1. Predators can reduce herbivory and increase plant biomass by consuming herbivores, lowering individual herbivore feeding rates, or both. We tested whether the presence of predators increases plant quality by non-consumptively reducing grazing pressure and thereby weakening the strength of the induced response in plant chemical defences. 2. We performed a 42-day outdoor mesocosm experiment in...

Amphipod fauna of Moldova remains one of the least known in Europe with the most recent data upon species distribution being already almost 50 years old. In this paper, we summarize the knowledge upon the distribution of amphipods in Moldovan inland waters based on literature survey combined with our new original data and present a comprehensive checklist of recorded amphipod species. The new o...

We designed fluorescence in situ hybridization probes for two distinct microsporidian clades and demonstrated their application in detecting, respectively, Nosema/Vairimorpha and Dictyoceola species. We used them to study the vertical transmission of two microsporidia infecting the amphipod Gammarus duebeni.

A response is given to criticisms in a recent paper of the validity of the amphipod suborder Senticaudata. The tacitly assumed status of truth implied in some molecular higher phylogenies is called in to question.

The impact of invasions on local biodiversity is well established, but their impact on regional biodiversity has so far been only sketchily documented. To address this question, we studied the impact at various observation scales (ranging from the microhabitat to the whole catchment) of successive arrivals of non-native amphipods on the amphipod assemblage of the Loire River basin in France. Am...

BACKGROUND The Neptune grass, Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile, 1813, is the most widespread seagrass of the Mediterranean Sea. This foundation species forms large meadows that, through habitat and trophic services, act as biodiversity hotspots. In Neptune grass meadows, amphipod crustaceans are one of the dominant groups of vagile invertebrates, forming an abundant and diverse taxocenosis. They ...

Seasonal fluctuations of host densities and environmental factors are common in many ecosystems and have consequences for biotic interactions, such as the transmission of parasites and pathogens. Here, we investigated seasonal patterns in all host stages associated with the complex life cycle of the intertidal trematode Maritrema novaezealandensis on a mudflat where this parasite’s prevalence i...

After the significant population decline of several pelagic fish species in the Northern Sacramento-San Joaquin (SSJ) Estuary (CA, USA) in 2002, a study was performed to monitor water column toxicity using the amphipod Hyalella azteca. From January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2007, water samples were collected biweekly from 15 to 16 sites located in large delta channels and main-stem rivers, select...

The order Amphipoda is one of the most diverse within Peracarids, and comprises 6950 described marine species. Amphipod research in the Caribbean Sea began in the late 1800s, but has increased significantly since 1980. In this study, we analized the amphipod biodiversity (Caprellidea, Gammaridea, Hyperiidea, and Ingolfiellidea) of the Caribbean Sea. For this, we compiled available data on speci...

benthic organisms have been studied in past to assess the health of an aquatic ecosystem. moreover, being sedentary forms they have been used as indicator organisms. in the present study, an attempt has been made to study the distribution and assemblage of major macrobenthic forms occurring in ponnani estuary. a total of 23 genera of benthic invertebrate fauna belonging to 6 groups viz., polych...