The dietary preferences of 61 Western Mediterranean species of fish belonging to different trophic levels were studied. Specimens were collected during the annual bottom trawl survey MEDITS for the period 2011–2018, with a total of 16,588 stomach contents analyzed, providing a highly valuable raw dataset for advanced studies in trophic ecology. The software EstimateS 9.1 was used, for the first time

Tropical estuaries are characterised by high spatial and temporal variability in the conditions they provide for living organisms, which in turn may affect their biochemical composition. Anthropogenic contaminants such as nutrients, antibiotics, pesticides and trace metals may also affect the biochemical composition of these coastal organisms, notably with regard to fatty acids (FA), of which optimal

We examined seasonal succession in a phytoplankton and mesozooplankton community in open coastal waters with frequently occurring harmful algal blooms. Chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentration was positively related to the N/P/Si ratio, suggesting that nitrate is a major limiting nutrient for phytoplankton biomass increase. Heterotrophic red Noctiluca, but not toxic dinoflagellate, abundance showed a negative

This paper analyses the spatial distribution and some aspects of the reproductive biology of the common marine cladoceran Evadne nordmanni in the southern Barents Sea. Samples were collected in summer seasons at four coastal sites off the Kola Peninsula. The numerical occurrence of E. nordmanni as a percentage of total mesozooplankton abundance ranged between 0.03 and 63%. Maximum population density

Jellyfish are non-model organisms that have brought the scientific community's attention over the last decades since the frequency and intensity of these species blooms around the world have increased significantly. The occurrence of blooms has been hypothesized due to the rise in seawater temperature associated with climate change. This fact has promoted an increased interest in studying jellyfish

Artificial structures such as offshore oil and gas platforms can significantly alter local species communities. It has been argued that this effect should be considered during decisions over their removal during decommissioning. In the North Sea, leaving such structures in place is prohibited but derogations are allowed for large concrete installations. To assess removal options for one such installation

Displacement of fisheries through management has the potential to re-distribute the anthropogenic pressures associated with fishing practices. These anthropogenic pressures occur concurrently with naturally occurring environmental processes, and their combined influences can alter the structure of species assemblages across a region. Spatial variability in the demersal assemblages in the Celtic Sea

The red-tide dinoflagellate Karenia mikimotoi can vertically migrate ~20 m in a day. This property enables K. mikimotoi to acquire nutrients over a wide range of depths and to receive optimal irradiance. We conducted day and night observations of diurnal vertical migrations (DVMs) during the declining stage of blooms and daily-weekly investigations of the relationship between environmental factors

More than 30 cold seeps have been discovered on the northern continental slope of the South China Sea (SCS), but only two cold seep sites actively harbor living cold seep communities. One is the Haima cold seep, which is located at a water depth of approximately 1360–1400 m at the northern slope of the SCS. To date, however, the scale of seepage activity, the spatial distribution of seepages, and the

The invasive bivalve Mytilopsis sallei caused several economic and ecological impacts in Asia. In Brazil, M. sallei was first reported in 2004, and thus far, little is known about its ecological impact on Brazilian estuaries. The present study aims to evaluate the abundance and distribution of M. sallei and to analyse the environmental factors that led to the establishment of this species in a Brazilian

Zinc is essential for animal metabolism, but the variation in Zn concentrations within seabird populations has been seldom explored. We collected Blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii) eggs during 2012 and 2013 and blood samples from nestlings and adults during 2011 and 2012 in Sinaloa, Mexico, to evaluate differences in Zn concentrations among years, ages, sexes, and breeding stages. Zinc concentrations

Siphonophores have a widespread distribution in the world oceans, can be very abundant in some areas, and can have a significant impact on other pelagic animals. In this work, siphonophores from the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean were studied. Zooplankton organisms were collected at 35 stations in December 2009. Thirty different species were found: 2 physonects and 28 calycophorans. Total abundances

Prey selection by predators is of interest to community ecologists. By choosing some prey over others, predators affect prey population dynamics and the strength of food webs. According to Optimal Diet Theory (ODT), as prey density increases predators will select more profitable prey. Thereby, prey population dynamics can also affect predator behaviour. Prey profitability involves the prey energetic

Feeding behavior of marine bivalves is largely regulated by the interactive effects of various intrinsic biological factors and extrinsic ecological factors. Therefore, an integrated multivariate approach was applied to explore a deeper knowledge about the feeding biology of the green mussel (Perna viridis), collected from the south-east coastal regions of the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh, by interlinking

