Argyrios Sapounidis

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Verified

Argyrios verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• PhD
• Senior Researcher at National Agricultural Research Foundation

The European eel (Anguilla anguilla, Linnaeus 1758) is a catadromous, benthic carnivorous predator species that spends most of its life in freshwater, brackish and coastal habitats. Τhe aims of the present study were to examine the morphometric features of European eel population in five estuarine systems in Northern and Western Greece, to investig...

Intensive agriculture and farming activities, industry, as well as human settlement can seriously affect freshwater ecosystems and the species they host. These disturbances have been previously monitored using traditional catch surveys. New methods, such as environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding, can significantly improve biodiversity mapping by ac...

Background The genus Caspiomyzon is comprised of three species, two of which are found in Greece (Caspiomyzon hellenicus and Caspiomyzon graecus). Both species are endemic with very restricted distribution and are classified as Critically Endangered. Caspiomyzon hellenicus is restricted to Tenagi, Philippi and C. graecus to Louros River. No studies...

This paper aims to determine the content and bioaccumulation patterns of eight trace elements (Li, Cr, Co, As, Se, Cd, Pb and Hg) and one radioisotope (U) in kidney, liver and muscle tissues of two fish species (Squalius orpheus and Barbus strumicae) from Nestos River (northern Greece), and the potential human health risk due to the fish muscle con...

The impacts of marine species are underestimated or still completely unexplored because their negative effects on recipient ecosystems remain inadequately assessed. This is particularly true in the Mediterranean Sea where IAS management is often weak or absent: a clear example is the invasion of the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus (Rathbun 1...

Fisheries-dependent data and information gathered through fisheries-related scientific surveys can significantly contribute to research on the patterns and processes underlying marine biological invasions and their interactions with fisheries. This study presents an overview of the presence of non-native fish species in the North Aegean Sea, offeri...

Fisheries-dependent data and information gathered through fisheries-related scientific surveys can significantly contribute to researching the patterns and processes underlying marine biological invasions and their interactions with fisheries. This study presents an overview of the presence of non-indigenous (NIS) fish species in the North Aegean S...

This paper aims to determine the content of eight trace elements (Li, Cr, Co, As, Se, Cd, Pb and Hg) and one radioisotope ( ²³⁸ U) in kidney, liver and muscle tissues of two endemic species ( Squalius orpheus and Barbus strumicae ) from Nestos River (northern Greece), and to evaluate the potential risk to human health due to the consumption of the...

Biodiversity is a key factor for the functioning and efficiency of an ecosystem. Greece, though covering a relatively small surface area, hosts a great deal of species diversity. This is especially true for freshwater fishes. In recent years, the traditional methods of species identification have been supplemented by the use of molecular markers. T...

The Joint EIFAAC/ICES/GFCM Working group on eels (WGEEL) met by correspondence and video conference from September 7 – 10 September and 27 September – 4 October in 2021 to assess the state of the European eel and its fisheries, investigate the effects of contaminants on the reproductive capacity of the eel stock, discuss the findings of WKFEA, furt...

Maintaining and improving the aquatic ecosystems in the community is the aim of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) 2000/60/EC. The WFD requires the water quality to be classified into five categories. Lagoons are dynamic ecosystems. The fish communities inhabiting them are highly affected by the environmental conditions prevailing both in the fres...

Marine biological invasions are widely recognized as an ongoing threat during the last decades, which disturb the endemic biodiversity and has economic impact on the local fisheries. Morphometric features usually offer a direct overview of the invasive ectotherms' fitness. The Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus, is an Invasive Alien Species wit...

Marine biological invasions are widely recognized as an ongoing threat during the last decades, which disturb the endemic biodiversity and has economic impact on the local fisheries. Morphometric features usually offer a direct overview of the invasive ectotherms’ fitness. The Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus, is an Invasive Alien Species wit...

In this paper, a series of field surveys were carried out along the Nestos River watershed (NE Greece) to assess the influence of two hydropower dams (Thissavros and Platanovrisi) upon the hydrology, hydrochemistry and nutrients stoichiometry of the river. Results showed that Nestos hydrology, downstream of the reservoirs, is entirely governed by t...

Blocked riverine spawning migration routes constitute one of the main threats of potamodromous fish that require well-connected habitats of high quality to maintain their unique life-history form. Alburnus vistonicus, a potamodromous species inhabiting the Vistonis freshwater system in northern Greece, manages to cope with wide salinity fluctuation...

