jmba lobal - car-spaw-rac...jmba global marine environment 3 dolphins has led to more than 15,000...

Cool wildlife photography in warm waters

A BUMPY RIDE FOR HUMPBACK WHALES

global climate change

The Weddell Seal Chilean fjordsan endangered paradise

A whole new worldto discover

GLOBALJMBA

marine environment

Also in this issue:

THE BLUE PLANET

AUSTRALIAN INVERTEBRATE CONSERVATION

CHEMICAL WARFARE IN THE SEA

ANTITUMOUR AGENT FROM BRYOZOA

ARGENTINIAN REEF BUILDER

NATURAL ANTIFOULING FROM OCTOCORAL

MINKE WHALES AND WHALING

November 2004 Issue 1

2 JMBA Global Marine Environment

ore than a tool, photography is also apassion for Brazilian scientistssearching for the best shot of a

dolphin or a whale. Altogether, they havededicated thousands of hours diving orsearching for cetaceans in small boats ordedicated cruises along the Brazilian coastline.The intention was to produce a catalogue ofphotoidentified animals. From the paradisicalisland of Fernando de Noronha, near theEquator, to the temperate waters of RioGrande do Sul, close to the border of Uruguay,they use their equipment for preparing a largecatalogue of individuals. Natural marks canprovide identification for each individual, andthey have plenty of scars. Scarring is thenatural result of a wide variety of interactions,when dolphins and whales compete for amature female, search for prey or protectthemselves against predators. It also could bethe result of past interactions with a fishing net,a buoy or other man-made structure.

Since the early 70’s, scientists all over theworld have found that marine mammals couldbe individually identified and catalogued

through their natural markings. They could alsobe monitored in different water masses, fromtheir cold feeding grounds to their warmbreeding and calving grounds. The use ofphotography has provided evidence thatsouthern right whales from Brazil, Uruguay andArgentina are part of a single widespreadpopulation in the Southwestern Atlantic ocean,feeding from around Tristan da Cunha andother places in the southern ocean. Geneticstudies have recently confirmed thishypothesis. Photography has also been usedas a principal tool in studies of the marinetucuxi. The southernmost population of thisspecies inhabits the Baía Norte along thecentral Santa Catarina State coast off Brazil.For more than twelve years a catalogue of over75 individuals was prepared. This has providedevidence that this is comprised of a small,maximum 100 dolphins, an isolated population,confined to this particular bay. The sametechnique is also in use at Fernando deNoronha, where about 350 spinner dolphinscongregate on a daily basis. The opportunity ofdaily dives with these beautiful coloured

Cool wildlife photography in warm waters

M

JMBA Global Marine Environment 3

dolphins has led to more than 15,000 pictures,some of them are the state-of-the-art in marinephotography. Tropical dolphins were also thesensation during a series of five cruises forestimating the abundance of minke whales offthe north-eastern coast of Brazil. The poorlyknown Clymene dolphin was the second mostfrequently sighted small cetacean in all cruises,and their external appearance is now knownfrom several pictures taken aboard theresearch vessels. Photographs can also revealthe diversity of cetaceans in a certain area.Collecting pictures from experienced divers andboat owners can illustrate a wide variety ofspecies. Dolphin species presented in the richupwelling waters of Rio de Janeiro coast arebeing monitored using this strategy.

The long term effort for collectingphotographs by scientists show theirdetermination for the best shot, the need torecord every aspect of wild dolphins andwhales lives. But more than that, show howmarvellous can be the world that we share.

Salvatore Siciliano Email: [email protected]

Co-author: José MartinsEmail: [email protected]

www.golfinhorotador.org.br

Salvatore Siciliano, Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Marinhos daRegião dos Lagos (GEMM-Lagos)/ENSP/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro,Brazil;José Martins da Silva Júnior, Centro Golfinho Rotador/Depto. deOceanografia, UFPE, Fernando de Noronha, Brazil;Paulo A.C Flores, Projeto Golfinho Sotalia, c/o International WildlifeCoalition Brazil, Florianópolis, Brazil;Ignacio B. Moreno, Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Aquáticos doRio Grande do Sul (GEMARS), Porto Alegre, Brazil and Paulo Henrique Ott, GEMARS and FEEVALE, Porto Alegre, Brazil

BACKGROUNDSPINNER DOLPHINS: by José Martins da Silva JrRIGHT FROM TOP TO BOTTOMCLOSE UP SPINNER DOLPHIN: by José Martins da Silva JrUNDERWATER GROUP OF SPINNERS: by José Martins da Silva JrGROUP OF MARINE TUCUXI (Sotalia fluviatilis): by Paulo André de Carvalho FloresJUMPING SPINNER DOLPHIN: by José Martins da Silva Jr

“Projeto Golfinho Rotador” and “Projeto de Monitoramento de Aves e Mamiferos Marinhos na Bacia de Campos” are sponsored by PETROBRAS

Published in volume 84 of JMBACorkerton, P.J. & Martin, A.R. Ranging and diving behaviour oftwo ‘offshore’ bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops sp., off easternAustralia. JMBA 84, 465–468Siciliano, S., Olivera Santos, M.C. de Vicente, A.F.C., Alvarenga,F.S., Zampirolli, É., Brito, J.L. Jr, Azevedo, A.F. & Pizzorno, J.L.A.Strandings and feeding records of Brydes’s whales(Balaenoptera edeni) in south-eastern Brazil. JMBA 84, 857–860


SOUTH WESTERN ATLANTIC OCEAN

What happens when the warm oligotrophicBrazilian Current meets the colder and nutrientrich waters of the Malvinas/Falklands Currentalong the Western South Atlantic Ocean? Thisis what young Brazilian cetologists are trying toelucidate when they go aboard researchvessels. First we need to understand thecurrent regime found off the coast of Brazil.

The Southwestern Atlantic Ocean (SWA)comprises the waters south of the equator andwest of 20°W. The SWA is under the influenceof three different water masses/currents. TheSouth Equatorial Current runs west in theequatorial Atlantic towards the northern coastof South America, where it splits in twocurrents. The Northern Brazil Current runsnorthwest parallel to the northern coast ofSouth America towards the Amazon basin andthe Caribbean, and the Brazilian Current flowssouthward along the eastern coast of SouthAmerica. A third water mass, the MalvinasCurrent, flows northward from the southern tipof the South American continent along thecoast of Argentina, Uruguay andsouthern/southeastern Brazil.

The SWA is under the influence of theBrazilian Current up to about 30–40ºS. Thisoligotrophic current is characterized by arelatively high sea-surface temperature(25–30°C) and salinity (34–36‰). The coastsof Argentina, Uruguay and Southern Brazil areinfluenced by the Malvinas Current with lowertemperature (14–24°C) and salinity (33‰).The Brazil and Malvinas Currents convergebetween approximately 32° and 40°S and areforced offshore originating the SubtropicalConvergence.

WHALES, DOLPHINS AND PORPOISES

This diversity of water masses makes theBrazilian coast a place with a high cetaceanbiodiversity. Up to the present, 44 species ofcetaceans - whales, dolphins and porpoises –are present in Brazilian waters. The abundanceand distribution patterns varies from species tospecies. Some species are known based on afew specimens collected or stranded and mayrepresent extralimital records (e.g.Commerson’s dolphin Cephalorhynchuscommersonii – Peale’s dolphinLagenorhynchus australis and the Southernright whale dolphin Lissodelphis peronii - andsome species of beaked whales, like therecently published record of Arnoux’s beakedwhale Berardius arnuxii see JMBA 83,887–888*). But at least 31 cetacean speciesuse the Brazilian waters on a regular basis.This group comprises the whales (e.g.Southern right, humpback, Antarctic and dwarfminke whales) that migrate seasonally with thepurpose of mating and reproduction. But infact, the main group of Brazilian cetaceans iscomprised of tropical species living under the

A whole newworld to discover

BRAZILIAN CETACEANS

TOP LEFT CLYMENE DOLPHIN (Stenella clymene) off NE Brazil (Ignacio B. Moreno/Projecto Baleia Minke)TOP RIGHT HUMPBACK WHALE (Megaptera novaeangliae), Antartic Peninsula (Ignacio B. Morento/Projecto Baleias/PROANTAR)

FIGURE 2


influence of the Brazilian Current. Somespecies are restricted to coastal waters like thetucuxi or estuarine dolphin (Sotalia fluviatilis)that occupies shallow coastal bays surroundedby mangroves but also is found in open coastalwaters. Surprisingly, also within this group isthe rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis)that is distributed in marine waters of the lowercontinental shelf. Local upwelling conditionsalso attracts the Bryde’s whale (Balaenopteraedeni) to feed on abundant Brazilian sardinesand small crustaceans.

