The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, was the most captured great whale in the Azores Archipelago by land-based whaling and nowadays is the most appealing species for whale watching, one of the archipelago's principal sources of tourism. Our objective was to compare number of sightings during whaling and whale watching activities. Our main question to address the possible impact of past whaling in recent whale watching is: does a present-day eco-tourist sight more or fewer sperm whales than a whaler could sight in the past? For that, a compilation of data resulting both from past whaling records and recent whale watching records was conducted. We obtained a total of 727 independent sightings of sperm whales during a total of 280 different days of sperm whaling between 1947 and 1973. A total of 1767 sperm whale sightings were made during 1133 days of whale watching activities, between 1997 and 2008. The sperm whale sighting per unit of effort average was significantly higher in the past (35.68) than in the present (12.06). In the Azores, captures over the decades greatly decreased the number of sperm whales in the region and twenty years after the end of sperm whaling a reduced number of recent sightings were found.

This paper presents data on the diet of the musky octopus, Eledone moschata, caught with bottom-trawl nets in the northern Adriatic Sea from October 2001 to June 2003. A total of 1226 stomachs were examined, out of which 34.8% were empty. Several indices were used to describe the diet of the species. Crustaceans were found to be the most important prey category and their remains occurred in 65.0% of stomachs with food. Fish and cephalopods were present in 37.8% and 21.8% of stomachs, respectively. Differences in food composition between smaller and larger individuals were observed. In specimens with mantle lengths up to 80 mm crustaceans dominated, occurring in 79.4% of examined stomachs. Important prey categories of the larger specimens (>80 mm) were crustaceans, fish and cephalopods. No significant differences in the diet between males and females were found. Cannibalism occurred only occasionally and at larger sizes. Seasonal changes in the diet were observed, but seasonality did not seem to be a limiting factor in the feeding intensity of the species. Results indicate that the observed differences in the diet composition and feeding dynamics of the musky octopus are primarily due to the animals' changes in size.

A new kinorhynch genus and species is described from coralline sand collected on the atoll of the Chuuk Islands, Micronesia. The new genus and species, Triodontoderes anulap gen. et sp. nov., is characterized by having an introvert with only five scalid rings, segment 1 consisting of one tergal and one sternal plate, segments 2 to 4 of one tergal and two sternal plates, and segments 5 to 11 of one tergal plate with midventral articulation. Triodontoderes anulap gen. et sp. nov. shares several characters with species of Zelinkaderes, including reduced number of scalid rings, distally tripartite placids, a trunk being circular in cross-section, and segments 5 to 10 being composed of a single tergal plate with midventral articulation. Until the kinorhynch relationships have been examined in a formal phylogenetic analysis, Triodontoderes gen. et sp. nov. are tentatively assigned to Zelinkaderidae.

During high-tide, the majority of Gobius cobitis exhibit a microhabitat shift, moving up to the mid-intertidal walls and cliffs, a typical blenniid habitat that is not used by this species during low-tide. Observations on feeding behaviour that showed that fish behave as an ambush predator, being capable of hunting fish of considerable size, combined with its movements to typical blenniid habitats, suggest that this species may have a predatory role as a fish predator on the rock intertidal.

The growth and size-structure of the bathyal ophiuroid brittle star, Stegophiura sp., were analysed from skeletal growth bands and disc diameter frequencies. Specimens were collected in trawl samples taken on the continental slope off central Chile (~36°S) at two sites within the recently discovered Concepción Methane Seep Area (CMSA) and at two control non-seep sites. Growth bands were measured as radii of vertebral ossicles from scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs and used to provide size-at-age data. The von Bertalanffy and the Gompertz growth models provided good fit to size-at-age data. The size-structure distributions observed in the study area suggest that small-bodied (<10 mm disc diameter) individuals of Stegophiura sp. are more abundant near seep sites, probably attracted there by the presence of methane-derived authigenic carbonates, which provide a preferred habitat for ophiuroids and benthic fauna in general. Furthermore, size-at-age data from measurements of the ossicle growth bands indicate relatively rapid growth of Stegophiura sp. populations at seep sites. Assuming that the growth rings are annual, the maximum Stegophiura sp. age was estimated to be 15 years. The growth performance of this species falls within the range of values reported for sub-Antarctic and bathyal species.

Global climate change is impacting the ecology and biogeography of marine fish populations and will continue to do so in the future. Here, I review recent records of unusual marine fish distributions from different regions of the world, and discuss the relevance of such observations to climate changes. In conclusion, I suggest that first records of fish in unusual habitats may aid as an indicator of climate changes, provided each record is critically assessed and combined with recent records of fish population parameters, population dynamics, marine habitat assessments and abiotic data such as sea bottom, middle and surface temperatures.