Alien fish introductions, conducted towards the ichthyofauna enhancement in local drainages, have been occasionally proved harmful for the indigenous freshwater fish populations. The present study was designed to assess the impact of stocking activities, carried out in the past decades with fingerlings originating from Acheloos river hatcheries, on...

Anguillicola (Anguillicoides) crassus is a swimbladder nematode parasite of Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758). The present study investigates the morphology and pathogenicity of A. crassus in European eel, as well as, the effects of different aquatic environments on the infection of A. crassus, in Greece. A total of 268 nematodes were collected fr...

Whole-genome sequencing data were produced from a single flathead grey mullet female and assembled into a draft genome sequence, whereas publicly available sequence data were used to obtain a male draft sequence. Two pools, each consisting of 60 unrelated individuals, respectively, of male and female fish were analyzed using Pool-Sequencing. Mappin...

The Joint EIFAAC/ICES/GFCM Working group on eels (WGEEL) met by correspondence and video conference from September 21–28 in 2020 to assess the state of the European eel, investigate the effects of habitat loss on the eel stock and its management, review and update the Stock Annex, prepare the 2021 Data Call and report on any updates to the scientif...

Two specimens of Austropotamobius torrentium (Schrank, 1803) (Decapoda: Astacidae) collected in Ag-kistros Stream, a tributary of the River Strymónas (Bulgarian name: Struma), Greece, were examined for branchiobdellidans. As a result, numerous Branchiobdella pentadonta Whitman, 1882 were found in the debris of the jars where the crayfishes were fix...

The main objective of the Working Group on Biological Parameters (WGBIOP) is to review the status, issues, developments, and quality assurance of biological parameters for use in assess-ments and management that are in line with the requirements of end-users. In this final year of the three-year term, WGBIOP operated under challenging circumstances...

The diversity of detrimental factors impacting the European eel and the number of involved stakeholders pose a challenge for an effective stock management. Knowledge on the economic consequences of single management measures is required to better assess their implications for the involved sectors. This study summarizes the current knowledge on thre...

The ICES Working Group on Biological Parameters (WGBIOP) general aim is to review the status of current issues and developments associated with biological parameters, supporting the Data Collection Framework and end user (stock assessment) requirements.

The determination of a proper minimum environmental flow in a river basin is one of the most critical components of sustainable water resources management, with hydraulic and habitat modelling being the most advance methods for that analysis. The present study illustrates the ecohydraulic modelling of Nestos River Delta at the deltaic zone of a hea...

Preservation of a good ecological status in riverine habitats emerged as a priority for water management policies in Europe since the negative impact caused by the construction and operation of dams on the ecohydrology and habitat availability became more evident. Ecological flows, as reported in the recently published European guidance, represent...

After the implementation of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60, biotic indices became an important tool aiming at assessing the water quality of all water bodies, such as lakes, transitional, coastal and groundwater, and the restoration of their ecological integrity. Due to the fact that fish is one of the most important taxa for the assessment...

The National Park of Axios - Loudias - Aliakmonas is located on the west coast of Thermaikos Gulf and is one of the most important wetlands in Greece, covering an area of 338 km2. Although its founding Decision (JMD 12966/2009, Gov. SSO / 220 / 14-5-2009) defined a minimum flow in rivers Axios and Aliakmonas of 2 and 5 m3/s of water respectively, h...

Presentation of pertinent results and interpretations from a state-wide review of the conservation status of fishes (primarily freshwater species) which are of European conservation interest based on the Habitats Directive (92/43/EE).

Lagoons are some the most important, productive and dynamic aquatic systems in the world. The knowledge of the fishfauna compositions and abundance is of great importance for proposing management plan in order to protect them. Moreover, this knowledge could be used for the development of fish based index for the assessment of the lagoons’ ecologica...

The objective of this work was: (a) to estimate and study the fluctuations of total fecundity and gonadosomatic index (GSI), (b) to estimate the reproductive and the spawning period, and (c) to determine the seasonal fecundity pattern and the spawning strategy of Alburnus vistonicus using the gravimetric and particle analysis methods in digital ima...

The purpose of the current study is to present possible solutions that can be employed in order to minimize the negative effects of a hydropower dams’ operation on the fish fauna, with emphasis on the solutions employed in the case of the River Nestos. In particular the construction of resting tanks on the banks of the river and the catch-and-trans...

Aim of the current study was to determine the growth of eels and the morphometric characteristics indifferent areas in Greece. Specifically, the eels were collected from the Regions of Eastern Macedonia - Thrace, Western Greece and Epirus, during 2012-2015. The weight- length- relationships were determined for all specimens (pool data), but also fo...

