Recovery of the commercial sponges in the central and southeastern Aegean Sea (NE Mediterranean) after an outbreak of sponge disease

The distribution and biometry of commercial sponges (Porifera) in coastal areas of the central and southeastern Aegean Sea was investigated to estimate the recovery progress of the populations eight years after the first appearance of sponge disease. Signs of the disease were detected only in 1.6% of the harvested sponges. Multivariate analysis on the percentage abundance of sponges showed two distinct groups among the sixteen fishing grounds studied: the eight deep (50-110 m) and the eight shallow ones (<40 m). The group from the deep depths consisted of Spongia officinalis adriatica, S. agaricina and S. zimocca. The infralittoral zone was characterized by the presence of Hippospongia communis, S. officinalis adriatica and S. officinalis mollissima. These bath sponges showed an enhanced abundance in the eastern Cretan Sea (S. Aegean Sea). In addition, their dimensions, particularly height, increased with increasing depth. It is indicated that the hydrographic conditions prevailing in the eastern Cretan Sea affected the repopulating processes of sponge banks. In each species, the biometric characteristics of the experimental specimens were similar to those of the sponges found in the market and harvested at respective depths prior to the appearance of sponge disease

Mortality and Effect on Growth of Artemia franciscana Exposed to Two Common Organic Pollutants

Acute toxicity and inhibition on growth of Artemia franciscana nauplii (Instar I-II) after exposure to the reference toxicants bisphenol a (BPA) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) were studied. LC50 values were calculated and differences in body growth were recorded after 24, 48, and 72 h of exposure to the toxicants. The results indicated that BPA had lower toxicity than SDS. Development of the nauplii was clearly influenced by duration of exposure. Growth inhibition was detected for both toxicants. Abnormal growth of the central eye of several Artemia nauplii after 72 h of exposure to BPA was also detected. Our results indicate that growth inhibition could be used as a valid endpoint for toxicity studies

Neue linguistische Methoden und arbeitstechnische Verfahren in der Erschliessung der ägyptischen Grammatik

15 páginas, 1 tabla, 6 figuras.Does diversity beget diversity? Diversity includes a diversity of concepts because it is linked to variability in and of life and can be applied to multiple levels. The connections between multiple levels of diversity are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the relationships between genetic, bacterial, and chemical diversity of the endangered Atlanto-Mediterranean sponge Spongia lamella. These levels of diversity are intrinsically related to sponge evolution and could have strong conservation implications. We used microsatellite markers, denaturing gel gradient electrophoresis and quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and high performance liquid chromatography to quantify genetic, bacterial, and chemical diversity of nine sponge populations. We then used correlations to test whether these diversity levels covaried. We found that sponge populations differed significantly in genetic, bacterial, and chemical diversity. We also found a strong geographic pattern of increasing genetic, bacterial, and chemical dissimilarity with increasing geographic distance between populations. However, we failed to detect significant correlations between the three levels of diversity investigated in our study. Our results suggest that diversity fails to beget diversity within a single species and indicates that a diversity of factors regulates a diversity of diversities, which highlights the complex nature of the mechanisms behind diversityResearch funded by grants from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ECIMAR), from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology SOLID (CTM2010-17755) and Benthomics (CTM2010-22218-C02-01) and the BIOCAPITAL project (MRTN-CT-2004-512301) of the European Union. This is a contribution of the Consolidated Research Group ‘‘Grupo de Ecologı´a Bento´nica,’’ SGR2009-655.Peer reviewe

Patterns of Chemical Diversity in the Mediterranean Sponge Spongia lamella

The intra-specific diversity in secondary metabolites can provide crucial information for understanding species ecology and evolution but has received limited attention in marine chemical ecology. The complex nature of diversity is partially responsible for the lack of studies, which often target a narrow number of major compounds. Here, we investigated the intra-specific chemical diversity of the Mediterranean sponge Spongia lamella. The chemical profiles of seven populations spreading over 1200 km in the Western Mediterranean were obtained by a straightforward SPE-HPLC-DAD-ELSD process whereas the identity of compounds was assessed by comparison between HPLC-MS spectra and literature data. Chemical diversity calculated by richness and Shannon indexes differed significantly between sponge populations but not at a larger regional scale. We used factor analysis, analysis of variance, and regression analysis to examine the chemical variability of this sponge at local and regional scales, to establish general patterns of variation in chemical diversity. The abundance of some metabolites varied significantly between sponge populations. Despite these significant differences between populations, we found a clear pattern of increasing chemical dissimilarity with increasing geographic distance. Additional large spatial scale studies on the chemical diversity of marine organisms will validate the universality or exclusivity of this pattern

