The coast of Aragua is a home of bottlenose dolphins (BND), Atlantic spotted dolphins (ASD) and fishermen (FIS) from four towns. A photo-identification study was carried out on BND to estimate their home ranges. From 2004 to 2008, 100 field surveys were carried out along 30 km of coastline (92.12 km2). In each sighting of BND, information regarding date, time, latitude/longitude and photographs were registered (ASD and FIS were registered without photography). The data were analysed using a Geographic Information System to estimate Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP) and Fixed Kernel (FK) at 95%. The home ranges of BND were estimated for seven individuals. This included three females (29–31 sightings) with estimated areas ranging from 33.90–39.90 km2 with MCP (36.79–43.31% of the study area) and from 80.47–101.31 km2 with FK (109.97–104.26%). For the remaining four dolphins (14–20 sightings) the estimated areas ranged from 9.67–22.34 km2 (MCP), the predominant depth of these home ranges varied from 51–100 m (χ2 = 24.5, df = 2, P = 4.785 × 10−6). For the pods of ASD the estimated area ranged 75.23 km2 with MCP (81.66%) and 119.86 km2 with FK (130.11%) with predominant depths of 101–200 m (χ2 = 24.5, df = 2, P = 4.785 × 10−6). The area used by FIS ranged 93.27 km2 by MCP and 228.49 km2 by FK. Finally, the overlap area of BND, ASD and FIS ranged 24.75 km2 (26.86%). We point out this locality presents important oceanographic and ecological aspects which deserve to be the subject of application of management plans for the conservation of its habitat and species.

In 1866 Hincks described the hydroid Cuspidella humilis: later, in his History of the British Hydroid Zoophytes (1868, p. 210), he added two further species to the genus, C. grandis and C. costata. At that time the reproduction of Cuspidella was not known.

Metschnikoff (1886, p. 83 and Taf. V, Fig. 1) described the development of the eggs of Laodicea cruciata and reared them to the hydroid stage. These had sessile hydranths and elongated polyps with ten slender tentacles, long and short alternating. Metschnikoff remarked on their similarity to Cuspidella.

A brief reference to the state of opinion concerning the water movements off S.W. England is made. Then a series of Drift Indicator records relating to 28 days of observation at 6 fathoms depth from the Seven Stones Lightvessel is presented and discussed. An overall flow of water towards the S.E. quadrant and of speed approaching 2 miles per day characterised the entire period. The residual current as worked out for the individual records, displayed considerable variation in speed and direction—setting as frequently towards the northern half of the compass as towards the southern, but more frequently towards the eastern half than towards the western half. There were pronounced changes in the wind speed and direction, and it appears as though the wind can drive the water at 6 fathoms depth towards a point to the right of its own direction, no matter from which of the four quadrants it blows.

From June 2004 to May 2006, 1040 Caranx rhonchus (Carangidae) ranging from 6.5 to 30.6 cm in total length (TL), fished in the Gulf of Gabes (south Tunisia, central Mediterranean), were used to investigate feeding habits of the species. This study was based mainly on the evolution of the index of relative importance (IRI) with respect to sex, fish size and season. Among 1040 stomachs examined, 595 were empty (%VI = 57.2). The vacuity index (%VI) differed significantly across months and declined slightly with season. A total of 13 species representing 12 different families belonging to four major groups: teleosts, crustaceans, molluscs and annelids, were identified in stomach contents of Caranx rhonchus.

Caranx rhonchus is primarily an opportunistic piscivorous fish with a diet characterized by a wide range of species. Teleosts occurred in the majority of stomachs, with a total of the relative importance (%IRI) of 52.7%. The anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus were the most important teleost species (%IRI = 11.2), while crustaceans were the second most important food category consumed (47.1%).

There were no significant differences in the diet between males and females, but significant differences were found with season and among size-classes.