DOLPHINS

Three species of dolphins of the genusStenella that live almost exclusively in warmwaters of northeastern Brazil arerepresentatives of this tropical fauna. Each ofthese species has a preferred habitat thatdepends on prey species, competitors andpredators. The spinner dolphin Stenellalongirostris (Figure 1), has the most widelyvarying habitat of the genus, being found alongthe lower continental shelf and beyond theslope in waters from 180 m to 2500 m. Thereis a resident population around the Fernandode Noronha Archipelago, where the dolphinscongregate for resting and mating as they do inHawaii. The Clymene dolphin Stenella clymene(Figure 2) is distributed in the SWA beyond thecontinental shelf, mainly over the slope or indeeper waters (mainly from 2500 m to 4600m). It may feed primarily on deep-scattering-layer organisms like cephalopods andmesopelagic fish as occur in the Gulf ofMexico. The pantropical spotted dolphinStenella attenuata (Figure 3) is usuallyrestricted to tropical waters in the SWA. Thelatter species has not been recently recordedsouth of 22ºS. This indicates that the areabetween approximately 25º and 28ºS should beconsidered the regular southern limit of this

species’ range, which is consistent with atropical distribution and suggests that thespecies seldom venture into colder waters offthe coast of Uruguay and Argentina. Thisspecies has a preference for deep waters,usually beyond the continental shelf break.Sightings were made over depths ranging from850 to 4900 m.

The field of cetology is quite young butpromising in Brazil. The cetacean diversity ishigher than suspected before, and revealingthe distribution patterns and ecologicalrequirements of Brazilian cetaceans is anexciting task.

*Siciliano, S. and M. C. O. Santos. 2003. On the occurrence of theArnoux’s beaked whale (Berardius arnuxii) in Brazil. Jounal of theMarine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 83; 887–888.

Salvatore SicilianoEmail: [email protected]

Ignacio B. MorenoEmail: [email protected]

SALVATORE SICILIANO

Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Marinhos da Região dos Lagos(GEMM-Lagos), Departamento de Endemias, Escola Nacional deSaúde Pública, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ Brazil & Ignacio B.Moreno Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Aquáticos do Rio Grande doSul (GEMARS), CECLIMAR/UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS Brazil

Published in volume 84 of JMBALópez, A., Pierce, G.J., Valeiras, X., Santos, M.B. & Guerra, A.Distribution patterns of small cetaceans in Galician waters,JMBA 84, 283–294MacLeod, C.D., Hauser, N. & Peckham, H. Diversity, relative density and structure of the cetacean community in summer months east of Great Abaco, Bahamas, JMBA 84, 469-474Scott, N.J. & Parsons, E.C.M. A survey of public awareness of the occurrence and diversity of cetaceans in south-west Scotland, JMBA 84, 1101–1104Di Beneditto, A.P.M. a Ramos, R.M.A. Biology of the marine tucuxi,dolphin (Sotalia fluviatilis) in south-eastern Brazil, JMBA 84, 1245–1250

BOTTOM LEFT SPINNER DOLPHIN (Stenella longirostris) off NE Brazil(Ignacio B. Moreno/Projecto Baleia Minke)BOTTOM RIGHT PANTROPICAL SPOTTED DOLPHINS, ADULT AND YOUNG

(Stenella attenuata) off NE Brazil (Ignacio B. Morento/Projecto BaleiaMinke)

FIGURE 1 FIGURE 3


he humpback whale (Megapteranovaeangliae) is the most acrobatic of thebaleen whales. With great agility, the

humpback whale can launch it’s 30 tonnescompletely out of the water. Underwatermanoeuvres are effected by movements of thewhale's elongate pectoral flippers, which areroughly 1/3 the body length.

The flippers act like wings to generate lift forcesthat are used to induce a turn. Unlike commercialaircraft wings with a straight leading edge, thehumpback flipper has prominent knobs, calledtubercles, along the leading edge. The presence ofthese tubercles runs counter to generally acceptednotions of aero- and hydro-dynamics for the designof wings and other lifting surfaces.

Wind tunnel studies of model humpback whaleflippers, with and without tubercles, demonstratedenhanced capabilities due to the presence oftubercles. Without the tubercles, the flipper will stalland lose lift at 11° angle of attack, which is theangle between the wing and the on-coming airflow.The stall angle is delayed by approximately 40%

when the tubercles are present. In addition, liftincreases on the flipper while drag decreases.Thus, the delay in stall effectively increases theoperating envelope of the flipper.

From an ecological standpoint, the enhancedperformance of the humpback flippers permitsgreater turning ability when foraging on elusiveprey. As opposed to the other related rorquals,which swim straight ahead to engulf schools ofprey, the humpback uses elaborate manoeuvringbehaviours to catch it’s prey, including sharp U-turns and bubble-net feeding.

Frank Fish Email: ffish@wcupa,eduDepartment of Biology, West Chester University,

West Chester, PA 19383 USA

This research was recently published in Miklosovic, D. S., Murray, M.M., Howle, L. E., and Fish, F. E. 2004. Leading edge tubercles delaystall on humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) flippers. Physicsof Fluids, 16, 39-42.

TOP BREACHING WHALE (Ignacio B. Morento/Projecto Baleias/PRONTAR)

A BUMPY RIDE FOR HUMPBACK WHALES

T

Minke Whales Balaenoptera acutorostrata

and whaling in the NE AtlanticG.J. Pierce & M.B. Santos

Department of Zoology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK

The minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata is thesmallest and most abundant of the rorquals. It is huntedcommercially off Norway. The Norwegian Ministry ofFisheries set a total quota for minke whale catches in2004 of 670 animals. Iceland began ‘research whaling’for minke whales in 2003. The rationale was thatIcelandic fish catches have declined, whereas numbersof minke whales have increased – and there might be acausal link. Studies of minke whale diet suggest thatsandeels and krill are amongst the most important prey.However, the diet also includes herring, mackerel,whiting and haddock, among other species ofcommercial fishery interest (Pierce et al., JMBA 84,1241–1244). Minke whales in the Barents Seaapparently fed mainly on capelin prior to the collapse ofthat stock in 1993 (Haug et al., 2002). Since minkewhales are both large and relatively abundant, theyconsume large amounts of fish, e.g. an estimated onemillion tons annually in Icelandic waters (Sigurjónsson &Vikingsson, 1998).

However, an overlap between diet of a marinemammal and fishery catches does not mean thatcompetition exists – this depends on the nature andstrength of both direct and indirect trophic links.Modelling studies reveal the possibility of oppositeconsequences if a single indirect link is changed (Punt &Butterworth, 1995). In reality, the depletion of largerpredatory fish by fishing may be the single mostimportant factor in shaping many marine food websworldwide (Furness, 2002). Whales (like seals) may justbe a convenient scapegoat.

Graham Pierce Email: [email protected]

Furness, R., 2002. Management implications of interactions betweenfisheries and sandeel-dependent seabirds and seals in the North Sea.ICES Journal of Marine Science 59, 261–269.

Haug, T., Lindstrøm, U. & Nilssen, K.T., 2002. Variations in minke whale(Balaenoptera acutorostrata) diet and body condition in response toecosystem changes in the Barents Sea. Sarsia, 87,409–422.

