This study investigated the emission of subaquatic noise from recreational tourism motorboats, schooners and a sea-bottom mounted water pump. Analyses demonstrated alterations in several whistle (IF: t = 2.42, P = 0.015; FF: t = −2.22, P = 0.025) and calls patterns (MIF: t = −3.13, P = 0.001; MAF: t = −3.49, P = 0.0005; FD: t = −2.21, P = 0.027; D: t = 2.89, P = 0.004), caused primarily by motorboats. Duration of clicks was also modified (D: t = −3.85, P = 0.0001), mainly by the water pump. The frequency range of all noises (0.43–35.8 kHz) overlaps that used by dolphins (1–48 kHz), causing sound emissions changes, with a considerable increase in number of whistles and a reduction in clicks trains. These changes may be a strategy developed by these dolphins to overcome the noise band. Mitigation measures, such as boating regulations and environmental education for the local community, boaters and tourists are needed to conserve the species. The Guiana dolphin population is apparently already suffering, evidenced by diminished residence time and reduced number of individuals entering the inlet during the presence of pleasure craft.

The ‘Shinkai Seep Field’ is a serpentinite-hosted chemosynthetic ecosystem in the Southern Mariana Forearc. In June 2015 the site was revisited and a number of rissoiform gastropods were collected. Taxonomic investigations revealed that these specimens represent a hitherto undescribed species of Provanna (Gastropoda: Abyssochrysoidea), described herein as Provanna cingulata n. sp. This new species is characterized by numerous spiral keels, lack of significant axial sculpture, rounded and inflated whorls, and large size for the genus. With the shell height exceeding 16.5 mm (may reach 20 mm), it is the largest Provanna species known thus far. Phylogenetic analysis using 411 bp of the cytochrome oxidase c subunit I (COI) gene confirmed its systematic placement within the genus Provanna. This is the only gastropod from a family endemic to chemosynthetic ecosystems thus far known from the ‘Shinkai Seep Field’. Furthermore, with a collection depth of 5687 m, it represents the deepest known bathymetric range for the superfamily Abyssochrysoidea as a whole.

Global warming is facilitating the poleward range expansion of plant and animal species. In the Mediterranean Sea, the concurrent temperature increase and abundance of (sub)tropical non-indigenous species (NIS) is leading to the so-called ‘tropicalization’ of the Mediterranean Sea, which is dramatically evident in the south-eastern sectors of the basin. At the same time, the colder north-western sectors of the basin have been said to undergo a process of ‘meridionalization’, that is the establishment of warm-water native species (WWN) previously restricted to the southern sectors. The Gulf of Genoa (Ligurian Sea) is the north-western reach for southern species of whatever origin in the Mediterranean. Recent (up to 2015) observations of NIS and WWN by diving have been collated to update previous similar inventories. In addition, the relative occurrences of both groups of southern species have been monitored by snorkelling between 2009 and 2015 in shallow rocky reefs at Genoa, and compared with the trend in air and sea surface temperatures. A total of 20 southern species (11 NIS and 9 WWN) was found. Two WWN (the zebra seabream Diplodus cervinus and the parrotfish Sparisoma cretense) and three NIS (the SW Atlantic sponge Paraleucilla magna, the Red Sea polychaete Branchiomma luctuosum, and the amphi-American and amphi-Atlantic crab Percnon gibbesi) are new records for the Ligurian Sea, whereas juveniles of the Indo-Pacific bluespotted cornetfish Fistularia commersonii have been found for the first time. While temperature has kept on increasing for the whole period, with 2014 and 2015 being the warmest years since at least 1950, the number of WWN increased linearly, that of NIS increased exponentially, contradicting the idea of meridionalization and supporting that of tropicalization even in the northern sectors of the Mediterranean basin.

