Benthic fauna play a crucial role in organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling at the sediment-water boundary in aquatic ecosystems. In terrestrial systems, grazing herbivores have been shown to influence below-ground communities through alterations to plant distribution and composition, however whether similar cascading effects occur in aquatic systems is unknown. Here, we assess the r...

The diversity of form among benthic marine plants and animals on rocky coasts is remarkable. Stiff and strong organisms grow alongside others that are compliant and flimsy. Given the severity of wave action on many shores and thus the potential for the imposition of large hydrodynamic forces, this immediately raises the question of how, from this overall spectrum of designs, flexible and weak o...

Tetracosahexaenoic acid (THA, 24:6n-3) has been shown to have the strongest ability to suppress accumulation of lipids in HepG2 cells among well-known n-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids, such as EPA and DHA. In this study, a method for mass production of THA was investigated using distributions of THA and DHA in thirty-two marine organisms, such as starfishes, right-eyed flounders, shellfishes,...

*Correspondence: Juan Moles, Department of Animal Biology (Invertebrates), Biodiversity Research Institute (IrBIO), Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain e-mail: [email protected] Antarctic benthos was prospected in search for anti-inflammatory activity in polar benthic invertebrates, in two different geographical areas: deep-bottoms of the Eastern ...

The study focused on assessment of metal accumulation in certain aquatic macrophytes and benthic organisms to be used as biomonitors. The macrophytes and benthic organisms collected during April to May (2011) from river Cauvery, one of the main fresh water aquatic systems in the south of India. Microwave digested samples of discrete organs of macrophytes and benthic organisms were analyzed for ...

Sediments are considered as a sink for metals, and the assessment of metal bioavailability for benthic organisms represents a great challenge. Diffusive Gradient in Thin films (DGT), developed to measure labile metals in aquatic media, have more recently been applied to sediment. Nevertheless, few studies have determined the relation between measurements from DGT and bioaccumulation in differen...