Vertical distribution and abundance of juvenile cephalopods in Aegean Sea

Abstract

This study was carried out in northern (Saros Bay) and southern (Gökova Bay) parts of the Aegean Sea. In pelagic samplings, Hamburg Plankton Net (HPN) was used. Samplings were done out at four different periods of a 24 hour day; sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight. Horizontal hauls were carried out at depths of 100, 350 and 650 m. As the result of 24 hauls in both parts of the Aegean Sea, one hundred juvenile specimens were sampled and 14 species were determined. Juvenile cephalopods were mostly frequent at 350 m. Among the determined species, Chtenopteryx sicula (Verany, 1851), Brachioteuthis riisei (Steenstrup, 1882), Illex coindetii (Verany, 1839), Thysanoteuthis rhombus Trochel, 1857 and Argonauta argo Linnaeus, 1798 juveniles are being reported for the first time in the Aegean Sea. 28% of the catches were from the northern Aegean and the remaining 72% were from the southern Aegean. Heteroteuthis dispar (Rüppell, 1844) was the most common species.