This paper describes the first record of the critically endangered gravid female Spiny butterfly ray, Gymnura altavela (Linnaeus, 1758), in the northern Mediterranean and simultaneously the only record of the species in this century for the Adriatic Sea. The female (173 cm disc width and 43.25 kg total weight) was captured at approximately 200 m, off Vlorë in the southern Adriatic Sea off Albania on 12th of May 2022. Upon necropsy, seven near-term fetuses (mean 328 ± 6.47 mm disc width and mean 355 ± 20.06 g in total weight) were transported for further in-vitro incubation. These results represent the deepest capture for the species, as well as the largest litter size and largest size at birth in the Mediterranean Sea which indicates the need for further research.

Angular rough shark, Oxynotus centrina (Linnaeus, 1758), is a poorly known and rare bathydemersal shark inhabiting continental shelves and upper slopes with a significant lack of data and almost no published records in the Adriatic Sea in this century. In this paper, we present 20 new occurrences recorded from May 2015 to September 2021, of which 19 are in Croatian and 1 in Montenegrin territorial waters. Records of juveniles, subadults and adults are reported. The number of described records and available data on HSI/BMI calculations points out that the living conditions are probably most favoured in the area off the Kornati archipelago (central Adriatic Sea), compared to the habitats in the Southern Adriatic where the populations might have significantly lower density. Due to the non-systematic research and non-probabilistic data collection, it is difficult to establish with certainty whether greater number of records in the continental shelf is just an ostensible phenomenon. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Melanomacrophages of fish are commonly explored as biomarkers of water pollution and are considered to be sensitive albeit non-specific health indicators in water ecosystems. Sharks as long living marine species are good sentinel species. This study presents morphometric data for splenic and hepatic melanomacrophages (MMC), and observed histopathology in ten lesser-spotted catsharks, Scyliorhinus canicula (L.), one of the most abundant shark species in the eastern Adriatic Sea. At necropsy, we collected random tissue samples from liver, brain, gallblader, pancreas, spleen, kidney, gills, entire digestive system, thyroid gland, rectal gland, entire urogenital (male samples) and genital system (female samples). Collected tissue samples were routinely processed and stained with hematoxylin-eosin, Periodic Acid-Schiff, and Masson Trichrome for microscopic examinations and morphometry. There was a minimal number of histopathological lesions in the examined sharks, but morphometric values reported herein were three folds higher than in previous studies in free-ranging sharks. Studies on larger numbers of sharks are needed to elucidate the biological significance of our finding in the context of population decline of the lesser-spotted catshark.

An initial study of the effects vortex generators (VGs) have on the mitigation of vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) of hydrofoils have been performed at the Waterpower laboratory of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The VGs are placed close to the trailing edge of a blunt hydrofoil. Reasonable design parameters of the VGs were found from the literature with regard to which would induce the strongest vortices with the lowest drag. Vibration frequencies of the hydrofoil were measured using flush mounted strain gauges located close to the trailing edge. This paper presents the design of the VGs and some initial results of the experiments performed with these devices. The preliminary results indicate a possible mitigation of VIVs. This could be because of the interference between the primary vortices generated by the hydrofoil and the longitudinal vortices generated by the VGs, but further work is necessary to make a conclusion.

Melanomacrophages of fish are commonly explored as biomarkers of water pollution and are considered to be sensitive albeit non-specific health indicators in water ecosystems. Sharks as long living marine species are good sentinel species. This study presents morphometric data for splenic and hepatic melanomacrophages (MMC), and observed histopathology in ten lesser-spotted catsharks, Scyliorhinus canicula (L.), one of the most abundant shark species in the eastern Adriatic Sea. At necropsy, we collected random tissue samples from liver, brain, gallblader, pancreas, spleen, kidney, gills, entire digestive system, thyroid gland, rectal gland, entire urogenital (male samples) and genital system (female samples). Collected tissue samples were routinely processed and stained with hematoxylin-eosin, Periodic Acid-Schiff, and Masson Trichrome for microscopic examinations and morphometry. There was a minimal number of histopathological lesions in the examined sharks, but morphometric values reported herein were three folds higher than in previous studies in free-ranging sharks. Studies on larger numbers of sharks are needed to elucidate the biological significance of our finding in the context of population decline of the lesser-spotted catshark.