Pierce, G.J., Santos, M.B., Reid, R.J., Patterson, I.A.P. & Ross, H.M. Dietof minke whales Balaenoptera acutorostrata in Scottish (UK) waters withnotes on strandings of this species in Scotland 1992–2002. Journal ofthe Marine Biological Association, 84, 1241–1244

Punt, A.E. & Butterworth, D.S., 1995. The effects of futureconsumption by the Cape Fur Seal on catches and catch rates of theCape Hakes. 4. Modelling the biological interaction between Cape FurSeals Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus and the Cape Hakes Merlucciuscapensis and M. paradoxus. South African Journal of Marine Science,16, 255–285.

Sigurjónsson, J. & Víkingsson, G.A., 1998. Seasonal abundance ofand estimated food consumption by cetaceans in Icelandic andadjacent waters. Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science, 22,271–287.

Published in volume 84 of JMBADrouot, V., Gannier, A. & Goold, J.C. Summer social distribution ofsperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) in the Mediterranean Sea,JMBA 84, 675–680Siciliano, S., Olivera Santos, M.C. de, Vicente, A.F.C., Alvarenga,F.S., Zampirolli, É., Brito, J.L. Jr, Azevedo, A.F. & Pizzorno, J.L.A.Strandings and feeding records of Brydes’s whales (Balaenopteraedeni) in south-eastern Brazil, JMBA 84, 857–860Lipej, L., Dulcic, J. & Krystufek, B. On the occurrence of the fin whale(Balaenoptera physalus) in the northern Adriatic, JMBA 84, 861–862Weir, C.R., Stokes, J., Martin, C. & Cermeño, P. Three sightings ofMesoplodon species in the Bay of Biscay: first confirmed True’s beakedwhales (M. minus) for the north-east Atlantic?, JMBA 84, 1095–1100


ˇ ´ ˇ


global climate change

ANTARCTICA FIELD RESEARCH

AS PART OF THE NEW ZEALAND LATITUDINAL GRADIENT PROJECT (15 YEAR),

I WAS INVITED TO SPEND FIVE WEEKS IN A DEEP FIELD CAMP AT THE

NORTHERN END OF THE ROSS SEA (CAPE HALLETT). THE RESEARCH WAS

FOCUSED ON UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF LIGHT, SALINITY AND

TEMPERATURE ON THE PHOTOSYNTHETIC PROCESSES OF MICROALGAE

GROWING ON THE BOTTOM OF THE ICE. SEA ICE MICROALGAE SUPPORT THE

ANTARCTIC FOOD CHAIN.


SEA ICE PHOTOSYNTHESIS:We used a range of fluorometers to monitorphotochemical processes as we simulated theprocess of melting and freezing these algae intothe ice matrix. When surface waters freeze, thealgae are incorporated into the ice, similarly whenthe ice melts, the algae are released back into thewater. These changes result in dramatic changes insalinity, from 2 x seawater to almost freshwater. Wewere looking at the impact of environmentalchanges on sea ice algae, such as might occurunder a global climate change scenario. Otherresearch associated with this field campaignincluded an assessment of bacterial associationswith sea ice, distribution of larval zooplankton andAntarctic fishes.

During the month we were on the ice(November–December 2003), the climate changesdramatically from typical Antarctic frozen dryicescape to an almost warm sunny wet coastalhabitat. Working in Antarctica is both awe-inspiringand challenging. The beauty and majesty of thecontinent is around every glacier, pressure ridgeand ice floe; however you must balance this with ahealthy respect for the extreme climatic conditions.Within 30 minutes the weather can change from -5°C, sunny and endless visibility to a fully blownblizzard where you can’t see 3 m in front of you,temperature plummets to -20°C and the wind ishowling at over 50 knots.

This plays havoc with your experiments.Imagine that you need just one more sample, but itcould be five days before you can get out of yourtent; or the temperature drops overnight so low thatyou have to put your laptop on top of the keroseneheater to warm the battery up before the computerwill boot up.

You also had to keep your wits about you whileon the ice. As the summer approached the ice floebegan to get warmer, thinner and cracks started toform. Avalanches were common.

This is one of the most remote places onEarth; we flew seven hours south of Christchurchto the NZ Scott Base in a US air force Hercules,then one and a half hours in a twin-engine otter (10seater) to the Italian base Terra Nova, then anotherone and a half hours to Cape Hallett. Planning andimprovisation is critical for remote Antarcticresearch. We were 600 km from the New Zealandbase, so we couldn’t just drop down to theworkshop for a spanner. We had to plan for everyeventuality and used a nearby abandoned weatherstation to jury-rig a number of instruments anddevices. To maintain a stable low temperaturewater bath, I buried a 10 m length of copper pipe inthe ice and used it as a radiator, in reverse. Theonly problem it froze solid twice, so we had to meltit out of the ice, re-connect it and re-freeze it intothe ice, being careful not to freeze it again.

Life on the ice has its own unique set ofchallenges. 24 hour a day sunlight, is veryconvenient for collecting samples at 2 am, howevertrying to sleep in a tent with sunlight all night long issomething I never got used to. Most of our foodwas dehydrated, so we tried to create interestingmeals with basic dehydrated meat and vegetables.To re-hydrate the food, we melted a small block ofglacial ice, this is 10,000 years old, some of thepurest water on earth!

Flying into the camp, you can appreciate themajesty of the continental mountain range; endlessglacier tongues protruding into the Ross Sea,massive near vertical faces of ice and snow, andthis was juxtaposed against black volcanicmountain ranges. We shared our field camp with22,000 nesting Adelie penguins; they are the smallpenguins that walk with their wings out. Just beforewe left the eggs began to hatch and within 1–2days chicks were everywhere.

Peter Ralph, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.Email [email protected]

Published in volume 84 of JMBAPeña Cantero, A.L. & Vervoort, W. Two new Antarctic species of Schizotricha (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Leptothecata) from US Antarctic expeditions, JMBA 84, 29–36McMinn, A. & Hegseth, E.N. Quantum yield and photosynthetic parameters of marine microalgae from the southern Arctic Ocean, Svalbard, JMBA 84, 865–872


he Weddell seal (Leptonychotes

weddelli) is the most southerly of all

mammals, breeding on the fast ice

affixed to the shores of the Antarctic continent

and so inhabits one of the most inhospitable

environments on the planet. Weddell seal pups

are born on the ice in mid-October when daily

temperatures can be as low as -40ºC, and

where the water temperature never exceeds -

1.8°C. Mothers feed their pups for a brief six

week period during the Antarctic spring and

then abandon them to learn to hunt and feed

for themselves. Mating occurs during this brief

period and there is intense competition for

mates by males, with bloody battles occurring

under the ice. Weddell seals are remarkable

divers and can dive over 760 m and hold their

breath for over an hour, and so are truly at

home in the water. Therefore all the action -

whether mating or feeding, occurs out of sight

under the ice.

SOUTHERN OCEAN INDICATOR

Because of the extreme environment inhabited

by these animals, there are many exciting

questions as to how the animals manage to

live and indeed thrive in their icy world.

Furthermore, the Weddell seal is long-lived

(over 30 years) and reproduces relatively

slowly (less than one pup per year). Thus it is

especially vulnerable to any changes which

may be occurring in the Southern Ocean, due

to eg: global warming or fisheries. As a

consequence, the Weddell seal may be a

sensitive indicator of changes occurring in the

southern ocean as a whole.

ACOUSTIC TRACKING

Therefore, in a joint Australian, New Zealand

and British investigation we are studying

Weddell seal behaviour and ecology. This

research is only possible because recent

technological advances allow us to study these

animals in their true environment, under the

ice. With the aid of a new acoustic tracking

system we can determine where individual

seals are every few seconds and hence

monitor their behaviour in real time (Harcourt

et al., 2000). Using this system we are starting

to learn where the animals are going under the

The Weddell SealThe Weddell Seal

T


ice to feed (Hindell et al., 2002) and/or

mate (Harcourt et al., 1998) and how

males and females interact. Further, we

are using new miniaturized GPS loggers to

explore their movements over the harsh

Antarctic winter. Specialised data loggers,

can be used to measure other parameters

such as heart-rate. Hence we have been

looking not only at the behaviour of seals

as they forage or interact under the ice, but

also at what physiological changes occur as

they do so. How these animals partition their

time and energy is fundamental to an

understanding of how they survive in the polar

seas and ultimately to their role in the ecology

of the Southern Ocean. Finally, powerful new

genetic techniques allow us to ascertain the

outcome of all that behaviour under the ice, as

we can accurately determine which male seal

fathered which pup. How much time and

energy each male uses and how that relates to

mating success is therefore now readily

determined. Hence this research allows us to

not only answer fundamental questions about

the behaviour and physiology of these

remarkable animals, but may also in the long-

term help us to ensure that they are still

around for many years to come.

Rob Harcourt Macquarie University, Sydney, [email protected]

1. Hindell, M.A, Harcourt, R.G., Waas, J.R andThompson, D. 2002. Fine-scale, three dimensionalspatial use of diving lactating female Weddell seals,Leptonychotes weddellii Marine Ecology ProgressSeries 242, 275–284.

2. Harcourt, R.G., Hindell, M.A., Bell, D. G. and Waas,J.R. 2000. Three dimensional dive profiles of free-ranging Weddell seals Polar Biology 23, 479–486.

3. Harcourt, R.G., Hindell, M.A. and Waas, J.R. 1998.Under-ice movements and territory use in free-ranging Weddell seals during the breeding season.New Zealand Natural Sciences 23, 72–73.

Two dimensional (a) and three dimensional (b) representation of all locations of female Weddell seals in relation to the bathymetry of the region. Figure (a)also indicates the approximate position of Turtle Rock and the associated tide crack. (Hindell et al., 2002)

INVESTIGATORS:

Rob Harcourt Macquarie University, Sydney, [email protected] Hindell University of Tasmania, Hobart,Australia [email protected] Waas Waikato University, Hamilton, New [email protected] Davis, Otago University, Dunedin, New [email protected] Thompson, SMRU St Andrews University,Scotland Ailsa Hall, SMRU St Andrews University, [email protected]

Chilean fjords:an endangered paradiseGünter Försterra & Verena HäussermannFundación Huinay, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Muniche-mail: gü[email protected], [email protected]: www.people.freenet.de/foersterra, www.people.freenet.de/haeussermann

Huinay Scientific Field Station in the fjord Comau(42º23’S) with Cerro Tambor (1951 m).

‘El Niño’ and ‘large scale fishery’ are often the firstterms that come to people’s mind when they hearabout the Chilean sea. And these terms also reflectpretty much where the main focus in marine sciencein Chile has been for a long time: oceanographicresearch mainly along the north and central Chileancoast and applied science on species of economicinterest. After the few expeditions along the Chileancoast at the turn of the 19th and the beginning of the20th Century, research that is dedicated to species ofminor or no economic interest was extremelyneglected and, if present at all, very much restrictedto the zones where the larger universities have theirmarine labs, mainly in central Chile. Therefore it is notsurprising that the taxonomic knowledge in many taxais still very rudimentary and sometimes even the mostcommon species are un-described. This is especiallyvalid for Chilean Patagonia, one of the world’s largestand most structured fjord regions. This portion of theChilean coast, extremely diversified by extendedinlets, a labyrinth of channels and numerous islands

exhibits a tremendous number of habitats, whichresults in high overall benthic species diversity. Thefew larger expeditions to this region were all vessel-based and due to technical restriction in general wereonly able to sample the intertidal or soft-bottom andpebble ground, mainly in major depths. However, alarge portion of the fjord bottom is characterized byhard substratum and most of the benthic species andbiomass can be found on the rocky slopes, especiallyin the upper subtidal. These zones becameaccessible for biologists for the first time through thetechniques of SCUBA-diving and ROVs. While in thepast diving in the fjord region meant a tremendouslogistic effort, the new Huinay Scientific Field Station(HSFS) in the fjord Comau south of Puerto Montt(Figure 1) allows for the first time year-round intensivefieldwork. First studies in the vicinity of the stationalready show interesting and astonishingparticularities of the fjords: The overall diversityseems to be considerably higher in the fjords andchannels than at the exposed coast further north. The



surface water of the inner fjords is characterised bythe presence of a Low Salinity Layer. Therefore themainly suspension-feeder dominated communitiesshow a clear stratification in the intertidal and uppersubtidal. Here thick mussel beds, which are oftendensely covered with gastropods of the genusCrepidula or barnacles are the most frequently foundcommunity type. At depths where the influence of theLow Salinity Layer ends, the pattern changes towardsa patchy distribution with high diversity spots mainlycomposed of filter feeders separated by low diversityareas dominated by a few filtering species andencrusting red algae. The suspension-feeders atthese depths recruit from a large variety of taxa,among which cnidarians, sponges, bryozoans andpolychaetes are the most important groups. Benthicbiomass in general is high and there is evidence forhigh turnover rates and exceptional high productivityin the fjords.

DEEP WATER SPECIES IN SHALLOW WATER

The existence of deep-water species in shallow wateris a phenomenon that is partially known from otherfjords. But most explanations that were given in otherregions hardly explain why eurybathy is sopronounced in Chilean fjords. A very eye-catchingrepresentative is the South American king crab thatnormally is fished far below diving depths but in thefjords can be found as shallow as 15 m (Figure 3).But probably the most spectacular example for deepwater species in shallow water are the large banks ofazooxanthellate scleractinian corals in depths asshallow as 20 m (Figure 2). The matrix species isDesmophyllum dianthus but two more species werefound which are new to science*. For cold watercorals which lack endosymbiontic algae, the youngindividuals of D. dianthus in Chilean fjords exhibit anastonishing high growth rate with up to more than 2–3 mm in length a year. Nevertheless the large sizesand the dense structure of the corallites of somespecimens suggest great ages, which makes them aperfect climatologic data bank. The fact that two ofthe three discovered coral species are restricted tovertical and overhanging rock walls indicatessensitivity to sedimentation. Environmentalprerequisites, growth rates, age estimations, traceelement concentrations and radioisotopeconcentrations of the corals in Chilean fjords aresubjects of ongoing and planned projects at theHSFS.

MARINE BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT

The astonishing communities of the Chilean fjords areneither described nor their forming factors anddynamics understood yet. However, the exponentiallygrowing economic interests in the fjord regionincreases the pressure on the marine systems and

might put the biocenoses in jeopardy. Especially theenormous nutrient-input, sediment production and themassive use of pharmaceuticals and anti-foulingsubstances by the fast growing salmon-farmingindustry in this region might present a serious threatto sensitive communities. Unfortunately only anegligible portion of the Chilean sea is protected, nota single MPA is in the fjords or channels. A dramaticincrease in research effort is still needed to putcoastal management plans and legislative decisionson a sound base. International interest must bestimulated to promote and accelerate theestablishment of marine protected areas in theChilean fjords, otherwise a hot spot of marinebiodiversity with unique ecosystems might be lostbefore we even have the chance to know it.

Günter Försterra Email: [email protected]

www.fjord-research.net

AUTHOR DESCRIPTION:Günter Försterra is currently working on his PhD about a novelapproach for structural analyses of benthic communities in Chileanfjords applying under water digital photography.

* The first description of the two new coral species from the generaCaryophyllia and Tethocyathus is in preparation.

FIGURE 3: Small specimen of the deep-water king crab “centolla”Lithodes santolla on a steep, current-exposed rock wall; fjord Quintupeu,South Chile, 20 m.

FIGURE 2: Large coral bank mainly made up of the ”deep-water coral”Desmophyllum dianthus on the overhanging portion of a rock wall;above Primnoella aff. compressa; fjord Comau, South Chile; 25 m.


