47 to 30, with the contribution of Rugby & Knudsen (1972). In later studies (1981, 1992), Knudsen (1981, 1992) exam- ined the specimens of the Department of Zoology, Tel- Aviv University, and reported about three sepiolid spe- cies and the pelagic octopus Tremoctopus violaceus, add- ing this species to the Mediterranean waters east of 23°E. Teuthological studies based on bottom trawl data was carried out in the Levant basin, south of Cyprus, by Demetropoulos (1969, 1971), and another pelagic spe- cies, Argonauta argo, was added to the Levant fauna by Popper et al. (1990). Preliminary studies on the cephalo- pods of the Turkish side of the Aegean Sea were present- ed by Katag¨an & Kocatas≤ 1990) to the CIESM congress in Perpignan (France). Contemporary to that, D’Onghia et al. (1992) carried out the first detailed study on the ce- phalopod biomass of the northern Aegean Sea, within the research project “Fourth Session of the Technical Consultation on Stock Assessment in the Eastern Medi- terranean 1990-1991”; the obtained results were the ob- ject of several publications afterwards (D’Onghia et al., 1993a, b; D’Onghia et al., 1994; D’Onghia et al., 1995; D’Onghia et al., 1996). Within a cooperation between Turkey and Japan, the research project “Demersal Fish- eries Resource Survey in the Republic of Turkey” took place between 1991 and 1993, and cephalopods resourc- es were studied from the Sea of Marmara to the north- eastern Mediterranean coasts of Turkey by JICA, the “Ja- pan International Cooperation Agency”. Other results obtained from the Sea of Marmara, the Generalities: records and distribution The first cephalopod records in the eastern Mediterra- nean (and the ancient-most records worldwide) are giv- en by Aristotle (350 B.C.). A long silence followed Aristo- tle’s work, till half of the 19 th century, when Forbes (1844) reported about the presence and distribution of benthic species in the Aegean Sea. Later on, the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamit asked Ostroumoff (1896) to carry out benthos investigations in the Sea of Marmara and the Is- tanbul strait, and a total of three cephalopod species were reported by that author. Within his comprehensive field works in the Mediterranean and neighbouring sea, Degner (1925) carried out expeditions to the Aegean Sea and the Levant basin, collecting benthic as well as pe- lagic samples; from a total of 21 sampling stations locat- ed in the eastern Mediterranean, three were in the Sea of Marmara, five in the Aegean Sea and four in the Levant basin, the rest being located between 15°E and 23°E. During the middle of the 20 th century, Digby (1949) re- ported about the cephalopod specimens of the Istanbul University Museum collection and some years later, Demir (1952), in a study focused on the invertebrates of the Bosphorous, mentioned some cephalopod species; immediately afterwards, the first checklist of the teutho- fauna living in the waters east of 23ºE was made availa- ble (Rees, 1955). Adam (1967) also carried out studies in the eastern Mediterranean, and reported 23 species in the waters east of 23°E; that number was then increased Boll. Malacol., 45: 47-59 (suppl. 2009) Cephalopod research in the eastern Mediterranean (East of 23°E): a review Alp Salman Ege University, Faculty of Fisheries, Department of Hydrobiology, 35100 Bornova I ˘ zmir, Turkey, alp. salman@ege.edu.tr Abstract This study presents an overview of cephalopod research carried out in the Mediterranean Sea, East of 23°E, i.e., in the Levant basin, the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara. Relevant studies focused on systematics, zoogeographical distribution, fisheries, reproductive biology, larval development, and stomach contents analyses. Riassunto Il presente lavoro propone una sinossi della ricerca teutologica condotta nel Mediterraneo orientale, a est del meridiano 23°E, vale a dire nel bacino di Levante, nel Mar Egeo e nel Mare di Marmara, a partire da Aristotele. Ricerche sistematiche sulla teutofauna di quest’area sono state svolte a far capo dai primi anni ’90. I più importanti studi sono stati rivolti alla sistematica, alla distribuzione geografica, alla scienza della pesca, alla biologia della riproduzione, allo sviluppo larvale e all’analisi dei contenuti stomacali di predatori teutofagi. In totale, fino a oggi sono stati registrati nel distretto geografico in questione 54 specie di cefalo- podi: 4 sepiidi, 13 sepiolidi, 23 teutidi e 14 ottopodi. Un rilievo particolare è rivestito dai migranti lessepsia- ni provenienti da Mar Rosso (il sepiide Sepia pharaonis, il teutide Sepioteuthis lessoniana e gli ottopodi Oc- topus cf. aegina/kagoshimensis e Octopus cyanea), le cui prime segnalazioni mediterranee sono occorse proprio nel bacino orientale. In una tabella riassuntiva, è riportato l’elenco delle specie del Mediterraneo orientale, con le referenze bibliografiche attinenti e il relativo soggetto di studio. Key words Cephalopoda, Mediterranean Sea, Levant basin, Aegean Sea, Sea of Marmara, review.