Three species of cirrate octopod are reported from deep-sea collections around the coasts of Greenland and Iceland in the North Atlantic. Twenty-one specimens of Stauroteuthis syrtensis were caught from east and west Greenland at depths of 258–1321 m, representing a considerable geographic and bathymetric extension of the range. Nine specimens of a putative new species of the genus Opisthoteuthis are reported, and are the first records of this genus in the area. Nineteen specimens of the circum-Arctic species Cirroteuthis muelleri add significantly to our knowledge of the distribution this species. Latitudinal patterns in the bathymetric distribution of C. muelleri and S. syrtensis suggest temperature is the principal controlling factor.

Four new fish species have been recorded for the first time in the last few years in Galician waters: Physiculus dalwigkii, Neoscopelus microchir, Gaidropsarus granti and Pisodonophis semicinctus. The captures of Physiculus dalwigki, N. microchir and G. granti represent a new northern limit for their distribution in the north-east Atlantic, increasing their geographical range of distribution considerably while the capture of Pisodonophis semicinctus is the second record for the Atlantic European waters.

The present study aims to apply a growth model to a species with a conditional reproductive strategy, the grass goby Zosterisessor ophiocephalus (Pisces: Gobiidae), in order to evaluate the adoption of alternative tactics by this species under the constraints of different dates of birth. The model describes the growth pattern (based on age, weight and gonadosomatic index data) of an individual, assumed to be representative of a given cohort, while also taking into account the energetic loss due to parental care. The most important parameters have been calibrated by comparing the results with a set of data collected in the lagoon of Venice. The comparison between the growth pattern of a parental male and that of a late-born male suggests that the birthday could be one of the major constraints affecting the adoption of an alternative tactic during the first breeding season.

Indicator bacteria and Salmonella spp. were investigated in both Chamelea gallina and seawater from six stations on the coastline of Sile, Turkey. Studies were carried out on 15 days from June to December in 1998–1999. Chamelea gallina samples which were collected at approximately 5–10 metres depth from the chosen stations were examined for faecal coliform, Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. Bacteria numbers were highest in July and August. Bacteria distribution was found to be statistically significant between stations. No Salmonella spp. were detected in the samples.

The stomach contents of seven male sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus (Odontoceti: Physeteridae) from the north-east Atlantic were examined. One animal was stranded on 27 November 1997 near Wassenaar (the Netherlands). Four became stranded the following day, 28 November 1997, on the island of Ameland (the Netherlands); three of these had food remains in the stomach. Samples were also examined from a whale stranded in August 1998 at Bettyhill (Scotland) and one live-stranded in March 1996 at Tory Island, Co. Donegal (Ireland). Finally, a sample of the stomach contents from a whale stranded near Terneuzen (Scheldt Estuary, the Netherlands) in February 1937 was also examined.

All samples consisted almost entirely of cephalopod beaks. Some fish remains were also found in the stomach of the Wassenaar and one of the Ameland whales. The cephalopod prey were mainly oceanic species: Gonatus sp. (probably Gonatus fabricii, Oegopsida: Gonatidae) was the main prey for all the animals stranded in the Netherlands. The specimen stranded in Ireland had consumed a wider range of prey, mainly Histioteuthis bonnellii (Oegopsida: Histiotetuhidae), but also Architeuthis sp. (Oegopsida: Architeuthidae), Chiroteuthis sp. (Oegopsida: Chiroteuthidae), Teuthowenia megalops (Oegopsida: Cranchiidae) and the octopod Haliphron atlanticus (Incirrata: Alloposidae). The fish remains from the Wassenaar whale were saithe (Pollachius virens, Gadiformes: Gadidae), while remains of monkfish (Lophius sp., Lophiiformes: Lophiidae) and an unidentified fish were recorded from one of the Ameland animals.

