Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) early life stages in the Central Mediterranean Sea: connectivity issues emerging among adjacent sub-areas across the Strait of Sicily

The combined use of field data on anchovy(Engraulis encrasicolus, Linnaeus, 1758) egg distribution in the Central Mediterranean Seaon both sides of the Strait of Sicily ( Sicilian– Malteseand Tunisian waters) and Lagrangian simulations were used to assess the pattern of connectivity between these two sub-areas as a result of spawning activity. The field data were collected during ichthyoplanktonsurveys carried out in summer 2008 and 2010. The simulation runs showed considerable (up to 20%) rates of particle exchange in both directions (from Tunisian to Sicilian– Maltesewaters and vice versa). However, considering the typical high mortality rates of anchovyearly stages, the actual larval exchange rates across the Sicily Strait are supposed to be significantly lower (<1%), supporting the hypothesis that the anchovypopulation sub-units in the Strait of Sicily can be considered as separate fish stocksfor the evaluation of their optimum exploitation rates.