In a previous paper, (Shelton, 1974) it was shown that the antennules and some other appendages of certain field and laboratory populations of the brown shrimp, Crangon crangon (L.), may become colonized by a filamentous organism tentatively identified as a blue-green alga. Other workers (Johnson et al., 1971) have described similar growths on benthic Crustacea, fish eggs and algae (Bland & Brock, 1973) and have identified the epizooic organism as Leucothrix mucor Oersted (Harold & Stanier, 1955), a filamentous, heterotrophic bacterium, common in the intertidal zone.

When stimulated in some suitable manner Chaetopterus secretes a luminescent material into the surrounding sea water. The luminescent secretion is discharged fromglands which are widely dispersed over the surface of the animal; the most conspicuous are two glandular patches on the dorsal surface of segment XII. Secretory materialis forced out of the cells by some contractile process; discharge is not merely theresult of secretion pressure. Under repetitive stimulation the intensity of the luminescent response decreases owing to the intervention of fatigue. Fatigue has been interpreted as a gradual exhaustion of luminescent material in the glandular cells (Nicol, 1952b,c).The present investigation seeks to analyse the onset and progress of fatigue in greater detail.

Exposed sandy beaches are widespread coastal habitats with temporal and spatial variability. O Rostro beach (Galicia, north-west Spain) was the most severely affected beach in the ‘Prestige’ oil spill (November 2002). Monitoring sampling was conducted to study macroinfaunal composition and structure after the oil spill episode. The purpose of this survey was to characterize macroinfaunal variations on the beach over a yearly scale (2003–2007) and determine the recovery period. These data are compared with the only available data collected before the spill (1995). Two zones where identified with different recovery trends: (1) supralittoral, occupied either by talitrid amphipods, oniscoidean isopods and insects; and (2) intertidal, where marine crustaceans prevailed. Beach morphodynamics partially buried the oil, which gradually reappeared and was dragged to the coast. Negative ecological effects were observed in the short term (six months after the 2002 spill) but macroinfauna apparently recovered in the following years (2004–2007), showing that macroinfaunal assemblages of this beach are resilient enough to recover after severe stress.

The genus Circeis St-Joseph was based upon C. armoricana St-Joseph (1894), but Caullery & Mesnil (1897) suggested that the latter is a mere variety of Spirorbis spirillum (L.), which Chamberlin (1919) therefore regarded as the type of the genus. These two species are indeed closely related to each other, but distinguished by the sculpturing of the collar setae (Knight-Jones, Knight-Jones & Al-Ogily, 1975). They belong to a genus which is very distinct from Spirorbis, as was pointed out by Knight-Jones, Knight-Jones & Kawahara (1975), who regarded C. armoricana as the type species.

The feeding ecology of the southern thorny skate, Amblyraja doellojuradoi, on the Argentine Continental Shelf was evaluated using generalized linear models. Amblyraja doellojuradoi preyed mainly on crabs (85.41% index of relative importance (IRI)) and to a lesser extent on polychaetes (4.98% IRI), teleosts (3.28% IRI), isopods (2.03% IRI), other crustaceans (1.52% IRI) and other invertebrates (2.78% IRI). As individuals increased in size, the consumption of crabs also increased and the consumption of polychaetes and other invertebrates decreased. The study area was divided into a northern (36°–43°S) and a southern (43°–50°S) region. Regarding the latitude of capture, it was observed that A. doellojuradoi mainly fed on crabs in the north and on fish, isopods and other crustaceans in the south. Females of A. doellojuradoi had a stronger preference for fish and isopods than males. As to sexual maturity, immatures fed more on polychaetes and other crustaceans than did mature. The ontogenetic change in feeding habits could be attributed to body size and an increasing ability to capture larger prey, rather than to food availability. However, this point cannot be confirmed because little is known about the benthic fauna of this area.

