1. Using a palaeolimnological approach in shallow lakes, we quantified the species richness responses of diatoms and Cladocera to phosphorus enrichment. We also examined differences in species richness responses between littoral and pelagic assemblages of our focal communities. To address both spatial and temporal relationships, our study includes an analysis of both surface sediments from 40 l...

The quantitative importance of ctenophores, medusae, salps and other gelatinous organisms in pelagic ecosystems has been recognized widely for over two decades (Alldredge, 1984; Longhurst, 1985). The potential for gelatinous zooplankton to affect food web structure is illustrated dramatically in the Black Sea where a ctenophore, Mnemiopsis leidyi Agassiz, 1865, was introduced from North America...

Key differences in the developmental process of pelagic fish embryos, in comparison to embryos of standard test fish species, present challenges to obtaining sufficient control survival needed to successfully perform traditional toxicity testing bioassays. Many of these challenges relate to the change in buoyancy, from positive to negative, of pelagic fish embryos that occurs just prior to hatc...

Counterilluminating animals use ventral photogenic organs (photophores) to mimic the residual downwelling light and cloak their silhouette from upward-looking predators. To cope with variable conditions of pelagic light environments they typically adjust their luminescence intensity. Here, we found evidence that bioluminescent sharks instead emit a constant light output and move up and down in ...

Mesopelagic fish species represent a large potentially unexploited resource for the fishing industry and meal, oil, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical production. However, thorough investigation on ecological sustainability socio-economic viability are fundamental prerequisites potential exploitation. The current study explores economic of mesopelagic fishery investigating minimum catch rates, under...

The production of biodegradable plastic is increasing. Given the augmented littering of these products an increasing input into the sea is expected. Previous laboratory experiments have shown that degradation of plastic starts within days to weeks. Little is known about the early composition and activity of biofilms found on biodegradable and conventional plastic debris and its correlation to d...