Articles

The occurrence of mobulid rays at St Helena Island, Cardno seamount and Bonaparte seamount in the South Atlantic and its significance for conservation

Data from 369 sightings of mobulid rays from St Helena Island, Cardno and Bonaparte seamounts in the South Atlantic are summarised. 50 % (183) of sightings were observed from a boat, 48 % (176) of sightings we...

Authors: Annalea Beard, Leeann Henry, Samantha Cherrett and Alistair D.M. Dove

Correction to: A new range-extending record of the invasive sea squirt Styela clava in the north of Scotland

Authors: Andrew Want and Jenni E. Kakkonen

First faunistic results on Valencia (Cresques) Seamount, with some ecological considerations

The living and dead fauna of Valencia Seamount, a deep promontory in the middle of the Balearic Basin which summit is at ca. 1100 m depth, is described by first time based in a rock dredge perfomed in a sedime...

Authors: J. E. Cartes, D. Díaz-Viñolas, V. Papiol, A. Lombarte, A. Serrano, A. Carbonell, C. Salas, S. Gofas, S. Parra, D. Palomino and D. Lloris

Geographical range expansion of Nitzschia volvendirostrata Ashworth, Dąbek & Witkowski, 2016 (Bacillariophyta: Bacillariaceae) based on morphological and molecular analysis

In diatoms the use of molecular tools to corroborate traditional (morphological) identification offers a new perspective in the field of biogeography. This manuscript reports the first record of the raphid pen...

Authors: María Concepción Lora-Vilchis, Gopal Murugan and Francisco Omar López-Fuerte

A new range-extending record of the invasive sea squirt Styela clava in the north of Scotland

A new record of an individual of the invasive sea squirt, Styela clava, is reported from Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland. This represents a 1.54° latitudinal extension (168 km) from the previous northern-most reco...

Authors: Andrew Want and Jenni E. Kakkonen

Fishes of Lakshadweep archipelago: new records, review and a revised checklist

Extensive studies on fish diversity in Lakshadweep waters began with Jones and Kumaran’s in 1964. Reports after these authors were sparse and sporadic until the turn of this century. Although recent reports ha...

Authors: Rajkumar Rajan, P. T. Rajan, S. S. Mishra, Abdul Raheem C. N., Shrinivaasu S., Surendar C. and Damodhar A. T.

Cetacean strandings along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua from 2014 to 2021

Documenting marine mammal strandings provides important information needed to understand the occurrence and distribution patterns of species. Here, we report on strandings of cetaceans on the Pacific (n = 11) and...

Authors: Joëlle De Weerdt, Eric Angel Ramos, Etienne Pouplard, Marc Kochzius and Phillip Clapham

First record of Goldlined seabream Rhabdosargus sarba (Forsskål 1775), Sparidae, in the Mediterranean Sea (Syrian waters)

This paper presents the first record of Rhabdosargus sarba (Forsskål 1775) in the Mediterranean Sea and the Syrian marine waters. One specimen (163 mm TL, 66.45 g TW) was caught by trammel nets at a depth range b...

Authors: Nader Hamwi and Nour Ali-Basha

A review of the diversity and impact of invasive non-native species in tropical marine ecosystems

Tropical marine ecosystems are biologically diverse and economically invaluable. However, they are severely threatened from impacts associated with climate change coupled with localized and regional stressors,...

Authors: Parisa Alidoost Salimi, Joel C. Creed, Melanie M. Esch, Douglas Fenner, Zeehan Jaafar, Juan C. Levesque, Anthony D. Montgomery, Mahsa Alidoost Salimi, J. K. Patterson Edward, K. Diraviya Raj and Michael Sweet

Sightings trends and behaviour of manta rays in Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Brazil

Despite substantial progress in mobulid research over the past decade, knowledge gaps in manta ray ecology and behaviour remain, particularly in the South Atlantic Ocean. Opportunistic photographic and video r...

Authors: Nayara Bucair, Stephanie K. Venables, Ana Paula Balboni and Andrea D. Marshall

First record of two sublittoral amphipods from Hawai‘i

The first record of two genera of sublittoral amphipods, Autonoe Bruzelius, 1859 and Perioculodes G.O. Sars, 1892, is provided for Hawai‘i. The specimens most closely match Autonoe seurati (Chevreux 1907) and Per...

