Diet and Plastic Ingestion in the Blackmouth Catshark Galeus melastomus, Rafinesque 1810, in Italian Waters.

Galeus melastomus is the most common Pentanchidae in the Mediterranean Sea. A scavenger and opportunistic feeder, and despite the wide distribution, little is known about its feeding habits in Italian waters. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the diet of the blackmouth catshark by analysing the stomach contents. The specimens analysed were obtained from five populations of the Tyrrhenian and of the Ionian Seas, collected from a depth between 40 and 700 m. A total of 259 stomachs were analysed. The stomach contents were grouped into macro-categories and identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible. Crustaceans such as Parapenaeus longirostris, the Cephalopods Heteroteuthis dispar and Onychoteuthis banksii, and Osteichthyes, mostly Myctophidae, were identified. Plastic debris was also found among the stomach contents and classified according to its colour and shape. Osteichthyes represent the most abundant item (44%), above all the Myctophidae family, except for the catshark population from Tuscany, in which the most frequent species were Cephalopods, such as Abralia veranyi and Heteroteuthis dispar. Differences in the plastic debris contents were also observed between the Tuscany population and other populations. These could be explained as a probable consequence of the different depths at which the blackmouth catshark populations were sampled.

Parasitic Load, Hematological Parameters, and Trace Elements Accumulation in the Lesser Spotted Dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula from the Central Tyrrhenian Sea.

Parasitological, hematological, and ecotoxicological analyses were carried out on a population of lesser spotted dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula from the central Mediterranean Sea. Parasitological analyses highlighted a poor helminthic community, highly dominated by a single taxon represented by the cestode Nybelinia sp. No differences in the parasitic load between females and males were observed. Hematological analyses showed that the number of leukocytes was significantly lower in the sharks that resulted in parasitism, and this could be due to the ability of some trace elements, such as arsenic, weakening the immune system and exposing animals to a higher risk of parasite infection, although further hematological and parasitological analyses are required on a larger number of samples. Trace elements analyses in the vertebrae, skin, and liver highlighted that the most abundant and potentially toxic elements were lead (Pb), arsenic (As), and cadmium (Cd). Other trace elements were also abundant, such as manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), and iron (Fe). Pb, As, and Mn showed the highest concentrations in vertebrae, while Cd, Cu, and Zn were the highest in the liver, probably due to their concentration in the prey items of the sharks; Fe and Ni showed the highest concentrations in the skin, due to their presence in the water column, especially along the coast where animals were collected. The concentration of some trace elements analyzed in the vertebrae decreased with the growth of the sharks. These results confirm that elasmobranchs, being predators at the apex of the marine food chain, act as final receptors for a series of polluting elements regularly discharged into the sea.

Is trace element concentration correlated to parasite abundance? A case study in a population of the green frog Pelophylax synkl. hispanicus from the Neto River (Calabria, southern Italy).

Bioaccumulation of 13 trace elements in the livers of 38 Pelophylax sinkl. hispanicus (Ranidae) and its helminth communities were studied and compared among three sites, each with a different degree of pollution along River Neto (south Italy) during September, 2014. Trace element concentrations in water and liver were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. For most elements, the highest concentration was recorded in the frogs inhabiting the third site, the one with the highest degree of pollution. The trend of trace element concentration in the liver can be represented as follows: Cu > Zn > Mn > Se > Cr. Concentrations of some elements in water and liver samples were significantly different among the three sites and this is evidenced by the bioaccumulation in the frogs. Four species of helminths, all belonging to Nematoda, were found: Rhabdias sp., Oswaldocruzia filiformis (Goeze, 1782), Cosmocerca ornata (Dujarden, 1845), Seuratascaris numidica (Seurat, 1917). The parasite survey presents an important difference of prevalence and average number of helminths in frogs between the three sites. Correlating parasitological and ecotoxicological data showed a strong positive correlation between prevalence and number of parasites with some trace elements such as Mn, Co, Ni, As, Se, and Cd.

Spauligodon aloisei n. sp. (Nematoda: Pharyngodonidae) parasite of Podarcis sicula (Reptilia: Lacertidae) from Italy.

A new species of an oxyurid nematode is described from the large intestine of the lacertid lizard Podarcis sicula (Rafinesque. 1810) (Reptilia: Lacertidae) from Italy. Spauligodon aloisei n. sp. differs from other species of the genus by a combination of morphological and metrical characters, including a spined tail in males and females, absence of a spicule in males, arrangement of the last pair of the male caudal papillae, vulva location, and egg morphology. The species most similar to S. aloisei n. sp. is Spauligodon caspius Annayev, 1987, described from Tenuidactylus (=Gymnodactylus) caspius in Turkmenistan. Tail length and location of the excretory pore and vulvar opening separate S. caspius from S. aloisei n. sp. This article increases the number of species of this genus from reptiles in the Paleartic Realm to 19.