The nocturnal displacement to the water column of species hiding in the substrate during the day (so-called demersal migration) is a widespread phenomenon in coastal habitats. However, despite the relevance of these migrations to coastal ecosystem functioning, most of their ecological aspects are poorly understood. We aim to characterize spatial distribution patterns of demersal amphipods by comparing samples collected by light traps deployed both at rocky and nearby sandy areas. Dispersal abilities of such species were explored by considering two spatial scales of separation between rocky and sandy substrates: (1) <100 m and (2) >1 km. A total of >45,000 amphipod specimens were collected in the water column during the whole study, belonging to 50 species. The numerically dominant species were Guernea coalita, Bathyporeia cf. elegans, Perioculodes longimanus and Nototropis swammerdamei. The present study highlights the relevance of substrate type and study location on coastal demersal amphipod migrations. Amphipod assemblages were significantly different in the water column above rocky and sandy bottoms, even at a small spatial scale. Species emerging from rocky bottoms tend to remain in the proximity of this habitat; they showed lower abundances in sandy areas located nearby and almost none of them reached distant sandy areas. In contrast, migrant species commonly found on sediment during the day were collected at higher abundances in light traps deployed above rocky bottoms. Although several factors (e.g. food availability, predation pressure) are proposed to explain these patterns, the purpose of this horizontal migration remains unknown.

Activities of phosphomonoesterases were measured at acid and at alkaline reaction (pH 4–5 or 9–65) in homogenates of elasmobranch tissues especially lymphomyeloid structures. The animals were dogfish (Scyliorhinus caniculd) and two species of ray (Raja brachyura, R. naevus). Acid phosphatase activity was high in the epigonal tissue, Leydig's organ, the spleen and the thymus. High activity was also found in the pancreas and the kidney, whereas skeletal and cardiac muscle showed low values. The activity of alkaline phosphatase was very high in the kidney and relatively low in other tissues. Ultrasonification of homogenates from the dogfish resulted in increase of acid phosphatase activity but had little effect on alkaline phosphatase activity. The high activity of acid phosphatase in lymphomyeloid tissue may be due to the presence of large numbers of various types of leucocytes.

The genus Acanthogobius of gobiioid fish has been reported for six species from East Asia, and inhabits estuarine and coastal waters. Within this genus, Acanthogobius insularis is an endangered and endemic goby in the Amami-oshima and Okinawa-jima Islands, southern Japan, and its range is restricted to the lowermost course of a few river basins. Basic knowledge on this species is scarce in spite of its vulnerable conservation status. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the life history of A. insularis. Monthly sampling was conducted at five stations in the Taiho River, Okinawa-jima Island, from November 2014 to November 2015. Monthly standard length (SL) distributions were unimodal except in April during the recruiting period, suggesting that A. insularis is an annual species. Analysis of the gonadosomatic index and histological observations of the ovaries revealed that this species spawns from January to May. The beginning of the spawning season seems to be related to a decline in water temperature in December. Growth rates appeared to be lower from April to December and higher in winter months. From monthly collections, A. insularis was found to move upstream with growth, and gather at spawning grounds during the reproductive season. Acanthogobius insularis might be threatened by increasing water temperature due to climate change, since low water temperatures appear to be important for their reproduction and growth. Moreover, habitat diversity, from tidal flats for recruiting grounds to upstream sites with cobbles for spawning, is needed to complete their life cycle, and should be conserved.

Keratose sponges have no spicules and limited robust morphological characters, causing severe problems for taxonomic classification. Single-strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of PCR amplified internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes was used to elucidate speciation patterns in marine sponges of the genus Aplysina. In this study, Aplysina species with non-ambiguous traditional morphological alpha taxonomy were used to generate standard SSCP-ITS patterns, which were compared with patterns from alleged new species. Our results show that ITS-SSCP patterns allowed the differentiation of Aplysina sponges, demonstrating the advantage of a method that explores the secondary structure compared to direct sequencing.

Although the distribution of most coastal and oceanic fishes of the seas of northern Europe is relatively well-known extensions to known range are reported with moderate frequency as vagrant specimens are found or captured and recorded. Possibly it is partly because the fish fauna is well documented, with reliable literature to permit identification, that rare or unusual fishes are quickly recognized and attempts made to identify them. Most such specimens are housed in museum or other institutional collections and thus information about them can be retrieved long after their capture. However, the circumstances of the present report which records the stranding of a white marlin T. albidus Poey, 1860 on the Lancashire coast at Morecambe Bay are somewhat unusual in that the whole specimen was eaten and the only evidence remaining are two photographs and a small piece of skin. In view of the interest of this occurrence, which represents a northward extension of the range of the species by several hundred miles, as well as the first report of its occurrence in British seas, full documentation is given here and both available photographs are reproduced.

In October 1935, investigators from eleven countries represented on the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea met at Lowestoft to discuss the co-ordination of the results of herring research (Cons. Int. 1936 p. 7).

