Ecological relevance of shipwrecks in the North Sea

This paper reports on observations made during wreck dive expeditions in 2010-2012, in order to investigate the ecological relevance of shipwrecks on the Dutch Continental Shelf (DCS). Shipwrecks are biodiversity hotspots. The number of species recorded on shipwrecks is similar to the number of species found in soft bottoms of the entire DCS. The soft substrates, however, represent a vastly larger habitat on the DCS than the shipwrecks. Amongst many other taxa, juvenile and large Atlantic cod, linear skeleton shrimp, goldsinny wrasses and leopard spotted gobies were found in the shipwreck habitats. The presence of these important species and their absence from many other habitats, illustrate that shipwrecks function as key habitats, nurseries, and refugia that are rare or absent anywhere else in the Netherlands

Shipwrecks, ascidians and modiolarca subpicta (Bivalvia, Mytildae, Musculinae)

The ovulid gastropod Xandarovula patula (Pennant, 1777) was found 14.vi.2011 on the soft coral Alcyonium digitatum Linnaeus, 1758 (Dead man’s fingers) during a dive in the central North Sea on the wreck ‘Jeanette Kristina’ on the Dutch Dogger Bank. Later on additional specimens were found, sometimes with egg-capsules, on A. digitatum again, at two locations on the Dutch Cleaver Bank. The species has previously been recorded from the Atlantic coast of southern Spain to the western end of The English Channel, with scattered records from the west coasts of Ireland and Britain, as far north as the Orkney’s. More recently it has been reported from most Irish coasts, several parts of the Scottish coast and also from some places in the North Sea. We here present the first record of X. patula for the Dutch part of the continental shelf. The specimens and their egg-capsules from both the Dogger Bank and Cleaver Bank, indicate that this species is autochthonous in the central North Sea

The jewel anemone corynactis viridis, a new order for the Netherlands Cnidaria: Corallimorpharia)

During an expedition with scuba-divers to the Dutch part of the Brown Ridge in the central North Sea in June 2013, two colonies of the jewel anemone Corynactis viridis were found on the wreck Anna Graebe. With the jewel anemone both a new species and a new animal order, the Corallimorpharia, are added to the autochthonous fauna of the Netherlands. This species typically occurs in the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coast from Portugal and the west British Isles up to Shetland. As other records of settled colonies of C. viridis in the North Sea were recently reported from Belgian, German and English waters, it is concluded that the jewel anemone, which used to be known as an occasional visitor, should now be considered autochthonous in the North Sea.

Marine fauna of hard substrata of the Cleaver Bank and Dogger Bank

As most of the sea bottom in the Dutch part of the North Sea consists of sand, marine fauna that live in association with hard substrates are rarely monitored. We report here on the results of a species inventory in June 2011 done by scuba-diving while focusing on a wreck on the Dogger Bank and on rocky bottoms on the Cleaver Bank. This resulted in various new records of species for the Dutch part of the North Sea. This result appeared for a large part linked to the added value of monitoring with scuba-divers. It is therefore concluded that scuba-divers should be used in addition to the more traditional monitoring methods in which dredges and grabs are used, if one aims at getting an accurate view of the biodiversity present in marine regions like the North Sea

De geprotocolleerde Interapy-behandeling van depressie via het internet; resultaten van een gerandomiseerde trial

Psychologische behandelingen via internet bieden een nieuwe mogelijkheid voor de geestelijke gezondheidszorg. In samenwerking met de Stichting Mentrum ggz Amsterdam heeft Interapy een behandeling voor depressie via internet opgezet. De behandeling bestaat uit cognitief-gedragstherapeutische interventies, zoals psycho-educatie, schrijfopdrachten, registratie, activatie, het uitdagen van negatieve automatische gedachten en terugvalpreventie. Dit artikel beschrijft de procedure, de behandeling en de resultaten van een vergelijkende studie onder cliënten die matig tot ernstig depressief waren. De cliënten die direct actief werden behandeld (N = 32) verbeterden significant meer dan de cliënten in de psycho-educatieconditie (N = 14). Deze tweede groep kreeg de actieve behandeling ongeveer twaalf weken later. De effecten waren groot. In de actief behandelde groep liet 75 procent van de cliënten klinisch relevante verbetering zien, in de psycho-educatieconditie was dat percentage 36. Uit de follow-up na zes weken bleek dat de verbeteringen standhielden