A survey of the sandy beach at Port Erin, Isle of Man, was made in. September, 1931. Observations were made, at a number of stations, involving simultaneous records of the macro-fauna and its density, and certain physical and chemical factors of the sand and interstitial water, as well as tidal level on the beach. The results enable certain general conclusions to be drawn as to the causes of the observed distribution of species, and of the differences between the faunas of this and some Scottish beaches. Plans are given, indicating tidal contours, salinity, and grade composition, in situ on the beach, together with frequency diagrams for five dominant species.

The diet of anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius), based on the analysis of stomach contents, was investigated in the Shetland Islands. Samples were obtained during trawling for sandeel (Ammodytidae species) and demersal trawling when mainly whitefish (gadoids) are targeted. This allowed the diets of samples collected from different areas and at different times to be compared. The diets in different length groups were also compared and niche breadth investigated.

A wide range of prey types, mainly fish, were recorded but the main prey was Norway pout (Trisopterus esmarkii) and lesser sandeel (Ammodytes marinus). Diet composition varied seasonally. In samples collected during whitefish trawling the occurrence of empty stomachs decreased from the first to the third quarters and generally increased with increasing anglerfish size. Empty stomachs occurred less frequently in samples collected from areas where sandeel fishing occurred compared to areas where whitefish trawling occurred.

The degree of development and operability of the indicators for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) using Descriptor 1 (D1) Biological Diversity was assessed. To this end, an overview of the relevance and degree of operability of the underlying parameters across 20 European countries was compiled by analysing national directives, legislation, regulations, and publicly available reports. Marked differences were found between countries in the degree of ecological relevance as well as in the degree of implementation and operability of the parameters chosen to indicate biological diversity. The best scoring EU countries were France, Germany, Greece and Spain, while the worst scoring countries were Italy and Slovenia. No country achieved maximum scores for the implementation of MSFD D1. The non-EU countries Norway and Turkey score as highly as the top-scoring EU countries. On the positive side, the chosen parameters for D1 indicators were generally identified as being an ecologically relevant reflection of Biological Diversity. On the negative side however, less than half of the chosen parameters are currently operational. It appears that at a pan-European level, no consistent and harmonized approach currently exists for the description and assessment of marine biological diversity. The implementation of the MSFD Descriptor 1 for Europe as a whole can therefore at best be marked as moderately successful.

Ontogenetic and seasonal diet changes of the juveniles of the marine fish Micropogonias furnieri, a species inhabiting Bahía Blanca estuary (Argentina), were investigated. Two size-related dietary shifts, at 4·00 cm and 7·00 cm total length (LT), respectively, were found. Small juveniles (1·00–3·99 cm LT) ate mostly chaetognaths (Sagitta friderici); medium-sized juveniles (4·00–6·99 cm LT) fed intensively on mysid shrimps (mainly Neomysis americana) and polychaetes, whereas large juveniles (7·00–15·99 cm LT) fed almost exclusively on epibenthic crustaceans (primarily Peisos petrunkevitchi). Increased mouth gape was related to increased size spectrum and mean size of the most important prey items consumed by M. furnieri. Juveniles <510 cm LT ate prey items almost as large as their mouth opening, whereas juveniles >410 cm LT were capable of consuming larger prey items than those found in their stomachs, indicating that the maximum size of prey eaten was not constrained by mouth gape. Seasonal and selectivity dietary analyses showed that M. furnieri can be a highly opportunistic selective feeder. Juveniles relied on S. friderici and P. petrunkevitchi throughout the year, except in summer, when mysids abundance increased in the estuary. Electivity values also showed that prey size and prey relative abundance are important factors in prey selection mechanisms.