Habitat modelling requires incorporation of both biotic and abiotic information. For juvenile flatfish the factors that most influence growth are water temperature, food abundance and predatory pressure. This study focuses on the impact the predator, the shore crab, Carcinus maenas, has on the foraging activity of sole, Solea senegalensis. The results show that in the presence of both prey (ragworm, Nereis diversicolor) and predator, ≃10% decrease in foraging activity is observed when compared to the sole in the presence of only food. This suggests that when the shore crab is present, Senegalese soles are not only affected by direct predation but sub-optimal foraging is also found. Behaviours most correlated with foraging were crawling and tapping and these activities were also affected by the presence of the predator. This study also provides further support for visual recognition of predators and olfactory prey recognition in the Senegalese sole. Predator–prey encounters shape species behaviours profoundly and have to be looked at from different levels of ecology, behaviour and modelling.

This paper describes a new species in the genus Parametopella (Amphipoda: Stenothoidae), P. antholobae sp. nov., collected among the tentacles of the sea anemone Antholoba achates, found in shallow water near Coquimbo, Chile. A key to all Parametopella species is provided. The type specimen of the superficially similar species Parametopa alaskensis (Holmes) was studied; that species remains in Parametopa.

São Tomé and Príncipe is an archipelago located in the Gulf of Guinea. This archipelago seems to be an important area for cetaceans, probably due to large concentrations of prey, as well as the existence of several small bays and shallow water that constitute preferred rest areas. In comparison to other areas of the world, little is known about cetacean communities in this archipelago. Boat-based surveys to record sightings of cetaceans were conducted between 2002 and 2005, which represents the first approach to study the occurrence of whales and dolphins in this tropical region. Sightings of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata), killer whales (Orcinus orca), sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) and pilot whales (Globicephala melas) were recorded. Cetaceans were found throughout a range of sea surface temperature between 24 and 29°C and a wide range of depths. Significant differences were found regarding the occurrence of some species. Humpback whales showed a preference for shallower waters between 20 and 100 m. Bottlenose dolphins occurred most commonly along the continental shelf (20 to 100 m) and pantropical spotted dolphins occurred in deep slope waters (>1000 m).

Anadara demiri (Piani, 1981) is an alien species in the Mediterranean Sea extending its range from Turkey westernly to the Adriatic Sea, where it is locally abundant. The species was first identified as Arca amygdalum Philippi, 1847 in the 1970s. The locus typicus of A. amygdalum is China. This first identification has never been discussed and the species has been thought to be of Indo-Pacific origin to date. However, in the Indo-Pacific province no Anadara shows any similarity with A. demiri. Morphological and molecular data suggest A. demiri is closely related to Anadara transversa (Say, 1822), a common species of the eastern coasts of North America. Anadara demiri is hence considered a junior synonym of A. transversa and the origin of this immigration has to be searched in the southern range of this species, maybe the Gulf of Mexico coasts of Florida.

Reliable methods to identify and monitor cetacean individuals are important to assess population behaviour and ecology. We describe and evaluate the application of the digital video-identification technique (DVI) for the acquisition and analysis of dorsal fin images in the study of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Cagarras Archipelago, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Between August and November 2004, we identified and catalogued 20 individuals; 80% were re-sighted more than twice. The Individual Residence Index varied between 1.0 (N = 1) and 0.2 (N = 4). Compared with traditional photo-identification methods, DVI offers significant advantages in respect to production of sequential images and speed of editing and processing.

This study reviews and updates information on cetacean strandings in the state of Ceará, Brazil (02°30′S 41°15′W– 04°30′S 36°45′W), comprising 573 km of coastline. In the years 1992–2005, there were 252 cetacean stranding events, representing 19 species: three species of Balaenopteridae, three Physeteridae, two Kogiidae, two Ziphiidae and 11 Delphinidae. Three species comprised the majority (78.9%) of stranding events: estuarine dolphin, Sotalia guianensis (61.9%); sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus (10.3%); and rough-toothed dolphin, Steno bredanensis (6.7%). There was an increasing trend in the number of cases reported in the first five years with a highest frequency achieved in 1996. Stranding events occurred throughout the year, with the lowest frequency occurring in the autumn (March–May). Approximately 4% of the events were attributed to natural causes while 24.6% were human-related, mainly incidental captures. Meat removal for human consumption or bait was recorded in 6.7% of events. In the study area, Sotalia guianensis, P. macrocephalus and Steno bredanensis were the most abundant cetacean species, whereas Lagenodelphis hosei, Pseudorca crassidens, Orcinus orca, Kogia sima, Mesoplodon europaeus, Balaenoptera acutorostrata and Balaenoptera bonaerensis are probably rare in the area.

A potential new species of Barracuda Sphyraena intermedia sp. nov. (Perciformes: Actinopterygii) is reported from the Gulf of Taranto in the central Mediterranean Sea. This classification was based upon a thorough anatomical comparison with well documented species from the region (Sphyraena sphyraena and Sphyraena viridensis). Principally, Sphyraena intermedia sp. nov. differed from the other species within the genus in terms of body shape, otoliths, dentition and pyloric caeca.