The common agricultural policy's effects on the agricultural sector in Greece and its environmental impacts

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been many times quoted as one of the most important drivers for the agricultural sector in the European countries and its adverse effects on the environment. Various approaches have been used to investigate the actual links between the two. In this research effort the use of datamining techniques have been used in order to determine what are the links, if any, between the funding provided by the CAP to Greece during the 2nd Programming Period (1994-1999) and the changes in the agricultural sector during that period and in particular the environmental effects of the programs. The results indicate that the three larger financial programs were having some impact to agricultural production. These programs were the Less Favored Areas program, the Farming Investment Plans program and the New Farmers' program. All this programs were funded in Greece by Measure 1.1 of the 2nd Community Support Framework (CSF) for Greece. The main field of environmental investment for the Farming Investment Plans was drop irrigation but this amounted only to 2% of the total investment plans for the whole of the country. On the other hand, no direct linkage with the agricultural production of the three Accompanying Measures of the EU CAP was observed. These Measures were the Organic production program, the Rare Animal Breeds Preservation program and the Reduction of Nitrates Pollution program. Although these programs are more directed towards environmental protection, their limited impact is hardly surprising since these three programs have a narrow scope with regard to areas affected as well as funds provided. The results confirm that the link between the CAP and the agricultural sector size exists but the actual impact of the environmental reform of the CAP during the 90s had hardly any effect in Greece since it was largely underfunded. © 2012 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved

Acute toxicity effects of tributyltin chloride and triphenyltin chloride on gilthead seabream, Sparus aurata L., embryos

Acute toxicity studies, using two organotin compounds, tributyltin chloride (TBTCl) and triphenyltin chloride (TPhTCl), were performed on gilthead seabream, Sparus aurata, fertilized eggs. The tests were static and run for 24h (temperature = 19±1°C, salinity = 39.5g/L). Three replicate egg groups were incubated in solutions containing different concentrations of the toxicants. The (24h)LC50 value for TBTCl was 28.3μg/L and for TPhTCl was 34.2μg/L, when the embryos were at the morula and late blastula stage at the start of the experiment. The value for TBTCl was 38.6μg/L, when the embryos were at the gastrula stage at the start of the experiment. The results reconfirm the expected toxicity of TBT to this euryhaline fish species and introduce TPhT as a toxicant of potentially similar impact on teleosts. © 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved

A new simple method with high precision for determining the toxicity of antifouling paints on brine shrimp larvae (Artemia): First results

The use of antifouling paints is the only truly effective method for the protection of underwater structures from the development of fouling organisms. In the present study, the surface to volume concept constitutes the basis for the development of a new and improved method for determining the toxicity of antifouling paints on marine organisms. Particular emphasis is placed on the attainment of a standardized uniformity of coated surfaces. Failure to control the thickness of the coat of paint in previous studies of this type, has led to inaccurate evaluation of the relative toxicity of samples. Herein, an attempt is made to solve this problem using a simple technique which gives completely uniform and smooth surfaces. The effectiveness of this technique is assessed through two series of experiments using two different types of test containers: 50 ml modified syringes and 7 ml multiwells. The results of the toxicity experiments follow a normal distribution around the average value which allows to consider these values as reliable for comparison of the level of toxic effect detected with the two types of test containers. The mean lethal concentration L(S/V)50 in the test series conducted in the multiwells (20.38 mm2 ml-1) does not differ significantly from that obtained in the test series using modified syringes (20.065 mm2 ml-1). It can thus be concluded from this preliminary study that the new method and the two different ways of exposing the test organisms to the antifouling paints and their leachates gave reliable and replicable results. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved