A recent inventory of the benthic Gammaridea: Amphipoda species on the French continental coastline catalogued 495 species. An analysis of the biodiversity and the biogeographic relationships that exist between the French Amphipoda: Gammaridea, living on the coastline that extends along 10° latitude range in the temperate region between 41° and 51° North and the other gammaridean faunas living in the north-eastern Atlantic has drawn the pattern of diversity in this marine invertebrate group on a large biogeographical scale. Gammaridean amphipods exhibit a latitudinal gradient over the total number of species, including the continental shelf species and the bathyal species. There are four main fauna groups, which correspond to the biogeographical zones of the north-eastern Atlantic: (1) a cold arctic and cool-temperate Svalbard and Norwegian coastal fauna; (2) a cool-temperate boreal and Boreal–Lusitanian United Kingdom, Irish and English Channel shallow fauna; (3) a warm-temperate Lusitanian Bay of Biscay and subtropical central Atlantic fauna; and (4) a subtropical Mediterranean fauna. The French fauna appears particularly rich, presenting 44% of the 1119 species recorded in the north-eastern Atlantic along the 50° latitude range (30°N–80°N).  

This is obviously due to France's intermediate latitudinal location within the Lusitanian temperate biogeographical zone, which produces a biogeographical cross between the boreal fauna in the north and the warm temperate and sub-tropical fauna in the south.

A new species of Didemnum was discovered during a recent biodiversity survey of Praia da Baleia, São Sebastião, São Paulo State, Brazil. This species has a unique and peculiar type of spicule composed by four calcareous spheroids grouped together to form a tetrahedral structure. In other aspects, the new species is similar to certain other whitish tropical Atlantic American didemnids formerly assigned to Didemnum candidum.

The role of sandy beaches as nursery areas for 0-group anchovies (Teleostei: Engraulidae) was investigated in a tropical bay, south-eastern Brazil. Spatial and temporal (diel and seasonal) changes in fish abundance and environmental influences at two beaches were assessed, one located in the outer zone, and the other in the inner zone of Sepetiba Bay. The two sites were sampled quarterly at the same time (0800, 1100, 1400, 1700, 2000, 2300, 0200 and 0500 hours) over a 24 h cycle by beach seine with three replicates, between winter 1998 and autumn 1999. Environmental variables of water temperature, salinity, and transparency (as % depth) were taken at each fish-sampling occasion. Five species in three genera (Anchoa tricolor, A. januaria, A. lyolepis, Cetengraulis edentulus, and Lycengraulis grossidens) were identified. Anchoa tricolor and A. januaria were the most abundant species and indications of spatial separation were detected, with A. tricolor being more abundant in the outer bay (higher salinity and lower temperature), while A. januaria, in the inner bay (lower salinity and higher temperature). Overall, young-of-the-year Engraulidae peaked during the day, perhaps an adaptation to avoid competition with other abundant species which peak at night. Maximum densities of anchovies due to 0-group influxes were found in spring and paucity in summer. Spatial segregation to optimize resource uses and daily habits adapted to take advantage of the rich planktonic bay waters seems to be the strategy developed by these closely related species to use the area during early life cycle. Their high abundances suggest the suitability of the sandy beaches as nursery areas.

Four new species of the genus Leucon and subgenus Leucon (sensu Watling, 1991) are described from the Atlantic Frontier Margin and other north-east Atlantic localities. They are L. sarsi sp. nov., L. holti sp. nov., L. hanseni sp. nov. and L. afeni sp. nov. Leucon hanseni sp. nov. has previously been wrongly identified as L. serratus, the holotype of which is illustrated here. A lectotype is selected for L. nathorsti and the species is redescribed from the type series and from Atlantic Frontier Margin material. A list of other Leucon (Leucon) species found in the Atlantic Frontier Environmental Network surveys is given.

A total of 39 Sepiola intermedia, Sepiola robusta and Sepiola steenstrupiana samples (11 female, 28 male), from the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea have been examined. The potential fecundity, relative fecundity and index of potential reproductive investment were calculated.

Vertical posture has been studied only in the scutellid sand dollar Dendraster excentricus although it has been reported in another Dendraster species and two species of laganid sand-dollars. The vertical posture has been associated with the posterior eccentric position of the apical system and petals of the test. We have discovered the scutellid sand dollar Encope michelini, which shows no eccentricity of the apical system and petals, also has the vertical posture in the population studied. Absence of eccentricity of the apical system and petals in living and fossil sand-dollars does not indicate absence of the vertical posture.