The new species Eugerda gigantea sp. nov. is described from the abyssal of the equatorial eastern South Pacific. For the genus Eugerda this is the first record from the South Pacific ocean, the other known species of the genus occur in the northern hemisphere or the equatorial Atlantic ocean.

The generic name Ovulina was proposed by Anderson, Rogerson & Hannah (1996) to apply to the type and only species O. parva Anderson et al., 1996 based on laboratory cultured individuals isolated from sediments in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland and type specimen deposited in the British Museum of Natural History (registration number 1995:10:25:2). The name is a junior homonym and therefore invalid. Ovulina was proposed previously for a foraminiferan by Ehrenberg (1854) and used subsequently by Gruber (1884).

Ovulinata nom. nov. is proposed here as a replacement name for Ovulina Anderson, Rogerson & Hannah, 1996. The name signifies the ovoid shape of the test and the ovulate cell body as described in the original diagnosis and etymology (Anderson et al., 1996).

On August 14th, 1913, a fine male specimen of Anthura gracilis was taken by the Oithona, in the young-fish trawl working at the surface at night, about six miles west of the Eddystone.

Changes in phytoplankton composition of the Golden Horn Estuary were investigated following remediation, through seawater transfer from the Strait of Istanbul to the estuary. Average values of Secchi depth, salinity and dissolved oxygen increased during this study when compared with a previous study. The average number of species (S) and species diversity (H′) increased and they correlated positively with Secchi depth, salinity and dissolved oxygen. There was a similar phytoplankton group composition between this and a previous study, however, the species composition differed. A total of 127 taxa consisting of diatoms (66 taxa), dinoflagellates (49 taxa) and others (12 taxa) were identified. Abundance of dinoflagellates and phytoflagellates and their relative contribution to the total phytoplankton abundance increased during this study, however, the abundance of diatoms and their relative contribution decreased notably, as compared with the previous study. There was a significant positive correlation between salinity and dinoflagellates and phytoflagellates (P < 0.01), and also between Secchi depth and dinoflagellates (P < 0.01) in the upper estuary. Additionally, salinity and Secchi depth correlated positively with species diversity (H′) and number of species (S) (P < 0.01). The increase in water transparency probably contributed to the increase in abundance of dinoflagellates and phytoflagellates. The results revealed that water transparency was one of the most important factors affecting phytoplankton composition in the study area. Changes in some environmental conditions following seawater transfer appear to have changed phytoplankton composition. As a result, phytoplankton species were confirmed as a very good indicator of changed environmental conditions.

Three genera of Acanthonotozomatidae have been recorded from the British Isles, Iphimedia, Panoploea and Odius. The latter genus is distinctive, but the former two differ from one another only in the relative development of the palp of maxilla 1, which is variable throughout the group. It is shorter than the outer plate in P. minuta and P. eblanae, a little shorter than the outer plate in I. vicina, equal in length to the outer plate in I. quasimodius and longer than the outer plate in I. obesa and I. serratipes. There appears, therefore, to be no good phylogenetic justification for separating the two genera, and following Ruffo & Schiecke (1979, 1982) the genus Panoploea is relegated to the synonymy of Iphimedia.

Haliclona is an unusually species-rich genus in Porifera, with more than 400 species described. In spite of many subgenera used in the taxonomic housekeeping of these sponges, over half of them remain unassigned to a subgenus, thus encouraging a wide range of redescriptions and taxonomic revisions of materials from all around the world. In this paper, we describe two new Haliclona spp. collected at Pernambuco, Alagoas and Bahia States (north-eastern Brazil, between 08°46′S and 13°56′S). Haliclona (Reniera) chlorilla sp. nov. is a dark green or black coloured, delicately-branched species; and Haliclona (Soestella) peixinhoae sp. nov., a beige-coloured, tubular species, where tubes frequently bear large thorns and possess a conspicuous sub-superficial meandering reticulation. These species highlight the importance of including ex-situ collections in compiling baseline data, as both were already present in scientific collections by the 1980s and 1990s.

The marine Amphipoda of the Plymouth area, as a group, were last given attention in the middle 1930's by Crawford (1936,1937). Renewed investigation after the lapse of 15 years has indicated that knowledge of species present was by no means complete, or that some changes have occurred in the interval, or both. In a recent survey of the amphipod fauna of the Isle of Man, Jones (1948) found no indication of the existence of undescribed species, nor even of known species previously unrecorded from Britain. The experience at Plymouth has been quite the reverse.