The structure of the anal sacs of the echiuran Bonellia viridis Rolando was studied using SEM, TEM and light microscopy. The characteristic ciliated funnels which open into the coelom and connect it to the lumen of the sac were observed live by interference contrast light microscopy. Clearance of the extracellular marker inulin from the coelomic fluid (Vc = 9·6 ± 1·9 ml 100 g−1 wet weight of animal day−1) indicated that a filtrate of coelomic fluid is produced by the ciliary activity of the funnels. The flow of this filtrate into the sacs is unidirectional. Comparison of the ionic composition and osmolality of the anal sac fluid with the coelomic fluid, and surrounding sea water, indicates that the filtrate passes unmodified by absorptive or secretory processes to the outside. Thus the sacs do not appear to have a clear iono- or osmoregulatory function. During osmotic uptake of water in low salinities the rate of clearance of inulin by the anal sacs did not increase, indicating that their role in volume regulation is insignificant. The reddish-brown granules in the epithelium and lumen of the organ (which give the sacs their characteristic colour) may be important excretory products, and the primary function of the sacs their elimination.

Quantitative sampling for the genus Eurydice (Isopoda: Cirolanidae) was conducted on 25 sand beach sites along the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Five species were recorded intertidally: Eurydice affinis, E. pulchra, E. naylori sp. nov., E. lusitaniensis sp. nov. and E. spinigera. Physical data collected were used to construct an index of exposure to rank each site. The distribution of intertidal Eurydice sp. is described in relation to exposure to wave action and to tidal level. Peak abundance of E. affinis, E. pulchra and naylori occurred most frequently between mean high water neap (MHWN) and mean tide level (MTL). Whilst E. affinis occurred over a wide range of exposure, E. naylori exhibited a marked preference for exposed sites and E. pulchra was only recorded from sheltered and semi-exposed sites. Surf plankton collections revealed the presence of E. lusitaniensis, but as only two specimens were collected, its ecology remains unknown. The zoogeographical distribution of the genus on North Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts is briefly reviewed.

I have again so many acknowledgments to make for help received that it would be invidious to select names, whilst to enumerate all would unduly trespass on the space allotted to me.

The work, as before, has been carried on at the Marine Fisheries Society's Laboratory at Cleethorpes.

Three species of Australian endemic catsharks (grey spotted catshark Asymbolus analis, orange spotted catshark A. rubiginosus and Australian sawtail shark Figaro boardmani) were collected from the trawl grounds of a highly seasonal commercial fishery off southern Queensland, Australia. Specimens were collected on the mid to outer continental shelf at depths between 78 and 168 m. This study provides the first information on the reproductive biology of these three poorly-known species. Mature female and male A. analis were observed from 455 mm total length (TL), mature female A. rubiginosus from 410 mm TL, mature male A. rubiginosus from 405 mm TL, mature female F. boardmani from 402 mm TL and mature male F. boardmani from 398 mm TL (although a lack of immature specimens precluded more accurate assessments of size at maturity). The reproductive mode of all species was confirmed as single oviparous (carrying only one egg case in each uterus at a time). Ovarian fecundity (the number of vitellogenic follicles) ranged from 7–20 in A. analis, 5–23 in A. rubiginosus and 9–13 in F. boardmani. Several indicators suggest that Asymbolus catsharks off southern Queensland are reproductively active year-round. The proportion of female A. rubiginosus carrying egg cases was highest in spring (60%), intermediate in autumn (50%) and lowest in winter (44%).

Serial-section electron micrographs have been obtained of the phagocytosis of Prochloron cells by amoebocytes of the ascidian Lissoclinum voeltzkowi (Michaelsen). This may answer the hitherto puzzling question of how the host tunicate benefits from photosynthetic symbionts situated in an excurrent water flow.

Samples of shells of the razor clam Ensis directus were examined in order to characterize annually forming shell marks (annuli). Shells from different grounds were aged by naked-eye examination. Back measurements at the identified annuli were used to generate length at age data, to which von Bertalanffy growth parameters were fitted.