Concentrations of iron in embryos and yolk sacs of dogfish Scyliorhinuscanicula (Elasmobranchii: Squaliformes) reared in natural and artificial (iron-free and iron-augmented) seawater were measured and compared with the iron content of adult dogfish tissues in order to investigate the iron budget of dogfish embryos. No difference in iron concentration between sexes was observed in adult dogfish. Liver iron concentration (89.6±5.8 μg g−1) showed the highest value among the three tissues investigated and was significantly higher than that measured in muscle (22.6±2.1 μg g−1), or developing eggs from females (40.5±2.5 μg g−1). The iron concentration in the entire contents of early eggcases (27.1±4.8 μg g−1) was lower, but not significantly different from that of eggs taken from the females. Dogfish yolk sacs from eggcases maintained in (a) natural seawater, (b) artificial seawater, and (c) artificial seawater with supplementary iron, for periods of up to six months, did not show any differences in iron content. Developing embryos from the artificial seawater with supplementary iron treatment demonstrated elevated iron concentrations (62.4±12.0 μg g−1) when compared with those from the remaining two treatments (35.8±5.8 and 35.1±2.7 μg g−1 respectively). The results identify maternal investment as the primary contributor to the iron burden of juvenile dogfish, and demonstrate the ability of the embryos to supplement this supply from their environment.

The shape of foregut lumen in both the pharyngeal and the oesophageal regions has been examined from serial histological sections in 16 species of pycnogonids covering all extant families. Each species has a Y-shaped foregut lumen in transverse section. This result shows that some previous authors misoriented the lumen as inverted Y-shaped. The triradiate Y-shaped foregut lumen has been found among ecdysozoans including tardigrades, onychophorans and scatteringly arthropods. At present, it is not clear whether the Y-shaped state of the characteristic in pycnogonids is convergent or symplesiomorphy with that in tardigrades and onychophorans.

Lights were attached to the headline of a bottom trawl during a series of tows at 1000 m depth in the Rockall Trough (north-east Atlantic). There was no significant difference in the overall numerical abundance of demersal fish between the trawl catches with light and the controls with no light. A principal components analysis based on the total fish catch between the experimental and the control stations showed no segregation. At the individual species level significant differences in catch rate were found for eight species. These are discussed in relation to the small amount of available information on the visual systems of deep-sea demersal fish and their diet.

Five of 26 flathead mullet (Mugil cephalus) captured in the Seekoei River estuary in South Africa showed haemogregarine infections. Both trophozoites and gamonts were observed, and image analysis technology was used in parasite morphometric description. Gamonts were compared with those of Desseria mugili from Brazil and found to be different. The parasite mostly closely matched a haemogregarine previously illustrated, but not described from South Africa, and apparent lack of merogony suggested that it was a species of Desseria.

The pygmy killer whale Feresa attenuata is a poorly understood species that occurs in tropical and warm sub-tropical waters worldwide. The true range of these animals is not well established and there have been reports of them in temperate waters of the South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. At 1746 h on 24 April 1997 at 45°15′76″N 30°56′54″W the first of two groups of small robust cetaceans were observed by experienced cetacean observers during a survey carried out aboard the P&O Portsmouth cruise ferry ‘Pride of Bilbao’. At 1820 at position 45°25′96″N 40°00′94″W on the same day a second group of animals of this species was encountered. In both cases the cetaceans were in close proximity to cetaceans with new born or first year calves. Identification information was recorded by the observers and the animals were identified as pygmy killer whales. These records represent the first in the Bay of Biscay and the most northerly records for this species.

The distribution and bathymetric zonation of deep-sea ophiuroids off the Japanese Pacific coast were analysed. Samples were collected using beam trawls between depths of 60 and 6382 m. In 154 samples, 139 ophiuroid species were found. Data were clustered based on Morisita–Horn similarity index and a dendrogram was constructed. The Japanese Pacific coast can be divided in two major zones. One in the northern part off the Japanese Pacific coast, and another in the region off the central Japanese Pacific coast. In the northern region, five bathymetrical zones were detected at depths of 130–250, 300–500, 500–650, 1100–1500, and 2000–3000 m. In the central region, eight bathymetrical zones were detected at 100–140, 150–250, 200–300, 220–300, 300–400, 400–500, 800–1000, and 1000–1500 m depth. Representative species for each bathymetrical zone are reported.

Wood-boring bivalves of the families Teredinidae and Pholadidae are reported for the first time in Paraíba State, north-east Brazil. During one year, molluscs were collected from mangrove tree logs and from wood panels, along a salinity gradient. Four teredinid (Neoteredo reynei, Teredo bartschi, Nausitora fusticula, Bankia fimbriatula) and one pholad species (Martesia striata) were found.

