Understanding the diversity and community composition of marine communities in coastal areas is of utmost importance to understand how overlapping anthropogenic pressures impact the marine environment. The demersal and epibenthic communities of the Portuguese northern continental shelf were surveyed using a bottom trawl to understand their taxonomic composition, abundance, spatial distribution, and

In coastal upwelling ecosystems, understanding of environmental factors regulating the structure of benthic foraminiferal communities is fundamental to enhance our knowledge of their ecology and to validate their use in palaeoceanographic studies. In this study, we assess the influence of organic matter (quantity/quality) and subsurface oxygenation on living (stained) calcareous benthic foraminifera

Understanding how biotic indicators respond to natural variability is essential for the health state evaluation of the benthic ecosystems. This study analysed the composition and structure of the benthic communities in the coastal lagoon Stagno Longu of Posada (Sardinia) to investigate the seasonal response of the biological indicator M-AMBI. Multivariate analysis and biodiversity descriptors showed

Climate change impact varies at regional as well as species level and accordingly research needs to be focused on exploring the region-wise influence of oceanographic variations on key marine species. The present study depicts the annual and decadal fluctuations in Indian mackerel fishery along Kerala coast of south eastern Arabian Sea over a time period of 31 years (1985–2016), its relationship between

Seasonal prevalence of faecal coliforms in Indian black clam (Villorita cyprinoides), sediment and harvesting waters from shellfish harvesting areas along Cochin estuary was evaluated. Enumeration was done by 5 tube most probable number (MPN) method. High prevalence of faecal coliforms was observed in shellfish, sediment and harvesting waters during monsoon and post-monsoon seasons compared to pre-monsoon

The Roughskin Dogfish Centroscymnus owstonii is a poorly known species with eventual records along the Western South Atlantic. Different dermal denticles have been historically reported for juveniles and adults, which presupposes changes from a juvenile denticle type to an adult denticle type during growth. The present study was based on a male neonate 324 mm in total length (TL) captured with crab

The present study aims to trace out the signatures of seawater intrusion into the groundwater and the irrigation hazards in the coastal region of West Bengal, India based on 56 groundwater samples. The result reveals that 48.21 % of the groundwater samples have exhibited the values of seawater mixing index greater than 1 indicating the effect of seawater mixing into the fresh groundwater. The electrical

The people of Sundarbans are well experienced with multiple hazards affected their life and livelihood since the incitation of 1st civilization over here. Low lying delta plain and massive population pressure increases the exposure limit of this area. For saving this valuable ecosystem and millions of people living here coastal planners and decision makers require a comprehensive risk assessment of

Crustaceans and insects, abundant in the upper zone of sandy beaches, are sensitive to anthropogenic pressures. Thus, to better understand the behavioural changes over time with human impact, studying behavioural and populational parameters in places with pristine conditions is crucial. The Rocas Atoll is one of the first no entry marine reserves in the world, and the first Brazilian marine protected

The Indonesian Seas are strongly influenced by the circulation system between the Pacific and the Indian Ocean, which play an important role in global circulation. In this study, an attempt is made to describe temperature, salinity, and water column stability using data obtained from the World Ocean Database (WOD), updated in 2018 at 0° latitude. The seasonal Temperature-Salinity (S-TS) were used to

A major impact of marine pollution is the contamination of fish, which has become an issue of concern due to the potential adverse human health effects. Therefore, this study assessed heavy metal (Cu, Ni, Fe, Cd, Pb, Zn and Hg) concentrations in different parts of five fish species namely S. aurita, E. encrasicolus, S. colias, B. auritus and P. bellottii from the Gulf of Guinea and their implications

Seasonal variability is one of the most powerful components in multiple scale variations of plankton communities. A comparison of the seasonal blooms of Noctiluca scintillans in individual basins is combined with a statistical analysis of the relationships between this species and environmental forcing factors. Seasonal patterns of Noctiluca scintillans abundance throughout the Bay of Biscay, the North