ABSTRACT Background: Towards preparation for a possible influenza pandemic, investigation of the molecular characteristics of the circulating avian H5N1 influenza virus strains is of crucial importance. These H5N1 viruses continue to spread, to infect animals and humans and to evolve and diversify providing so an ever-looming pandemic threat.Aim: To identify genetic structure and molecular biological characteristics of BiH's isolates of H5N1 HPAI as well as to assess the level of pathogenicity, phylogenetic origin and host- specificity of the isolates.Material and Methods: SPF embryonated chicken eggs were used for virus isolation. Viral RNA extracted using QIAamp viral RNA kit and manufacturer’s protocol (QIAGEN®) was used for PCR amplification. cDNA synthesis and PCR amplification of the coding region, using gene specific primer sets (primer sequences available on request), were carried out for all eight viral RNA segments separately. The Prism Big Dye Terminator v1.1 cycle sequencing kit (Applied Biosystems) was used and products were analyzed on an automatic ABI PRISM 3130 genetic analyzer (Applied Biosystems). Nucleotide sequences were analyzed using Bioedit software (v. 7.0.9.0) with an engine based on the ClustalW 1.4 algorithm. MEGA software (v. 4,0), using the neighbor joining tree inference analysis with the Tamura-Nei γ-model, was used to estimate phylogenies and calculate bootstrap values from the nucleotide sequences.Results: Full-length nucleotide sequences of the A/Cygnus olor/BIH/1/2006 (H5N1) strain were deposited in EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Database under accession nos. FN186008 to FN186014 and FM20943. The pathogenicity and host specificity of this strain, as polygenic traits, are determined in silico by the structure of its proteins, especially surface glycoproteins, HA and NA. Multibasic amino acid stretch PQGERRRKKR/GLF, marker of strains highly pathogenic to poultry, was present at the HA cleavage site of BiH strain. The RBS was typical for avian influenza viruses and contained Gln and Gly at positions 238 and 240 (H5 numbering) that is,226 and 228 according to H3 numbering with seven potential glycosylated sites but with increased binding to alpha2-6 sialoglycans thanks to substitutions, as follows, 110N, 171N, 171N, 172A, 205R and 251P. NA structure assigned this strain to the Z genotype, characterized also by the deletion of the five amino acid residues of the NS1 protein (positions 80-84). Amino acid residues, typical for the avian influenza viruses, were revealed in 40 out of 43 positions of M1, M2, NP, PA, PB2 and HA, determining the host range specificity. Phylogenetic analysis of the HA gene revealed that BiH isolates belonged to genetic clade 2.2., and presence of aspartic acid at the position of 403 of HA locate BiH isolates in 2.2.2. sub-clade.Conclusions: The BiH’s isolates were determined as HPAI virus with genes sequences closely related to A/Cygnus olor/Astrakhan/Ast05-2-10/2005 (H5N1). Three residues (M2 - 28V and 78K, NP - 33I), typical of human influenza viruses, were found, indicating a certain degree of intercurrent evolutionary adaptive changes in BiH isolates. Sequence comparison of HA and NA segments with relevant sequences in GenBank revealed that the BiH isolates and the ones from the southern Russia (Astrakhan region) group together phylogenetically, forming a monophyleticcluster in both genes indicating that these isolates have evolved from the same origin. Sequence derived phenotype markers of NA protein (E99, V129, D131, R136, H255 and Y256) as well as of M2 protein (26L, 27V, 30A, S31 and G34) showed that the isolates have an oseltamivir and amantadine sensitive genotype. 

Dijagnostika tuberkuloze goveda zasniva se na ante-mortem testovima, testiranju prilikom transporta životinja te postmortalnim nalazima i kultivaciji. Primarni test za testiranje stada je tuberkulinski kožni test, bilo kao jednokratni ili komparativni intradermalni test. Također, u primjeni je i in vivo gama interferon test. Međutim, u oba slucaja lažno pozitivni rezultati dovode do znacajnih poteskoca u in vivo dijagnostici tuberkuloze goveda te gubitaka usljed uklanjanja životinja. Stoga je obavezan postmortalni pregled neskodljivo uklonjenih životinja pozitivnih na tuberkulinski ili gama interferon test, kao i goveda u klaonicama. Nažalost, nedovoljno razvijene lezije se cesto mogu previdjeti, te je ova pretraga male senzitivnosti. Ukoliko se lezije ustanove, uzorke treba analizirati histoloski te mikrobioloski.