The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of COI, of the mitochondrial DNA, for the taxonomic determination of soft-bottom benthic polychaetes in the Chiloé Inner Sea as a particularly important zone for polychaete fauna of the southeast Pacific. The results show high genetic differentiation between morphological species of polychaetes (posterior probabilities upper 0.9), and Onuphis ps...

during a study on fauna of the frit flies (diptera: chloropidae) in khorasan razavi province (iran) in 2014 and 2015, nine species of six genera were collected and identified. platycephala rugosa (nartshuk, 1964) is recorded for the first time for iranian fauna. geographical distribution and biological notes are provided.

The biogeographic history of the Southern Ocean (SO) fauna is complex and poorly studied, especially the areas of endemism. We reanalyzed the data of Marques & Peña Cantero (2010), along with other geographical records of endemic benthic hydroids below 45oS. A Parsimony Analysis of Endemicity (PAE) based on 5o latitude by 5o longitude matrix with 61 species resulted in eight areas of endemism. ...

A previously undescribed fauna of primitive brachyurans of the family Prosopidae is reported from sponge bioherms in eastern Romania. One new species, Cycloprosopon dobrogea, and several other forms, constitute the brachyuran fauna. The sponge bioherms, which attain a height of 30 meters, have yielded an abundant, but not overly diverse, array of benthic invertebrates. Some of the brachyuran sp...

The spatial distribution of benthic foraminiferal assemblage of Nayband Bay and Haleh Estuary in the North-West of the Persian Gulf, was explored during 2011-2012 . The relationship between spatial pattern of foraminifera assemblages and the ambient factors (i.e. water temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, sediment grain size distribution, sediment organic content, and CaCO3 concentrati...

Lake Tanganyika’s many endemic species are under threat by impacts from human development and land use changes. Anthropogenic sediment inputs into the lake have increased, with a suite of negative effects on the benthic fauna. Sedimentation reduces habitat heterogeneity, alters cycling of nutrients, interferes with visibility, and interferes with photosynthesis. For fauna of the rocky benthos, ...

Benthic foraminifera (BF) are utilized in palaeo-environmental reconstruction based on our understanding of how living individuals respond to environmental variations. However, there is still a lack empirical insight into non-environmental factors, such as taphonomic processes, influence the preservations fossil BF strata. In this study, we compare spatial distribution and composition alive dea...

Anthropogenic sedimentation has various detrimental effects in many freshwater ecosystems. Sedimentation is most often caused by erosion following deforestation or development of pristine areas that expose the soil surface to precipitation and surface runoff. Accumulation of eroded sediments in the benthic zone of aquatic ecosystems has a variety of adverse effects on the fauna (Cohen et al. 19...

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...