(Table 1) Mercury concentrations and carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios in 14 marine species from West Greenland sampled between 2003-2004

Total mercury (THg), methylmercury (MeHg) and stable isotopes of nitrogen (d15N) and carbon (d13C) were measured in three invertebrate, five fish, three seabird and three marine mammal species of central West Greenland to investigate trophic transfer of mercury in this Arctic marine food web. The food web magnification factor (FWMF) estimated as the slope of the regression between the natural logarithm of THg or MeHg concentrations (mg/kg dw) and tissue d15N (per mil) was estimated to 0.183 (SE = 0.052) for THg and 0.339 (SE = 0.075) for MeHg. The FWMFs were not only comparable with those reported for other Arctic marine food webs but also with quite different food webs such as freshwater lakes in the sub-Arctic, East Africa and Papua New Guinea. This suggests similar mechanisms of mercury assimilation and isotopic (d15N) discrimination among a broad range of aquatic taxa and underlines the possibility of broad ecosystem comparisons using the combined contaminant and stable isotope approach.

Brominated flame retardants and biomagnification factors in marine species in the North-East Atlantic

BACKGROUND: Concentrations of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are reported to increase in marine ecosystems. OBJECTIVES: Characterize exposure to BFRs in animals from different trophic levels in North-East Atlantic coastal marine ecosystems along a latitudinal gradient from southern Norway to Spitsbergen, Svalbard, in the Arctic. Calanoid species were collected from the Oslofjord (59°N), Froan (64°N), and Spitsbergen (> 78°N); Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) from the Oslofjord and Froan; polar cod (Boreogadus saida) from Bear Island (74°N) and Spitsbergen; harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) from the Oslofjord, Froan, and Spitsbergen; and ringed seal (Phoca vitulina) from Spitsbergen. Eggs of common tern (Sterna hirundo) were collected from the Oslofjord, and eggs of arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea) from Froan and Spitsbergen. RESULTS: Levels of polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) generally decreased as a function of increasing latitude, reflecting distance from release sources. The clear latitudinal decrease in levels of BFRs was not pronounced in the two tern species, most likely because they are exposed during migration. The decabrominated compound BDE-209 was detected in animals from all three ecosystems, and the highest levels were found in arctic tern eggs from Spitsbergen. HBCD was found in animals from all trophic levels, except for in calanoids at Froan and Spitsbergen. CONCLUSIONS: Even though the levels of PBDEs and HBCD are generally low in North-East Atlantic coastal marine ecosystems, there are concerns about the relatively high presence of BDE-209 and HBCD.

Evidence of cryptic and pseudocryptic speciation in the Paracalanus parvus species complex (Crustacea, Copepoda, Calanoida), supplementary material

Introduction Many marine planktonic crustaceans such as copepods have been considered as widespread organisms. However, the growing evidence for cryptic and pseudo-cryptic speciation has emphasized the need of re-evaluating the status of copepod species complexes in molecular and morphological studies to get a clearer picture about pelagic marine species as evolutionary units and their distributions. This study analyses the molecular diversity of the ecologically important Paracalanus parvus species complex. Its seven currently recognized species are abundant and also often dominant in marine coastal regions worldwide from temperate to tropical oceans. Results COI and Cytochrome b sequences of 160 specimens of the Paracalanus parvus complex from all oceans were obtained. Furthermore, 42 COI sequences from GenBank were added for the genetic analyses. Thirteen distinct molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTU) and two single sequences were revealed with cladistic analyses (Maximum Likelihood, Bayesian Inference), of which seven were identical with results from species delimitation methods (barcode gaps, ABDG, GMYC, Rosenberg's P(AB)). In total, 10 to 12 putative species were detected and could be placed in three categories: (1) temperate geographically isolated, (2) warm-temperate to tropical wider spread and (3) circumglobal warm-water species. Conclusions The present study provides evidence of cryptic or pseudocryptic speciation in the Paracalanus parvus complex. One major insight is that the species Paracalanus parvus s.s. is not panmictic, but may be restricted in its distribution to the northeastern Atlantic.