Metal accumulation and oxidative stress biomarkers in octopus (Octopus vulgaris) from Northwest Atlantic

Metals are ubiquitous in the environment and accumulate in aquatic organisms and are known for their ability to enhance the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In aquatic species, oxidative stress mechanisms have been studied by measuring antioxidant enzyme activities and oxidative damages in tissues. The aim of this study was to apply and validate a set of oxidative stress biomarkers and correlate responses with metal contents in tissues of common octopus (Octopus vulgaris). Antioxidant enzyme activity (catalase — CAT, superoxide dismutase — SOD and glutathione S-transferases — GST), oxidative damages (lipid peroxidation — LPO and protein carbonyl content — PCO) andmetal content (Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and As) in the digestive gland and armof octopus, collected in the NWPortuguese coast in different periods, were assessed after capture and after 14 days in captivity. CAT and SOD activitieswere highly responsive to fluctuations inmetal concentrations and able to reduce oxidative damage, LPO and PCO in the digestive gland. CAT activity was also positively correlated with SOD and GST activities, which emphasizes that the three enzymes respond in a coordinated way to metal induced oxidative stress. Our results validate the use of oxidative stress biomarkers to assess metal pollution effects in this ecological and commercial relevant species.Moreover, octopus seems to have the ability to control oxidative damage by triggering an antioxidant enzyme coordinated response in the digestive gland.

Preliminary observations on the benthic marine algae of the Gorringe seabank (northeast Atlantic Ocean)

Copyright © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg and AWI 2014.

Lethal lesions and amputation caused by plastic debris and fishing gear on the loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758). Three case reports from Terceira Island, Azores (NE Atlantic)

Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Science Ltd.

An Unprovoked Attack by a Blue Shark Prionace glauca (Chondrichthyes: Carcharhinidae) on a Spear Fisherman in Terceira Island, Azores, Northeast Atlantic

Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Role of the wider Azores region as a nursery ground for North Atlantic blue shark (Prionace glauca)

Tese de Doutoramento, Ciências do Mar (Ecologia Marinha)

Outermost european regions of the atlantic area network

This paper is part of the results from the project "Implementation Strategies and Development of an Open and Distance Education System for the University of the Azores" funded by the European Social Fund. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/2327

Feeding strategy and trophic ontogeny in Scorpaena maderensis (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae) from the Azores, NE Atlantic

Copyright © 2014 Société Française d'Ichtyologie.

Portugal - Teacher education with an atlantic flavor

Este trabalho, em co-autoria, visa divulgar os processos de internacionalização da Universidade dos Açores e da Universidade do Minho, dando conta de um conjunto diversificado de projetos na área do ensino da língua portuguesa e cultura em diferentes partes do mundo.

The genus Corallina (Corallinaceae, Corallinales, Rhodophyta) in the Azores (NE Atlantic): character expression and taxonomic evaluation

Morphological and anatomical characters used for segregating species within the genus Corallina (Corallinaceae, Rhodophyta) have been compiled and evaluated in 120 specimens collected in the Azores. The morphological, anatomical and statistical evaluation of the thirty four segregating characters for the genus Corallina performed in the present study revealed no species segregation, either showing no differences across the whole lot of specimens or being highly variable within sets of plants. This suggests that all studied material belongs to one species, so far Ellisolandia elongata (formely Corallina elongata), thus reinforcing old proposed synonyms. A morphological and anatomical account is provided for this species, considering the whole set of studied specimens.

A new species of Malacoctenus from the Cape Verde Islands, eastern Atlantic (Pisces Teleostei, Labrisomidae)

Malacoctenus carrowi is described on the basis of three specimens from the Cape Verde Islands. The species is most similar to the only other eastern Atlantic species of the same genus, Malacoctenus africanus Cadenat, 1951. M. carrowi differs in colouration, a more elongated body, longer snout length, lower lateral line scale count and the absence of scales on the breast and is probably endemic to the Cape Verde Islands. A key to the Atlantic species of Malacoctenus is provided.

