A nutrientand carbon-rich, oxygen-poor benthic layer is observed in the lower 100m of the central and western Bay of Bengal, at depths between 3400 to 4000m. The observed ratios for the biogeochemical anomalies in the benthic layer water are similar to those observed for phytoplankton blooms in open oceans and hence suggest that the source of the high silica, phosphate, nitrate and carbon is li...

Increased water clarity associated with zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) populations may favor benthic algal primary production in freshwater systems previously dominated by pelagic phytoplankton production. While zebra mussel-mediated water clarity effects on benthic primary production have been implicated in published reports, few production estimates are available. This study estimates be...

Divergence along a benthic to limnetic habitat axis is ubiquitous in aquatic systems. However, this type of habitat divergence has largely been examined in low diversity, high latitude lake systems. In this study, we examined the importance of benthic and limnetic divergence within the incredibly species-rich radiation of Lake Malawi cichlid fishes. Using novel phylogenetic reconstructions, we ...

Effects of storms on benthic infaunal communities have thus far been inferred rather than documented; especially lacking are studies examining immediate effects. To this end, the water column and 2 subtidal benthic sites were sampled before and after Storm David in September 1979. There were large post-storm increases in the numbers of infaunal species and individuals in the water column, presu...

Unicellular algae such as phytoplankton and benthic microalgae have an elemental ratio of carbon to nitrogen to phosphorus (C/N/P) of approximately 106:16:1, known as the Redfield ratio. Benthic plants, including benthic macroalgae and seagrass, have a significantly different and more variable C/N/P ratio, with a median of 550:30:1, herein called the Atkinson ratio. In this paper, the implicati...

In an effort to better portray changing health conditions in Chesapeake Bay and support restoration efforts, a Bay Health Index (BHI) was developed to assess the ecological effects of nutrient and sediment loading on 15 regions of the estuary. Three water quality and three biological measures were combined to formulate the BHI. Water quality measures of chlorophyll-a, dissolved oxygen, and Secc...

The digestive organs in decapodiform cephalopod species morphologically vary by individual lifestyle. We examined the following six species of adult decapodiformes cephalopods representing different habitats: Todarodes pacificus, Loligo bleekeri, Loligo edulis, Watasenia scintillans (pelagic), Sepia lycidas and Euprymna morsei (benthic). L. bleekeri and L. edulis possess a bursiform cecal sac c...

Tidal dynamics affect Antarctic Bottom Water and Ice Shelf Water production in the southern Weddell Sea and the general circulation and mixing. In this region, tidal dynamics were found to be extremely sensitive both to the proximity of the continental shelf-slope break to the critical latitude ? crit and to the existence of a shelf break front. If the continental slope was not in the vicinity ...

Parallel phenotypic divergence in replicated adaptive radiations could either result from parallel genetic divergence in response to similar divergent selection regimes or from equivalent phenotypically plastic response to the repeated occurrence of contrasting environments. In post-glacial fish, replicated divergence in phenotypes along the benthic-limnetic habitat axis is commonly observed. H...

Offshore fish farming is predicted to increase in the near future driven by the lack of coastal space. In this review I discuss the environmental issues of offshore farming from experience in coastal farms. Even more so than in coastal farms, a rapid and wide dispersal of dissolved waste products is predicted for offshore farms. Despite wider dispersal of particulate waste products, fast sinkin...