: biological traits of tropical tuna and bycatch species caught by purse seine fisheries in the Western Indian and Eastern Central Atlantic Oceans.

Background: Along with the development of the tropical tuna purse-seine fishery from the 1960s in the Atlantic Ocean and from the 1980s in the Indian Ocean, many projects and studies have been conducted to improve knowledge about the biology, migrations and dynamics of the stocks of target and non-target (i.e. bycatch) species taken in these fisheries.

Lacunae rostralis: A new structure on the rostrum of sailfish Istiophorus platypterus.

Recent comparative studies of billfishes (Istiophoridae and Xiphiidae) have provided evidence of differences in the form and function of the rostra (bill) among species. Here, we report the discovery of a new structure, lacuna rostralis, on the rostra of sailfish Istiophorus platypterus, which is absent on the rostra of swordfish Xiphias gladius, striped marlin Kajikia audax and blue marlin Makaira nigricans. The lacunae rostralis are small cavities that contain teeth.

Oil gland and oil pores in billfishes: in search of a function.

Billfishes are well known for their distinctive elongated rostra, i.e. bills.

Linking hunting weaponry to attack strategies in sailfish and striped marlin.

Linking morphological differences in foraging adaptations to prey choice and feeding strategies has provided major evolutionary insights across taxa. Here, we combine behavioural and morphological approaches to explore and compare the role of the rostrum (bill) and micro-teeth in the feeding behaviour of sailfish () and striped marlin () when attacking schooling sardine prey. Behavioural results from high-speed videos showed that sailfish and striped marlin both regularly made rostrum contact with prey but displayed distinct strategies.