New Mediterranean Marine biodiversity records (June 2013)

This paper concerns records of species that have extended their distribution in the Mediterranean Sea. The finding of the rare brackish angiosperm Althenia filiformis in the island of Cyprus is interesting since its insertion in the Red Data Book of the Flora of Cyprus is suggested. The following species enriched the flora or fauna lists of the relevant countries: the red alga Sebdenia dichotoma (Greece), the hydrachnid mite Pontarachna adriatica (Slovenia), and the thalassinid Gebiacantha talismani (Turkey). Several alien species were recorded in new Mediterranean localities. The record of the burrowing goby Trypauchen vagina in the North Levantine Sea (Turkish coast), suggests the start of spreading of this Lessepsian immigrant in the Mediterranean Sea. The findings of the following species indicate the extension of their occurrence in the Mediterranean Sea: the foraminifer Amphistegina lobifera (island of Zakynthos, Greece), the medusa Cassiopea andromeda (Syria), the copepod Centropages furcatus (Aegean Sea), the decapod shrimp Melicertus hathor (island of Kastellorizo, Greece), the crab Menoethius monoceros (Gulf of Tunis), the barnacles Balanus trigonus, Megabalanus tintinnabulum, Megabalanus coccopoma and the bivalves Chama asperella, Cucurbitula cymbium (Saronikos Gulf, Greece)

Coastal zones as important habitats of coccolithophores: A study of species diversity, succession, and life-cycle phases

Coccolithophores are unicellular calcifying eukaryotes with a complex life‐cycle; they are important primary producers, and major drivers of global biogeochemical cycles. The majority of research on coccolithophores has been focused on open ocean waters, while the knowledge of their roles in coastal ecosystems is limited. Early 20th century studies of the Adriatic coast produced major taxonomic papers describing half of the projected diversity of coccolithophores. Afterwards, there have been only scarce records of their diversity and ecology in the Adriatic, and coastal systems in general. We aimed to assess coccolithophore diversity and species succession, and closely examine their ecological preferences in the coastal area of the northern Adriatic. We recorded coccolithophores throughout the year at 100% frequency, documented 52 taxa, abundances as high as 2.4 × 105 cells L−1, and noted the winter domination over the phytoplankton community. Out of 52 observed coccolithophore taxa, 31 were heterococcolithophorids and 21 holococcolithophorids. Moreover, seven pairs of heterococcolith and holococcolith phases were noted, and two strategies of temporal separation of life‐cycle phases were observed. We report ecological preferences of those life‐cycle pairs and give in situ evidence that holo‐ and heterococcolith phases are widening the specie's ecological niches. This expansion allows the species to exploit a wider range of ecological conditions and enables phenotypic plasticity, important in response to changes in the environment. With this study we emphasize that coastal areas are highly productive for coccolithophore studies. Our results indicate that a shift in research effort on coccolithophores in the coastal waters is needed

Silicoflagellates in the eastern mediterranean and Black Seas: Seasonality, distribution and sedimentary record

Silicoflagellate populations and fluxes were analyzed from water samples and sediment traps in several basins of the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea, to show species distribution in response to ecological factors and compared with the Quaternary records of the region. In the eastern Mediterranean, Dictyocha stapedia was the most abundant species, represented by two varieties: var. stapedia, smaller and with an apex spine, that dominated in the pelagic settings, and var. aspinosa, larger and lacking an apex spine, that dominated in the north Adriatic Sea. Dictyocha aculeata was the second most abundant species, Octactis pulchra was seasonally dominant in the Adriatic Sea. Stephanocha speculum occurred sporadically in the Adriatic Sea with 6-sided normal-sized specimens, but was nearly absent from pelagic assemblages. In the Black Sea, assemblages and fluxes were characterized by larger 7-sided skeletons of D. speculum with apex spines and a lower abundance of O. pulchra. © 2019 Elsevier Lt

A preliminary investigation of Eocene larger benthic foraminifera assemblages from Alpine and molasse-type deposits of the Hellenic peninsula (Greece)

Larger Benthic Foraminifera (LBF) from five localities in Greece were studied in order to define the morphological features of various nummulitid forms and to describe the foraminiferal assemblages in different geotectonic environments. The selected sites belong to molasse-type formations in Kirki/Thrace Basin and Vasiliki Trikala/Mesohellenic Trough, and carbonate deposits in Alpine Pindos, Ionian and Tripolis geotectonic units. Taxonomic studies combined with biometric data, when possible, enabled us to identify different morphotypes. In the molasse-type deposits of Thrace Basin (Kirki Thrace), N. perforatus was found along with N. maximus and Assilina exponens suggesting correlation with biozone SBZ 16/17, while in the Mesohellenic Trough deposits (Vasiliki Trikala) the association included N. perforatus group, Operculina gomezi group and Silvestriella tetraedra, indicating a Bartonian age, SBZ 17-18A. In outcrops found within Pindos unit (Perivoli Grevena) three different assemblages have been observed in the microbreccious olistholiths, suggesting three distinguished deposits forming quasi-continuous succession spanning from early to middle and up to late Eocene. The Ionian unit (Manoliasa Ioannina) presented a mixed redeposited fauna including late Eocene, early Paleogene and planktonic foraminifera clasts. Finally, the Tripolis unit (Dervenakia and Tripolis) association was interpreted as Bartonian in age, defined by the presence of Operculina gomezi group and N. perforatus group. © 2020 Elsevier Masson SA