The aim of the paper has been to treat the data of the Plaice experiments on Growth and Maintenance, carried out at Cawsand and Lympstone during 1929 and 1930, in a statistical manner. The experiments for each sex, year and place have been resolved into experiments with an average plaice during the “average” 14 days of the third growth season. Growth and food-percentage indices have been provided and a fairly high degree of correlation between food and growth has been indicated, and shown to be uniform for the sexes. Regression coefficients indicating the facility with which food is utilised for purposes of growth have been worked out and have been shown to vary with place and year, but not with sex. Maintenance demands have been evaluated and shown to be slightly greater in males than in females. The diminished demands during winter months have also been evaluated. The outstanding features of the results are the distinct differences shown between the Cawsand and Lympstone plaice, which differences it is suggested arise out of size differences to a large extent.

Impacts of the trematode parasite Zoögonus rubellus on individuals of its host, the infaunal sandworm Nereis virens, were explored to assess influences that parasites might have on the structure of soft-bottom infaunal communities. Parasites were common in sandworms collected from a mudflat in Maine, with prevalence reaching 100% for large, commercial-sized sandworms and intensities of infection often exceeding 100 metacercariae per host. Parasitism was determined to be costly as sandworms exposed to parasites in the laboratory had higher mortality and foraged less on a main prey item, the amphipod Corophium volutator, than unexposed controls. As Nereis and Corophium are key intermediate-level members in infaunal communities, it is argued that parasitism of sandworms might directly and indirectly influence the structure of soft-bottom communities.

Many types of plankton net have evolved for various sampling needs, but in the main they are designed for sampling in mid-water, or over fine particulate substrates where they can operate within a sledge frame. The conventional plankton nets are mostly towed behind a boat and can only be used in areas where there are no obstacles to impede their course. Many nets are described in the literature and the reviews by Tranter et al. (1966) and the UNESCO monograph on zoological sampling methods (Tranter, 1968) give further details. Nets for taking benthic plankton are generally mounted on a sledge frame and either towed behind a boat (Russell, 1928; Wickstead, 1953), towed in shallow water by persons wading and pulling the net behind them (Colman & Segrove, 1955) or pushed by SCUBA divers (Fager et al. 1966). However, all these methods still leave the need to sample rocky areas and irregular substrates where conventional methods are not possible. Such areas are often extremely rich in planktonic organisms which appear to accumulate within the shelter offered by gulleys and depressions in the bottom topography (personal observation). Often species associated with inshore algal belts are poorly represented in conventional offshore plankton samples (Russell, 1973), and it may be that such species spend much of their larval existence close in shore or in association with shallow water reefs. The present paper describes a diver-controlled plankton net which has been designed to sample rocky areas. By having direct diver control this plankton net can be used to sample other areas where conventional methods are not appropriate.

This study aimed to examine the responses of RNA/DNA ratio in Perna viridis under different nutritional status via both field and laboratory studies, and hence evaluate the usefulness of this ratio as a rapid growth biomarker in the mussels. First, the effects of size (small: 30–40 mm; medium: 40–50 mm; large: >50 mm) and tissue type (adductor muscle, foot, gill and hepatopancreas) on the RNA/DNA ratio were investigated in P. viridis collected from three different sites with different degrees of eutrophication in Hong Kong waters. Across all sizes, the mussels collected from a fairly ‘eutrophic’ mariculture zone had significantly higher RNA/DNA ratios in their gills than those from the other two relatively clean sites. The RNA/DNA ratio in small mussels was generally higher than in medium and large individuals, though such a size effect significantly interacted with tissue type and site. Second, we conducted a 10-day comparative laboratory study to elucidate the influence of starvation and feeding on the RNA/DNA ratio in the mussels. We observed that both hepatopancreas and foot muscle generally exhibited significant and rapid response to such a short-term starvation or food addition. The present results confirmed that the RNA/DNA ratio in P. viridis is a sensitive biomarker to gauge their growth and general health condition in accordance with food availability and/or eutrophication condition.

A new species of the genus Lucernariopsis, of the family Eleutherocarpidae, is described.It is the second species of the genus to be found in British seas and the fourth in this world-wide genus.