Spatiotemporal abundance pattern of deep-water rose shrimp, Parapenaeus longirostris, and Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus, in European Mediterranean waters

• Main Authors: Mario Sbrana, Walter Zupa, Alessandro Ligas, Francesca Capezzuto, Archontia Chatzispyrou, Maria Cristina Follesa, Vita Gancitano, Beatriz Guijarro, Igor Isajlovic, Angelique Jadaud, Olivera Markovic, Reno Micallef, Panagiota Peristeraki, Corrado Piccinetti, Ioannis Thasitis, Pierluigi Carbonara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas 2019-12-01
• Series: Scientia Marina
• Subjects: nephrops norvegicus; parapenaeus longirostris; distribution; trawl survey; mediterranean sea
• Online Access: http://scientiamarina.revistas.csic.es/index.php/scientiamarina/article/view/1797
• ISSN: 0214-8358; 1886-8134

The main characteristics concerning the distribution of two of the most important decapod crustaceans of commercial interest in the Mediterranean Sea, the deep-water rose shrimp, Parapenaeus longirostris, and the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus, are studied in the European Mediterranean waters. The study is based on data collected under the MEDITS trawl surveys from 1994 to 2015 from the Gibraltar Straits to the northeastern Levantine Basin (Cyprus waters). The observed differences can be interpreted as different responses to environmental drivers related to the differing life history traits of the two species. In fact, N. norvegicus is a long-living, benthic burrowing species with low growth and mortality rates, while P. longirostris is an epibenthic, short-living species characterized by higher rates of growth and mortality.