Composition, structure and abundance of the ichthyofauna in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto 2007-2009

The fish assemblage of the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Southern Italy), an important ecosystem in the Mediterranean Sea, was assessed. A total of 6514 individuals were monthly collected, between July 2007 and April 2009 identifying 28 species within 16 families.
Mugilidae, Atherinidae, Labridae and Gobidae were the dominant families. The Mugilidae were represented by 5 species, contributed for about 36% of the numerical abundance of the total catch, and mostly consisted of Liza aurata (25%) L. saliens (7.6%), L. ramada (1.2%), Mugil cephalus (1.2%) and Chelon labrosus (0.7%).
Although Atherinidae was represented by Atherina boyeri, the contribution rate of this species was quite high (27.3%) of total catches with 1776 of total individuals. Labridae and Gobidae were the next dominant families accounting for 14.2% and 10.8% respectively.
The results showed that the fish fauna found is similar to the ichthyofauna of other transitional ecosystems in the Mediterranean