Effect of increasing sea water pCO2 on the northern Atlantic krill species Nyctiphanes couchii

Surprisingly little is known about potential effects of ocean acidification on krill of the Northern Hemisphere as ecologically very important food web component. Sub-adult individuals of the northern Atlantic krill species Nyctiphanes couchii (caught at Austevoll near Bergen, Norway, in January 2013) were exposed in the laboratory to four different levels of pCO2 (430, 800, 1,100, and 1,700 µatm) for 5 weeks in order to assess potential changes in a set of biological response variables. Survival decreased and the frequency of moulting-related deaths increased with increasing pCO2. Survival was considerably reduced at relatively high pCO2 of 1,700 µatm and tended to be negatively affected at 1,100 µatm pCO2. However, the experimental results show no significant effects of pCO2 on inter-moult period and growth at pCO2 levels below 1,100 µatm. No differences in length measurements of the carapace and uropod were observed across pCO2 levels, indicating no effect of changing carbonate chemistry on the morphology of those calciferous parts of the exoskeleton. The results suggest that sub-adult N. couchii may not suffer dramatically from predicted near-future changes in pCO2. However, potential detrimental effects on the moulting process and associated higher mortality at 1,100 µatm pCO2 cannot be excluded. Further experiments are needed in order to investigate whether early life stages of N. couchii show a different sensitivity to elevated sea water pCO2 and whether those results are transferable to other krill species of the Northern Hemisphere.

Data compilation on the biological response to ocean acidification: environmental and experimental context of data sets and related literature

The exponential growth of studies on the biological response to ocean acidification over the last few decades has generated a large amount of data. To facilitate data comparison, a data compilation hosted at the data publisher PANGAEA was initiated in 2008 and is updated on a regular basis (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.149999). By January 2015, a total of 581 data sets (over 4 000 000 data points) from 539 papers had been archived. Here we present the developments of this data compilation five years since its first description by Nisumaa et al. (2010). Most of study sites from which data archived are still in the Northern Hemisphere and the number of archived data from studies from the Southern Hemisphere and polar oceans are still relatively low. Data from 60 studies that investigated the response of a mix of organisms or natural communities were all added after 2010, indicating a welcomed shift from the study of individual organisms to communities and ecosystems. The initial imbalance of considerably more data archived on calcification and primary production than on other processes has improved. There is also a clear tendency towards more data archived from multifactorial studies after 2010. For easier and more effective access to ocean acidification data, the ocean acidification community is strongly encouraged to contribute to the data archiving effort, and help develop standard vocabularies describing the variables and define best practices for archiving ocean acidification data.

Macroparasites of allis shad (Alosa alosa) and twaite shad (Alosa fallax) of the Western Iberian Peninsula Rivers : ecological, phylogenetic and zoonotic insights

Acknowledgments The authors sincerely thank M.N. Cueto, J.M. Antonio and M.E. Garci of the ECOBIOMAR group at IIM-CSIC for molecular analysis, technical support and quality images of some parasites. M. Bao is supported by a PhD grant from the University of Aberdeen and also by financial support of the contract from the EU Project PARASITE (grant number 312068). A. Roura is supported by BFundación Barrié de la Maza^ postdoctoral fellowship and a Securing Food, Water and the Environment Research Focus Area grant (La Trobe University). This study was partially supported by a PhD grant from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) (SFRH/BD/4892/2008) and partially supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the COMPETE—Operational Competitiveness Programme and national funds through FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project BPEst-C/MAR/LA0015/2013. The authors thank the staff of the Station of Hydrobiology of the USC BEncoro do Con^ due their participation in the surveys, with special mention to J. Sánchez for separating digenean fauna existing in the stomachs of A. fallax. This work has been partially supported by the project 10PXIB2111059PR of the Xunta de Galicia and the project MIGRANET of the Interreg IV B SUDOE (South-West Europe) Territorial Cooperation Programme (SOE2/P2/E288). D.J. Nachón is supported by a PhD grant from the Xunta de Galicia (PRE/2011/198)

Population-Dynamics And Production Of Euphausiids. III Meganyctiphanes-Norvegica And Nyctiphanes-Couchi In The North-Atlantic Ocean And The North-Sea

Seasonal changes in abundance, size and aspects of the population structure of Meganyctiphanes norvegica (M. Sars) and Nyctiphanes couchi (Bell) are described from samples taken with the “Continuous Plankton Recorder” at 10 m depth over a 2 yr period (1966 and 1967) in the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. M. norvegica lived for a maximum of just over 2 yr, and adults of both year-classes spawned during a limited breeding season in the spring or summer. N. couchi spawned over a prolonged breeding season, giving rise to a complex of cohorts with overlapping size ranges. It was concluded that 3 or 4 cohorts were spawned in each year and that the maximum life span was probably greater than 1 yr, although maturity may be attained in less than a year. Estimated annual production at 10 m depth for M. norvegica ranged from 0.80 to 18.74 mg m-3yr-1 and for N. couchi from 0.67 to 8.23 mg m-3yr-1. P:B ratios ranged from 1.3:1 to 6.3:1 for M. norvegica and 4.0:1 to 5.5:1 for N. couchi.

