European lobsters (Homarus gammarus) were sampled from nine sites around the UK coast to determine whether populations could be differentiated on the basis of morphometric variability, and to relate this to depth and indices of population size at each site. Discriminant analysis indicated that exoskeleton damage was the only characteristic that could distinguish males between sites. In contrast, females were distinguished between sites on the basis of variation in exoskeleton damage, claw spines and rostrum teeth, which tended to be positively correlated to indices of population density. This study suggests that female morphology may respond more strongly than male morphology to local selection pressures, albeit in a limited capacity.

The distribution of sole (Solea solea) eggs and larvae were described from two cruises conducted in April and May 1995 along the French coast of the eastern English Channel and the Belgian coast of the Southern Bight of the North Sea. Sole migration was investigated using larval stages and univariate spatial analysis as geostatistics (variograms). Important environmental parameters were selected by comparison with larval distribution. Path analysis was used to remove spatial correlation and to define links between abundance and environmental variables.  Sole larvae were found to be coastal throughout their development. Strong links between larval distribution and environmental parameters were identified, particularly for the younger stages which were found in higher abundance in areas of high chlorophyll-a concentration. The association was not direct, suggesting that the larval spatial distribution was influenced by an undetermined, intermediate variable, such as larval prey. Sole larvae are retained in the coastal area throughout ontogeny despite the strong hydrodynamics which characterize the region. Larval distribution resulted from behavioural mechanisms as well as environmental influences.

The relationship between sperm reservoir and total spermatophore length among 168 spermatophores from 44 species in 11 genera has been considered. Bivariate plots show that four Atlantic species of the genus Eledone produce spermatophores with relatively large sperm reservoirs that differ from all others. Measurements of the remaining spermatophores are so tightly correlated that a single equation explains over 96% of the variation. Functional constraints on gross spermatophore morphology may be so strong that males cannot manipulate sperm reservoir size independently of spermatophore size to maximize the sperm delivered at a single copulation. Alternate means to assure male paternity may have evolved in the group as a result. Despite the overall uniformity of the relationship among all species other than those of Eledone in the Atlantic, these measurements distinguish the overtly similar species Octopus bimaculatus–Octopus bimaculoides and separate Benthoctopus januarii from all others.

The distribution and spatio–temporal variation of Helicolenus dactylopterus (Pisces: Scorpaenidae) population was studied from 816 bottom trawls developed along the Iberian coast. Multifactor analysis of variance was used to test the differences in abundance and biomass and cluster analysis was applied to detect differences in population structure. The results showed a bathymetric and latitudinal gradient in abundance and population structure along three geographic sectors in the surveyed area. In the southern area, the species was more frequent and showed a wider bathymetric distribution range than northwards. The depth range with the maximum frequency of occurrence was also wider in the southern area than northwards. Similar trends were observed in terms of abundance and biomass, with the highest and lowest indices in the southern and northern areas, respectively. The age composition of the catches showed that the population consisted mainly of young-of-the-year and juvenile fish. This fraction of the population is well represented, at a mesoscale, along the whole surveyed area, but adults are well represented only at a local scale, at the deepest strata surveyed in the southern area. In this case, recruits of age 0 and juveniles up to 4-y old were restricted to depths shallower than 500 m, while adult fish older than 6 y of age appeared below this depth. In the southern area, seasonal changes in the population structure were also observed, with modes of small fish (3–6 cm) from March to June, as a consequence of the species recruitment to the bottom. Some direct and indirect factors of biogeographic, environmental and anthropogenic origin affecting the observed gradient are discussed.

Extensive field observations were made in the Mingan Islands, northern Gulf of St Lawrence, to evaluate spatial and temporal variations in the use of habitat and prey resources by two major subtidal predators, the seastars Leptasterias polaris and Asterias vulgaris. Although both seastars have similar size structures and generally overlapped in their spatial and temporal distribution, the degree of overlap varied in different sites and appeared to be related to prey abundance, substratum type and slope. Three general patterns were observed: (1) both species aggregating in shallow water and decreasing in numbers with depth; (2) the two species showing inverse depth distributions; and (3) both seastars occurring in low numbers across the subtidal zone. Temporal changes in availability of the preferred prey of the two seastars, the mussel Mytilus edulis, appeared to be a major factor affecting their abundance and distribution. The two seastars occurred together in dense aggregations on mussel beds in shallow water. They consume similar-sized mussels until the number of mussels becomes reduced when A. vulgaris, but not L. polaris, begins to select larger mussels. Once a mussel bed is decimated, the seastars appear to move away, possibly in search of other beds. Intensive seastar foraging limits the distribution of mussels to a few metres in depth. Below the mussel zone, the two seastars are spatially segregated at a small spatial scale (1 m2 quadrat) and select different alternative prey, L. polaris feeding mainly on the crevice-dwelling clam Hiatella arctica and A. vulgaris on the ophiuroid Ophiopholis aculeata. The size partitioning of the preferred prey in shallow water, and spatial segregation and selection of different alternative prey at greater depths may reflect mechanisms permitting the two seastars to coexist.