Relative abundances of benthic foraminifera in response to total organic carbon in sediments: Data from European intertidal areas and transitional waters

We gathered total organic carbon (%) and relative abundances of benthic foraminifera in intertidal areas and transitional waters from the English Channel/European Atlantic Coast (587 samples) and the Mediterranean Sea (301 samples) regions from published and unpublished datasets. This database allowed to calculate total organic carbon optimum and tolerance range of benthic foraminifera in order to assign them to ecological groups of sensitivity. Optima and tolerance range were obtained by mean of the weighted-averaging method. The data are related to the research article titled “Indicative value of benthic foraminifera for biomonitoring: assignment to ecological groups of sensitivity to total organic carbon of species from European intertidal areas and transitional waters” [1]. © 2021 The Author

Indicative value of benthic foraminifera for biomonitoring: Assignment to ecological groups of sensitivity to total organic carbon of species from European intertidal areas and transitional waters

This work contributes to the ongoing work aiming at confirming benthic foraminifera as a biological quality element. In this study, benthic foraminifera from intertidal and transitional waters from the English Channel/European Atlantic coast and the Mediterranean Sea were assigned to five ecological groups using the weighted-averaging optimum with respect to TOC of each species. It was however not possible to assign typical salt marsh species due to the presence of labile and refractory organic matter that hampers TOC characterization. Tests of this study species' lists with Foram-AMBI on two independent datasets showed a significant correlation between Foram-AMBI and TOC, confirming the strong relation between foraminifera and TOC. For one of the validation datasets, associated macrofaunal data were available and a significant correlation was found between the foraminiferal Foram-AMBI and the macrofaunal AMBI. The here proposed lists should be further tested with sensitivity-based indices in different European regional settings. © 2021 Elsevier Lt

Indicative value of benthic foraminifera for biomonitoring. Assignment to ecological groups of sensitivity to total organic carbon of species from European intertidal areas and transitional waters

This work contributes to the ongoing work aiming at confirming benthic foraminifera as a biological quality element. In this study, benthic foraminifera from intertidal and transitional waters from the English Channel/European Atlantic coast and the Mediterranean Sea were assigned to five ecological groups using the weighted-averaging optimum with respect to TOC of each species. It was however not possible to assign typical salt marsh species due to the presence of labile and refractory organic matter that hampers TOC characterization. Tests of this study species' lists with Foram-AMBI on two independent datasets showed a significant correlation between Foram-AMBI and TOC, confirming the strong relation between foraminifera and TOC. For one of the validation datasets, associated macrofaunal data were available and a significant correlation was found between the foraminiferal Foram-AMBI and the macrofaunal AMBI. The here proposed lists should be further tested with sensitivity-based indices in different European regional settings

New Mediterranean Marine biodiversity records (June 2013)

This paper concerns records of species that have extended their distribution in the Mediterranean Sea. The finding of the rare brackish angiosperm Althenia filiformis in the island of Cyprus is interesting since its insertion in the Red Data Book of the Flora of Cyprus is suggested. The following species enriched the flora or fauna lists of the relevant countries: the red alga Sebdenia dichotoma (Greece), the hydrachnid mite Pontarachna adriatica (Slovenia), and the thalassinid Gebiacantha talismani (Turkey). Several alien species were recorded in new Mediterranean localities. The record of the burrowing goby Trypauchen vagina in the North Levantine Sea (Turkish coast), suggests the start of spreading of this Lessepsian immigrant in the Mediterranean Sea. The findings of the following species indicate the extension of their occurrence in the Mediterranean Sea: the foraminifer Amphistegina lobifera (island of Zakynthos, Greece), the medusa Cassiopea andromeda (Syria), the copepod Centropages furcatus (Aegean Sea), the decapod shrimp Melicertus hathor (island of Kastellorizo, Greece), the crab Menoethius monoceros (Gulf of Tunis), the barnacles Balanus trigonus, Megabalanus tintinnabulum, Megabalanus coccopoma and the bivalves Chama asperella, Cucurbitula cymbium (Saronikos Gulf, Greece)