Four distinct Franciscana Management Areas (FMAs) have been proposed based on several lines of evidence including genotype, phenotype, population response and distribution. To determine if differences in external morphology fit this division, a canonical variate analysis was carried out for males and/or females from FMAs I to IV using up to 14 characters. A total of 78 adult specimens were analysed. More than 90% of the differences between groups were summarized by three canonical variates. Females were larger than males in all areas. Females from FMA IV were of intermediate length between those from FMA I and FMA III and individuals from FMA II were smaller than those from all other areas. Position of dorsal fin and morphology of the anterior body region, differentiate individuals from FMA I and FMA III. Morphological differences found in this study give additional support for the proposed FMAs. Since habitat characteristics and franciscana feeding ecology vary regionally, it is possible that observed morphological differences are due to ecological divergence for niche occupation. The indication of a discontinuous distribution, consistency between genetic and morphological evidence, and a short time genetic divergence, might indicate that franciscanas inhabiting FMA I represent a distinct subspecies.

Blooms of the dinoflagellate, Gyrodinium aureolum have been recorded on the coasts of Europe and are fully reviewed by Tangen (1977) and Boalch (1979). The significance of these blooms is considerable, and with the increase in the eutrophication of inshore waters they are now an important factor influencing the ecology of coastal waters (Boalch, 1984). Their numbers increase to concentrations in excess of five million cells per litre during warm, stable conditions resulting in the waters becoming a greenish-brown colour, ‘slimy’ and with a characteristic smell (Boalch, 1979; Jenkinson, 1986). At these concentrations there are reports that local fauna may be adversely affected and certain species will die.

Sponge species are infamously difficult to identify for non-experts due to their high morphological plasticity and the paucity of informative morphological characters. The use of molecular techniques certainly helps with species identification, but unfortunately it requires prior reference sequences. Holotypes constitute the best reference material for species identification, however their usage in molecular systematics and taxonomy is scarce and frequently not even attempted, mostly due to their antiquity and preservation history. Here we provide case studies in which we demonstrate the importance of using holotype material to answer phylogenetic and taxonomic questions. We also demonstrate the possibility of sequencing DNA fragments out of century-old holotypes. Furthermore we propose the deposition of DNA sequences in conjunction with new species descriptions.

A seasonal survey was undertaken, over a year, of phytoplankton from surface water in the western English Channel (Station L4) measuring mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), photosynthetic pigments and microscopic counts. Ground level solar radiation (ultraviolet-B, ultraviolet-A and photosynthetically active radiation; UV-B, UV-A and PAR) was measured at a nearby site. From this we estimated in situ solar irradiance received by phytoplankton using measurements of the mixed layer depth and calculations of the 50% light level cut-off. The MAAs occurred year round, with concentrations increasing rapidly during spring and summer (maximum 8·5 μg l−1) to levels exceeding those of chlorophyll-a (chl-a maximum 3·6 μg l−1). On two occasions, increases in specific MAAs coincide with algal blooms. In spring, increases in mycosporine-glycine (λmax 310 nm in the UV-B) coincide with a bloom of the prymnesiophyte Phaeocystis pouchetii and in July and August increases in an unidentified MAA (λmax 328 nm) match a bloom of the diatom, Guinardia striata (=Rhizosolenia stolterfothii). Concentration of MAAs, but not chlorophyll, correlate with in situ irradiance. The ratio of MAA to chl-a increases linearily with in situ irradiance received by phytoplankton reaching 13·9 nmol MAA (nmol chl-a)−1 at 101 W m−2. Evidence of photoinduction is observed during the P. pouchetii bloom with a four fold increase in the concentration of mycosporine-glycine (maximum 2 pg cell−1) as UV-B:PAR ratio increases from 0·0011 to 0·0014. Dinoflagellates, although contributing to <10% of biomass, are found through the correlation of MAAs to the biomarker peridinin, to contribute to baseline levels of MAAs throughout the year. Our MAA:chl-a values for the English Channel are similar to those measured in coastal areas of southern USA. Similarities with studies on Antarctic phytoplankton are also found with the dominance of porphra-334 and the presence of mycosporine-glycine in P. pouchetti.