Recent works have begun to explore the magnitude and frequency of localized changes in seawater chemistry in shallow water systems, where the effects of warming and acidification are still unpredictable. In a Mediterranean shallow coastal site, we empirically characterized the diel, seasonal, and annual pattern of pH, temperature, and associated chemical changes on one Ellisolandia elongata ‘corniche’

Hard coral distribution varies across temporal and geographical scales. Distribution of scleractinian corals was analyzed in 59 reefs in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea of Mexico in two seasons 27 years apart. Data was collected by photography along 20 meter long transects placed at 10 m depth intervals over a 0 to 50 m depth range. Abundance data was generated by sampling 31 random points in

Estuaries are important coastal systems offering nursery and foraging grounds for many species. With the increasing threat from climate change and sea-level rise, the armouring of coastlines, to withstand coastal erosion, has become common practice. The transformation of soft sediment habitats to hard, artificial habitats can lead to changes in species diversity, composition and distribution. As there

Mangrove ecosystems can record biogeochemical and sedimentary signatures in their stratigraphic column. This study examines a mangrove sediment core to evaluate the potential environmental impact of a large-scale port-industrial construction in a tropical lagoonal–estuary near Recife, NE Brazil. Here, we measure sediment accretionrate (SAR), carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N), total

Data on the chemical composition of 40 edible red algal species was compared to Grateloupia gibbesii, a recently reported non-indigenous red alga in the Mediterranean Sea. There has been no information on the seasonality or the chemical composition of G. gibbesii from its areas of distribution. The species was reported in a single location in the Mediterranean Sea, a eutrophic embayment in Egypt. Grateloupia

Marine epilithic diatom abundance and species richness are highly variable along the South African coastline. To determine the variability in spatial diversity and benthic–pelagic​ exchanges, we conducted a baseline study of the Bird Island ecosystem in Algoa Bay. Diatom samples were collected from the rocky substrate and the adjacent water column in conjunction with physico-chemical variables at five

Long-term monitoring studies on sea turtles give reliable data on population size and nest density estimates. In this context, this study provides reliable data about nesting and hatching activities of the loggerhead turtle on Çıralı Beach based on an eight year (2013–2020) monitoring period. Moreover, the study evaluates long-term nesting trends over the years 2001–2020. A total of 852 nests with

Mercury (Hg) contamination in aquatic systems is a universal concern because of its persistence, bioaccumulation, toxicity, and trans-boundary nature. The current study focuses on monitoring the fate and transport of Hg in aquatic matrices such as water, interstitial water, sediment and fish in a tropical coastal ecosystem. The cold vapour atomic fluorescence spectrometer was used for the Hg analysis

The anadromous shad, Tenualosa ilisha is a fish of high economic importance in countries flanking the Bay of Bengal (BoB). Its fishery in the northern BoB bordering India and the associated Bhagirathi–Hooghly river system has been declining. Scientific explanations on the existing fishery management recommendations, especially the length at first maturity (Lm50), minimum legal size (MLS), minimum mesh

Sri Lankan marine fishery resources were not assessed and updated for the last four decades. A comprehensive survey was performed by R.V. Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, starting from June 24 to July 16, 2018. Variations of fish density and diversity on the continental shelf of Sri Lanka were determined by region (East and West) and depth (20–50 m and 50–100 m) using 65 trawl samples collected. Associations between

Genetic structure of the French grunt Haemulon flavolineatum, population was determined in four localities, two located in the Campeche Bank (Cayo Arcas and Alacranes) and two in the Mexican Caribbean (Puerto Morelos and Banco Chinchorro) using microsatellite loci. Intra- and inter-population genetic variabilities, and genetic distances were evaluated. The Monmonier’s maximum-difference algorithm was

Zooplankton communities in response to hydrological (salinity, turbidity, water temperature, nitrate, phosphate, silicate) and biological (phytoplankton density) variables were studied in the Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon, Chilika (India). Water samples were collected from 13 stations on a monthly frequency between July 2014–June 2015. A total of 141 species of holoplankton including Ciliophora

This paper was specially written to complement the first part series published by (Nassar et al., 2019), to investigate the impact of anthropogenic changes around tidal entrances on sedimentary mass stocks in response to the successive pressures of decision-makers due to the sensitivity of the issue. The CMS package was therefore used to model coastal processes at the Bardawil Lagoon Western inlet1

The hydrozoan Portuguese man-of-war (Physalia physalis) is distributed throughout the Havana littoral zone, which is one of the circulation points of the currents that form the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre run. For the first time, a study was conducted monthly from May 2018 through May 2019 to better understand the temporal and spatial variation of P. physalis in this region. This study covered

Sri Lanka is a tropical island biodiversity hotspot with luxurious yet extremely vulnerable mangrove vegetation encompassing its coastline. The country has been a pioneer in mangrove conservation and rehabilitation since the unfortunate Indian Ocean tsunami disaster incident in 2004. Still, most mangrove restoration efforts have failed primarily because of a poor understanding of environment–vegetation

Spatial management of discards has attracted increasing interest as a potential mitigation measure. However, most studies are restricted to commercial species. The aim of the present work was to fill this gap by identifying and mapping the spatial distribution of five non-commercial species with high frequency of occurrence in the discarded catch of bottom trawl fishery in the Aegean Sea, i.e., Brown

Bycatch of trawl fishery is a global concern and batoid fishes, including skates, rays and guitar fishes, are caught frequently as non-targeted species in commercial trawl fishery of India. While the commercial batoid species are documented separately in fishery data, a large number of non-commercial species do not form part of fishery data, even though many such species are listed as ‘Data Deficient’

Catch efficiency is an important index to relate observed density to the size of a population in the context of bottom trawl surveys. The estimation of catch efficiency is challenging because it involves independent measures of animals in the path of the bottom trawl. We estimated catch efficiency using an underwater camera system on three trawl fishing vessels used for estimating the density of the

In a preliminary study of the sea urchin, Tripneustes gratilla at Hobihu, south Taiwan, biased sex ratios were found in 2010. Three hypotheses were proposed to explain the mechanism and tested in a wider region around Taiwan. The Sampling Bias Hypothesis was not supported since external morphology, including “masking” percentages, i.e., percentages of debris cover on top of urchin tests, and the height:diameter

Coralligenous reefs represent one of the key ecosystems of the Mediterranean Sea in terms of both species richness and habitat heterogeneity. Their main characteristic is the massive development of crustose macroalgae, the corallines, which form a bio-constructed basal layer. However, when growing on granitic substrates, these algae show a lower capacity to build thick concretions than those present

Xiangshan Bay (XSB) is a typical semi-closed bay rich in dissolved inorganic nitrogen and anammox is one of the important processes of nitrogen cycle. The anammox bacterial abundance and diversity in XSB sediments was investigated. Five known genera were detected based on the anammox bacterial 16S rRNA gene, namely, Ca. Scalindua, Ca. Brocadia, Ca. Kuenenia, Ca. Jettenia, and Ca. Anammoxoglobus, and

Mangroves play a pivotal role in providing ecological benefits and services to reduce and adapt to climate change impact on coastal ecosystem. They are capable of absorbing carbon, which is crucial in controlling CO2 levels in the atmosphere. This research aims to assess the accuracy of selected vegetation indices for estimating above-ground carbon (AGC) stocks of mangroves using PlanetScope images

The fishery resource Concholepas concholepas is a key species in the benthic marine ecosystems of the Southeastern Pacific Ocean. In the present study, the spatio-temporal changes in the biochemical parameters were evaluated for adult individuals of C. concholepas. They were sampled in summer and winter under upwelling and Non-upwelling conditions in two Management and Exploitation Areas for Benthic

A preliminary assessment of stock size and status of Trachurus mediterraneus and T. trachurus species were investigated via virtual population and yield prediction analyses using onboard collected length-frequency data from Northeastern Mediterranean. The length-frequency based VBGF parameters and growth performance index were L∞=28 cm, k=0.62, t0=0.58, tanc=0.52 and Φ′=2.69 for T. mediterraneus and