Natural history of an unbranched octocoralfrom the Southwestern Atlantic OceanThe octocoral Tripalea clavaria is anazooxanthellate species of cold-temperatewaters (below 20º C), with colonies generallyunbranched and claviform. It is highly abundanton rocky outcrops 18–30 m deep from off Mardel Plata (Argentina). Observations carried outby SCUBA, showed a contagious pattern ofcolonies distribution and most of them were3.0–8.9 cm in height. The species appears to bea gonochoric brooder with female coloniessignificantly more abundant than males. Asexualreproduction was negligible, so the maintenanceof the population is based on sexualreproduction. Oocytes appeared even in smallcolonies (from 3.5 cm height) and theirdevelopment required several months, beginningin May and ending with the production of larvaefrom March to May. We infer that it is a non-feeding lecitotrophic larvae, that settles soonafter release and therefore is likely to have lowdispersal capacity, thus there is evidence ofsuccessful recruitment on the limited availablesubstrate of the studied outcrops, as weestablished in JMBA 84,685–700. This species isone of a few zooplanktivore gorgonians that preyon a large variety of organisms, mainly onmussel larvae. Despite low density of tentacularnematocysts, this octocoral is able to ingestmany organisms, implying different mechanismsfor food capture (Acuña et al., 2004). Few studies

have been performed in this subject although thisgroup would provide a good example of the roleof suspension feeders in littoral areas where theycan be the dominant organisms. Differentsteroids isolated from this gorgonian could berelated to the scarce fouled colonies found in theenvironment; suggesting the presence of somenatural compound with an antifouling role. Thispossibility merits further studies in the future.

Adriana Excoffon Email: [email protected]

Fabián Acuña, Mauricio Zamponi and Gabriel GenzanoUniversity of Mar del Plata, Argentina

Acuña, F. H.; A. C. Excoffon; M. O. Zamponi & G. N. Genzano. 2004.Feeding habits of the temperate octocoral Tripalea clavaria (Studer,1878) (Octocorallia, Gorgonaria, Anthothelidae), from sublittoraloutcrops off Mar del Plata, Argentina. Belgian Journal of Zoology,134, 65-66.

Excoffon, A. C.; F. H. Acuña; M. O. Zamponi & G. N. Genzano. 2004.Reproduction of the temperate octocoral Tripalea clavaria (Octocorallia,Anthothelidae) from sublittoral outcrops off Mar del Plata, Argentina.JMBA, 84, 695-700.

Published in volume 84 of JMBAGrubelic, I., Antolic, B., Despalatovic, M., Grbec, B. & Beg Paklar, G.Effect of climatic fluctuations on the distribution of warm-watercoral Astroides calycularis in the Adriatic Sea: new records andreview, JMBA 84 599–602Häussermann, V,. Identification and taxonomy of soft-bodiedhexacorals exemplified by Chilean sea anemones; including guidelinesfor sampling, preservation and examination, JMBA 84, 931–936Calcinai, B., Bavestrello, G. & Cerrano, C. Dispersal and association oftwo alien species in the Indonesian coral reefs: the octocoral Carijoa riiseiand the demosponge Desmapsamma anchorata, JMBA 84, 937–942

´ ´ ´


Calcareous Reef Builder in ArgentinaThe serpulid polychaeteFicopomatus enigmaticus is acalcareous reefbuilder introducedinto brackish water environmentsthroughout warm-temperateregions worldwide. Thedevelopment of these reefs isparticularly spectacular in the MarChiquita coastal lagoon,Argentina, where they dothundreds of hectares, coveringapproximately 85% of the lagoon.Reefs have an approximatelycircular shape that could reach asize of up to 7 m in diameter ormore even when manyneighbouring reefs coalesce intolarge platforms. This species isconsidered a bioengineeringorganism for it creates andregulates refuges for otherspecies such as crabs,gastropods and amphipods. Italso alters the interactionsbetween preexistent species andchanges the physicalcharacteristics of the invadedenvironment. The growth of thereefs varies spatially andtemporally and small reefs growfaster than large ones. Thesevariations in growth rate aremodulated by environmentalvariables such as salinity, nutrientavailability, current speed anddepth. Given that most of thehabitats invaded by F. enigmaticusare remarkably similar in theirphysical, chemical and biologicalcharacteristics; globalcomparisons among sites shouldbe carried out to improve themanagement and control of thisspecies

Dr Evangelina SchwindtCentro Nacional Patagonico

(CENPAT-CONICET),Puerto Madryn, Argentina.

E-mail: [email protected]

REEFS OF THE INVASIVE POLYCHAETE ficopomatus enigmaticus IN ARGENTINA.Above is an individual reef wth a size (in diameter) of 6 metres (the meter and other tools are on thereef). The picture from below is an aerial photograph of the Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon (Argentina)

showing the invasion of this species. The size of each reef from this aerial picture is approximately 3m.

Published in volume 84 of JMBACapa, M. & López, E. Sabellidae (Annelida: Polychaeta) living in blocks of dead coral in the Coiba National Park, Panamá, JMBA 84, 63–72Carrera-Parra, L.F. Revision of Lumbricalus (Polychaeta: Lumbrineridae), JMBA 84, 81–92Hall, K.A., Hutchings, P.A. & Colgan, D.J. Further phylogenetic studies of the Polychaeta using 18S rDNA sequence data, JMBA 84, 949–960Garraffoni, A.R.S. & Lana, P.C. Cladistic analysis of the subfamily Trichobranchinae (Polychaeta: Terebellidae) JMBA 84, 973–982Schwindt, E., De Francesco, C.G. & Iribarne, O.O. Individual and reef growth of the invasive reef-building polychaete Ficopomatus enigmaticus in asouth-western Atlantic coastal lagoon, JMBA 84, 987–994


ctually it was giant kelp which we wanted tostudy when we first came to Chile in 1994through a graduate exchange program between

the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich and theUniversidad de Concepción. In late winter when wearrived, the macro-algae were disappointingly small, butthere were sea anemones everywhere. It did not take uslong to figure out that our planned ecological studies donot make much sense when we are not able to identifythe species. So we tried to get names for the speciesthat exist around the marine biological station in Dichato.It was a disaster; we would never have expected such anabundant and eye-catching group to be so poorlyworked on. Many of the approximately 70 speciesmentioned for the Chilean coast were described frommaterial collected by the large expeditions which hadtaken place during the 19th and early 20th century andhave in many cases not been mentioned again. Sincethe 1950´s only a handful of papers, all on restrictedtopics have been published about Chilean actinians.Even the most common intertidal species needed to berevised, no identification literature was available anddata on biology and distribution were fragmentary.Anemones were generally described based onpreserved material which does not allow in situidentifications or even conclusions on the appearance ofthe living animal. This was the point when we decided toconcentrate on the taxonomic inventory of the Chileanspecies. We planned, organized, financed and carriedout a six month field trip which led us from Arica (15°S)at the border to Peru down to Fuerte Bulnes (55°S), the

southern tip of continental Chile atthe Strait of Magellan. Since marinelaboratories or stations are scarceand distances large, we had to befully independent of anyinfrastructure. Travelling in an oldpick-up truck filled to the limit withdiving, laboratory and campingequipment we searched for seaanemones at least every 200 km. Wepaid special attention to recording asmuch in situ and in vivo informationas possible. We photographed seaanemones in their habitat and in theaquarium and examined the animalsand their fired cnidae with amicroscope on a camping table usingthe power of the car battery. In theend despite many obstacles likerobbery and subsequent recovery ofphoto equipment and numerous car

breakdowns we had collected more than 1000specimens of more than 30 species. This was far toomuch material presenting too many taxonomic problemsfor two diploma theses, so the first author added a PhDto begin a fundamental revision of Chilean seaanemones. In the following years we carried out twomore sampling trips to Chilean Patagonia since the seaanemone fauna of the fjords is the most diverse and atthe same time the least known. The goal was to providethe base for a detailed identification key for living as wellas preserved material. To enhance comparability andquality of future descriptions and re-descriptions,guidelines for sampling, examination and preservation ofsea anemones, were defined.