The sediment oxygen uptake rate, vertical distributions of organic carbon content, sedimentation rate, and benthic nutrient flux were measured from May 29 to June 9, 2015, to evaluate the partitioned organic carbon and nutrient cycles in the sediment of northern part of East China Sea. The sediment oxygen uptake rate, measured by in situ and/or ex situ incubation methods were ranged from 5.81 ± 0.08

Homing behaviour is frequently observed in marine intertidal invertebrate species. This behaviour may help species to deal with the environmental variability of the intertidal, providing shelter during low tides and areas to explore and search for food during high tides. The capacity of individuals to show fidelity behaviour should be an adaptive trait, due to the uncertainty that finding a new shelter

Oceanic tropical waters are characteristically oligotrophic. However, current-topography interaction around oceanic islands promotes bio-physical processes, which may enrich surface waters. The ichthyoneuston assemblage at three areas around oceanic islands in the tropical Atlantic was investigated. The aim was to evaluate if the ichthyoneuston was influenced by physical oceanographic processes, such

Italy, at the center of the Mediterranean Sea, hosts a high diversity of fishes, but to a certain extent, this richness remains hidden or poorly known because of rare, cryptic or recently introduced species, that are hardly to detect with the traditional sampling approaches. In this study, we gained complementary knowledge, engaging Italian sea users, especially fishers and underwater photographers

The near-surface transport of exogenous plastics that enter the Bay of Biscay near Cape Ortegal (NW Spain), the main coastal entrance of marine litter into this semi-enclosed sea, were analyzed using a particle tracking model over the period 2009–2018. Four wind drag coefficients were considered to account for the different windages due to the diverse sizes of marine litter. The combined effect of

The European flat oyster Ostrea edulis once settled in high densities throughout its natural range but now exists only in small fragmented populations. In the Sea Lough of Strangford, Northern Ireland, recent increases in intertidal oyster numbers at historical sites along the north-east shore were recorded in 2018. A substantial number of conjoined oyster settlements were recorded within this density

Phenotypic variation in fish can indicate exposure to different environmental conditions, affecting species growth and maturation rates and/or be a consequence of genetic factors that allow fish adaptation to different environments. Understanding population structure and dynamics is extremely important for the establishment of sustainable fisheries. The blue jack mackerel, Trachurus picturatus, is

In this study we have compiled a long-term monitoring dataset from the inner Oslofjorden and supplemented it with short-term research data from the same station. Using generalized additive models analysing the data from this time series, we have examined how chlorophyll-a, hydrography, and various nutrient concentrations have changed during 1973–2017 and how they correlate. We describe the seasonality

Large-scale spatial variability of macrofaunal traits has rarely been studied. This paucity of information hinders progress to derive indicators of seabed integrity under current policy drivers. Based on data from 327 stations across the Greater North Sea, a sub-region of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), we describe variability in the numerical dominance of ten important macrofaunal

Anthropogenic marine debris (AMD) is exponentially accumulating in intertidal zones around the world. Because AMD is often mixed in with natural substrates such as rocks and pieces of driftwood, we explored if the purple shore crab (Hemigrapsus nudus) showed preference or avoidance behaviors for natural and AMD substrates in a laboratory setting. Crabs showed a preference for natural substrates and

Temporal variability in phytoplankton is driven by a range of biotic and abiotic factors. In this study, we aimed to identify and estimate the important explanatory variables affecting the diatom species and their abundance in the coastal waters of Bangladesh. For this, species interaction and six explanatory variables were taken into consideration to develop a density dependent Bayesian regression

Monitoring changes in eukaryotic microbial communities is critical for understanding ecosystem dynamics, trophic interactions and the impacts of climate change. Long-term time series are an important tool for monitoring changes in ecological communities, but time series from a single location may not be representative of regional dynamics. In the German Bight, the Helgoland Roads time series is such

Anchor pipe vibration embedment operations during the construction of seed mussel collectors were performed in the Wadden Sea, a designated World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2009. We recorded 200 min of underwater noise during the construction of seven anchor pipes. Underwater noise was recorded simultaneously at three positions with a water depth of 9 m with increasing distance to the construction

The brackish water Baltic Sea is strongly influenced by irregular saline water inflows. Fewer inflow events since the 1980s have resulted in a decrease in salinity, and will according to predicted climate change continue to decrease. The newly described Baltic flounder Platichthys solemdali has adapted to reproduction at low salinity conditions since it colonized the Baltic Sea 7000 years BP; in the

A bibliographic survey of macro-zoobenthic species colonizing natural and artificial subtidal formations scattered off the Venetian coasts (North Adriatic Sea, Italy) was realized to update and organize the hard to find and fragmentary information on species lists and functional groups, with the aim to contribute to the ecological analysis of the hard substrate habitat. The results of the survey carried