This paper presents information on the stomach contents of four northern bottlenose whales Hyperoodon ampullatus (Odontoceti: Ziphiidae) from the north-east Atlantic, an area for which there are few recent data on the feeding ecology of this species. Two of these whales were relatively recent strandings, a female stranded in August 1993 at Hargen (the Netherlands) and a male stranded in February 1997 on the island of Tåsinge (Denmark). Stomach content samples were also examined from a juvenile male stranded in November 1885 at Dunbar (Scotland) and a female stranded in August 1956 on the island of Texel (the Netherlands).  Food remains from the four samples consisted almost entirely of cephalopod beaks. Some fish remains were also found in the stomach of the Hargen and Tåsinge whales, and the latter also had crustacean remains in the stomach. The cephalopod prey consisted mainly of oceanic cephalopods: Gonatus sp. (probably G. fabricii, Cephalopoda: Teuthoidea), Taoniuspavo and Histioteuthis sp. for the Dunbar whale; Gonatus and Teuthowenia megalops for the Texel whale; Gonatus for the Hargen whale and Gonatus, T. megalops and Taonius pavo for the Tåsinge whale. Other prey species found in the Tåsinge specimen included the squid Histioteuthis reversa, H. arcturi, and the octopods Vampiroteuthis infernalis and Vitreledonella richardi. Based on the size of the lower beaks, the squid eaten included juvenile and mature individuals of the most important species (Gonatus and Teuthowenia megalops). The fish remains consisted of vertebrae of Gadidae and fish eye lenses (Hargen whale) and two Trisopterus otoliths (Tåsinge whale).  The results from this study are in agreement with those of previous authors in that cephalopods in general, and G. fabricii in particular, are the main prey of the northern bottlenose whale and other toothed whales in northern latitudes.

The crustacean species composition in the intertidal zones of 13 sheltered unconsolidated marine beaches in south-eastern Brazil is described. Fifty-three crustacean species were collected, adding 46 species to the total reported by previous studies in the same region. Decapods dominated the community, in contrast to exposed sandy beaches where peracarids normally predominate. The species were distributed irregularly among the beaches. Richness varied markedly among sites, and was positively related to a combination of factors such as fine sand grains, high organic matter content, and relatively low silt–clay content. The presence of rock fragments enabled both rocky shore and sandy beach crustaceans to occur on the same beaches. Richness and abundance of crustaceans showed no clear relationship to sediment grain size and slope, in contrast to the norm for exposed sandy beaches. The dominance of the tanaid Kalliapseudes schubarti in some areas may be a result of organic matter pollution in the region. These beaches showed higher species richness than typical sheltered and exposed sandy beaches, indicating that this sheltered, highly heterogeneous seascape is an important area for conservation.

The spatio–temporal abundance pattern of 0-group sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, was investigated between April 1995 and November 1996 by beam trawl surveys. The highest densities of D. labrax were recorded in shallow areas. Dicentrarchus labrax density was also significantly related to water temperature and salinity, but the variation pattern was not linear. The 0-group individuals of this species first occurred on the nursery ground in May and the highest densities were recorded in June. Diet of 0-group D. labrax was mainly composed of crustaceans, the most important food items being Decapoda, Mysidacea and Isopoda. Feeding activity increased during summer. Short-term variations were related to the period of the day and tidal cycle. The growth rate determined for 0-group D. labrax was higher than those reported for the UK and northern France, and was similar to those obtained in eastern Mediterranean.

Bryozoans were collected from nine stations between 569 and 1278 m depth on the Hebridean continental slope north-west of Lewis. The 21 species recorded from 1544 colonies included three species new to the British fauna. The bryozoan fauna, growing on pebbles, cobbles and small boulders, was dominated by species with encrusting, spot or ribbon-like colony morphologies. The few erect species were rare. Colony density on available rock substrata declined from 569 to 855 m, but was high at 1278 m, where the nodular species Turbicellepora boreale occurred on pebbles as small as 1 cm diameter. Cyclostomates made up >90% of the colonies in the shallowest sample and were present in lower numbers to 855 m. None were recorded at 1278 m. In the 569–855 m depth range, diversity and evenness were lowest at 569 m but relatively constant at the other stations. A species accumulation curve suggests that the 20 species recorded is a good estimate of the total fauna in this depth range.