I revised the most common intertidal and shallowwater species of the north and central Chilean coast:Phymactis papillosa (Figure 2c) and Phymanthea pluvia,two actiniid sea anemones, are characterized by acolumn covered by non-adhesive vesicles. Although inlife easily distinguishable by their bright colours (red,green, blue and brown in P. papillosa and bright orangein Pa. pluvia), these two species present very fewdistinctive characters in the preserved state. Two specieswith a conspicuous marginal ruff around the tentaclesare described for the Chilean coast. I revised the sixgenera with this peculiar feature concluding that allsouthern hemispheric species belong to the genusOulactis. From in situ and in vivo observations andhistological slides of carefully preserved specimens ofOulactis concinnata (Figure 2d), I could give insights on

CHILEAN SEA ANEMONESthe forgotten flowers of the seaVerena Häussermann & Günter FörsterraLudwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Fundación Huinay

A

FIGURE 1.“Anemone garden” made up by Anthothoe chilensis growing on gastropods ofthe genus Crepidula which cover a thick mussle bed: fjord Comau, South Chile; 10m.


the origin and function ofthe delicate marginal ruffand discovered a newtype of fighting tentacles.The most eye-catchingspecies of the fjordsbelong to the genusActinostola which is verytricky since mostcharacteristics that weretraditionally used todistinguish species varywithin one species in away they normally dobetween genera.Therefore the genus hasbeen avoided bytaxonomists for a longtime - a revision wasoverdue and additionaldistinctive characteristicsneeded to be found. Therevision of SouthAmerican Actinostolaspecies, that had formerlyall been synonymized, ledto the differentiation ofthe Chilean species fromthe Argentinean andAntarctic species.Actinostola chilensis(figure 3) is presently thefirst member of its genusto be described including in vivo information andphotos.

The shallow waters ofnorth and central Chile areinhabited by approximately15 sea anemone species. Many of the species of theexposed coast can still be found south of 42°S wherethe fjord region begins, but at this latitude a high numberof additional species, that are restricted to the innerfjords and channels, increase the total species number.With 25 to 30 shallow water species, sea anemonediversity is clearly higher in the fjords compared tofurther north. Especially in depths, where the influenceof the commonly present Low Salinity Layer loses itsinfluence, sea anemones belong to the mostconspicuous groups of benthic invertebrates. Anotherinteresting phenomenon that can be observed in thefjords is that species that are generally known fromgreater depths such as the sea anemone generaActinostola (Figure 3) and Hormathia can be observed inrelatively shallow water in the fjords.

In some regions we found large areas denselycovered by sea anemones. Anthothoe chilensis is themost common example to form extended meadows(Figure 1). This might not always have been like this.Fishermen, local scientists and studies of the literaturerevealed that sea anemones might have become more

abundant during the lastdecades. Anotherexample is Anemoniaalicemartinae (Figure 2a),a species that wedescribed in 2001.Nowadays it is one of themost common shallow-water species of centraland north Chile. It alsoshowed up that seaanemones seem toinhabit areas that havebeen cleared from ediblespecies by men. Asanimals withoutcommercial value, theyprobably benefit from theextraction of space andfood competitors. Withtheir ability of fast asexualreproduction, manyeffective defencemechanisms andpotentially long life,actinians are capable ofrapidly conquering spaceand keeping this for along time. As omnivores,they additionally reducerecruitment success ofcompeting species bypreying on their larvae.The Chilean seaanemone fauna alsoincluded a real surprise:we found the first colonialsea anemone, Cereus

herpetodes (Figure 2b),along the exposed coast of Chile. To date, seaanemones had always been described as purely solitary,in contrast to most other orders of the hexacorals whichhave colonial members. Through continuedintratentacular budding, C. herpetodes grows to flabello-meandroid colonies with up to more than 200 zooids,hitherto only known from stony corals.

Vreni HäussermannEmail: [email protected]

Web: http://www.people.freenet.de/haeussermannwww.anthozoa.com

Published in volume 84 of JMBAHäussermann, V. Identifications and taxonomy of soft-bodiedhexacorals exemplified by Chilean sea anemones; including guidelinesfor sampling, preservation and examination. JMBA 84, 931–936Zagal, C.J. Population biology and habitat of the stauromedusaHaliclystus auricula in southern Chile, JMBA 84, 331–336Zagal, C.J. Diet of the stauromedusa Haliclystus auricula fromsouthern Chile, JMBA 84, 337–340Brolund, T.M., Tychsen, A., Nielsen, L.E. & Arvedlund, M. An assemblageof the host anemone Heteractis magnifica in the northern Red Sea, anddistribution of the resident anemonefish, JMBA 84, 671–674

FIGURE 2. Sea anemones of the north and central Chilean coast a) Anemoniaalicemartinae b) the colonial anemone Cereus herpetodes c) blue colour morphof Phymactis papillosa d) Oulactis concinnata

FIGURE 3. Large specimens of Actinostola chilensis prefer exposed positions, fjordComau, South Chile; 25 m.


n 1999 a contract was awarded to Winston Ponderand Pat Hutchings of the Australian Museum by thethen Environment Australia (now Department of

Environment and Heritage) to review the status ofAustralia’s marine invertebrates. This report which wasfinalised in 2002 is available on the Australian Museumwebsite. http://www.amonline.net.au/invertebrates/pdf/marineoverview.dpf

In the report we attempted to summarise what isknown and what is not known about the marineinvertebrates, by major groups, in Australian waterswhich extend from the tropics to the subantarctic islands.We compiled this data by sending questionnaires to allthe relevant specialists both in Australia and overseas,as well as various Collections Managers of theAustralian state museums as to the number of unsortedlots and their locality, which are housed in theircollections. The survey revealed that it is only some ofthe shallow water communities that have been studied indetail and it is those in temperate waters that havereceived the most attention. Some constituents, such asinterstitial fauna have almost been completely neglected.More disturbing was the lack of information on thediversity in depths of 100 m+ all of which are included inthe extensive Exclusive Economic Zone which Australiahas declared. Undoubtedly similar gaps in informationoccur in many other parts of the world, especially SouthAmerica, Africa and SE Asia.

With such large gaps in our information we suggestthat the only feasible ways in which to conserve thislargely undocumented biodiversity is to conserverepresentatives of all the habitats present within eachlatitude. Such an approach has recently been adopted

by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority in itsRepresentatives Areas Program where 70 bioregionswere indentified within the park. A decision was madethat at least 20% of each of these bioregions should beconserved within a no take zone and this has beenachieved within the new zoning plan which came intoeffect on 1 July 2004. (http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/corp_site/management/zoning/index.html).

We summarized the key threatening processes likelyto impact on marine invertebrates and we discussedeach of these in detail using, where possible, Australianexamples, as well as overseas examples. Examples ofkey threatening processes include, effects of trawling,invasive species, dredging as well as global warming etc,with others such as mining, significant at local scales.The conclusions from this section are relevant worldwide as these threatening processes are commonthroughout the world. In New South Wales attempts tomanage the squid industry are being hampered ascommercial catches include several undescribedspecies, each of which may have different life historystrategies. The managers are trying to ensure that wehave sustainable fisheries, but how can one manage afishery when the components are not known or evenunderstood! A classic case where some basic biologicalstudies should be undertaken but the organisationresponsible for the fisheries is not responsible forawarding research grants.

In Australia a large proportion of our population livesalong the coast and coastal development is threateningmany productive marine ecosystems such as seagrassbeds and mangroves. In addition increasing coastalurban development is leading to increased run off into

Conservation ofAUSTRALIAN MARINE INVERTEBRATES

AUSTRALIA IS GRAPPLING WITH THE PROBLEMS OF CONSERVING ITS MARINEBIODIVERSITY AND YET THIS DIVERSITY HAS BEEN POORLY DOCUMENTED.