Authors: Ken Longenecker

First record and range extension of the transversely-dividing azooxanthellate coral Truncatoflabellum mortenseni Cairns and Zibrowius, 1997 (Scleractinia, Flabellidae) in the Persian Gulf, Western Indo-Pacific Ocean

In the Persian Gulf, Azooxanthellate Scleractinia remain understudied compared to their symbiotic counterparts. Here, we report the presence of azooxanthellate coral Truncatoflabellum mortenseni (Cairns & Zibrowi...

Authors: Abdolvahab Maghsoudlou, Parisa Alidoost Salimi and Fereidoon Owfi

First record of pilotfish Naucrates ductor (Linnaeus 1758), Carangidae, in the syrian marine waters (Levantine Basin)

This paper presents the first record of Naucrates ductor ( Linnaeus 1758) from Syrian waters. One specimen (300 mm TL, 294.29 g TW) was caught by purse-seine nets at about 60 m depth from Lattakia coast, on 25 Se...

Authors: Nour Ali-Basha, Adib Saad, Nader Hamwi and Abdullah Tufahha

Decapod crustaceans associated with macroinvertebrates in Pacific Costa Rica

Decapod crustaceans are a diverse group that exploits various types of habitats in Costa Rica, where they represent 8.1% of the marine diversity of the country. This group includes families containing species ...

Authors: Carolina Salas-Moya, Rita Vargas-Castillo, Juan José Alvarado, Juan Carlos Azofeifa-Solano and Jorge Cortés

First record of a southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) in Sri Lankan waters

An unusual sighting of a juvenile southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina), outside its typical range, was recorded off the southern coast of Sri Lanka between 20th November and 20th December 2019. The individua...

Authors: Asha de Vos

The first record of a Longman’s beaked whale (Indopacetus pacificus) newborn neonate found on Miyako Island, Okinawa, Japan

The Longman’s beaked whale (Indopacetus pacificus) is one of the rarest cetaceans worldwide. Since it was first described as its own species in 1926, they have been observed alive at sea on several occasions, and...

Authors: Nozomi Kobayashi, Sachie Ozawa, Nozomi Hanahara, Koji Tokutake, Takaaki Kaneshi, Ken Inoue, Haruna Okabe, Kei Miyamoto and Keiichi Ueda

First documented record of the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) from Djibouti waters

A subadult leatherback turtle was documented in the Gulf of Goubet (Djibouti) during a research expedition. This sighting confirms for the first time previous anecdotal observations of the occurrence of the le...

Authors: Ginevra Boldrocchi, Jennifer V. Schmidt and David P. Robinson

First records of Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris, G. Cuvier 1823) strandings along the Tunisian coast

The Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) is the only member of the Ziphiidae family with a regular occurrence in the Mediterranean Sea. Much of the knowledge of this species in the Mediterranean has come f...

Authors: Sami Karaa, Hassen Jerbi, Sondes Marouani, Mohamed Nejmeddine Bradai and Massimiliano Rosso

First records of the megamouth shark Megachasma pelagios (Taylor, Compagno & Struhsaker, 1983) as bycatch in Peruvian small-scale net fisheries

Between October 2018 and October 2019, seven megamouth sharks were reported as bycatch in the small-scale surface and midwater gillnet fisheries operating from the ports of Mancora and Salaverry in northern Pe...

Authors: Nicolas Acuña-Perales, Francisco Córdova-Zavaleta, Joanna Alfaro-Shigueto and Jeffrey C. Mangel

Widest geographic distribution of a shallow and mesophotic antipatharian coral (Anthozoa: Hexacorallia): Antipathes grandis VERRILL, 1928 – confirmed by morphometric and molecular analyses

We provide the first record of the shallow and mesophotic (< 150 m depth) antipatharian coral Antipathes grandis VERRILL, 1928 from the Indian Ocean. First described from Hawaii, A. grandis was recently found on ...

Authors: Erika Gress, Dennis M. Opresko, Mercer R. Brugler, Daniel Wagner, Igor Eeckhaut and Lucas Terrana

The lower bathyal and abyssal seafloor fauna of eastern Australia

Our knowledge of the benthic fauna at lower bathyal to abyssal (LBA, > 2000 m) depths off Eastern Australia was very limited with only a few samples having been collected from these habitats over the last 150 ...

