1,721,684 research outputs found
Taxonomy and ecology of Mediterranean Stoloniferans (Cnidaria:Ooctocorallia)
No full textIl lavoro svolto durante il periodo di dottorato ha riguardato lo studio di diversi aspetti legati alla
biologia ed all’ecologia di un gruppo di cnidari estremamente poco conosciuto come quello degli
stoloniferi mediterranei.
La scarsità di dati presenti in bibliografia ha richiesto un’indagine ad ampio spettro, volta a porre
le basi della conoscenza di questi animali.
Studi bibliografici, affiancati da indagini genetiche, hanno permesso di chiarire alcuni tratti
sistematici, mostrando peraltro che quello degli stoloniferi è un gruppo polifiletico e suggerendo la
nascita di un nuovo ordine in cui includere la famiglia Cornulariidae.
Campionamenti in diverse località italiane hanno permesso di ampliare gli areali di distribuzione
noti di tre specie, e di scoprire una nuova specie appartente al genere Clavularia.
E’ stato affrontato lo studio del ciclo vitale di Cornularia cornucopiae, una delle specie rivelatesi
più abbondanti lungo le coste italiane, e ciò ha portato alla descrizione del primo caso di
ottocorallo stagionale, in grado di passare la stagione avversa tramite forme di resistenza, e del
terzo caso noto di ottocorallo partenogenetico.
La stessa specie è stata poi messa a confronto con un idrozoo, uno scifozoo ed un porifero in uno
studio relativo alla stagionalità degli organismi presenti lungo la Riviera del Conero (An).
Sono stati infine analizzati casi di associazioni tra stoloniferi ed altri invertebrati.
In conclusione, il lavoro svolto ha contribuito a porre le basi per la conoscenza di questi
ottocoralli, finora ignorati, dal punto di vista ecologico, come partecipanti al rapporto fra pelagos
e benthos, come substrato per epibiosi, come parte di differenti reti trofiche
First record of Europe’s smallest marine fish Lebetus guilleti (Gobiidae) in the Italian Seas.
No full textThe first record of Lebetus guilleti for the Italian seas is reported here. The finding is based on photographic records of specimens located in shallow waters off the Conero Promontory (An) along the Adriatic coast of Italy. This record expands the distribution range of this species in the Mediterranean and moves its southern limit in the Adriatic Sea 170 km further south, adding to the suspicion that the distribution of this cryptic species might be wider than previously described. Recreational SCUBA diving focused on biodiversity observations and underwater photography proved instrumental again in providing information about the presence and distribution of marine fauna, including the most easily overlooked species
Northernmost record of Godiva quadricolor (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia) in the SCI “Fondali Noli – Bergeggi” (Ligurian Sea).
No full textThe northernmost record of the alien nudibranch Godiva quadricolor is reported here, about 400 km farther north than the previously published one and the farthest to be recorded from the equator. It is also the second published record of this species along the Italian coasts and the first record from the Ligurian Sea. A single specimen was reported during a scuba dive, crawling on small stones inside the Site of Community Importance 'Fondali Noli - Bergeggi SCI', at a depth of 3.5 m. The species, described in 1927 in South Africa, is considered to be rapidly expanding its original areal distribution thanks to maritime traffic. A review of the known actual distribution is also reported here
Composition and seasonality of a heterobranch assemblage in a sublittoral, unconsolidated, wave-disturbed community in the Mediterranean Sea.
No full textThe habitat preferences of the Mediterranean heterobranchs are generally well known; however, some environments, especially those considered poorly structured or of modest biodiversity, have been scarcely studied. Here we evaluate the annual variations in species composition, seasonality and diet preferences of the sea-slug assemblage in an environment of gravel and coarse sand at Noli Cape (northwestern Ligurian Sea), an unconsolidated wave-disturbed community, between 5 m and 20m depth. The assemblage, studied by means of 64 scuba-diving surveys from January 2015 to December 2016, was found to be extremely rich in terms of biodiversity, reaching 45 recorded species in just 3,000m2 (including six new records for the Ligurian Sea), of a total richness, in the entire basin, of about 150 species. Seasonality is a strong feature of the studied species, showing a high frequency of species appearance in winter; overall, 60% of the recorded sea slugs showed a cold affinity, even though the most common species were chiefly endemic ones. An expected finding, in view of the dominant environment, was that most of the species were typical of hard-bottom communities. Despite the high total species richness, the main feature characterizing the assemblage was the poor representation of sponge-eaters (13%), while the majority of the species were cnidarian-eaters (29%), or omnivorous and true predators (24%). Some common sponge-eaters were absent or very rare, because of the lack of their prey. The species composition of the Noli Cape heterobranch assemblage appears strongly related to the presence of their prey which, in turn, directly depends on the effect of hydrodynamism that can be considered the primary constraint. At the same time, the presence of many boreal species, and the evident seasonality with peaks of biodiversity during cold periods, suggest that temperature is also a significant variable
First records from the Ligurian Sea of the cold water species Okenia aspersa and Doto koenneckeri (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia).
