D. João de Castro Bank, a shallow water hydrothermal-vent in the Azores: checklist of the marine molluscs.

D. João de Castro Bank (DJC) is a shallow seamount with hydrothermal activity located between the islands of Terceira and São Miguel, Azores (Portugal). Due to its remote location, few investigators have worked in the area. Thirty-three species of marine molluscs are recorded as new for DJC which brings the total number of species to 42 for this specific area. Common micro-mollusc species known for the Azores (e.g.: the sublittoral species Alvania poucheti and Setia subvaricosa) are not present, and possible reasons for this are discussed

Additions to the marine molluscs of the Formigas Islets, Azores.

A fauna malacológica dos ilhéus das Formigas foi abordada por Ávila & Azevedo (1997). A presente lista vem completar e corrigir aquele documento. Seis novos taxa são dados para os Açores: Vitreolina curva (Monterosato, 1874), Nassarius cf. ovoideus (Locard, 1886), Mangelia coarctata (Forbes, 1840), Raphitoma leufroyi (Michaud,1838), Coryphela sp. and Pseudochama gryphina (Lamarck, 1819). O número total de moluscos marinhos das águas pouco profundas dos ilhéus das Formigas ascende agora a 88 taxa (1 Polyplacophora, 66 Gastropoda, 20 Bivalvia e 1 Cephalopoda).ABSTRACT: The Formigas islets were surveyed for its molluscan fauna in 1990 during the "Santa Maria & Formigas 1990" scientific expedition. Preliminary results were published by Avila & Azevedo (1997). That earlier list is here complemented with new records and some corrections. Species determination, synonymy and the ordination of families follows the CLEMAM database (http://www.mnhn.fr/base/malaco.html). Six new taxa are reported to the Azores: Vitreolina curva (Monterosato, 1874), Nassarius cf. ovoideus (Locard, 1886), Mangelia coarctata (Forbes, 1840), Raphitoma leufroyi (Michaud,1838), Coryphela sp. and Pseudochama gryphina (Lamarck, 1819). The total number of shallow-water marine molluscs from Formigas islets is now of 88 taxa (1 Polyplacophora, 66 Gastropoda, 20 Bivalvia and 1 Cephalopoda)

In situ observation of sexual reproduction of Holothuria tubulosa Gmelin 1788 (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) in the Azores (NE Atlantic)

Copyright © SPC 2010.[...]. In the Azores, H. tubulosa spawning occurs in the summer months (so far observed in July and August) during the afternoon, which may follow the annual pattern, during warm sea temperatures (22–26°C) and being synchronous in both sexes, as stated by Despalotovic et al. (2004) in the Adriatic Sea. [...

Checklist of the shallow-water marine molluscs of the Azores: 1 - Pico, Faial, Flores and Corvo

An up-to-date commented check-list of the shallow-water marine molluscs of Pico, Faial, Flores and Corvo islands (Azores, Portugal) is provided, based on literature records, on material deposited at the Department of Biology of the University of the Azores (DBUA) as a result of the scientific expeditions "Flores/89", "Açores/89" and "Pico/91", and on photographic material at the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries/University of the Azores (DOP/UA). The collections of the Museu Carlos Machado - Historia Natural, MCM-HN, of the Museu de Zoologia - Museu de Historia Natural da Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra, MZ/MHN-FCTUC, and the mollusc collection deposited at DOP/UA were surveyed and the results are included in this report. Two hundred and fifty five taxa of shallow-water molluscs are reported to Pico, Faial, Flores and Corvo Islands (196 Gastropoda, 50 Bivalvia and 9 Cephalopoda). Of these, 32 are dubious records (23 Gastropoda, 8 Bivalvia and 1 Cephalopoda), there remaining 197 confirmed species to these islands. A total of 26 taxa were identified only down to the genus level (25 Gastropoda and 1 Bivalvia)

Genesis and morphological evolution of coastal talus-platforms (fajãs) with lagoons:The case study of the newly-formed Fajã dos Milagres (Corvo Island, Azores)