We investigated the influence of the Changjiang diluted waters (CDW) on the distribution of nanophytoplankton (<20 µm) abundance and biomass in the northern East China Sea (ECS) during two research cruises conducted in the summers of 2010 and 2012, using flow cytometry. Each group of nanophytoplankton responded differently to the distribution of the CDW. In the surface layer, Synechococcus 1 which has low orange fluorescence, a major component of summer nanophytoplankton, were more abundant under the large extension of CDW to the northern ECS in August 2010, whereas the abundance of other groups including Synechococcus 2 which has high orange fluorescence, and pico- and nano-eukaryotes (0.2–2 and 2–20 µm in diameter, respectively), dramatically increased under the small extension of CDW in August 2012. The subsurface chl-a maximum layer became more developed under the small extension of CDW, and was dominated by nano-eukaryotes. During two study periods, environmental characteristics in the CDW also showed annual variations, with higher seawater temperature, lower salinity, and higher nitrate concentration in the surface layer of the CDW in August 2010. The summer distributions of Synechococcus and nano-eukaryotes were likely to be limited by low salinity and high temperature, respectively, indicating that phytoplankton distribution could be influenced not only by the extension level of the CDW but also by the change of the environmental characters of the CDW.

Free-living nematodes were investigated in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea), a semi-enclosed basin of strategic importance for its complex productive infrastructure but in need of remediation due to the alarming amounts of heavy metals and synthetic organic contaminants in the sediments. Abundance, genera composition, biodiversity and trophic traits of nematodes were related to the gradual transition from marine to more brackish conditions and to the varying levels of contaminants in different sub-areas of the basin. Nematodes were more abundant and diverse at the most marine site while low numbers and diversity characterized the most contaminated station. Going towards the innermost part of the basin, gradually increasing values of abundance and biodiversity were observed although the assemblage was susceptible to the organic enrichment caused by mussel farms. The use of nematodes as ecological indicators mirrored the response of the assemblage to the main patterns acting in the basin (High/Good scores at the most marine site and Poor/Bad scores at the most contaminated station), giving a clear indication of environmental quality to stakeholders/authority that can contribute to address remediation actions in contaminated sediments.

Using Irish strandings data collected between 2002 and 2014, seasonal and annual trends in the number of strandings for all strandings identified to species level (N = 1480), and for the five most frequently reported species: common dolphin (25.7% of records), harbour porpoise (22.2%), long-finned pilot whale (8.8%), striped dolphin (6.9%) and bottlenose dolphin (6.9%) were investigated. With the exception of bottlenose dolphins, there was a significant linear increase in the number of strandings across years for all species and for all strandings collectively, that were identified to species-level. Only common dolphins demonstrated a significant increase in the proportion of records relative to all other strandings, which may be indicative of a real rise in the number of strandings of this species. Common dolphins and harbour porpoises showed a similar significant difference in monthly strandings, with more strandings occurring during the earlier months of the year. Significant differences in the gender of stranded animals were found in common, striped, bottlenose and Atlantic white-sided dolphins and sperm and pygmy sperm whales. Live and mass stranding events were primarily comprised of pelagic species. Most strandings occurred on the south and west coasts, with two hotspots for live and mass strandings identified. The patterns and trends identified are discussed in relation to the caveats in interpreting strandings data. Specifically to Ireland, the findings highlight the urgent need to build on the current volunteer reporting network and augment this comprehensive dataset with post-mortem examinations to better understand the cause of the trends identified. The importance of strandings data in informing conservation and management guidelines of these species’ is discussed.

Gelatinous zooplankton are an abundant and diverse group of animals in the pelagic environment. However, knowledge of species diversity and spatial distributions, as well as their ecological role, is scarce. We present information of epi- and mesopelagic gelatinous zooplankton recorded by the ‘DeepSee’ submersible between 2006 and 2012 at Isla del Coco (Cocos Island), Costa Rica, an oceanic island in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Two species of scyphomedusae, three species of hydromedusae, two genera of siphonophores, and two species of ctenophores were observed in the videos, at depths between 50 and 400 m. None of these species had been previously recorded in the waters around the island. Furthermore, except for the jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca and a siphonophore in the genus Praya, all are new records for Costa Rican waters. This study also includes the first record of the cnidarians Modeeria rotunda, Solmissus sp., Halitrephes maasi and Apolemia spp., and the ctenophore Thalassocalyce inconstans in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. We show that surveys in regions with little information about gelatinous zooplankton may broaden our knowledge of their natural history and may result in new records of gelatinous species.

The Black Sea subspecies of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus ponticus) is threatened and has a small range. Its population structure is little known: it possibly includes a few local coastal populations. We assessed connectivity between coastal groupings in six localities along 800 km of the coastline based on records of photo-identified animals between 2004 and 2014. Abundance of these groupings, as estimated, ranged between 76 and 174 individually distinctive dolphins. In total, there were 350 identified individuals, of which 91 (26%) were resighted within the same areas. However, only three cases of individual movements between local coastal populations were recorded at the distances between 135 and 325 km. Therefore, despite the absence of physical barriers, the coastal Black Sea population is fragmented into numerous resident or locally migrating groupings with site fidelity. These local populations are loosely connected to each other with rare movements between them. This fragmentation can be a factor contributing to short-term fluctuations in abundance of Black Sea bottlenose dolphins and their decline in some localities, despite the potentially high population growth rate.

Genetic connectivity directly shapes the demographic profile of marine species, and has become one of the most intensely researched areas in marine ecology. More importantly, it has changed the way we design and describe Marine Protected Areas across the world. Population genetics is the preferred tool when measuring connectivity patterns, however, these methods often assume that dispersal patterns are (1) natural and (2) follow traditional metapopulation models. In this short review, we formally introduce the phenomenon of cryptic dispersal, where multiple introductory events can undermine these assumptions, resulting in grossly inaccurate connectivity estimates. We also discuss the evolutionary consequences of cryptic dispersal and advocate for a cross-disciplinary approach that incorporates larval transport models into population genetic studies to provide a level of oceanographic realism that will result in more accurate estimates of dispersal. As globalized trade continues to expand, the rate of anthropogenic movement of marine organisms is also expected to increase and as such, integrated methods will be required to meet the inevitable conservation challenges that will arise from it.

There is growing concern about the impact of contemporaneous ocean acidification on marine ecosystems, but strong evidence for predicting the consequences is still scant. We have used the gastropod Trophon geversianus as a study model for exploring the importance of oceanographic variables (sea surface temperature, chlorophyll a, oxygen, calcite and pH) on large-scale latitudinal variation in mean shell length and relative shell weight. Data were collected from a survey carried out in 34 sites along ~1600 km. Neither shell length nor relative shell weight showed any monotonic latitudinal trend, and the patterns of spatial variability were rather complex. After correcting for spatial autocorrelation, only pH showed a significant correlation with mean shell length and relative shell weight, but contrary to expectations, the association was negative in both cases. We hypothesize that this could mirror the negative effect of acidification on growth rate, which may cause larger asymptotic size. Latitudinal trends of body size variation are not easy to generalize using ecogeographic rules, and may be the result of a complex interaction of environmental drivers and life-history responses.

Long-term population dynamics of marine invertebrates can be shaped by environmental conditions as well as biotic factors, including predation, diseases, interspecific or intraspecific competition. Towards the northern edge of species ranges the role of biotic interactions gradually decreases while the impact of climate oscillations becomes more important. This study examined the long-term changes in abundance, individual growth rates and shell shape characteristics of Macoma balthica, one of the dominant species in White Sea soft-bottom intertidal communities. To test the role of predators in changes in clam abundance, we examined the number of moonsnails Amauropsis islandica. Macoma balthica exhibited spatially synchronous population dynamics at six sites in Kandalaksha Bay, where densities of clams varied between 140 and 8500 ind. m−2 during the 21-year period of observations. Statistical modelling using generalized additive models (GAM) shows that a combination of mild winter and warm summer led to an increase in M. balthica density the following year. Predation by A. islandica had no impact on changes in M. balthica density. Growth rates of M. balthica were higher during a cool decade, but clams that lived in a warmer period were characterized by more globose shells. Our results suggest that the climate oscillations can be regarded as the key factor causing the shift in abundance of M. balthica in the White Sea during the last two decades via recruitment and survival.

