The present paper focuses on the first report of Ischnochiton (I.) yerburyi from Chabahar Bay, the Iranian coast of Oman. The morphological features and distribution information are considered.

Information on morphological abnormalities in the cephalic region of three female blue sharks' (Prionace glauca) foetuses found in Baja California Sur, Mexico, is included. In one foetus with bicephaly, the liver was shared. In the other two foetuses they do not have eyes, and part of their snout was not well-developed, with malformations in cranial cartilage and gill slits. A possible explanation for these deformities in blue shark embryos is that the blue shark is the most fecund shark worldwide with the highest number of embryos produced and not all embryos can be developed in their small uteri.

Dictyopteris prolifera, a marine algae (Phaeophyceae) native to Asian waters (Japan), has been collected recently on the western coast of the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico. Its finding represents the first record of this non-indigenous species on the Mexican Pacific coast, which also means a new record for American waters. Dictyopteris prolifera was found in June and September 2010, growing attached to rocks in the intertidal zone at Punta Morro Redondo, Cedros Island in Baja California, Mexico. Direct observations in the field about its abundance and size showed that D. prolifera has established as a permanent species. The mean length of specimens of this population is ~25 cm. Results of a monitoring programme show an increasing record of non-indigenous species on the coast of Baja California, mainly derived from ship traffic.

Paralacydoniids are a small group of burrowing polychaetes, with adults reaching ~10 cm in length. The prostomium is subconical, distally bearing two pairs of frontal appendages; the pharynx is eversible and distally papillate and jaws are absent. The parapodia are biramous, except the first segment which is uniramous. Both rami are widely separated, with long, flattened pre- and post-chaetal lobes, interramal cilia and short digitiform dorsal and ventral cirri. The notochaetae are simple, and the neurochaetae are compound spiniger. The posterior end bears a pair of long cirri. A single species, Paralacydonia paradoxa, has been considered valid. Two other named taxa, Paralacydonia weberi and Paralacydonia mortenseni, are usually considered synonyms of P. paradoxa, although a revision has not been undertaken. Paralacydoniids were collected during the Habitats Project–Campos Basin Environmental Heterogeneity coordinated by CENPES/PETROBRAS, of which the first campaign was held in June–July 2008 and the second campaign in January–February 2009. In all, 289 specimens were observed under the light microscope, and some by means of scanning electron microscopy. The paralacydoniids, collected at depths between 380 and 2514 m, were 0.4 to 19 mm in total length, the largest with 74 chaetigers; the size is related to the number of chaetigers.

The Asian egg-carrying copepod Pseudodiaptomus marinus (Crustacea: Copepoda: Calanoida) was recorded for the first time in two different areas of the North Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean Sea). Its introduction was probably due to human activity linked to vessel traffic or aquaculture.

The first documented occurrence of a basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, in the Gulf of Mexico was reported off Sarasota, Florida in 1969 and was considered peculiar as the species is considered to be limited to cold water habitats. Recently, four separate sightings of individual basking sharks within the northern Gulf of Mexico have occurred indicating the species, while not common, might not be as rare in the region as once considered. All four sightings occurred in shallow coastal waters off northern Florida during March of 2010, 2011. Analyses of satellite imagery indicated that the presence of basking sharks in north-eastern Gulf of Mexico waters coincided with an intrusion of oceanic Loop Current waters into coastal waters.

This is the first record of an octopus (Octopus insularis) being followed by a Lutjanus species (Lutjanus jocu). The interaction was observed within the limits of the Fernando de Noronha Marine National Park, north-western Brazil and lasted for approximately 30 minutes, covering a distance of 40 metres. Similar food preferences and benthic foraging habits between the species appear to have motivated the occurrence of this behaviour.

Nemerteans are common and often abundant constituents of intertidal fouling communities on jetties along Atlantic coastal inlets and groins of high-energy sandy beaches in South Carolina (SC) and elsewhere in the south-eastern United States, but they are typically hidden in crevices or among sessile invertebrates and algae. Monitoring the nemertean fauna of two rock groins at Pawleys Island, SC, USA resulted in the discovery of the barnacle predator Emplectonema gracile, a widespread species known to occur in the eastern North Atlantic, North Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and on the Pacific coasts of Japan and Russia, but previously reported only along the Pacific coast of North America. Several individuals, some of which were reproductive, have been collected at this new locality four times since their initial discovery in 2007, suggesting that this species is established at these sites. It is likely this species was recently introduced, perhaps via ship hulls as adults or juveniles or from ship ballast water as larvae. This finding extends the range of this nemertean to the western North Atlantic and raises the number of confirmed species along the Atlantic coast of North America to 109.

The present paper reports the first record of occurrence in the Arabian Sea and extension of distribution of the reticulated moray Muraena retifera. A single specimen measuring 415 mm (total length) was collected in a trap kept at Vizhinjam Bay in the Arabian Sea off the south-west coast of India. The present record of this species from the Arabian Sea shows the extended range of occurrence of this species from the south-western Atlantic to the western Indian Ocean.

The capture of three specimens of Seriola rivoliana is reported from Mallorca (Balearic Islands). It represents the first report of the species in the western Mediterranean and the fourth and fifth for the whole Mediterranean. Morphometric and meristic measurements are provided, and the presence of this species and other Atlantic migrants of the genus Seriola in the Mediterranean are discussed.