I

NEAR CAPE LEEWIN


our shallow coastal waters and while this has beenrecognised as a major threat to the inshore coralcommunities along the Queensland coast, it is a majorthreat to all our coastal communities. Especially in thetropical regions where rainfall is seasonal often leadingto flooding and the development of river plumes whichoccur offshore for many km’s, carrying with it sedimentoften contaminated with fertilisers and pollutants.

We also discuss the various state and federallegislation which could be used potentially to conservemarine invertebrates. At both the Federal and state levelin Australia marine invertebrates can be listed asthreatened under Threatened Species Legislationalthough few to date have been. Hutchings (2004)discusses the pros and cons of using such legislationand suggests that it has limited conservation valueexcept for some iconic species. An earlier paper(Hutchings, 2003) suggests that realistically habitatconservation is the approach which should be adoptedto conserve marine biodiversity, especially when a largeproportion of the fauna is as yet undescribed. Otherinternational legislation such as CITES protectsscleractinian corals and some other anthozoans andcertain molluscs. As we all have seen pieces of coralskeletons and mollusc shells being sold in gift shops andprecious corals being used for jewellery, again there aremany loop holes in this international legislation. In factthe commissioning of this report was initiated by one ofthe scientific committees of Environment Australiadealing with threatened species, and to complement areport on terrestrial invertebrates prepared by Yen &Butcher (1997).

One of the most important sections of the report iswhere we explain the reasons as to why marineinvertebrates need to be conserved, not just foreconomic reasons but for ecosystem functioning. Inmost marine habitats marine invertebrates are thedominant group not just in terms of numbers ofindividuals and species, but often they constitute a majorpart of the biomass. They have always exhibited highrates of turnover making them a major player in theproductivity of that habitat. In addition they occupy alllevels in the food chain from breaking down the plantmatter right up to top level carnivores. In Australiaseveral species of marine invertebrates are importantcommercial fisheries, much of which is exportedincluding crayfish, several species of prawns, abaloneand oysters.

Finally, we discuss what is actually needed to bedone to increase our knowledge of our marineinvertebrates, from the need to employ moretaxonomists but to have increased funding forundertaking basic research into the ecology of at leastthe major components of this fauna. In effect we, asmarine invertebrate biologists, have failed incommunicating the results of our research to thegeneral public, let alone the majority of the scientificcommunity, and only occasionally to marine managers.

We see in Australia and it is apparently a much widerphenomenon, a reduction in the marine invertebratecourse work in University courses, an almost completelack of teaching of the role of taxonomy and theimportant role which it plays. In addition we are seeing areduction in the amount of funds available for basictaxonomic research and running costs for museums

being reduced as well as the number of scientificpositions for taxonomists. In most parts of the worldtaxonomists are employed by museums yet thedemands on our time are being increased, as peopleask us to confirm the identification of their fauna as partof an ecological study or to check if it is unwantedintroduced species.

I should like to congratulate JMBA for asking me toprepare this brief overview of our report on conservationof Australian marineinvertebrates. I have been amember of the MarineBiological Association sincemy student days in the UKand while I have used mybench facilities unfortunatelyonly once since leaving theUK to resolve some taxonomicproblems in polychaetes, Ihave enjoyed reading thejournal as well as publishingin it, because of its extremelydiverse content. It is rare tofind a journal which coversboth classical and molecular taxonomy as well as allother fields of marine biology. It has always supportedthe publication of taxonomy.

Pat Hutchings,The Australian Museum, Sydney NSW, Australia.

Email: [email protected]

Hutchings, P.A. 2003. Threatened species management: out of itsdepth for marine invertebrates. pp. 81–88 in Conserving marineenvironments. Out of sight out of mind, edited by Pat Hutchings &Daniel Lunney . Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales,Mosman, NSW.

Hutchings, P.A. 2004.- Invertebrates and Threatened SpeciesLegislation. In Threatened Species legislation: is it just an act? editedby P. Hutchings, D. Lunney and Chris Dickman. pp. In 88–93. RoyalZoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman, NSW.

Ponder, W.F 2003.Narrow range endemism in the sea and itsimplications for conservation. Conserving marine environments. Out ofsight out of mind, edited by Pat Hutchings & Daniel Lunney. pp. 89–102.Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman, NSW.

Yen, A.L. and Butcher, R.J., 1997. An overview of the conservation ofNon-marine Invertebrates in Australia. Environment Australia,Canberra.

MUDFLATS LEMON TREE PASSAGE

Published in volume 84 of JMBAMatthews, T.G. & Constable, A.J. Effect of flooding on estuarine bivalve populations near the mouth of the Hopkins River, Victoria, Australia, JMBA 84, 633–640


stronauts, observing the Earth fromspace, often describe it as the blueplanet and ascribe this to the fact that

70% of the Earth’s surface is water, blue incolour (Figure 1). The ‘blue-Earth’ is in realitya result of the atmosphere, where molecules ofO2 and N2 scatter blue light preferentially(Raleigh scattering). Strip away theatmosphere, and colour-observing satellitessuch as CZCS,OCTS, SeaWiFS,MODIS and MERIS,show that the Earth’ssurface issubstantially green (>50%)due to green-plant biomassin temperate and highlatitude regions, inspring and summer.Figure 2 shows theNASA–SeaWiFSannual meancomposite of surfacechlorophyllconcentration (plantbiomass, false colour),largely green for thetropical rain forests,temperate land areas andtemperate and polar oceanregions; exceptions are the mid-latitude deserts (e.g. the ‘yellow’ Sahara),the polar ice caps (white) and the oceandeserts, the oligotrophic, sub-tropical gyres(blue).

Grass is green because it contains thegreen pigment chlorophyll, ubiquitous to allplants. Different hues of green are observedwhen grass is fertilized differentially, withpatches of vigorous growth having deepergreen shades. Grass which is shaded fromsunlight for a few days quickly becomes more

yellow than green in colour, as theconcentration of chlorophyll diminishes and theremnant carotenoid pigments, yellow-orange incolour, predominate. Seasonally we arefamiliar with the colour change of tree leaves inautumn (fall) from green to yellow-orange-brown, as chlorophyll synthesis diminishes dueto light limitation and nutrient exhaustion.Grass, which continues to grow throughout the

winter in temperatelatitudes attemperatures above5°C, loses itsgreenness

becoming 'straw' coloured.Terrestrial and aquatic

plants are quite differentin many respects, but

evidence of the‘greenness’ of plantscomes from analysesof marine planktoniceco-systems. InJMBA 84, (Aiken etal., 2004) we report

the annual cycle ofphytoplankton photo-

synthetic quantumefficiency (measured by

Fast Repetition RateFluorometry) pigment composition

and optical properties in the westernEnglish Channel.The variation of Chlorophyll-a (Chla) and otherphytoplankton pigments followed the classicalseasonal cycle, driven by incident light,patterns of stratification and nutrientavailability. Phytoplankton and pigmentconcentrations were low in the winter, rising toa peak in the spring ‘bloom’, with episodicblooms throughout the summer, an autumnbloom and a decline to the winter minimum.

WHY IS THE GRASS GREENand why are there 40 shades of green?