Harmful algal blooms caused by raphidophyte species of the genus Chattonella (i.e. Chattonella antiqua, Chattonella marina and Chattonella ovata) have been documented in temperate coastal regions around the world. To understand the effects of physicochemical factors on bloom development of Chattonella spp., we investigated the variations of vegetative and resting cells (i.e. cysts) of Chattonella spp. and environmental variables in two coastal environments, Uranouchi Inlet (extremely closed) and Nomi Inlet (semi-closed), with contrasting enclosed natures. Although the vegetative cells and cysts of Chattonella spp. were distributed in both coastal regions, the densities were remarkably higher in Uranouchi Inlet than in Nomi Inlet. The mud content in the sediments of Uranouchi Inlet was also higher than that in the sediments of Nomi Inlet, meaning that fine particles such as cysts are likely to accumulate in the former region. Because of the extremely closed nature of Uranouchi Inlet, warm oceanic waters of the Kuroshio Current penetrate the inlet only infrequently. These results suggest that the closed nature of coastal regions is an important factor influencing either water exchange or the resultant accumulation of Chattonella cells in coastal environments.

The number of non-indigenous aquatic species (NIS) has rapidly increased globally. The majority of published evidence on the effects of NIS on local communities is from single species studies in which the interactive effects of NIS are not considered. Here we present experimental evidence of separate and interactive effects of two widespread non-indigenous benthic predators, the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) and the North American mud crab (Rhithropanopeus harrisii) on benthic invertebrate communities in a shallow coastal ecosystem of the Gulf of Riga, the Baltic Sea. The two species have recently colonized multiple sub-basins of the Baltic Sea and due to their rapid range expansion, increasing densities and local functional novelty, they are expected to have strong separate or interactive effects on native communities. Our laboratory experiment demonstrated that round goby and mud crab exerted a significant predation pressure on different benthic invertebrate species and the effects of the studied predators were largely independent. Predation was stronger at higher temperature compared with low temperature treatment. Among the studied invertebrate species gammarid amphipods were consumed the most. Interestingly, round goby did not prey on the mud crabs despite a large size difference of the studied predators.

Megabenthic soft bottom communities of trawlable grounds have been studied since the first few decades of the last century, thanks to trawl fishing technologies. Despite providing an extensive amount of presence data, trawling cannot be considered reliable from a quantitative point of view, frequently giving only weak information about sessile species density, large and small-scale distribution and main habitat features. The recent development of visual technologies on remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) can give a more accurate approach for the study of mega-epibenthic communities. The present study reports the application of both ROV imaging and trawling approaches for the study of a large aggregation (i.e. field) of the red sea pen Pennatula rubra in the Ionian Sea. Density, biomass and population structure were studied in the same population of P. rubra. The density assessed by ROV was significantly higher than that estimated with a three-year series of trawling surveys. Trawling gear efficiency in the removal of P. rubra was low overall. Incidental mortality can be very high due to damage to those specimens that encounter the trawl net but are not directly captured. However, sampling of several colonies by trawling was necessary to establish biometric correlations to estimates of size and biomass from ROV imaging. Trawling catch abundance/biomass data could be useful to identify areas of higher concentration of sea pens, while ROV imaging can be used to monitor these fields in a non-destructive manner that would be consistent with protection measures.

The size at first maturity of the bivalve Brachidontes rodriguezii was estimated in a population located in the northernmost limit of its distribution along Argentinean coast. Specimens were collected in two consecutive reproductive seasons from December 2011 to February 2012 and from December 2012 to February 2013. Individuals were evaluated using biometric and histological analyses of the gonads. This study intended to provide important information about the development of gonadal tissue according to shell length increase. Our results showed immature specimens lack gonads or exhibited groups of cells undergoing mitosis adjacent to the epithelium of the mantle and the tubules of the digestive gland. Male and female gonad development extended to mantle lobes and visceral mass as long as maturation occurred to reach sexual maturity. Using a logistic model our results showed that the size at which 50% of females were mature at a gonadal level was 7.05 mm in shell length; in males, 50% of the population were mature at 8.13 mm in shell length. The minimum shell length at which maturity was observed was 6.99 mm in shell length in females and 6.00 mm in shell length for males.