Within an amphipod collection from Bora Bora (Polynesia) several species of Elasmopus were found: E. alalo Myers, 1986, E. hawaiensis Schellenberg, 1938, E. hooheno Barnard, 1970 and E. polynesus sp. nov. Among them was also a second member of Carangoliopsidae, known until now only by one genus with one single species: here is presented another species in a new genus, Kairos segregans gen. nov., sp. nov.

The north-eastern region of Venezuela includes some of the most productive marine ecosystems of the country, sustaining high abundances of fisheries resources. This feature, coupled with the high diversity of coastal ecosystems, increases the interest for the development of conservation policies to prevent and/or mitigate negative environmental impacts associated with human interventions at the area. However, previous malacological assessments made in the Araya Peninsula are mainly restricted to epibiotic molluscs associated with bivalve banks. In this vein, we performed three different surveys for soft-bottom molluscs in the intertidal (using a stainless steel corer), shallow subtidal (Eckman dredge) and subtidal (Arca zebra dredge) areas of Araya Peninsula. We found 41 species including Bivalvia, Gastropoda, one Cephalopoda and one Scaphopoda, although according to sample-based rarefaction techniques there may be several more undetected species. Since there is an ongoing project aiming to construct a shipping terminal on Araya Peninsula that could adversely affect coastal marine biodiversity in the region, the knowledge about the molluscan assemblage in the area is a key requirement for designing conservation measures.

Indo-Pacific originated foraminifera species Coscinospira acicularis individuals were found among a rich peneroplid assemblage around a submarine spring in Ilıca Bay on the west coast of Karaburun Peninsula (İzmir, Turkey). This constitutes the first observation of this species in the Mediterranean. The submarine spring is located at a depth of 2.5 m and has a temperature of 28.4°C. It is possible that the special ecological conditions created by the warm waters of the spring might have enhanced the establishment of this thermophilic species. Although the Suez Canal is considered to be the major vector for the introduction of Indo-Pacific species into the Mediterranean, its abundance in Ilıca Bay and lack of observation on the eastern Mediterranean coasts suggests that shipping is the most probable mode of introduction for this species.

The Atlantic species of the alpheid shrimp genus Parabetaeus, P. hummelincki, is reported for the first time from São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea, and Cozumel off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. These records extend the distribution range of P. hummelincki into the tropical eastern Atlantic and western Caribbean Sea, making this species amphi-Atlantic and the genus Parabetaeus fully pantropical.

Living specimens of the amphi-Atlantic asteroid Hacelia superba have been collected in different areas of Gazul mud volcano in the Gulf of Cadiz, south-western Iberian Peninsula, at depths of 380–487 m. This starfish displayed low abundances (~1 ind. 2000 m−2) in beam trawl catches on the mud vulcano and adjacent soft bottoms. The absence of previous records in this area could be due to a low sampling effort on bathyal hard bottoms of the Gulf of Cadiz, especially those of dormant mud volcanoes, as well as a possible misidentification as Hacelia attenuata that also occurs in the area but is restricted to infralittoral and circalitoral bottoms.

Aspects of the distribution and ecology of ophiuroids from shallow waters off Maceió, State of Alagoas in north-eastern Brazil were characterized. The ophiuroid fauna comprised 16 species in nine genera and seven families, including three endemic species from Brazil, Ophiocnida loveni, Ophiactis brasiliensis and Amphiura kinbergi, and also four new records for the coastal reef system off north-eastern Brazil. On coral reefs 15 species were found and Ophiothrix angulata was the most abundant species. The sandstone reefs presented six species with dominance to Ophioderma appressa. Four of these species were associated with the fouling community on piers. Ophioderma appressa and Ophioderma cinerea were common in the intertidal zone on the reef edges and tide pools on coral reefs. The results demonstrated the presence of a large number of Ophiuroidea species in the shallow waters of Maceió, and expanded their distributions to the State of Alagoas and the reef systems of north-eastern Brazil.

The stomach contents of 50 Cortez damselfish Stegastes rectifraenum captured at Los Frailes, Baja California Sur, Mexico were analysed to describe their diet. According to our results, S. rectifraenum is an omnivorous species with a preference for certain prey; invertebrates (benthic copepods) and algae (Bryopsis spp. and Ectocarpus spp.). Other animal components (Cerithium spp. and Olivella spp.) can also be found in their diet. No differences were observed between genders (analysis of similarity (ANOSIM), R = 0.002, P = 0.001) or among seasons (ANOSIM, R = 0.046, P = 0.001), therefore their food can be available all year at the rocky reef at Los Frailes.

Ergalatax junionae is a muricid gastropod endemic to the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. Following a coral bleaching event in the Persian Gulf in 2007, E. junionae was observed feeding in large numbers on local corals, notably species of Porites and Platygyra. Hitherto, it was unknown what E. junionae fed on but it is not known if this is a record of an opportunistic event or if this muricid is a corallivore as with some congeners.

In the present paper, the semelid Theora lubrica is recorded for the first time in the Atlantic Ocean, based on numerous specimens collected in the Nervión Estuary and Pasajes Port (Basque coast, south-eastern Bay of Biscay). This species is native to Japan and the Pacific coast of Asia, and has previously been introduced to other areas outside its natural range. Its presence in ports or adjacent areas, suggests that the shipping activity is the most likely pathway of introduction of this alien species in the new settlements. On the Basque coast, the possible impact of T. lubrica on native communities is still uncertain. Future surveys will help us to evaluate its introduction.