Authors: T. D. O’Hara, A. Williams, S. T. Ahyong, P. Alderslade, T. Alvestad, D. Bray, I. Burghardt, N. Budaeva, F. Criscione, A. L. Crowther, M. Ekins, M. Eléaume, C. A. Farrelly, J. K. Finn, M. N. Georgieva, A. Graham…

Mediterranean non indigenous species at the start of the 2020s: recent changes

The current amendments to the Mediterranean marine Non-Indigenous Species (NIS) inventory for the period 2017-2019 are the result of a continuous literature search and update of the Hellenic Centre for Marine ...

Authors: Argyro Zenetos and Marika Galanidi

First record of the Pacific oyster Magallana gigas (Thunberg, 1793) in the Baltic Sea proper

Since its introduction in the 1960’s for aquaculture, the Pacific oyster Magallana gigas (Thunberg, 1793) has successfully spread along almost all European coasts with far-reaching consequences for marine ecosyst...

Authors: Christine Ewers-Saucedo, Nele Heuer, Zoe Moesges, Kira Ovenbeck, Nicole Schröter and Dirk Brandis

Further records of Callinectes sapidus (Rathbun, 1896) (Decapoda, Brachyura, Portunidae) in the Strait of Sicily

Five specimens of the invasive American blue crab Callinectes sapidus were caught from October 2018 to December 2019 off the Mazara del Vallo harbour, Strait of Sicily. This note documents further records of the ...

Authors: Fabio Falsone, Danilo Scannella, Michele Luca Geraci, Sergio Vitale, Giacomo Sardo and Fabio Fiorentino

First record of Columbus crab Planes minutus (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Grapsidae) Linnaeus, 1758 for the northwestern Indian Ocean

Planes minutus Linnaeus, 1758 is a species of grapsid crab that is known to be symbiotically associated with various species that include but are not limited to sea turtles. This specie is known to occur in tropi...

Authors: Fadi Yaghmour and Halima Al Naqbi

Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) sightings off the coast of Virginia

We report on two sightings of individual blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) off the coast of Virginia during marine mammal surveys. On 11 April 2018, during a vessel survey off the coast of Virginia, a single bl...

Authors: Dan T. Engelhaupt, Todd Pusser, Jessica M. Aschettino, Amy G. Engelhaupt, Mark P. Cotter, Michael F. Richlen and Joel T. Bell

Establishment of an extensive breeding population of a marine pulmonate snail far poleward of its previously documented range

The California salt marsh snail Melampus olivaceus, a species from southern California, has established a thriving population in the Elkhorn Slough estuary (Monterey Bay), hundreds of kilometers north of where it...

Authors: Susanne Fork, Bruno Pernet and Kerstin Wasson

The giant devil ray Mobula mobular (Bonnaterre, 1788) is not giant, but it is the only spinetail devil ray

Mobula mobular, a mobulid species once considered a Mediterranean Sea endemic, has received its common name “giant devil ray” based on repeated misidentifications of oceanic manta rays, Mobula birostris, that had...

Authors: Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, Guy Stevens and Daniel Fernando

The status of Clibanarius erythropus after a recent range expansion to Great Britain, with the highest latitude recording of a gravid individual

In 2016, the range of the hermit crab Clibanarius erythropus expanded to South West Britain for the second time. C. erythropus primarily lives in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast of Europe from the Bay of...

Authors: Christophe Patterson, Matt Slater, Regan Early and Chris Laing

Converting SACFOR data for statistical analysis: validation, demonstration and further possibilities

Semi-quantitative scales are often used for the rapid assessment of species composition and abundance during time-limited surveys. The semi-quantitative SACFOR abundance scale was developed to support the obse...

Authors: James Asa Strong and Magnus Johnson

First confirmed record of Sparid Pagellus bogaraveo (Brünnich, 1768) in the Syrian marine waters (Levantine Basin)

This paper aims to present the first record of Pagellus bogaraveo (Brünnich, 1768) from Syria marine waters. One specimen was caught by trawl nets at about 300 m depth in Rass Albassit, north of Lattakia, on 25 F...