To clarify the reproductive activity of albacore, Thunnus alalunga, in the subtropical western North Pacific Ocean (WNPO) (13–25°N, 133°E–171°W), reproductive traits, such as the sex ratio, spawning season, batch fecundity, size at maturity and spawning fraction, were investigated. The sex ratio (5 cm intervals) was skewed towards females in each fork length class less than 95 cm and was skewed towards

This study assessed ovarian dynamics in picarel and examined how it can be implemented in routine calculations of batch fecundity and spawning interval. Samples of picarel were collected in Saronikos Gulf, Greece, and ovaries were examined through both histological and whole mount procedures. Three different and independent approaches were applied to assess ovarian modality: (a) the multimodal analysis

The invasive mussel Xenostrobus securis was first recorded from Galicia (NW Spain) in 2007, within an area characterized by the commercial culture of Mytilus galloprovincialis. This study investigated the spatial variability in reproduction of X. securis at three adjacent locations over a period of twelve months and the temporal variation at one location over two consecutive years. This is the first

The Gulf of Cádiz represents an area of extensive seepage of the south-western Iberian Peninsula that is located between two continents and basins, where a high geomorphologic, sedimentary and environmental complexity occurs. In the present study, epibenthic communities were investigated in a mud volcano field containing four mud volcanoes (Gazul, Anastasya, Pipoca and Tarsis), one diapir/mud volcano

The effects of climate change and associated increases in temperature on organisms are a major focus of scientific research, but how these impacts play out within ecological contexts is complex and hence often ignored. For example, the influence of predation risk (nonconsumptive effects, NCEs) can alter behavior, creating scenarios where individual physiological responses depend on the interaction

Fluctuating sea levels are an important element of hydrodynamic processes that occur in coastal regions. Extreme sea levels – i.e. the highest and lowest levels recorded over many years in a given year or in a given storm event – can stimulate currents, sea abrasion, and the accumulation of sedimentary material in various coastal sections. The objective of this study was to examine the geographical

In intertidal environments, temperature changes at hourly scales are ecologically relevant because of the physiological stress that organisms must endure as a result. Tides constitute the main source of such changes, as low tides periodically expose intertidal habitats to aerial conditions, which can exhibit extreme high and low temperatures in summer and winter, respectively. This study identifies

With the intensification of urban development, agriculture, and forestry, many coastal waters are becoming enriched with nitrogen (N). Long term, excess terrestrial N accumulates in the sediment porewaters impacting benthic fauna and microphytobenthic productivity, altering the complex bio-geophysical interactions that occur on the seafloor. These interactions may influence sediment erodibility and

The composition, biomass, and spatial and vertical distribution of ultraphytoplankton (< 10 μm) were investigated at the single-cell level by flow cytometry during the INCOMMET oceanographic cruise carried out during the fall of November 2013, covering eleven stations spread out along coastal Tunisian waters at less than 100 m depth. Flow cytometry analysis of samples taken at different stations and

Otolith fingerprinting was used to test the hypotheses that estuarine systems are effective juvenile habitats for Chaetodipterus faber in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean, and that this species displays seasonal migrations between estuarine and marine environments. Adult C. faber were collected in euhaline environments from five Brazilian states (Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, and Santa

The present study examined otolith characteristics at hatch in the lesser sandeel, Ammodytes marinus and assessed the efficacy of using these characteristics to reflect larval characteristics important to early survivorship in this species. Otoliths were examined from hatched larvae incubated at different temperatures representative of that experienced in the wild. Firstly, daily periodicity of otolith

The deep-water rose shrimp Parapenaeus longirostris (DPS), a demersal decapod representing the most important component of crustacean landings in the Mediterranean Sea, has been suggested as a species that may exhibit temperature-driven changes in the spatio-temporal dynamics. Considering that Mediterranean waters are warming up faster than oceans, understanding the relationships of DPS populations

Vertical mixing and stratification are among the most important physical processes controlling nutrient dynamics, the dominant category of primary producers and consequently the dominant types of food web, and are therefore important for the assessment of the marine ecosystem's response to global climate change. This study showed consistent short-term cyclic successions of the plankton food web types

The Great Australian Bight is a large carbonate cold water environment located on the central and western portions of the southern Australia. Seagrasses (Posidonia sp.) and macroalgae benthic habitats are widely distributed in the shallow water environment of southern Australia, contributing to the carbonate factory. This study investigated the distribution of modern benthic foraminiferal assemblages