Supratidal talus-platforms are low-relief subaerial accumulations of debris produced by mass wasting along high coastal cliffs, being particularly abundant at reefless volcanic islands subjected to high wave energy. Known as “fajãs” across the Portuguese-speaking Atlantic archipelagos, these coastal features, on rare occasions, may exhibit lagoons, constituting sites of high geological, biological, landscape, and social value. Whilst the origin of fajãs is firmly established as being the product of coastal landslides, little is known about the processes that shape fajãs with lagoons. In particular, doubts still remain concerning whether fajãs featuring lagoons are a fortuitous product of mass wasting, or result from marine reworking (by waves and currents) after emplacement. On October 30, 2012, a coastal landslide (~0.001 km3) occurred on Corvo Island, Azores Archipelago, forming a nearshore gravel islet that later migrated to the island's coast, resulting in a fajã with an ephemeral lagoon (Fajã dos Milagres). This event provided a unique opportunity to study the generation and development of fajãs with lagoons, and therefore a 3-year survey was carried out to record its evolution. This GIS-based study used aerial oblique photography and satellite optical imagery, complemented with a land survey for a more precise topographic reconstruction. Analysis of data concerning bathymetry, precipitation, and wave regime was also employed to investigate the driving forces behind the morphodynamic evolution of the deposit. “Fajã dos Milagres” evolved very rapidly, through an evolutionary pattern with five main stages: 1) “islet stage”; 2) “gravel spit stage”; 3) “early lagoon stage”; 4) “mature lagoon stage”; and 5) “fajã (without lagoon) stage”. Our reconstructions show that, for fajãs with lagoons to be formed, several factors should converge: a) presence of high coastal cliffs, made up of composite volcanic sequences, capable of producing large landslides that supply sufficient mobile sediment to the shelf; b) presence of a shallow, wide insular shelf where the sediments can be transported without significant loss to the submarine slopes; and c) a wave-dominated, high-energy regime, capable of significant cross-shore and longshore sediment drift. These observations allowed us to propose a preliminary conceptual evolutionary model for the generation of fajãs with lagoons, where marine reworking plays a fundamental role. Finally, this study documents the generation and very rapid subsequent evolution of a clastic coastal morphology solely driven by the action of waves and currents, and without interference from relative sea level and/or external sediment replenishment, with possible implications to other settings.</p

Spotlight 11: Dom João de Castro Seamount

Dom João de Castro is an isolated seamount located at 38°13.3’N, 26°36.2’W in the Azores archipelago (Northeast Atlantic), between the islands Terceira and São Miguel. The shallower parts of this seamount were formed in 1720, when a volcanic cone emerged from the sea that reached ~ 1-km across and 150-m high. This cone was eroded by ocean swells in just four months, and today only a large submerged caldera (300–600 m in diameter) remains whose bottom is at 50-m depth and its top at 13-m depth. Dom João Castro is an important fisheries ground both for demersal fish, such as the black-spot seabream Pagellus bogaraveo and the blue-mouth Helycolenus dactylopterus, and tuna pelagic visitors

Juvenile Sphyraena viridensis, preyed by the lizard fish Synodus saurus. A new predatory association from the Azores

Copyright © 2008 Société Française d’Ichtyologie.Les juvéniles de Sphyraena viridensis, proies de Synodus saurus, une nouvelle association prédateur-proie aux Açores. Au cours d’un travail sur l’écologie (comportement, alimentation et reproduction) du poisson lézard, Synodus saurus, aux Açores (Atlantique NE) nous avons découvert, dans plusieurs contenus stomacaux, des exemplaires postlarvaires et des juvéniles de la bécune à bouche jaune Sphyraena viridensis. Non seulement cette découverte nous a permis d’obtenir, pour la première fois, des postlarves de cette espèce de barracuda mais nous avons réussi à décrire une action de prédation d’un poisson épibenthique envers une espèce pélagique