This paper makes a quantitative evaluation of reclamation data with remote sensing image data from 1980 to 2018, analyzes the main driving factors of reclamation in Guangxi Beibu gulf and tries to provide decision for integrated coastal zone management. (1) It indicates that the influence of human beings on the coastal zone continues to increase. (2) large-scale reclamation has the characteristics

Broad-scale studies and regional comparisons of Indonesia’s coral reefs are critical given the relative lack of information about these large, diverse, and threatened ecosystems. Most studies on reef benthic composition and distribution have largely focused on rather short transects spanning relatively small areas. Here, we quantify the shallow large-scale spatial distribution of benthic communities

Over the past ten years, divers have noted a decrease in healthy coral cover and an increase in benthic algae in Vatia Bay, on the island of Tutuila, American Samoa. The cause for this is unknown, but one hypothesis is that nutrient pollution from the local village may be driving the coral decline. Excess nutrients (especially nitrogen and phosphorus) can impact corals directly by lowering fertilization

The across-shore distribution of arthropods in two Uruguayan sandy beach–dune​ systems with contrasting morphodynamics was investigated. A deconstructive analysis was performed to describe faunal changes from the dunes to the shoreline. The Habitat Safety Hypothesis (HSH), which states that sandy beach supralittoral species are more abundant in the backshore of reflective beaches than in dissipative

The influence of coastal upwellings on the coastal marine ecosystems of the northern coast of the Sambia Peninsula and the Curonian Spit during the warm period (April–October) of 2014–2015 was studied. An analysis of the sea surface temperature (SST) using moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer data and meteorological conditions revealed 13 coastal upwelling events of various nature. In situ

Mar Menor is one of the largest coastal lagoons in the Mediterranean basin. Over the years, Mar Menor has suffered a significant environmental degradation due to multiple factors with anthropogenic origin. The transformation from a rain-fed basin to intensive irrigated agriculture has led to an rise in the water inflow and nutrients in the basin, which has provoked severe eutrophication. The increase

This paper addresses the performance of different wave height distributions in the surf zone on natural beaches on the central west coast of India. The surfzone water level data for different surf zones were analyzed using Fast Fourier Transformation techniques to obtain the wave characteristics viz., wave height, and wave period. Different probability density functions (pdfs) were fit for the surf

Despite mollusk species play important ecological functions in estuaries, most studies of their assemblage’s variations are based on traditional taxonomical approaches. Biological trait analysis is used in the present work to explore the relationships of the functional composition of mollusks with the environmental gradient along a coastal lagoon of the Southern Gulf of Mexico. Sampling was conducted

The physiography of the alluvium coast plays a very significant role to influence the coastal morphodynamics in response to outer environmental impacts with a significant change in boundary conditions of the local area. The present study deals with the chronological development of coastal landform units in different orders of formations, their surface morphometry, drainage features, hydro-geomorphology

The Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) is a species with economic importance as a food fish and a source of income for artisanal fishers. Research regarding the reproductive biology of this species is scarce or incomplete, especially for this species in northeastern Brazil. Tarpon were caught each month near the Bitupitá district using longline fishing and arrowhead fixed traps, from October 2017 to September

The coast of Ghana is considered the most seaweed-endowed region in West Africa, although information on the local spatial and temporal distributions and abundance of seaweed species is limited. In this study, seaweed species were sampled monthly from five coastal sites in the Central (Elmina, Komenda, Mumford) and Western (Shama and Takoradi Fisheries) Regions of Ghana during low tides from 2017 to

Brachyuran crabs exhibit varying inhabitation patterns and habitat preferences and their existence and distribution influenced by the environmental factors prevailing in the area. The present study is an attempt to describe the habitat ecology, habitat preference and the distribution of the brachyuran crabs that are listed from the Cochin Backwaters. The study reveals that, rather than the water quality

A mid-water otter trawl fishery targeting Illex illecebrosus operates in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean. The majority of I. illecebrosus are captured during mid-June to early September. Diel migratory behavior limits the fishery to daylight hours, but does the time-of-day affect catch? Illex illecebrosus were collected from each tow from a subset of the trawler fleet fishing on the outer continental