Sinking of particles was measured at a coastal site near La Coruña (north-western Spain) using sedimentation traps placed at the base of the euphotic zone during four short periods between March and June 1995. In addition, measurements of water column properties and particles were made at five stations. The cases studied were representative of the main oceanographic situations that occur in this area and were related to the wind-induced upwelling. Phytoplankton blooms (> 100 mg chlorophyll−a m−2) were observed on two occasions in April and June, both during favourable upwelling conditions. The two other cases were studied during low phytoplankton biomass concentrations in the water column.

This paper aims to study the morphological and gonadal maturity of the swimming crab Callinectes danae in the Santa Cruz Channel, Brazil. Crabs of both sexes were measured at carapace width (CW), carapace length (CL), abdomen width (AW), length of the right chelipod (LRC), and dissected to visualize the gonads. The gonadal maturity was estimated based on the frequency of mature individuals per class of CW, and the determination of morphological maturity was based on the relationship between the structures LRC versus CW for males and AW versus CW for females. The sizes that 50% of females reached gonadal and morphological maturity were 62.5 and 59.5 mm CW respectively. In turn, the sizes that 50% of males reached gonadal and morphological maturity were 74.5 and 70.5 mm CW respectively. In the analysis of dispersion of points in relation to AW versus CW, it could be observed that juvenile females showed positive allometry and adult females showed negative allometry, indicating a higher growth rate during the juvenile phase, related to the need of expanding the abdomen for egg incubation at the adult phase. In the relation LRC versus CW, it was observed that both juvenile and adult males showed positive allometry, but changes in the degree of allometry were evident between the two phases. The exceeding growth of the chelipod of males may be related to the reproductive process, including courtship and agonistic interactions with other males.

The life cycle of the South African gnathiid isopod, Gnathia pilosus, was studied using the common east coast tidal pool fish, Scartella emarginata and Antennablennius bifilum as hosts. Laboratory studies observing the feeding ecology of these temporary ectoparasites determined that the second and third unfed larval stages (zuphea larvae 2 and 3) took an average of 3 hours 52 minutes and 4 hours 19 minutes to feed respectively. After feeding, the second stage fed larvae (praniza 2) took 35 days to moult into the third zuphea form. Male and female praniza 3 larvae could be discerned before their final moults into adults which took place approximately 42 and 48 days respectively after their blood meals. Fertilization occurred within 24 hours after the female had completed her moult. It was thus estimated that the complete life cycle from the first larval stage to adult took between 134 to 140 days in water temperatures ranging between 20°C and 25°C. The length for this life cycle is unexpectedly long for gnathiids living in subtropical waters and may indicate that water temperature is not always the main factor in determining the duration of gnathiid life cycles.

This paper is the second of a series dealing with the annual cycle of growth andreproduction in British ascidians; a previous paper (Millar, 1952) dealt with the speciesDiplosoma listerianum (Milne Edwards), Ciona intestinalis (Linnaeus),Ascidiella aspersa (Muller), andBotryllus schlosseri (Pallas)

The present investigation is concerned with the growth, the course of sexual reproduction and establishment of new generations, and the histological changes in the gonad throughout the year, in the ascidianDendrodoa grossularia (family Styelidae).

Samples were examined from two widely separated localities: Fambridge in the River Crouch, Essex; and Farland Point, Isle of Cumbrae, in the Firth of Clyde. The specimens from Essex were dredged from a depth of about 2 m. (below L.W.O.S.T.), and were attached to the empty shells of the European oyster,Ostrea edulis L. and to the shells ofCrepidula fornicata L. The speci-mens from the Firth of Clydewere attached to stones on sheltered parts of the shore. The animals here extended over a zone of the shore from about Chart Datum+ 2.5 ft. (0.76 m.) to about Chart Datum+ 7.5 ft. (2.29 m.): Only in very sheltered positions, such as under large boulders, did Dendrodoa occur in abundance. The two habitats were thus very different in nature, one being sublittoral on the south-east coast of Britain and the other being littoral on the north-west coast. The value of comparisons is limited by the different nature of the conditions to which the sublittoral and the littoral populations were exposed.

The observations on growth in the Clyde extended over most of 1951 and 1952, and nineteen samples were taken.