Assessment of spawning survival for female capelin Mallotus villosus (Pisces: Osmeriformes) greater than 12 cm in length was made in the autumn of 1995–1997 comparing a histological technique with existing methods. An intensive macroscopic visual assessment of selected samples from 1995, 1996 and 1997 revealed that 10, 20 and 40% of the females were recovering from spawning respectively each year. Histological assessments of the same fish revealed that 20% in 1995, and nearly 60% of the fish in 1996 and 1997 showed physiological evidence of previous spawning. The proportion of recovering spawners increased with both length and age of the fish. One sample from the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization area of 2J during October 1997 contained nearly 90% recovering fish. The potential impact of the fishery in light of the variability in post-spawning survival of the iteroparous female capelin is discussed.

An automated photographic technique was used to collect quantitative information on the activity patterns of Fissurella crassa under heavy-exposed sea conditions.The activity of this key-hole limpet was confined to nocturnal low tides. Total length of excursions was significantly greater during spring tides than neap tides, as was the maximum distance reached from the refuge. Total duration of excursions and their average speed did not vary significantly according to the spring/neap cycle. While the direction angle of excursions relative to the refuge was not influenced significantly by the spring/neap cycle, the lowest zone within the intertidal was reached by F. crassa during spring low tides only.

Fissurella crassa showed a spatial activity pattern fluctuating intra/inter-individually between a central place foraging and a ranging strategy, with a marked propensity for the former. Looped excursions were characterized by higher speed for the movements away and toward the limpet's refuge, than the movements at maximum distance from the refuge. As the outward and inward branches of looped excursions often overlapped extensively, trail-following is suggested as the main mechanism of orientation used by F. crassa to relocate the refuge.

The embryonic and early larval development of the laboratory-reared tub gurnard, Trigla lucerna are described. The eggs ranged in diameter from 1·33 to 1·40 mm, with a mean of 1·36±0·236 mm, were pelagic and spherical with a homogeneous and unsegmented yolk. There was single oil globule in the eggs. Globule ranged in diameter from 0·25 to 0·29 mm (mean 0·28±0·012 mm). Embryonic development lasted 115 h 2 min at mean temperature 13·5 °C. Newly-hatched larvae were 3·09±0·014 mm in total length. Absorption of the yolk sac was complete after the sixth day, when larvae reached 4·85±0·015 mm in total length. The only character for identifying eggs among species could be diameter, since the values obtained are lower than those obtained for Eutrigla gurnardus and Aspitrigla cuculus, but larger than those for Trigloporus lastoviza. The length of newly hatched yolk-sac larvae of tub gurnard is significantly lower (t-test, P<0·05) than those of most of the other gurnard species. Characters likely to help in identification of species will probably prove to be the length, shape and pigmentation of the pectoral fin, and the degrees of development of spiny armature on the head.

Preferences of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) feeding on five species of brown macroalgae (Padina pavonica, Dyctiota dychotoma, Cystoseira abies-marina, Lobophora variegata and Halopteris filicina) have been studied using caging field experiments on Gran Canaria Island during August to October 2000. Results of three assays of both single and multiple diet experiments rejected the null hypothesis that Diadema does not feed selectively on the five selected algal species. In the multiple diet assays, Diadema consumed an average of 68–98 mg algae urchin−1 h−1 and 4–120 mg algae urchin−1 h−1 in the single diet experiments. On the basis of consumption, the five species of algae eaten can be divided into three groups. Thus Halopteris, Lobophora and Dyctiota were considered preferred algae, while Padina was considered an intermediate alga. Finally Cystoseira was significantly the less preferred and consumed seaweed in all sets of assays.

Microphytobenthos are significant primary producers in many coastal systems. It is therefore important to quantify their biomass and productivity. Chlorophyll-a is often used as an index for microphytobenthic biomass. However, complications arise as most studies of sediment properties have been on a millimetre scale, whilst chemical and biological gradients in the surface layers of sediment occur over a microscale. The development of a new technique, the Cryolander (Wiltshire et al., 1997; Wiltshire, 2000), now allows microscale analysis of the sediment surface. Areas of high and low diatom biomass were compared using two coring techniques of different vertical resolution; the Cryolander method, with a vertical resolution of 0·2 mm and plastic core tubes (coarse coring), with a vertical resolution of 5 mm. Results indicated that, except at extreme biomass levels, coarse coring does not detect statistically significant differences in chlorophyll-a between obviously diverse sample sites. This may lead to misinterpretation of seasonal and spatial data when coarse coring is used. Furthermore microscale sectioning allows distinctions to be made between chlorophyll-a measured in the photic zone (photosynthetically active biomass (PAB)) and chlorophyll-a measured below the photic zone (photosynthetically inactive biomass (PIB)), allowing accurate determination of biomass specific primary production.