The lagoons are the most fish productive ecosystems. In the area of River Evros Delta, there are two lagoons, Drana and Monolimni, in which no fishing activities are practiced since the first one was illegally drained in 1987 and the second one was abandoned in 2010. This study presents the results of a combined hydrological and ichthyological stud...

The Anguillicola crassus is a nematode parasite and is found in the swim bladder of eel in the genus Anguilla. The objective of the study was to find the prevalence of the parasitic burden of A. crassus in European Eel in several region of Greece: River Evros, Lake Vistonida, the lagoons of Amvrakikos Gulf Messolonghi-Aitolikou and western Peloponn...

A nationwide ichthyological survey designed to meet the demands of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC for the ecological status assessment in lotic systems was conducted between summer 2012 and autumn 2015. A total of 127 river basins were surveyed and 1,096 fish samplings were conducted in 449 sites using electrofishing devices. Overall, 237...

Barbus strumicae Karaman 1955 is an endemic species from the Balkan Peninsula. It was distinguished from other species like B. cyclolepis recently. Unfortunately, little information exists on the biology of B. strumicae, especially for a population found in a flow regulated river (Nestos River, North-East Greece). Males were dominating in both loca...

Tο πρόγραμμα Εποπτείας και Αξιολόγησης των Τύπων Οικοτόπων και Ειδών στο Εθνικό Πάρκο Δαδιάς - Λευκίμης - Σουφλίου είχε ως στόχο την καταγραφή, αξιολόγηση και παρακολούθηση της κατάστασης διατήρησης των ειδών και τύπων οικοτόπων που ανήκουν στις Οδηγίες 92/43/ΕΟΚ, 2009/147/ΕΕ και 79/409/ΕΟΚ. Οι δειγματοληψίες πεδίου πραγματοποιήθηκαν με συστηματικό...

The European eel (Anguilla anguilla), once abundant throughout much of Europe and North Africa, has recently been classified as critically endangered. Information on its biology from the eastern Mediterranean is lacking, especially in relation to spawner quality. Therefore, silver eels were sampled during their seaward spawning migration from Visto...

Nestos/Mesta river is a typical transboundary river located in the Eastern Balkans, flowing through Bul garia and Greece. During the last decades, various efforts have been undertaken on promoting the awareness for integrated management and protection within the framework of international le gislation and thus directly contributing to the evaluatio...

The prediction of fish presence related to habitat characteristics is fundamental for the definition of environmental flows and habitat restoration measures. Meso-scale habitat models have been widely used in the context of water resources planning and management and demonstrated interesting potentials to assess freshwater fish distribution at a la...

The length–weight relationships of 13 species from river Nestos (North Greece) were calculated in the present study, seven of which are presented for the first time. Significant length–weight relationships with high correlation coefficient were found for all species. The value of the parameter b varied between 2.36 and 3.27 (mean value ± SE: 3.05 ±...

Along the European Mediterranean coasts, different approaches to coastal management and defence and various degrees of development and implementation of national ICZM strategies can be found. As part of the Regional Framework Operation BEACHMED-e (2006-2008), a research project was carried out in order to analyze the different situations and to con...

The structure of fish assemblages accounted for by different sampling methods (namely fyke net, seine nets, visual census) applied to vegetated and unvegetated lagoon habitats was investigated in terms of species composition, functional groups (ecological and trophic guilds), and fish size distribution. Significant differences were detected among m...

TheMediterranean area plays a pivotal role within the definition and implementation of regional strategies for integrated coastal zone management (ICZM). Under the umbrella of the Regional Framework Operation BeachMed-e, a research project was carried out in five Mediterranean EU regions (East Macedonia and Thrace in Greece, Lazio, Liguria, and Emi...

The fish fauna diversity of two adjacent coastal lagoons in northern Greece, after 12 months sampling (Vassova lagoon 25 species and Erateino lagoon 27 species), is used as an indicator of the water quality in these lagoons. The low number of migrant species found inside the Vassova lagoon can be an indication of low water quality in the lagoon, in...

The Mediterranean area plays a pivotal role within the definition of regional strategies for ICZM. Under the umbrella of the Regional Framework Operation BeachMed-e a research project was carried out in five Mediterranean EU regions (East Macedonia and Thrace in Greece, Lazio, Liguria and Emilia Romagna in Italy and Languedoc-Roussillon in France),...

Drana Lagoon, located at the NW site of Evros River Delta, was drained in 1987 and re-flooded in 2004 within the framework of an integrated wetland restoration project. This study presents the results of a monitoring program of the lagoon’s oceanographic, water quality and fish fauna characteristics, during the pre- and post-restoration period. Res...