Dimarchopoulou Donna, Stergiou Konstantinos I, Tsikliras Athanassios C
Laboratory of Ichthyology, Department of Zoology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Athens, Greece.
PLoS One. 2017 Apr 13;12(4):e0175949. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175949. eCollection 2017.
We estimated the current level of knowledge concerning several biological characteristics of the Mediterranean marine fishes by carrying out a gap analysis based on information extracted from the literature, aiming to identify research trends and future needs in the field of Mediterranean fish biology that can be used in stock assessments, ecosystem modeling and fisheries management. Based on the datasets that emerged from the literature review, there is no information on any biological characteristic for 43% (n = 310) of the Mediterranean fish species, whereas for an additional 15% (n = 109) of them there is information about just one characteristic. The gap between current and desired knowledge (defined here as having information on most biological characteristics for at least half of the Mediterranean marine fishes) is smaller in length-weight relationships, which have been studied for 43% of the species, followed by spawning (39%), diet (29%), growth (25%), maturity (24%), lifespan (19%) and fecundity (17%). The gap is larger in natural mortality for which information is very scarce (8%). European hake (Merluccius merluccius), red mullet (Mullus barbatus), annular seabream (Diplodus annularis), common pandora (Pagellus erythrinus), European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus), European pilchard (Sardina pilchardus) and bogue (Boops boops) were the most studied species, while sharks and rays were among the least studied ones. Only 25 species were fully studied, i.e. there was available information on all their biological characteristics. The knowledge gaps per characteristic varied among the western, central and eastern Mediterranean subregions. The number of available records per species was positively related to total landings, while no relationship emerged with its maximum reported length, trophic level and commercial value. Future research priorities that should be focused on less studied species (e.g. sharks and rays) and mortality/fecundity instead of length-weight relationships, as well as the economy of scientific sampling (using the entire catch to acquire data on as many biological characteristics as possible) are discussed.
我们通过基于从文献中提取的信息进行差距分析，估计了目前关于地中海海洋鱼类若干生物学特征的知识水平，旨在确定地中海鱼类生物学领域可用于种群评估、生态系统建模和渔业管理的研究趋势及未来需求。根据文献综述得出的数据集，43%（n = 310）的地中海鱼类物种没有任何生物学特征的信息，另有15%（n = 109）的物种仅有一项特征的信息。当前知识水平与期望知识水平（此处定义为至少一半的地中海海洋鱼类具有关于大多数生物学特征的信息）之间的差距在体长 - 体重关系方面较小，该关系已对43%的物种进行了研究，其次是产卵（39%）、食性（29%）、生长（25%）、成熟度（24%）、寿命（19%）和繁殖力（17%）。自然死亡率方面的差距较大，相关信息非常稀少（8%）。欧洲无须鳕（Merluccius merluccius）、红鲻鱼（Mullus barbatus）、环带海鲷（Diplodus annularis）、普通潘多拉鲷（Pagellus erythrinus）、欧洲鳀鱼（Engraulis encrasicolus）、欧洲沙丁鱼（Sardina pilchardus）和博氏鲷（Boops boops）是研究最多的物种，而鲨鱼和鳐鱼则是研究最少的物种之一。只有25个物种得到了全面研究，即有关于它们所有生物学特征的可用信息。每个特征的知识差距在地中海西部、中部和东部次区域有所不同。每个物种的可用记录数量与总捕捞量呈正相关，而与报告的最大体长、营养级和商业价值没有关系。讨论了未来的研究重点，应关注研究较少的物种（如鲨鱼和鳐鱼）以及死亡率/繁殖力，而非体长 - 体重关系，同时还应关注科学采样的经济性（利用整个渔获量获取尽可能多的生物学特征数据）。