Two types of electron-dense inclusions are described using transmission electron microscopy from the marine nematode Tripyloides marinus (Nematoda; BÜtshli, 1874) isolated from a metal-enriched site and a site of low metal contamination. These were classified as granular, intracellular inclusions in the intestinal syncytium, and fluid-filled vesicles along the cuticular margin of the epidermis. Energy-dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX) showed that the intestinal granules were largely comprised of P and S, with variable levels of Ca, Cu, Zn, Fe and Br, and that the epidermal vesicles contained high levels of Br and S with variable levels of Ca, Cu, Zn, Fe and P. It is suggested that intestinal granule formation may be involved in the detoxification of heavy metal sulphides and might result in a heightened ability of the species to colonize metal-enriched sediments. The function of the cuticular vesicles is unclear, but might be linked to a predatory or microbial defence mechanism (Woodin et al., 1987), or as part of a metal detoxification system.

the body length–water depth distribution of urophycis tenuis white hake (pisces, gadidae) in the southern gulf of st lawrence (1971–1975, 1981–1985, 1991–1995 and 2001–2002) and cabot strait (1994–1997) was examined. contrary to expectation, linear regression analyses indicated 13 of 17 years had negative slopes with larger fish being found in shallower water. length–depth relationships were statistically significant for five of 17 years (negative slopes: 1971, 1972, 1975, 1981; positive slope: 2002). regression slopes generally increased from 1971 to 2002 indicating the length–depth relationship changed from negative in the early 1970s and 1980s, to negative and positive in the early 1990s, and finally to positive in 2001–2002. in the cabot strait, a significant positive relationship was observed for fish length and water depth indicating large u. tenuis generally occurred in deeper water. we propose that slopes of the length–depth relationship became positive in the 1990s and early 2000s due to the loss of large u. tenuis taken in a seasonal fishery in the southern gulf of st lawrence that targeted highly aggregated spawning and post-spawning shoals of fish in shallow water during summer.

This is the first study performed to determine the health status of the geoduck Panopea abbreviata in the San José and San Matías Gulfs (North Patagonia, Argentina). The study was based on 120 geoducks collected (30 specimens in each season) at Fracasso Beach (42°25′S 64°07′W) (San José Gulf) and 30 specimens collected during the austral summer at Puerto Lobos (42°00′S 65°05′W) (San Matías Gulf). The parasites found (prevalence in parentheses) were: prokaryotic inclusions (32.2%) were recorded in the epithelium of the digestive gland and gill filaments; ciliates (79%) mainly found in gills; Porospora-like gregarines (15.2%) in the connective tissue between inner and outer mantle epitheliums; the turbellarian Paravortex panopea (27.1%) in the intestine lumen; the nemertean Malacobdella arrokeana (98.3%) in the pallial cavity; and the green alga Coccomyxa parasitica (51%) parasitizing the haemocytes in the connective tissue of the distal end of the siphon. The highest mean parasitic abundance value was found in the late austral spring (November), coinciding with the lowest values of the condition index of the host. The populations of P. abbreviata from San José Gulf seemed to be devoid of severe pathogens.

In 1999 divers discovered a population of the burrowing mantis shrimp Rissoides (Meiosquilla) desmaresti (Crustacea: Stomatopoda) east of the St Tudwal's Islands, North Wales. This species has only sporadically been recorded in UK waters and commonly occurs in the Mediterranean. In summer 2000 the burrow morphology and distribution of these shrimps in the area east of the St Tudwal's Islands was investigated. Burrows were found at ten of the 15 sites investigated in a survey area measuring ∼18 km2. Burrow density varied from one to 11 burrows per 100 m2. The burrows were always recorded in sediments consisting of a mixture of mud, sand and gravel but were not present at sites with a high proportion of mud (>70%) or sandy sediments with very little mud ([les ]2%). Resin casts of six burrows revealed that these have a simple elongated U-shape, with an average length of ∼450 mm and depth of ∼160 mm. The average diameter of the burrow entrance was 19±2 mm and the diameter of the burrow along the horizontal section varied between 18 and 38 mm with a distinct constriction part way along.

Caprella wirtzi sp. nov. from the Cape Verde Islands is described. It is close to C. liparotensis a species recorded from Portugal and along the Mediterranean coasts to the Black Sea, but distinguished from C. liparotensis by the morphology of antenna 2, gnathopod 2 and peraeonites 3, 6 and 7. Variation from C. liparotensis is also discussed.

The use of tetraphenylarsonium chloride for the detection and determination of perchlorate in sea water has been investigated. An aqueous solution of this reagent gives a visible precipitate of tetraphenylarsonium perchlorate with sea water containing 5 μg ClO4-/ml. within 10 min. For the quantitative determination of traces of perchlorate, potassium perrhenate is added to the water sample, and the tetraphenylarsonium perrhenate, which is precipitated by addition of the reagent, co-precipitates tetraphenylarsonium perchlorate. Perchlorate is determined in the mixed precipitate by infra-red absorption spectrophotometry. Using 100 ml. of sea water, a sensitivity of 0·03 μg ClO4-/ml. can be attained, with a coefficient of variation of ca. 10%. No interference is caused by the ions normally present in sea water.