Ligas et al.: Modeling the growth of recruits of Merluccius merluccius in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea 
71 
Longitude 
Figure 1 
Map of the study area in the Ligurian Sea and northern Tyrrhenian Sea. Black circles 
indicate the 13 sites where European hake ( Merluccius merluccius) were sampled in 
June 2011 during the Mediterranean International [bottom] Trawl Survey (MEDITS). 
Gray lines show the 100-, 200-, 500-, 1000- and 1500-m isobaths. 
cover the relevant nursery areas, identified by Colloca 
et al. (2009), 5 of the 13 stations from which specimens 
were collected were located in the Tyrrhenian basin 
and 8 were located in the Ligurian Sea. 
For each station, a suite of oceanographic and ecolog- 
ical variables that potentially affect growth processes 
of the European hake was obtained (Table 1). Satellite 
data at a fine spatial scale for sea-surface temperature 
(SST, degrees Celsius), scalar wind speed (meters per 
second), and chlorophyll-a concentration (milligrams 
per cubic meter) were used (MyOcean follow-on proj- 
ect, http://www.myocean.eu); daily data were averaged 
for the period of January-March 2011. Bottom tem- 
perature (degrees Celsius) was measured and mean 
depth (meters) was recorded at each station by using 
a DST centi-TD 1 temperature and depth probe, with 
1 Mention of trade names or commercial companies is for iden- 
tification purposes only and does not imply endorsement by 
the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 