Earth the Blue Planet

A

FIGURE 1


Surface layer Chla and total pigment (Tpig)concentrations were highly correlated for thewhole year, yet it was observed that the fractionof Chla in Tpig was not constant and had adistinct seasonal pattern, low in winter andhigher in spring, summer and autumn blooms.The fraction of Chla in Tpig was linearlycorrelated with photosynthetic quantumefficiency (PQE) throughout most of the yearand more significantly within seasonal periods.Chla and Tpig were both significantly linearlycorrelated with phytoplankton Carbon (Cph,converted from microscopic counts ofphytoplankton preserved samples) but theChla/Cph ratio was significantly correlated withChla/Tpig and PQE for the spring and summerperiods only,probably as a resultof measurementuncertainties; smallcells, mostly flagellates, inwinter are under-countedand phytoplanktonCarbon isunderestimated. Theoptical absorptionratios, a674/a443(used by Margalefas a productivityindex in the 1960s)and a674/a490 (usedby Jeffrey as aChla/carotenoid index)were significantlycorrelated with PQE andChla/Tpig, indicating possiblecharacteristic optical signatures forthese two parameters. The seasonalcycle of measurements of photosyntheticquantum efficiency provided a bench-markagainst which all the photosynthetically-drivenseasonal changes of biological properties canbe understood, in terms of incident solarradiation and nutrient availability.We observe that phytoplankton synthesizeChla preferentially to other pigments and plantbiomass (carbon), in conditions conducive toenhanced growth and conclude that this is the

functional link between Chla and primaryproduction. We show that Tpig is a robustproxy for phytoplankton carbon and a bettermeasure of phytoplankton biomass than Chla.Because of its link to PQE, Chla is the mosthighly variable component of plant productionsystems.

These observations are not exclusivelyproperties of temperate shelf sea ecosystemsrepresented by the western English Channel.We have data from research cruises in differentocean areas for short periods at differentseasons that show similar relationships.Similar changes were observed for the ironenrichment experiments. In each experimentfollowing iron enrichment, the Chla fraction of

total pigments (ortotal Carbon)increased correlatedwith the increase of

photosynthetic quantumefficiency. Again it can be

concluded that Chla wassynthesizedpreferentially as theplants werestimulated intogrowth.Thus the 40 shades

of green are arepresentation of the

state of growth ofplants, the greener the

more healthy. Now we allknew that!

Jim AikenEmail: [email protected]

Published in volume 84 of JMBAAiken, J., Fishwick, J., Moore, G. & Pemberton, K. The annual cycleof phytoplankton photosynthetic quantum efficiency, pigmentcomposition and optical properties in the western English Channel,JMBA 84, 301–313Fernández, E., Álvarez, F., Anadón, R., Barquero, S., Bode, A.,García, A., García-Soto, C., Gil, J., González, N., Iriarte, A.,Mouriño, B., Rodríguez, F., Sánchez, R., Teira, E., Torres, S., Valdés,L., Varela, M., Varela, R. & Zapata, M. The spatial distribution ofplankton communities in a Slope Water anticyclonic Oceanic eDDY(SWODDY) in the southern Bay of Biscay, JMBA 84, 501–517Zubkov, M.V., Allen, J.I. & Fuchs, B.M. Coexistence of dominant groups in marine bacterioplankton community—a combination ofexperimental and modelling approaches, JMBA 84, 519–529Pingree, R. Annual westward propagating anomalies near 26ºN andeddy generation south of the Canary Islands: remote sensing(altimeter/Sea WiFS) and in situ measurement, JMBA 84, 1105–1115

The variegated green

FIGURE 2


iatoms are one of the most important

microalgal groups responsible for fixing

solar energy in aquatic environments.

They are eaten by a diverse range of

invertebrates and in this way energy is

transferred along the foodweb. Within the past

10 years it has been discovered that diatoms

produce toxic chemicals as they are eaten.

These chemicals (polyunsaturated aldehydes),

are highly toxic to the reproductive and

developmental processes of invertebrates and

in this manner can limit invertebrate population

growth. The aldehydes are known to prevent

invertebrate embryos from developing normally

which leads to hatching failure, and larvae of

those that do hatch successfully often display

severe birth defects (see figure).

The aldehydes are highly toxic to

developmental processes that occur prior to

larval development. One of the most toxic

aldehydes (2E,4E-decadienal), for example, is

a fertilization channel blocker. Decadienal also

inhibits invertebrate sperm motility thereby

affecting reproduction from both maternal and

paternal sides. Our latest findings have shown

that decadienal can cause infertility even

before the fertilisation stage is reached. To

become competent to fertilise and

subsequently divide, eggs must undergo a

maturation step. Prior to maturation, eggs of

Asterias rubens are arrested in prophase of

the cell cycle. A hormone triggers the eggs to

enter metaphase and thereby reach maturity.

We have found that if the eggs are exposed to

decadienal during the maturation process,

necrotic cell death is triggered which makes

the eggs incapable of fertilisation (see figure).

The impact of aldehydes from diatoms on

invertebrate populations is one of great interest

in marine chemical ecology. The use of

aldehydes as birth control chemicals has no

known parallel in marine systems. It is likely

that these and other such chemicals will play

an intrinsic role in regulating algal and

invertebrate population dynamics in the sea.

Dr Gary Caldwell Email: [email protected] Matthew Bentley Email: [email protected] Peter Olive Email: [email protected]

School of Marine Science and TechnologyUniversity of Newcastle upon Tyne

Ridley BuildingClaremont Road

Newcastle upon TyneNE1 7RU

CHEMICAL WARFARE IN THE SEA:algal defence leaves invertebrates firing blanks

A) normal polychaete larva (Nereis virens), B) larvae with birth defects C) necrotic seastar eggs (Asterias rubens).

D

BRYOSTATIN 1 – antitumour agentBryostatin 1 was first isolated in 1969 fromBugula neritina (L.) a near-cosmopolitanmarine fouling bryozoan. This species is easilyrecognisable as the brownish-burgundycoloured bushy tufts commonly seen on pier-pilings, boat hulls and seaweeds in warm-temperate and temperate waters.

Bryostatin 1 is a macrocyclic lactone whichwhen first isolated was found to be a potentcompound active against tumours. But it wassoon realised that not all populations of Bugulaneritina are genetically identical, with somepopulations possessing Bryostatin 1, othersnot, rather producing other less-bioactivebryostatins. However, more intriguingly, it waslater discovered that Bryostatin 1 is actuallyproduced by obligate endosymbiotic bacteria ofthe bryozoan, “Candidatus Endobugulasertula”. Obviously, the different geneticpopulations of the bryozoan contain geneticallydifferent bacterial populations, and whilst all

produce bryostatins, some forms of thecompound are more chemically active thanothers.

The rod-shaped Gram-negative bacteria arefound in the funiculus (the internal cord-likeorgan that connects all the zooids in thecolony) of the bryozoan. The bryozoangradually accumulates the compound over thelifetime of the colony (concentrationsincreasing with colony age) and sequesters it,or rather the bacteria that produce it, in thelarvae as they are developed and released.This, and the fact that Bugula neritina larvaeare strongly chemically defended whilst theadult colonies are not, highlights the possibilitythat the compounds are used to defend theshort-lived lecithotrophic larvae prior tosettlement.

Bryostatin 1 went into Phase I clinical trials inthe early 1980’s and by the late 1990’s was inPhase II clinical trials against tumours,melanomas, lymphomas and leukaemias.However, these latter trials have failed to showthe benefit of its use as a single agent. Morestudies to better understand thepharmacological effects of Bryostatin 1 onthese cancers is needed as the reasons for itslack of efficacy are unclear. The commercialcultivation of Bugula neritina is economicallyviable and a number of companies in Europeand the USA have been given the rights todevelop this therapy further. Watch thisspace…

Kevin Tilbrook Email: [email protected]

Published in volume 84 of JMBAPorter, J.S. Morphological and genetic characteristics of erect subtidalspecies of Alcyonidium (Ctenostomata: Bryozoa), JMBA 84, 243–252Porter, J.S. & Hayward, P.J. Species of Alcyonidium (Bryozoa:Ctenostomata) from Antarctica and Magellan Strait, defined bymorphological, reproductive and molecular characters, JMBA 84, 253–266Kuklinski, P. & Porter, J.S. Alcyonidium disciforme: an exceptionalArctic bryozoan, JMBA 84, 267–276Tilbrook, K.J. & Grischenko, A.V. New sub-Arctic species of thetropical genus Antropora (Bryozoa: Cheilostomata): agastropod–pagurid crab associate, JMBA 84, 1001–1004


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