The depth and swim speed of a green turtle (Chelonia mydas) were measured during the internesting period in Cyprus. For dives to the seabed (U-dives) we used these data to determine dive angles. Typically the turtle initially descended at a steep angle (∼60°) but as the dive continued this angle lessened until the turtle approached the seabed at an average angle of ∼15°. This systematic change in descent angle is consistent with the prediction that the energetic implications of dive angle are most important at the start of the dive when the turtle is fighting to overcome its positive buoyancy. On leaving the seabed, the turtle often seemed to rise passively.

Two species of bryozoan cyphonautes larvae are described and illustrated from plankton tows made among coral heads in shallow waters at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Individuals of both species settled and metamorphosed, and their ancestrulae and early astogeny are also described and illustrated. One is recognized as a formerly unknown species of Conopeum, C. ponticum sp. nov., the other is attributed to Biflustra reticulata.

Egestion in the intertidal mud snail Hydrobia ulvae was investigated under conditions in which coprophagy did not occur, both in laboratory populations (comprising 11 experimental densities from 1000 to 120,000 ind m−2) and in a field population with an average density of 50,000 ind m−2 (24 test densities spanning the local range of <5000–>120,000 ind m−2). In contrast to an earlier study that suggested marked reduction in egestion rate in H. ventrosa as a consequence of interference competition, no such effect occurred in the natural population of H. ulvae, or in the experimental populations except at densities of at least 100,000 ind m−2. Neither did any significant increase in inactivity or movement off the experimental substrata occur with increasing density. These results are discussed in relation to resource limitation in natural densities of mud snails.

In the Mediterranean Sea, the most conspicuous cleaner fish is the wrasse, Symphodus melanocercus, a specialized cleaner wrasse. In this fish species, energetic investments in reproduction are different for males and females. Female S. melanocercus were found to be more active in cleaning and ingested significantly more gnathiid isopod larvae than males. Male cleaners foraged more on benthic animals and showed a strong preference for clients according to their mucus characteristics. Results indicate that female S. melanocercus are more likely to be specialized, in terms of cleaning behaviour, than males. We suggest that females are more honest than males and that they play an important role in preserving the good reputation of S. melanocercus as a cleaner fish.

Published information on the diet of Cuvier's beaked whales Ziphius cavirostris (Odontoceti: Ziphiidae) is reviewed and new information on the stomach contents of three animals: two stranded in Galicia (north-west Spain) in February 1990 at A Lanzada, and in February 1995 at Portonovo; and the third stranded in February 1999 in North Uist (Scotland), is presented. The whale stranded in 1990 was a male; the other two were adult females. All animals were >5 m long.  The limited published information on the diet of this species indicates that it feeds primarily on oceanic cephalopods although some authors also found remains of oceanic fish and crustaceans.  Food remains from the three new samples consisted entirely of cephalopod beaks. The Scottish sample set is the largest recorded to date for this species. The prey identified consisted of oceanic cephalopods, mainly squid (Cephalopoda: Teuthoidea). The most frequently occurring species were the squid Teuthowenia megalops, Mastigoteuthis schmidti and Taoniuspavo (for the Galician whale stranded in 1990), Teuthowenia megalops and Histioteuthis reversa (for the second Galician whale) and T. megalops, Gonatus sp. and Taoniuspavo (for the Scottish whale). Other prey included the squid Histioteuthis bonnellii, Histioteuthis arcturi and Todarodes sagittatus as well as Vampiroteuthis infernalis (Cephalopoda: Vampyromorpha), Stauroteuthis syrtensis and Japetella diaphana (Cephalopoda: Octopoda). The squid eaten (estimated from the measurement of the lower beaks) included juvenile and mature individuals of the most important species (Teuthowenia megalops, Gonatus sp.).  The range of species found in the diet of Z. cavirostris is greater than that reported for sperm whales and bottlenosed whales in the north-east Atlantic.

The taxonomic identity of the common subtidal ctenostomate bryozoan Alcyonidium diaphanum is resolved using comparative morphological and molecular genetic techniques. The newly recognized lectotype series and topotype specimens are described and illustrated. The incorporation of spicules and foreign particles during colony growth is described. Colony morphology and genetic characters of the three commonly occurring morphotypes are examined, showing that just a single genetic species may be recognized, based on the 12s rRNA and CO1 mtDNA genes. Mitochondrial haplotypes show no general correlation with either colony morphotype or geographical location.