Authors: Adib Saad, Mai Masri and Waad Sabour

Inventory and new records of benthic amphipods from macrophytes and fine sand communities of the Bizerte lagoon (Tunisia, SW Mediterranean Sea)

Shallow water benthic communities from the Bizerte lagoon (northern Tunisia) were investigated at 33 stations sampled in April and July of 2016 and 2017. A total of 18 amphipod species were recorded among whic...

Authors: Marwa Khammassi, Jérôme Jourde, Wahiba Zaabar, Sarra Laabidi, Pierre-Guy Sauriau and Mohamed Sghaier Achouri

Spiculosiphon oceana (foraminifera) and its affinity to intermediate stress conditions in the Panarea hydrothermal complex (Mediterranean Sea)

Spiculosiphon oceana Maldonado, López-Acosta, Sitjà, Aguilar, García & Vacelet, 2013 is a Mediterranean endemic giant stalked foraminifer described as a potential bio-indicator of acidic environments, thanks to i...

Authors: Valentina Esposito, Simonepietro Canese, Gianfranco Scotti, Marzia Bo, Cinzia De Vittor, Franco Andaloro and Teresa Romeo

DNA barcoding confirms the first record of a Desmodema polystictum (Ogilby, 1898) egg and all-time high adult catches in the Indian Ocean

The eggs of Polka-dot ribbonfish Desmodema polystictum have been recorded for the first time in the Indian Ocean. Although the only previous information on eggs from this species consists of line drawings from 19...

Authors: M. I. G. Rathnasuriya, A. Mateos-Rivera, A. G. G. C. Bandara, R. Skern-Mauritzen, R. P. P. K. Jayasinghe, J. O. Krakstad and P. Dalpadado

New records of marine decapods and stomatopods in Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG): four years of marine biodiversity inventorying

The marine area of Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) contains a 43,000 ha formal marine protected area, a 732 ha special management zone in Bahía Santa Elena, and 150 km of wild protected coastline. In an ...

Authors: Rita Vargas-Castillo and Jorge Cortés

First record of the ragged-tooth shark, Odontaspis ferox (Risso, 1810), in the Venezuelan Caribbean

One specimen of the ragged-tooth shark, Odontaspis ferox, was caught by a commercial shark fishery to the north of Cape Codera (10° 56′ N, 66° 02′ W), northeastern Venezuela. The specimen (sex unidentified, ~ 180...

Authors: Rafael Tavares, Leonardo Sanchez and Jose Manuel Briceño

First record of Burmeister’s porpoise (Phocoena spinipinnis) in the Falkland Islands (Malvinas)

The Burmeister’s porpoise Phocoena spinipinnis is a small, poorly-studied, and Near Threatened cetacean species, with a limited geographic range comprising the Pacific and Atlantic coastal temperate waters of fiv...

Authors: Caroline R. Weir and Susan Rutherford

First record of Polyonyx loimicola Sankolli, 1965 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Anomura, Porcellanidae) from the Red Sea, Egypt

The first record of the porcellanid crab, Polyonyx loimicola Sankolli, 1965, from Ain-Sokhna, Suez Gulf, Egypt, the Red Sea, is provided far away from its known localities in India and Pakistan. The present speci...

Authors: Mohamed A. Amer, Tohru Naruse and Masayuki Osawa

New genus and species record of reef coral Micromussa amakusensis in the southern South China Sea

Recent taxonomic revisions of zooxanthellate scleractinian coral taxa have inevitably resulted in confusion regarding the geographic ranges of even the most well-studied species. For example, the recorded dist...

Authors: Chin Soon Lionel Ng, Sudhanshi Sanjeev Jain, Nhung Thi Hong Nguyen, Shu Qin Sam, Yuichi Preslie Kikuzawa, Loke Ming Chou and Danwei Huang

Morphological and molecular phylogenetic identification and record verification of Gambierdiscus excentricus (Dinophyceae) from Madeira Island (NE Atlantic Ocean)

The marine benthic dinoflagellate genus Gambierdiscus currently contains ~ 16 species that can be highly morphologically similar to one another, and therefore molecular genetic characterization is necessary to co...

Authors: Mona Hoppenrath, A. Liza Kretzschmar, Manfred J. Kaufmann and Shauna A. Murray

First record of the flat needlefish Ablennes hians (Valenciennes, 1846) from Syrian marine waters (eastern Mediterranean)

Climatic changes and human activities have worked to pave the way for alien species to invade new areas far from their native habitats. Belonidae species (Needlefishes), spread into wide water bodies, and some ex...

Authors: Firas Alshawy, Amir Ibrahim, Chirine Hussein and Murhaf Lahlah

Photographic identification and citizen science combine to reveal long distance movements of individual reef manta rays Mobula alfredi along Australia’s east coast

Research into the movement ecology of terrestrial and marine animals is growing globally, especially for threatened species. Understanding how far an animal can move and the extent of its range can inform cons...

Authors: Asia O. Armstrong, Amelia J. Armstrong, Michael B. Bennett, Anthony J. Richardson, Kathy A. Townsend and Christine L. Dudgeon

Shifts in the distribution and abundance of coastal marine species along the eastern Pacific Ocean during marine heatwaves from 2013 to 2018

Ongoing global ocean warming and a recent increase in the frequency and duration of marine heatwaves have demonstrably impacted marine ecosystems. Growing evidence points to both short- and long-term biologica...

Authors: Steve I. Lonhart, Rikke Jeppesen, Rodrigo Beas-Luna, Jeffrey A. Crooks and Julio Lorda

Sudden seasonal occurrence of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae in the Firth of Forth, Scotland and first confirmed movement between high-latitude feeding grounds and United Kingdom waters

Here we report on the sudden seasonal occurrence of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae within the Firth of Forth, Scotland, UK over the winter months of 2017 and 2018. Sightings and photographs collected by c...

Authors: Katie E. O’Neil, Emily G. Cunningham and Daniel M. Moore

First record of the oceanic puffer Lagocephalus lagocephalus (Linnaeus, 1758) from the Syrian marine waters (eastern Mediterranean)

The puffer fish species (Tetraodontidae) inhabit tropical and subtropical coastal waters around the world, and some species exist in many parts of the Mediterranean Sea. In the Syrian marine waters (eastern Me...

Authors: Firas Alshawy, Amir Ibrahim, Chirine Hussein and Murhaf Lahlah

A new record of Lamellibrachia columna (Siboglinidae, Annelida) from cold seeps off New Zealand, and an assessment of its presence in the western Pacific Ocean

Lamellibrachia columna Southward was originally described from hydrothermal vents of the Lau Basin, between Fiji and Tonga. This study utilizes phylogenetic and morphological analyses to confirm the collection of...

Authors: Marina F. McCowin, Ashley A. Rowden and Greg W. Rouse

First record of Laminaria ochroleuca Bachelot de la Pylaie in Ireland in Béal an Mhuirthead, county Mayo

During a biodiversity survey of Béal an Mhuirthead, Co. Mayo, a small population of Laminaria ochroleuca Bachelot de Pylaie was discovered in a semi-protected cove on the northwest part of the headland among a mi...

Authors: Kathryn M. Schoenrock, Tony O’Callaghan, Rory O’Callaghan and Stacy A. Krueger-Hadfield

Distribution of the highly toxic clinging jellyfish Gonionemus sp. around the island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA

In recent years, the cryptogenic and often highly toxic hydrozoan Gonionemus sp. has appeared in new locations around the globe and has become increasingly abundant in the Northwest Atlantic where it is now assoc...

Authors: Mary R. Carman, David W. Grunden, Emily Reddington and Annette F. Govindarajan

Habitat availability determines distribution patterns of spionid polychaetes (Annelida: Spionidae) around Tokyo Bay

An investigation of the distribution and habitat utilization of spionid polychaetes in Tokyo Bay revealed eight shell-boring and 18 non-boring (interstitial, epifaunal, and infaunal) species, of these 11 speci...

Authors: Hirokazu Abe, Toshimitsu Takeuchi, Masanori Taru, Waka Sato-Okoshi and Kenji Okoshi

First underwater sighting of Shepherd’s beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi)

Here we describe the first underwater sighting of Shepherd’s beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi). Two individuals were observed together on video footage obtained via mid-water stereo-Baited Remote Underwater Vid...

Authors: Christopher D. H. Thompson, Phil J. Bouchet and Jessica J. Meeuwig