Strandings of marine mammals on the north-western Spanish coast (Galicia) have been systematically recorded since 1990. A total of 1433 marine mammals belonging to 15 species was recorded from 1990 to 1999. The most frequently recorded species stranded were common dolphin (47%), bottlenose dolphin (11%) and harbour porpoise (7%). The number of strandings recorded increased annually over the study period, probably reflecting an increased observer effort. During 1996–1999, an average of 1·65 animals were stranded annually for each 10 km of coastline, the highest density of strandings recorded on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula. More than 80% of the strandings were located on the western coast of Galicia, mainly in autumn and winter. During the study period, 42 proven incidental catches were recorded, although signs of by-catch were seen in a further 198 animals. The average size of stranded common dolphins and the proportion of males both increased towards the end of the calendar year.

Both the salmon louse Lepeophtheirus salmonis and its close relative Caligus elongatus are ectoparasitic on Salmonidae in salt water in the northern hemisphere. In this study we monitored population dynamics of these parasites on anadromous brown trout, i.e. sea trout, on the Norwegian Skagerrak coast in the winters of 1998–1999 and 1999–2000. The low salinity was expected to reduce sea lice populations as lice do not tolerate sojourns of more than a few weeks, at most, in freshwater. Results confirmed the presence of both parasite species on estuarine sea trout in winter, and showed that the lice populations go through a bottleneck in this period. Prevalences of infection of both parasite species were very different in the two sampling periods, but fell below 10% in March in both winters. Median infection intensity was 1–2 fish−1. Salinity was statistically related to the presence of C. elongatus both winters, and to L. salmonis in 1999–2000. Temperature appeared to be less important for the abundance of lice.

Statolith validation and age and growth analysis was undertaken for the loliginid squid Loligo plei in the north-west Gulf of Mexico off Galveston, Texas. Statolith increments were shown to be laid down daily based on tetracycline staining of 19 individuals maintained in captivity. Ageing of field-captured individuals from late summer revealed that this species has rapid growth rates and a life span of about five months at least during the warm period of the year in this region of the Gulf of Mexico.

Eicosatetraenoic acid (20:4(n-6)), a polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), was found in deep-sea holothurians at a depth of nearly 5000 m in the temperate north-east Atlantic. It has been suggested that deep-sea animals may be able to synthesize this compound de novo. Since this fatty acid is typical of Rhodophyceae, which has previously been found incorporated in gelatinous material captured in the deep sea, an alternative origin of this fatty acid in the deep-sea holothurians is proposed.

Otolith microstructure of the Russian sturgeon, Acipenser gueldenstadti was examined in adult samples collected in the Caspian Sea. The microstructure of the otolith was the same among specimens. The anterior side of the sagitta grew in two directions elongating both the long and short arms, and the long arm sections exhibited 14–21 distinct translucent and opaque zones. Otolith increments in this species can be used for age determination.

Tributyltin (TBT) and its degradation products, dibutyltin (DBT) and monobutyltin (MBT), together with triphenyltin (TPT), were investigated in eels from the Thames Estuary and the Weston Canal (Merseyside). Within individual eels, the concentrations of organotin (OT) compounds varied considerably between tissues. Tributyltin concentrations were highest in heart and gall bladder and lowest in muscle and gonad. Tributyltin was generally the most predominant of butyltin (BT) compounds present in eel tissues and DBT the least. Phenyltins were detected in eels from both locations, notably the Weston Canal where TPT was present up to 0.367 μg g−1 (as Sn) in liver samples. Concentrations of OTs in liver (and muscle) were independent of weight and length in the eel populations examined. In a survey of OTs in eel populations along the Thames Estuary hepatic TBT levels ranged from 0.066–0.347 μg g−1 dry wt (as Sn) in liver of eels and were generally highest in the mid-section of the estuary, resembling the distribution pattern of TBT in sediment. Proportions of TBT to total BTs were also elevated in eel from this section of the waterway, consistent with continuing inputs in this region, albeit at relatively low levels. Major sewage treatment plants are sited here and may represent a possible source.

The present study demonstrated histochemically that the enzyme activity was present in the cerebral vesicle, epidermis, muscles, endostyle and anus of amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtaunese. This is the first noted report on localization of constitutive nitric oxide synthases in a celphalochordate.

Lessepsian migrant Leiognathus klunzingeri is reported for the first time from the Adriatic Sea, substantially further north than its usual area of occurrence in the Mediterranean Sea. Morphometric and meristic characteristics of the specimen are provided. The possible explanations of this occurrence are discussed.