Two razor clam populations from two shores in North Wales were identified on morphological grounds as Ensis siliqua (L.) and E. ensis (L.). Ensis siliqua occurs in fine sand on the exposed south-westerly facing shore of Newborough beach, whilst E. ensis inhabits the coarser sediment of Penmon beach, a sheltered north-easterly facing shore in the Menai Strait. At Penmon smaller E. ensis (<100 mm) inhabited sediments at mean low water of spring fides, whereas larger individuals (>100 mm) occurred almost subtidally at extreme low water springs. No small E. siliqua (<110 mm) were found on Newborough beach, where there has been a noticeable decline between 1990 and 1992 in the number of individuals larger than 175 mm. Growth of the two species was different. The von Bertalanffy growth constant, k, was similar in the two species, but E. siliqua had a larger asymptotic length than E. ensis.

The Pycnogonida of Plymouth have had very little attention and early records are few. Of the eight species recorded in the Plymouth Marine Invertebrate Fauna in 1904, two, Nymphon gallicum and N. gracile, are synonymous, and these two are also recorded in the 1931 edition which comprises only the same eight species. The scarcity of the records shows that little search was made for the members of this group, for on revising it at the present time it is found that thirteen species certainly occur, being five more than are shown in the Marine Invertebrate Fauna. Hodgson (1910) records thirteen species from Devonshire, but these are not all the same as the thirteen now recorded. He mentions eleven from Plymouth, three of which have not been found recently. These are Pallene spectrum, Nymphon brevirostre and Ammothea laevis.

This paper presents information on the stomach contents of four northern bottlenose whales Hyperoodon ampullatus (Odontoceti: Ziphiidae) from the north-east Atlantic, an area for which there are few recent data on the feeding ecology of this species. Two of these whales were relatively recent strandings, a female stranded in August 1993 at Hargen (the Netherlands) and a male stranded in February 1997 on the island of Tåsinge (Denmark). Stomach content samples were also examined from a juvenile male stranded in November 1885 at Dunbar (Scotland) and a female stranded in August 1956 on the island of Texel (the Netherlands).  Food remains from the four samples consisted almost entirely of cephalopod beaks. Some fish remains were also found in the stomach of the Hargen and Tåsinge whales, and the latter also had crustacean remains in the stomach. The cephalopod prey consisted mainly of oceanic cephalopods: Gonatus sp. (probably G. fabricii, Cephalopoda: Teuthoidea), Taoniuspavo and Histioteuthis sp. for the Dunbar whale; Gonatus and Teuthowenia megalops for the Texel whale; Gonatus for the Hargen whale and Gonatus, T. megalops and Taonius pavo for the Tåsinge whale. Other prey species found in the Tåsinge specimen included the squid Histioteuthis reversa, H. arcturi, and the octopods Vampiroteuthis infernalis and Vitreledonella richardi. Based on the size of the lower beaks, the squid eaten included juvenile and mature individuals of the most important species (Gonatus and Teuthowenia megalops). The fish remains consisted of vertebrae of Gadidae and fish eye lenses (Hargen whale) and two Trisopterus otoliths (Tåsinge whale).  The results from this study are in agreement with those of previous authors in that cephalopods in general, and G. fabricii in particular, are the main prey of the northern bottlenose whale and other toothed whales in northern latitudes.

The present study evaluated shell utilization and preference of two sympatric hermit crab species, Calcinus tibicen and Clibanarius antillensis, from Ilha Galheta de Dentro, Vitória Bay, south-eastern Brazil. Distribution of individuals and use and availability of shells were estimated in the field, where micro-habitat and shell partitioning were demonstrated between the two species of crabs. Calcinus occurred in higher numbers in the infralittoral fringe and shallow subtidal, while Clibanarius was found mainly in the midlittoral zone. The crabs used shells of different architectures and sizes. Calcinus used mainly globose and low spired shells (Tegula viridula and Cymatium parthenopeum), while Clibanarius utilized predominantly the elongated and high spired ones (mainly Cerithium atratum). Clibanarius used shells with smaller volume, weight, and aperture. Free access experiments were conducted in the laboratory and showed that Calcinus and Clibanarius had a high satisfaction rate, i.e. only 50% of the crabs exchanged their shells. From those that exchanged, they chose shells with higher internal volume than that used in the field, while shell weight did not present any increase. Clibanarius was found in shells closer to the preferred ones and in a very different proportion from shell availability, contrasting to Calcinus, which followed shell availability instead of their preferences. Shell internal volume was more important as a choice factor than the weight for both hermit crab species, showing that crabs optimized shell volume in relation to shell weight in the free access experiments.

