic origin of most families analyzed, Soleidae, Scophthalmidae, Achiridae, Pleuronectidae and Bothidae, was strongly supported, except for Paralichthyidae which was clearly subdivided into two groups, one of them associated with high confidence to Pleuronectidae. The analysis of the 16S rRNA gene also suggested the monophyly of Pleuronectiforms as the most probable hypothesis and consistently supported some major interfamily groupings.

An annotated checklist of the marine fishes from Galician waters is presented. The list is based on historical both literature records and on new revisions. The ichthyofauna list is composed by 398 species. It is diversified in 2 superclasses, 3 class, 35 orders, 139 families and 288 genuses. Perciformes is the most diverse order with 37 families, 91 genus and 136 species. Gobiidae (19 species) and Sparidae (19 species) are the richest families. Biogeographically, the Lusitanian is the most important group including 204 species (51.3%), followed by the Atlantic group with 149 species (37.4%), the Boreal group with 28 species (7%) and the 17 species (4.3%) of the African group. A total of 42 species have been included as new records for the study area, and 3 records have been identified as doubtful. Identification and registration of errors from previous studies have been also indicated.

© Inter-Research 2014. Catchability, a key parameter in stock assessment, is often considered constant in time and space. However, when fishing with passive gears like traps or gillnets, fish behavior determines the odds of encounter with the fishers and thus catchability. Few studies have presented comprehensive empirical evidence of the link between behavior measured in the wild and catchability from a life-history strategy perspective. Here, a suite of different variables, including environmental cues, physiological states, fish activity, home range and catchability, were modeled using a sinusoidal function to describe their seasonality over the year and the degree of coupling among them in a sedentary coastal fish (Labrus bergylta). All the variables except the home range size showed a significant variation over the year, following a sinusoidal pattern. The models showed a tight match between the seasonality of catchability and fish activity, with high values of both variables occurring in late spring to early summer, when the highest levels of feeding and the period of reproductive inactivity occurred. Lower catchability values were predicted in late autumn to early winter, coinciding with the spawning season and the associated reduced activity. This integrative research shows that the spatio-temporal dimension of fish life-history strategy has a key role in shaping catchability even in highly sedentary species. Time-varying catchability needs to be incorporated into stock assessment models that aim to accurately describe fish population health and to estimate abundance indices.Peer Reviewe

Fish populations are often treated as homogeneous units in typical fishery management, thereby tacitly ignoring potential intraspecific variation which can lead to imprecise management rules. However, intraspecific variation in life-history traits is widespread and related to a variety of factors. We investigated the comparative age-based demography of the two main colour patterns of Labrus bergylta (plain and spotted, which coexist in sympatry), a commercially valuable resource in the NE Atlantic. Individuals were aged based on otolith readings after validating the annual periodicity of annuli deposition. The relationships between the otolith weight and fish age and between otolith length and fish length were strong but differed between colour patterns. The fit of the growth models to the age and length data resulted in divergent growth curves between colour morphotypes and between sexes. Males and spotted individuals attained larger mean asymptotic sizes (L_inf) than females and plain individuals, respectively, but converged to them more slowly (smaller k). Estimates of mortality based on catch curves from two independent datasets provided a global total mortality (Z) of 0.35 yr^–1, although Z was larger in plain and female individuals. Overall, the results of this research have direct implications for management of L. bergylta and, as a precautionary measure, we recommend considering both colour patterns as two different management units.