In a benthic mesocosm experiment, the effects of two species of burrowing Thalassinidean shrimps (Callianassa subterranea and Upogebia deltaura) on rates of sediment denitrification were determined using the isotope pairing technique. Denitrification rate (Dtot) and coupled nitrification–denitrification (Dn) were shown to be significantly enhanced by the presence of U. deltaura by 2·9 and 3·3 times respectively, relative to control measurements. For U. deltaura the stimulation of the denitrification rate was found to be significantly related to the size of the animal (F=5·81, P=0·042). No deviation from the rates determined in control cores for either Dtot or Dn was observed for those cores inhabited by C. subterranea. The increase in Dtot with U. deltaura was considered to be the result of a combination of different factors, including; the direct extension of the sediment–water interface and an increase in oxygenation of the sediments and solute transport, as a result of the ventilating activities of the animal itself.

The growth of the Ficopomatus enigmaticus reefs was measured throughout a coastal lagoon at different temporal and spatial scales (over 24 years, annually and monthly throughout the coastal lagoon). The results show that reef cover increased in the last 24 years, and many neighbouring reefs have coalesced into large platforms. Growth rate varies spatially and temporally. Small reefs grow faster than large ones. Ficopomatus enigmaticus polychaetes living in higher salinity areas show a lower biomass than those living in brackish water areas, and the same pattern was observed for the inter-ring distance measured on the tubes. The results also show that important environmental variables, including salinity, nutrient availability and environmental energy (measured as current speed and depth) may be the most important factors affecting the growth and spread of the reefs.

The densities of two common intertidal/shallow subtidal bivalves, Soletellina alba and Arthritica helmsi, were sampled in vegetated and unvegetated habitats of the Hopkins River estuary on three occasions during the autumn/winter 1995. Winter flooding coincided with mass mortalities of the infaunal bivalve S. alba, but not A. helmsi. Mortalities were apparent for individuals living deeper in the sediment (≈35 cm) in vegetated and unvegetated habitats, but small S. alba (<1 mm) were less susceptible to mortality than larger individuals (>1 mm). Mortalities were similar across different habitat types and sediment depths, and at multiple sites within close proximity to the estuary mouth.

Data from several sources and original data are presented regarding sightings, strandings and incidental captures of leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) on the Brazilian coast in a 33 year period, from 1969 to 2001. Two of the turtles were small juveniles (curved carapace length=40 cm and approximately 85 cm) and the remaining animals with known carapace size were large juveniles or adults. The origin of leatherbacks observed in Brazil is unknown. Several colonies in South America, including a Brazilian one, in the Caribbean, in western Africa and even in eastern South Africa could be the source of these turtles. The data presented here suggest that more effort should be directed to the assessment of the impact of fishing gear and marine pollution on leatherbacks and that systematic surveys on beaches should be maintained in order to monitor long term fluctuations in stranding levels and spatial stranding patterns. Genetic studies and satellite telemetry would be helpful in clarifying the origin of leatherbacks stranded or incidentally captured on the Brazilian coast.

Males of the onychoteuthid squid Moroteuthis ingens implant spermatophores directly into a variety of internal and external tissues of the female, based on the examination of 14 individuals collected south of Tasmania, Australia. Furthermore, the capture of a pair of mating individuals suggests that ‘jaw locking’ reminiscent of cichlid fish may be a behaviour associated with courtship and mating.

The reproductive cycle of a local population the aspidochirote Holothuria tubulosa in Kaštela Bay (Adriatic Sea) was analysed from July 1994 to August 1995 by histological examination and observations of macroscopic features of the gonads. Five gonadal stages were described: recovery stage, growing stage, mature stage, spawning stage, and post-spawning stage. The distinguishing features used to describe gonad stages in both sexes included the main features of reproductive cells and gonad wall. The reproductive cycle showed a clear annual pattern and was synchronous in both sexes. Spawning occurred during the warm season, from July to September, when the surface water temperature ranged from about 22°C to 26°C. From October to January individuals were in resting phase and had no gonads. In both sexes, variations in maturity indices were related to the seasonal changes in temperature.

A new species of sphaerodorid (Polychaeta: Sphaerodoridae), Sphaerodoropsisgarciaalvarezi sp. nov., is described from specimens collected on sandy bottoms off the Galician coast (Spain, north-east Atlantic). This species is characterized by having two pairs of digitiform lateral antennae, 13 dorsal macrotubercles per segment in mid-body setigers arranged in two transverse rows, five dorsal microtubercles per segment arranged in five longitudinal rows, six ventral papillae per segment arranged in six longitudinal rows, digitiform presetal lobes and ventral cirri, and composite setae with spinulation on blade and distal end of shaft. Complementary observations to original descriptions are also provided for closely related species Sphaerodoropsis bisphaeroserialis and Sphaerodoropsisarctowskyensis upon examination of type series.