Coastal lagoons are often exposed to intense short-term environmental changes and strong anthropogenic pressures influencing zooplanktonic communities and production. However, most works focus on long-term temporal scales using monthly or seasonal sampling strategies. The present study analysed the structure of the mesozooplanktonic assemblages, the production (egg production rates) and physiological

In Tokyo Bay, harvesting of asari (Manila) clam Ruditapes philippinarum has decreased since the early 2000s. In the present study, based on the abundance of sampled clams in four sites from 1998 to 2015 in the Banzu intertidal area, the authors discussed changes in the processes of population dynamics of asari clam which are possibly related to harvest decrease in Tokyo Bay. The findings are summarized

Fish assemblages vary through time in both abundance and diversity, often due to changes in climate. The potential consequences of these changes on the larval phase need to be considered. In the Eastern English Channel, fish larvae of 30 taxa, from surveys conducted during spring in the nineties and in 2017 with bongo nets, were used to investigate seasonal and interannual changes in larval assemblages

This study has determined the diet of the demersal Knifejaw Oplegnathus woodwardi in depths of 50–200 m off the southern coast of Western Australia, where the benthic invertebrate epifauna is overwhelmingly dominated by sponges. The many fused teeth that form the parrot-like beak of O. woodwardi are used in conjunction with strong muscular plate-like jaws to shear/chop off pieces of sponge and crush

Prey selection by marine fishes is highly dependent on whether available food resources are abundant or deficient in their feeding grounds. The influence of fishing method on prey choice was analyzed via stomach content analyses of three coastal fishes: Pennahia argentata, Sillago japonica, and Thryssa kammalensis. Fish samples were collected from northern Jinju Bay, Korea, using two types of fishing

Knowledge of life history characteristics in marine fishes, including natural mortality, somatic growth, maturity schedule, productivity and others, is essential for successful management and long-term sustainability of marine resources. Patterns exist among these traits within and among taxa to maximize individual fitness and offspring survival, and trade-offs are typical. In this study, we examined

Offshore energy production has been a rising industry in the North Sea since the past century and will likely gain more importance in the future with the increasing development of renewable alternatives. The platforms that are responsible for harvesting and producing energy provide a hard substrate in areas where most substrate is soft, establishing a habitat for fouling communities to settle and to

The microbial communities associated with plant's compartments and the expression of the chloroplast chaperonin Hsp60 have been simultaneously analyzed during the diel cycle in the marine seagrass Thalassia hemprichii from the lagoon of Magoodhoo island (Maldives), characterized by remarkable daily shifts in temperature and light. Plants showed a significant up-regulation of Hsp60 expression from 8

Mysids are experimental models and are among the most important food items for animals in aquaria and that support fisheries, and even for humans, but information on their performance in controlled culture systems is still limited. We reared the marine mysid Neomysis awatschensis in a controlled laboratory system, and measured its growth, 20–hydroxyecdysone (20E) levels, molting, and survival in response

Temporal dynamics of a zooplankton community were examined in the surf zone of Pehuen Co beach (PC), Argentina. The effect of environmental variables on the zooplankton composition and abundance was also investigated. Samples were obtained monthly between December 2016 and November 2017 from a fixed site during low tide. In all, 37 taxa were representative of the community. Meroplankton represented

The tufted ghost crab, Ocypode cursor, was recorded for the first time on the coast of Sicily mainland in 2009, however no ecological studies were conducted so far. In this study, we provide the first ecological data, based on massive data collection of the ghost crab in Sicily. In particular, we studied the spatio-temporal distribution of the species in the recently colonized urban beach of Avola

Flat oyster (Ostrea edulis L.) beds were once a dominant habitat type in the Dutch Delta and North Sea, but overharvesting resulted in soft sediment habitats devoid of oysters. Natural recovery of oyster beds will be slow if the natural substrate is lost and therefore, many oyster restoration projects have been set up worldwide. One way to enhance the success rate of restoring flat oyster beds is adding

Coastal Louisiana supports some of the most productive areas for the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica. Changing conditions from restoration and climate change alter freshwater and sediment inflows into critical estuarine areas affecting water quality, including salinity and concentrations of suspended sediment. This study examined the effects of acute (1 h) and chronic (8 weeks) exposure of suspended

The sea surface microlayer (SML), which is the uppermost layer of the water column between the ocean and atmosphere, has unique physicochemical and biological properties and plays a significant role in biogeochemical processes. Water samples were collected from the SML of Daya Bay in Southern China between June and August of 2013. Algal growth potential (AGP) tests were conducted following the addition