The Istanbul Strait (Bosphorus) is a part of the Turkish Straits System, connecting the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. There are three cetacean species in the Strait, namely the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), and the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). To monitor the presence of the cetaceans, a fixed stereo passive acoustic monitoring system (A-tag) was deployed in the middle of the Strait from July 2009 to September 2010. In total 26,814 click trains were detected. Presence, direction and inter-click intervals of phonating cetaceans were measured. Most click trains were detected during the night time. Diel presence pattern was prominent in March and April. In spring, the cetaceans were concentrated in one specific direction from the fixed monitoring system. In contrast, they were found in all directions for the rest of the year. Short range sonar (inter-click intervals (ICIs) less than 50 ms) was commonly detected in spring. During the rest of the year ICIs could reach up to 150 ms. All these findings suggest that they were feeding or socializing in spring and mostly travelling in the other seasons. It is well known that pelagic fish such as sprat and bluefish start their migration from the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea in spring. This study suggests that the cetaceans use the middle part of the Strait for feeding on the pelagic fish in spring when the fish migration has just started.

Changes in dietary lipids (fatty acids, sterols and fatty alcohols) during herbivory and coprophagy by the annelid worm Hediste (Nereis) diversicolor (O.F. Müller) were modelled in laboratory feeding experiments. The dinoflagellate Scrippsiella trochoidea (Stein) was used as the food in herbivory; faeces from the crustacean Neomysis integer (Leach) after feeding on this same alga, were used as the food in coprophagy.

Nereis is extremely efficient in its assimilation of dietary lipids and produces faeces with very low fatty acid:sterol (FAST) ratios in both herbivory and coprophagy. The net decrease in total lipid in both modes of feeding with this species suggests that annelids, where present, are as important as other invertebrate groups in affecting the flux of lipids through marine food chains.

(1) Adults of Audouinia tentaculata Montagu were induced to spawn in the laboratory; the eggs were fertilized and the larvæ reared to metamorphosis and early bottom stages for the first time.

(2) The larvæ are yolky and do not feed. They have a broad prototroch and telotroch and a broad neurotroch. The ciliation of the head is rather complex. There are no bristles. When about ten days old they metamorphose.

(3) During metamorphosis most of the cilia, except those of the neurotroch, disappear and their cells are absorbed internally.

(4) Bristles appear for the first time a few days after metamorphosis. After a while branchiæ appear, followed by what are apparently tentacular filaments situated on segments anterior to those on which they occur in the adult.

(5) Discussion centres on the position of the tentacular filaments and the first pair of branchial filaments in the young worm as compared with the adult. The segmentation of the anterior achaetigerous region also receives attention.

The pigments of the polychaete Sabella penicillus L. were reinvestigated. In addition to zeaxanthin and traces of lutein, a series of carotenoids which may represent steps in the formation of canthaxanthin have been found. These are β-carotene, isocryptoxanthin, echinenone, 4-hydroxy-4′-keto β-carotene and canthaxanthin. No astaxanthin was found. In two other sabellids, Myxicola infundibulum (Renier) and Megalomma vesiculosum (Montagu), astaxanthin was confirmed as the major pigment and the presence of echinenone was established. Attention was drawn to the similarity of the pigments of Sabella penicillus with those of other invertebrates and it has been suggested that in invertebrates a common pathway for the formation of canthaxanthin may exist.