The Ampelisca aequicornis group of species in the north-east Atlantic is discussed and A. aequicornis is redescribed from material identified in the collection of G.O. Sars. From Irish material a new species, Ampelisca eclimensis sp. nov., is described and an extended description of Ampelisca sorbei given. A key is presented to the A. aequicornis group of species.

During 1992–2002 approximately 110 strandings of minke whales Balaenoptera acutorostrata were recorded in Scotland (UK). Most strandings were recorded between April and November, with a peak of strandings of males in July and August. There were two length modes at 4–6 m and 7–10 m. Stomach contents samples were obtained from ten animals. The diet comprised mainly sandeels (Ammodytidae, around two-thirds of the diet by number or weight) and clupeids (herring Clupea harengus and sprat Sprattus sprattus). Results on diet are consistent with results from whaling catches in the North Sea. The possibility that minke whales compete with fisheries is discussed.

During January 2003 the bathymetric distribution of the cephalopod fauna of the South Georgia and Shag Rocks slope (100–900 m) was investigated using a commercial bottom trawl. Forty-four trawl stations caught 193 cephalopod specimens including six species of octopod and seven of squid. The benthic octopods Pareledone turqueti and Adelieledone polymorpha were abundant in shallow water at South Georgia, being replaced by Thaumeledone gunteri in greater depths. However, neither A. polymorpha nor T. gunteri were caught on the adjacent Shag Rocks area. Two specimens of the deep-sea genus Graneledone were caught on the South Georgia slope. The most abundant squid species caught were Moroteuthis knipovitchi, Psychroteuthis glacialis and Slosarczykovia circumantarctica, which are primarily pelagic and may have been taken when their vertical migrations impinged on the slope.

The comparison of metal handling strategies in mussels Mytilus edulis and oysters Crassostrea gigas was based on the translocation of these bivalves from a relatively clean site (Bay of Bourgneuf, France) to the metal-rich Gironde estuary, France, whereas resident oysters from the Gironde estuary (feral mussels were absent from this site) were cross-translocated to the clean site for seven months (March to October 1997). Higher levels of metal concentrations (Ag, Cd, Cu, Zn) were observed in specimens from both species in the Gironde estuary. However, no cellular pathology was observed, even in translocated mussels which are not normally present in the studied zone of the Gironde estuary. These observations show that both species cope relatively well with the conditions prevailing in the metal-rich estuary, at least partly as a result of the insoluble storage of bioaccumulated metals in well-defined and localized bioaccumulation structures such as mineralized lysosomes in the kidney of mussels and the digestive gland of both species and granules concentrated in extracellular basal lamina. For both species, recruitment of spat was observed on artificial substrates immersed near the site of translocation in the Gironde estuary. The absence of adult mussels in the metal-rich Gironde estuary may be due to competition with oysters for free surfaces of settlement as well as predation by crabs.

The diet of the seven star flying squid, Martialia hyadesi, from the South Georgia sector of the Scotia Sea was described from stomach contents collected in winter (June) 2001. Diet was dominated by the hyperiid amphipod, Themisto gaudichaudii, fish (nine species, mainly myctophids) and cephalopods (mainly cannibalism). The absence of krill, Euphausia superba, and the presence of larger myctophids in the diet are discussed in terms of seasonal and annual prey availability.

Antropora commandorica sp. nov. is described from the Commander Islands (Bering Sea). This species is unique within the bryozoan genus Antropora in its sub-Arctic distribution; all other known species are distributed in tropical and sub-tropical waters. This species is also most often found as an epibiont of gastropod shells, some with an associated pagurid crab. Whilst this is not unknown in other species of the genus Antropora, A. commandorica appears to use these substrata almost exclusively.

Impacts of the trematode parasite Zoögonus rubellus on individuals of its host, the infaunal sandworm Nereis virens, were explored to assess influences that parasites might have on the structure of soft-bottom infaunal communities. Parasites were common in sandworms collected from a mudflat in Maine, with prevalence reaching 100% for large, commercial-sized sandworms and intensities of infection often exceeding 100 metacercariae per host. Parasitism was determined to be costly as sandworms exposed to parasites in the laboratory had higher mortality and foraged less on a main prey item, the amphipod Corophium volutator, than unexposed controls. As Nereis and Corophium are key intermediate-level members in infaunal communities, it is argued that parasitism of sandworms might directly and indirectly influence the structure of soft-bottom communities.