Fish landing site surveys in eastern Indonesia, conducted between April 2001 and March 2006, recorded seven species of lamnoid sharks (order Lamniformes) belonging to four families. Of these, Alopiidae were most abundant in the landings, with Alopias pelagicus contributing ~13% to the total biomass of all sharks recorded. Single specimens of both Carcharias taurus and Odontaspis ferox represent the first confirmed records of these two odontaspid species from Indonesian waters. The length at first maturity (L50) of females and males of Alopias pelagicus were 2853 and 2468 mm total length (TL), respectively, and size at birth was 1300–1440 mm TL. Pregnant females of both A. pelagicus and A. superciliosus had litters of only two embryos (one per uterus) that were confirmed to be oophagous, but not adelphophagous. Females and males of Pseudocarcharias kamoharai matured at 870–1030 and ~725 mm TL, respectively, and size at birth was 360–450 mm TL. Pregnant females contained four embryos (two per uterus) which were oophagous, but unlikely to be adelphophagous. Males of Isurus oxyrinchus and I. paucus matured at ~1860 and 2050– 2281 mm TL, respectively. These are the first biological data reported on lamnoid sharks in Indonesian waters.

Presence and habitat preference of two pelagic fish species—Mola mola and Ranzania laevis—are investigated from all available records obtained in the Adriatic from 1781 up to today. Absence of systematic investigations is overcome by relating their occurrences to the long-term meteorological and oceanographic data sets representing local conditions and processes. Seasonal and interannual distributions of these two species are significantly different and point to a possible different causes of their appearance. On the seasonal scale almost all findings of M. mola, with only a few exceptions, are from the warm part of the year, whereas R. laevis is appearing throughout the year with the highest number of individuals in December. Analysis of the interannual meteorological and oceanographic conditions indicates that occurrence of M. mola coincides with the sea warming, whereas the oceanographic conditions favourable for appearance of R. laevis are more complex and could be related to the abrupt change in the large scale atmospheric conditions. Changeable atmospheric conditions coincided with increased productivity in the Adriatic and increased number of zooplankton and small pelagic fish, which are the main food for R. laevis.

A total of 245 individuals from a population of the endemic Bermuda killifish Fundulus bermudae in an isolated anchialine pond (Mangrove Lake) were trapped between November 2004 and November 2005. Laboratory analysis of gonad development allowed determination of the seasonal reproductive cycles of both females and males. A distinctive annual pattern was evident, with female and male gonadal cycles synchronous throughout the study period. The results indicate that the F. bermudae males and females began their spawning season in February, but reached primary peaks in May and June respectively. Gonadal indices abruptly fell after June and continued to fall at a steady rate until September, marking the end of the spawning season. Gonad recrudescence, as indicated by basal gonad indices, occurred in September and lasted throughout the autumn and early winter months.

Surface longline targeting mainly swordfish is considered a major threat for loggerhead turtle populations in the western Mediterranean Sea. For this reason, it is necessary to analyse the relationship between the characteristics of longline sets and loggerhead turtle by-catch. The objective of this study is to look for differential spatial distribution of loggerhead turtle and swordfish captures along the longline to gain insights that might be useful to diminish unintended, incidental catch of turtles without affecting the captures of the target species.

Longlines are divided into transects separated by two consecutives buoys. During the 1999 fishing period of the traditional (without roller) Spanish surface drifting longline fleet (August to November), 59 technically homogeneous fishing operations, composed of 23 sections each, were observed. Chi-square test was used to compare loggerhead turtle and swordfish distributions among transects with those expected at random. Significant differences were obtained only for loggerhead turtles, with 93% of the specimens caught in the second half of the longline transects, which were retrieved from the sea during daytime. Significant differences were not found for the swordfish along the whole longline or for loggerhead turtle captures retrieved during daytime. We conclude that swordfish captures are independent of retrieval time whereas the incidental catch of loggerhead turtles occurs mainly during daytime, probably because loggerhead turtles use vision to locate baits.

Gut content and stable isotope analyses were used to investigate the feeding habits of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) inhabiting the Balearic archipelago. Turtles caught in the pelagic realm (δ13C: -16.0±0.6‰ and δ15N: 8.5±0.9‰) and turtles caught on the continental shelf (δ13C: -16.7±0.6‰ and δ15N: 8.4±1.3‰) did not differ in their isotopic signatures, suggesting that their diets include the same prey types. A mixing model revealed that for the turtles here analysed, squid and the jellyfish Cotylorhiza tuberculata were the most relevant prey, although stomach contents analysis revealed that carnivorous jellyplankton, neuston, fish and other cephalopods were also consumed. Gut content analysis also indicated that most of the prey identified, including all fish and most cephalopods, were of pelagic origin. Thus, loggerhead sea turtles inhabiting central regions of the western Mediterranean appear to seldom exploit benthic prey, even while on the continental shelf.

Daily censuses of the hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata were taken during the nesting seasons 1995–2001 in three sandy beaches of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico (Celestun, El Cuyo and Isla Holbox), to evaluate aspects of its reproductive biology. A total of 9059 hawksbill turtle clutches was estimated for the study period. Nesting seasons began in mid-April and ended in early September, peaking in May–June. No significant differences were detected in the mean number of clutches per km among beaches. The largest number of clutches was observed in the supralittoral zone (6341: 70%), followed by the dune (2491: 27.5%) and the intertidal (227: 2.5%) zones. Variation in number of clutches showed a main peak in 1999, decreasing in 2000 and 2001. A significant decrease (3 cm) in body size of nesting females was detected between 1995 and 2001. Mean clutch size was 140 eggs/clutch, and a significant positive relationship between curved carapace length and mean clutch size was found at the three beaches. Incubation period, hatching success and emergence success varied between years (lowest values in 1998) and beaches (highest values at Isla Holbox), with no significant differences between the supralittoral and dune zones. Even though there was no evidence of a decreasing trend in nesting activity for the study period, the decrease in 2000–2001 suggests that additional beach monitoring is necessary to identify long-term trends, and to reduce potential losses of nests by human and natural causes in this globally important region for the hawksbill turtle.

Weights of kidneys, heart, lungs, liver, adrenals, eyes and tongue of the northern form of franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei) and the estuarine dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) incidentally caught in fishing nets are presented and related to total body weight. Because of the smaller body size of the northern form of P. blainvillei, its actual organ weights were all smaller than those of the southern form reported in the literature. However, the lungs and adrenals of the northern form were proportionally greater than those of the southern form. The relative weight of the males' left kidney (N=18) and females' liver (N=17) were significantly heavier in this study than the proportions presented elsewhere in the literature for the southern form of the species. However, the females' kidneys, males' right kidney and males' liver did not differ between the northern and southern forms, and a larger number of individuals of both geographical forms should be analysed. The actual weights of the S. guianensis internal organs were all greater than those reported in the literature for S. fluviatilis. Additionally, the body-to-organ mass proportions of kidneys, heart and lungs of S. guianensis were also greater than those of S. fluviatilis. This study provides comparative data that can be used when examining the systematics of both species and provides a baseline for future examinations of the post-mortem conditions of these cetacean species.