Feeding Ecology of Humpback Whales in Continental Shelf Waters near Cordell Bank, California

Daytime feeding behavior of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Gulf of the Farallones, California, and adjacent waters was observed during autumn of 1988 to 1990. Bodega Canyon, Cordell Bank, and the Farallon Islands were the primary sites of feeding activity. Fecal samples of whales and zooplankton tows contained euphausiids exclusively, dominated by Thysanoessa spinifera (79%), with lesser amounts of Euphausia pacifica (14%), Nyctiphanes simplex (4%), and Nematoscelis difficilis (3%). In 1988 and 1990, whales also were infrequently observed feeding on small schooling fish, presumably Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii), northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax), and juvenile rockfish (Sebastes spp.). Feeding was the most common behavior observed (52%), and less frequently traveling (23%), milling (21 %), and resting (4%). Whales used different methods to consume euphausiid prey at the surface (0-10 m), in shallow water (11-60 m), and deep water (61-140 m). Humpback whales fed at the surface 56% of time in 1988 and 32% of time in 1990, using primarily lateral lunges to capture swarms of euphausiids. In 1989, no surface feeding was observed; however, deep, long-duration dives were followed by extended surface intervals with many respirations. These 1989 observations coincided with increased prey depth as indicated by depth sounder records of diving whales and prey scattering layers. In 1989, increased prey depth and associated feeding behaviors were strongly associated with unusually high surface temperatures, calm seas, and changes in water circulation. Environmental conditions in 1989 triggered the most intense and wide-spread occurrence of red tide in this region since 1980. Red tide samples collected throughout this period contained Alexandrium (=Gonyaulax) catenella and Noctiluca scintillans. Surface feeding was observed only in 1988 and 1990, when surface prey were available and red tides were very limited in extent, duration, and intensity. Annual variations in humpback whale feeding behavior were related to prey availability which is affected by corresponding environmental conditions. (PDF contains 94 pages)

Contribution à l'écologie de quelques taxons du zooplancton de Côte d'Ivoire. 4 - Euphausiaces

Euphausiids vertical distribution on the Côte d'Ivoire continental shelf during different seasons, average zonal distrubution, mean distance to the shore, and seasonal variations in abundance computed for five years, suggest that the appearance, and the shifting of euphausiids across and along the shelf are related with the variations of the distance from the shore of the ivorian under-current. The author reports that Nyctiphanes capensis has not been found in the region.

Dietary variations in three co-occurring rockfish species off the Pacific Northwest during anomalous oceanographic events in 1998 and 1999

Stomach samples from three rockfish species, yellowtail (Sebastes f lavidus), widow (S. entomelas), and canary (S. pinniger) rockfish, seasonally collected off the Pacific Northwest in 1998 and 1999, provided quantitative information on the food habits of these species during and after the 1997–98 El Niño event. Although euphausiids were the most common major prey of all three predators, gelatinous zooplankton and fishes were the most commonly consumed prey items during some seasonal quarters. The influence of the El Niño event was evident in the diets. Anomalous prey items, including the southern euphausiid species Nyctiphanes simplex and juveniles of Pacific whiting (Merluccius productus) frequently appeared in the diets in the spring and summer of 1998. The results of stomach contents analyses, based on 905 stomach samples from 49 trawl hauls during seven commercial fishing trips and from 56 stations during research surveys, were consistent with the timing of occurrence and the magnitude of change in biomass of some zooplankton species reported from zooplankton studies in the northern California Current during the 1997–98 El Niño. Our findings indicate that the observed variations of prey groups in some rockfish diets may be a function of prey variability related to climate and environment changes.

Continuous Plankton Records - Geographical Variations In Numerical Abundance Biomass And Production Of Euphausiids In The North-Atlantic Ocean And The North-Sea

Geographical variations in the numbers, biomass and production of euphausiids and the contribution of common species to the total are described from samples taken during 1966 and 1967 in the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea by the Continuous Plankton Recorder at 10 m depth. Euphausiids were most abundant in the central and western North Atlantic Ocean and the Norwegian Sea. Thysanoessa longicaudata (Krøyer) was numerically dominant. Biomass was greatest in the Norwegian Sea and the north-eastern North Sea where Meganyctiphanes norvegica (M. Sars) accounted for 81 and 59%, respectively, of the total biomass. Production was highest off Nova Scotia and in Iberian coastal waters; the dominant species were T. raschi (M. Sars) in the former area and Nyctiphanes couchi (Bell) in the latter. The mean P:B ratios were correlated with temperature.

Ecology of the invertebrate macrofauna of a Ria Formosa lagoon salt marsh

Tese de doutoramento, Ecologia, Faculdade de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente, Universidade do Algarve, 2003

Abundance and biomass of the benthic infauna of the North Sea

In 1986 participants of the Benthos Ecology Working Group of ICES conducted a synoptic mapping of the infauna of the southern and central North Sea. Together with a mapping of the infauna of the northern North Sea by Eleftheriou and Basford (1989, doi:10.1017/S0025315400049158) this provides the database for the description of the benthic infauna of the whole North Sea in this paper. Division of the infauna into assemblages by TWINSPAN analysis separated northern assemblages from southern assemblages along the 70 m depth contour. Assemblages were further separated by the 30, 50 m and 100 m depth contour as well as by the sediment type. In addition to widely distributed species, cold water species do not occur further south than the northern edge of the Dogger Bank, which corresponds to the 50 m depth contour. Warm water species were not found north of the 100 m depth contour. Some species occur on all types of sediment but most are restricted to a special sediment and therefore these species are limited in their distribution. The factors structuring species distributions and assemblages seem to be temperature, the influence of different water masses, e.g. Atlantic water, the type of sediment and the food supply to the benthos.