601 research outputs found
New Tethya species (Porifera, Demospongiae) from the Pacific area.
No full textFIG. 4. — Tethya simi; schematic drawing of the skeletal arrangement. Scale bar: 0.7 mm.Published as part of Sarà, Michele, Bavestrello, Giorgio & Calcinai, Barbara, 2000, New Tethya species (Porifera, Demospongiae) from the Pacific area, pp. 345-354 in Zoosystema 22 (2) on page 351, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.540200
Fishing the Mediterranean Red Coral
No full textSince prehistoric times, the precious red coral Corallium rubrum (L., 1758) has been an essential Mediterranean
resource (Fig. 1.3). As a precious stone in jewellery, red coral has been found among artefacts unearthed from prehistoric
graves in various Mediterranean and European locations (Tescione 1965; Marini and Ferru 1989; Bussoletti et al. 2010;
Cattaneo-Vietti and Bavestrello 2010; Tsounis et al. 2010). Over time, its red high-magnesium calcite skeleton has also
assumed important religious and apotropaic significance as people believed it to be a good luck charm (Balzano 1838,
1870; Price and Narchi 2015). Even today, coral amulets and necklaces are donated to infants and brides as propitiatory
ornaments
A new Mediterranean species of Tethya (Porifera: Tethyida: Demospongiae)
No full textA new species of Tethya, T. meloni, is described from the Mediterranean Sea. The sponge, spherical in shape, displays a large size, up to about 8Â cm in diameter. The surface is pale yellow, covered by flattened tubercles. It differs from the known Mediterranean Tethya species (T. citrina and T. aurantium) according to the following traits: larger body size; colour; shape and size of megasters; distribution pattern of micrasters
ANTAGONISMO, COOPERAZIONE E BIODIVERSITÁ
No full textDirect and indirect biotic interactions driving community structure, can be positive,
increasing the fitness of both partners, or negative, often increasing the fitness of only one of the
participant to the interaction. Moreover, partner interaction may produce an integration among them,
thus giving rise to an association defined as symbiosis, with parasitism and mutualism as the two extremes
of a symbiotic continuum. In the past, negative interactions have been considered more widespread within
communities and responsible for most of their structures. They have also been studied by an experimental
approach. By contrast, cooperative interactions have mainly approached with a descriptive aspect.
Negative interactions are more abundant in benign environments, whilst positive ones develop according
to the environmental harshness with different organisms cooperating to cope environmental stress.
Both parasitism and mutualism can evolve from a commensal interaction depending from the
ecological context and have a different role in promoting evolution. In turn commensalism can evolve from
epibiosis, a widespread phenomenon in marine benthic environment where the high spatial competition
promotes the overgrowth of organisms. Therefore epibiosis is the starting point for further evolution
of different kind of interactions. We describe some examples of mutualisms in marine environment,
underlining how such interactions can lead to the increase of biodiversity
Delectona ciconiae n. sp. (Porifera, Demospongiae) boring into the scleraxis of Corallium rubrum
No full textOn two Eudendrium (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) species from the Mediterranean Sea
No full textTwo species referable to the genus Eudendrium Ehrenberg are recorded from the central Mediterranean Sea. Eudendrium merulum is reported for the jirst time outside
Australia, whereas Eudendrium carneum is recorded for the second time from Mediterranean
waters. The structure of the nematocysts of E. merulum is elucidated by SEM analyses and the mechanism of penetration is compared to that of other hydroid
Medium-term effects of die-off of rocky benthos in the Ligurian Sea. What can we learn from gorgonians?
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