mnemiopsis leidyi population activities first were recorded during the coastal observations in 2001 in which its population considerably increased afterward and now sustained the southern caspian sea. maximum summer-autumn m. leidyi abundance was recorded in euphotic layer in 2002 (851±85 ind.m-3) and maximum biomass was in 2001 with 48.1±14.4 g.m-3) while minimum were in aphotic layer. in year...

Expansion and shoaling of the Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) in coastal upwelling systems due to climate change can have dire consequences on ecosystem structure productivity. The OMZ restricts habitat range most zooplankton, species with low tolerance hypoxia may suffer physiological stress mortality as a result. During 2013 2014, copepod Acartia tonsa collected off northern Chile was used evaluate...

Mercury (Hg) and methylmercury (CH3Hg) are found at trace levels in most marine waters. These species, particularly CH3Hg, then ominously bioaccumulate through food chains eventually reaching potentially harmful top oceanic wildlife. Accordingly, it is important to measure evaluate uptake environmentally relevant concentrations where trophic transfer initiates; during primary producers, consump...

Like 41 other calanoid copepods, Acartia tonsa, are capable of inducing embryonic quiescence when experiencing unfavorable environmental conditions. The ecdysone-signaling cascade is known to have a key function in developmental processes like embryogenesis and molting of arthropods, including copepods. We examined the role of ecdysteroid-phosphate phosphatase (EPPase), ecdysone receptor (EcR),...

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles are being increasingly utilized in a variety of products and applications and are therefore commonly discharged into aquatic environments, increasing exposure and potentially impacting aquatic organisms. Zinc oxide nanoparticles can depress growth of some marine phytoplankton, and several examples of nanoparticle trophic transfer have been documented, although not...

The early-life stages of development of the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa from egg to copepodite I is proposed as an endpoint for assessing sediment toxicity by exposing newly released eggs directly onto the sediment-water interface. A preliminary study of 5 sediment samples collected in the lagoon of Venice highlighted that the larval development rate (LDR) and the early-life stages (ELS) mor...

Our current knowledge on the microbial component of zooplankton diet is limited, and it is generally assumed that bacteria-sized prey is not directly consumed by most mesozooplankton grazers in the marine food webs. We questioned this assumption and conducted field and laboratory studies to examine picocyanobacteria contribution to the diets of Baltic Sea zooplankton, including copepods. First,...

In Europe, mainly in the Mediterranean region, an intensive usage of pesticides was recorded during the past 30 years. According to information from agricultural cooperatives of the Mondego valley (Figueira da Foz, Portugal), Primextra(®) Gold TZ is the most used herbicide in corn crop fields and one of the 20 best-selling herbicides in Portugal. Copper is mainly used in pesticide formulations....

Stable isotope signatures of primary producers display high interand intraspecific variation. This is assigned to species-specific differences in isotope fractionation and variable abiotic conditions, e.g., temperature, and nutrient and light availability. As consumers reflect the isotopic signature of their food source, such variations have direct impacts on the ecological interpretation of st...

Abstract While there is little doubt that the species lowest independent evolutionary unit, understanding many different concepts a difficult task, even for university students. In present study, we propose didactic sequence involves fieldwork, laboratory analyses, experimental cultures, and computational work in an integrated strategy comprehension of phenetic, ecological, biological, phylogen...