No full textOkenia aspersa is a north-eastern Atlantic species, only previously recorded as Okenia quadricornis from the Malta Archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea, and in juvenile forms, from Sicily and the Gulf of Naples. A second adult specimen is recorded in the present paper, which was found along the Noli Cape coast, in the western Ligurian Sea (Italy). It was found on pebbles at a depth of 10 m. In the same area, at a depth of 5.5 m, two specimens of Doto koenneckeri and three of their egg masses were found. This species, also described from Norway and Ireland, was only previously known to occur in the Mediterranean Sea off Spain and France. It is likely that the cold winter temperatures of the Ligurian Sea allowed this species to live and reproduce
The sponge fauna of the Seno Magdalena and Puyuhuapi Fjord (Chile), with a description of two new species
No full textBertolino, Marco, Costa, Gabriele, Reboa, Anna, Bavestrello, Giorgio, Pansini, Maurizio, Betti, Federico, Bo, Marzia, Daneri, Giovanni (2019): The sponge fauna of the Seno Magdalena and Puyuhuapi Fjord (Chile), with a description of two new species. Zootaxa 4623 (2): 306-320, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4623.2.
FIGURE 5 in The sponge fauna of the Seno Magdalena and Puyuhuapi Fjord (Chile), with a description of two new species
No full textFIGURE 5. Hamigera cleistochela sp. nov.; (A) the holotype in life; (B) polytylote styles I; (C) polytylote styles II; (D) Cleistochelae; (E) Arcuate isochelae.Published as part of Bertolino, Marco, Costa, Gabriele, Reboa, Anna, Bavestrello, Giorgio, Pansini, Maurizio, Betti, Federico, Bo, Marzia & Daneri, Giovanni, 2019, The sponge fauna of the Seno Magdalena and Puyuhuapi Fjord (Chile), with a description of two new species, pp. 306-320 in Zootaxa 4623 (2) on page 316, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4623.2.5, http://zenodo.org/record/325547
Feeding of Aulacomya atra Under Different Organic Matter Sources (Autochthonous and Allochthonous) in a Chilean Patagonia Fjord Ecosystem
Full text linkAulacomya atra is an active suspension feeder, spatially dominant in the shallow-water hard-bottom benthic communities of the Chilean Patagonia fjords. In this region, the vertical flux of autochthonous organic matter (OM) reaching the benthos is augmented by allochthonous OM both from a terrestrial origin and from intensive salmon farming. This mixed pool of OM represents a potential source of food for a variety of benthic consumers, but to date little is known about the degree of utilization of these materials by filter feeders organisms. In this context, feeding experiments on A. atra in Puyuhuapi Fjord, Chilean Patagonia, were conducted during summer and winter 2018–2019. These experiments were designed to determine ingestion rates (IR) of A. atra fed with autochthonous (bacterial and microplanktonic community) and allochthonous (salmon food pellet) OM. Additionally, samples of A. atra tissues and suspended particulate organic matter (SPOM) were taken from the study area for stable isotope analysis. Data from laboratory experiments indicated that A. atra can feed on both autochthonous and allochthonous OM, but higher IR were detected in individuals fed with salmon food pellets. Because the IR is sensitive to food particle density rather than specific type of food, diet preferences of A. atra in feeding experiments could not be determined. Stable isotope analyses indicate that A. atra in natural environment preferentially exploits food with an isotopic signal corresponding to autochthonous OM, highlighting the primary role of phytoplankton carbon in their diet. Extensive utilization of terrestrially derived OM is therefore unlikely, although utilization of OM derived from salmon farming is not precluded because of the overlap in isotopic signal between food pellets and marine plankton
Optimizing Resource Consumption in Diffusion Models through Hallucination Early Detection
No full textLa storia vitale di Cornularia cornucopiae (Cnidaria, Octocorallia) sul Promontorio del Conero
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