Dystrophic event in Papas lagoon, Araxos Cape, western Greece in the summer 2012

A dystrophic crisis occurred in late June 2012 in the lagoon of Papas, Araxos region, western Greece (Ionian Sea), resulting in massive mortalities of aquatic organisms. The whole event was monitored through the basic aquatic physicochemical parameters (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH) recorded before, during, and after its occurrence. Although the phenomenon was manifested locally, it resulted in complete anoxia in the largest part of the lagoon and lasted ten days. Water quality of the entire lagoon was greatly affected by this dystrophic event and first signs of recovery were observed four months later

Spatial and temporal variability of small-sized copepod assemblages in a shallow semi-enclosed embayment (Kalloni Gulf, NE Mediterranean Sea)

The small-sized copepod community structure (<1 mm) and its response to environmental variability was examined during an annual cycle in Kalloni Gulf, a semi-enclosed coastal system in the NE Aegean Sea. ' 90 m net was used in order to adequately sample the smaller copepod fractions. In the copepod ecology the spatial patterns dominated over the seasonal. Total copepod abundance increased towards the inner gulf area while diversity indices followed the opposite trend. The inner gulf copepod assemblage area was affected by the increasing magnitude of eutrophication, characterized by high abundance values, low species richness and dominance of a single species (e.g. Oithona nana). A clear seasonal succession of species was observed, ordered by temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a, heterotrophic bacterial biomass, organic and inorganic nutrients. Freshwater inputs and the subsequent nutrient inflow was a dominant phenomenon enhancing copepod production and negatively affecting the biodiversity of the assemblage. The great contribution of copepod larval stages in the total community and their year-round presence indicate the continuous production of copepods during the annual cycle, highlight the importance of the smaller size fraction and encourage the use of finer mesh-size nets when assessing the structure and dynamics of copepod communities. © 2014 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

New Mediterranean biodiversity records (December 2011)

The present work reports on recent biodiversity records of Mediterranean native species such as Olindias phosphorica in the Turkish Aegean Sea and extended distribution of eleven alien species in the Mediterranean. These are: Bursatella leachi (Mollusca, Gastropoda: Algeria); Callinectes sapidus (Crustacea, Decapoda: Greek Ionian Sea); Caprella scaura (Crustacea, Amphipoda: Mar Piccolo of Taranto); Fistularia commersonii (Fish: Saronikos Gulf, Aegean Sea); Sphoeroides pachygaster (Fish: South Turkey); Musculista perfragilis (Mollusca, Bivalvia: South Turkey); Sepioteuthis lessoniana (Mollusca, Cephalopoda: central eastern coast of Tunisia); Flabellina rubrolineata (Mollusca, opisthobranchia: central Aegean, Greece); Hesionura serrata (Polychaeta: Apulian coast); Stephanolepis diaspros (Fish: Saronikos Gulf, Aegean Sea); and Parvocalanus crassirostris (Crustacea, Copepoda: Lesvos Island, Greek Aegean Sea)