Extending over warmer environments in the Brazilian waters, the exotic vermetid Eualetes tulipa was first recorded from Ceará State (3°S) in 2005. In 2009, it was reported in cold-water environments in Rio de Janeiro State (22°S). Seven years later, E. tulipa was recorded from Rio Grande do Norte State (6°S) on rocky pools in sandstone reefs. In the present study, E. tulipa is for the first time recorded from Bahia State (12°S), associated with a biofouling community in the Todos-os-Santos Bay, co-occurring with exotic dendrophylliid corals (Tubastraea). The vermetid community recorded from Bahia State shows a great diversity of epibionts, mostly bivalves, cirripeds and sponges. The co-occurrence of Eualetes and Tubastraea corals must be monitored, once these exotic species are co-occurring in a protected environmental area, bringing concern on possible impacts on native benthic fauna.

The presence of five shallow-water scleractinian species at Ascension Island is confirmed, i.e. Favia gravida, Madracis sp., Siderastrea radians, Polycyathus atlanticus and Rhizosmilia gerdae. The three former are zooxanthellate, the two latter azooxanthellate. A sixth species, Cladocora debilis (azooxanthellate), dredged from moderately deep water is also expected to occur in shallow water. Madracis sp. and P. atlanticus are new records for the island. A previous record of Astrangia solitaria at Ascension is now referred to as P. atlanticus. Favia gravida, S. radians and C. debilis are amphi-Atlantic. Rhizosmilia gerdae is currently known only from Ascension Island and the Western Atlantic. None of the species are endemic to Ascension Island. No member of the family Dendrophylliidae has as yet been found at Ascension, whereas that family is represented at its nearest neighbour, St Helena Island.

Balanophyllia europaea is an endemic Mediterranean sublittoral zooxanthellate solitary coral. Given the broad distribution of the species throughout many areas of the Mediterranean surprisingly little is known of preferred habitat niches or susceptibility of the species to environmental change. In this study we investigated in the laboratory the net prey capture rates of the coral achievable under a range of flow velocities (2.5, 5, 7.5 and 15 cm s−1) and under exposure to different suspended particulate concentrations (0, 7.3 and 170 mg l−1). In recirculation flumes we simulated both commonly occurring and the occasionally high flow velocities and various suspended particulate concentrations reported from the Gulf of Lions (north-west Mediterranean). We then delivered ca 500 A. salina nauplii l−1 as food (Artemia salina nauplii) to the flumes and monitored net prey capture over time. We found net prey capture rates by the species to be highest under flow velocities of 5 cm s−1, with 230 µg C coral individual−1 h−1 achieved. The presence or absence of even environmentally high particulate concentrations (up to 170 mg l−1 resuspended seabed material) did not significantly affect the net prey capture rates achieved by the coral polyps. We found that net prey capture in Balanophyllia europaea is not inhibited during periods of heavy particle exposure, as has been observed in other temperate scleractinian corals. Also, flow velocities of ca ~5 s−1 appear to be optimal for maximum net prey capture by the species.

A total of ten coral species are reported from the Capo Rizzuto (Calabria) Marine Protected Area on the Ionian coast of Italy. Two species, Polycyathus muellerae and Paracyathus pulchellus, are new records for the Ionian Sea, a finding that expands their current known distribution range. Eight species are new records for the Ionian coast of Italy. Another species, Astroides calycularis, was identified from a photograph taken in the area, but its presence was not confirmed in the field. The solitary zooxanthellate coral Balanophyllia europaea was found associated with the yellow encrusting coralline alga, Lithophyllum pustulatum, which represents a novel observation requiring further investigation.

Research on the biology and ecology of cold-water corals (CWCs) is still in its infancy.The growth patterns of CWCs in their natural environments are poorly known. Growth rateinvestigations on these deep-sea reef builder species are needed to predict recovery timesfollowing damage to their ecosystems. This study investigates a new approach for analysingCWC growth rate, suitable for in situ application. Lopheliapertusa and Madrepora oculata (Scleractinian) were collectedfrom the Lacaze-Duthiers canyon in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea (520 m depth),marked and then either redeployed in situ for 6 months, or maintained inaquaria for growth rate comparison at a constant temperature of 13 °C, corresponding totheir habitat conditions. Two different types of staining (calcein and manganese) andthree different exposure times (30, 60 and 240 min) were tested. The results show thatcalcein offers rapid incorporation and easy detection, making it particularly suitable forskeletal growth rate investigations compared with other chemical staining. In situlinear polyp growth rates of 7.5 ± 1.2 mm y-1 and 3.5 ± 2.1 mmy-1 were measured in new polyps of L. pertusa and M.oculata, respectively. Those values were significantly higher in young polypsthan in older ones, where they decreased to 1.3 ± 1.5 mm y-1 and 1.2 ± 1.2 mmy-1. Beyond the study of coral reef growth processes, this approach offers amethodological basis for habitat quality assessment which could be used in the managementof deep-sea marine protected areas (MPA).

Based on specimens deposited in the scientific collections of the Reef Environment Laboratory of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, National Museum/Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and Oceanography Department of the Federal University of Pernambuco, the first occurrences of the azooxanthellate scleractinians Polycyathus senegalensis and Eguchipsammia cornucopia from Brazilian waters are reported. In addition, latitudinal and/or bathymetric range extensions are reported for Caryophyllia ambrosia caribbeana, Caryophyllia antillarum, Premocyathus cornuformis, Deltocyathus calcar, Paracyathus pulchellus, Flabellum apertum, Sphenotrochus auritus, Madracis asperula and Astrangia solitaria.

The new species of Zanclea sango sp. nov. is described from Okinawajima Island, Ryukyu Archipelago, south-western Japan. The new hydrozoan species is associated with at least three scleractinian corals (Pavona divaricata, P. venosa and Psammocora contigua). Zanclea sango sp. nov. is a polymorphic hydroid and the hydrorhiza grows between the coral skeleton and calicoblastic ectoderm. The hydrocaulus and hydrorhiza are surrounded by perisarc. Newly released medusae are almost spherical, with four perradial exumbrellar nematocyst pouches including stenoteles, and two long marginal tentacles with cnidophores containing macrobasic euryteles. Zanclea sango sp. nov. is allied to Zanclea gilii Boero et al., 2000 and Zanclea margaritae Pantos & Bythell, 2010, but it is distinguished by its cnidome, the presence of a perisarc around hydrorhiza, and lower host-specificity. According to a hypothetical Zanclea phylogeny, the ancestral species of Zanclea had an opportunistic association with some benthic organisms, such as algae or bivalves, and its hydrorhiza was covered by a perisarc. Later, some species established specific associations with benthic animals, after which the hydrorhiza lost the perisarc and became directly covered with host tissue. Among Zanclea inhabiting corals, the present species, with multiple coral host species and a perisarc around the hydrorhiza, seems to retain more ancestral character states than Z. gilii and Z. margaritae, which have specific coral host species and no perisarc around the hydrorhiza.

New findings of the scleractinian coral Dendrophyllia laboreli in various localities off the European coast in the Gulf of Cadiz and the Strait of Gibraltar, as well as the Atlantic coast of Morocco, are reported. These new findings redefine the current northernmost known limit of distribution of this species, previously known in African localities from Ghana to the Canary Islands. Some ecological and biogeographical remarks are also included.