Rhodolith forming coralline algae in the Upper Miocene of Santa Maria Island (Azores, NE Atlantic) : a critical evaluation

The Late Miocene Malbusca outcrop is located in the southeastern coast of Santa Maria Island (Azores, NE Atlantic), interspersed in volcanic formations. At ~20 meters above present sea level, a prominent discontinuous layer of rhodoliths seizes with an extension of ~250 meters. This paper presents the first taxonomic record of fossil rhodolith forming coralline algae for the Miocene of the Azores. The preserved taxonomic features used were the following: (1) arrangement of basal filaments, (2) epithallial cells (when observable), (3) presence of cell fusions, (4) conceptacle type, (5) number of cells layers which conceptacle chamber floors are situated below the surrounding thallus surface and (6) for the sporangial pores, the orientation of the filaments around the conceptacle pores. Based on these characters, six taxa were identified encompassing three Corallinaceae (Lithophyllum prototypum, Lithophyllum sp., Spongites sp., Hydrolithon sp.) and one Hapalidaceae (Phymatolithon calcareum and cf. Phymatolithon sp.). An unidentified coaxial thallus was also present, the coaxial construction ascribing the specimens to the genus Mesophyllum or Neogoniolithon. Taxonomic accounts for the identified taxa are described, illustrated and an identification key is provided. The report of L prototypum represents the first Miocene record and the preservation of the specimens is very good. Miocene coralline algae seem very consistent among deposits but some species are relevant for particular areas, like in the Azores.

Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) ecology and management in the North Atlantic

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências do Mar, especialidade em Ecologia Marinha.

Behavioural ecology of the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus in the North Atlantic Ocean

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências do Mar, especialidade em Ecologia Marinha.

Records of predatory, con-specific and human induced mauls on fish from the Northeast Atlantic and Black Sea

Present study aims to describe records of mauled and con-specific injures in various fish inhabiting different environment and to discuss possible impacts on fish behavior and ontogenesis. The fish specimens were collected from the Black Sea and Azores Islands (NE Atlantic). Individuals of European flounder, Pleuronectes flesus, common stingray, Dasyatis pastinaca and turbot, Scophthalmus maximus with missing dorsal and caudal fins and flesh, were found in the Black Sea. Specimens with severe mauls of the ocean sunfish, Mola mola, almaco jack, Seriola rivoliana and sargo, Diplodus sargus were recorded from the Azores Islands. All of them were caught alive and survived severe mauls caused by predators or by accidents with propellers, fishing nets. The NE Atlantic records, although possibly caused by natural predation, are more probably than not the result of negative interactions with human activity. Numerous records of mauled fish species from both regions show that the problem with adverse effects of fisheries is quite important. Predatory and con-specific injuries obviously are compatible with basic fish vital functions of described cases. The problem with negative anthropogenic interactions seems to be insufficiently investigated and need more attention by responsible managers and decision makers.

Convective patterns under the Indo-Atlantic << box >>

Using fluid mechanics, we reinterpret the mantle images obtained from global and regional tomography together with geochemical, geological and paleomagnetic observations, and attempt to unravel the pattern of convection in the Indo-Atlantic "box" and its temporal evolution over the last 260 Myr. The << box >> presently contains a) a broad slow seismic anomaly at the CMB which has a shape similar to Pangea 250 Myr ago, and which divides into several branches higher in the lower mantle, b) a "superswell, centered on the western edge of South Africa, c) at least 6 "primary hotspots" with long tracks related to traps, and d) numerous smaller hotspots. In the last 260 Myr, this mantle box has undergone 10 trap events, 7 of them related to continental breakup. Several of these past events are spatially correlated with present-day seismic anomalies and/or upwellings. Laboratory experiments show that superswells, long-lived hotspot tracks and traps may represent three evolutionary stages of the same phenomenon, i.e. episodic destabilization of a hot, chemically heterogeneous thermal boundary layer, close to the bottom of the mantle. When scaled to the Earth's mantle, its recurrence time is on the order of 100-200 Myr. At any given time, the Indo-Atlantic box should contain 3 to 9 of these instabilities at different stages of their development, in agreement with observations. The return flow of the downwelling slabs, although confined to two main << boxes >> (Indo-Atlantic and Pacific) by subduction zone geometry, may therefore not be passive, but rather take the form of active thermochemical instabilities. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.