A number of chondrichthyan fish species were caught on long-line in the Rockall Trough (north-east Atlantic) in 1997, which are first records for this area; Raja hyperborea, Raja kukujevi and Raja fullonica. The occurrence of R. hyperborea, usually found in colder boreal waters appears to be temperature related. The presence of the deep water squaliform shark Centrophorus uyato in the area was also confirmed and several species were caught at previously undocumented depths.

The Rockall Trough is an extension of the North Atlantic deep environment (Mauchline, 1990). A long-line survey was undertaken in August 1997 on the eastern and southern slopes of the Rockall Trough (Figure 1), fishing gear and procedures are described by Connolly (1997). Identifications were undertaken by means of several texts (Compagno, 1984; Whitehead, et al., 1984; Stehmann, 1997). The specimens described below were lodged in the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) and the Hamburg University Zoological Museum, Germany (ZMH). Depth ranges, positions and catalogue numbers of the specimens described are given in Table 1.

Catches of 11 juvenile specimens of Polyprion americanus (Osteichthyes: Polyprionidae) are reported under fish aggregation devices (FADs) in waters off Mallorca (western Mediterranean). Sampling was carried out fortnightly by surrounding artificial FADs with a purse seine from April 1995 till February 1997. Juveniles were present from June–August. Specimens were mostly solitary during the period of association to the FADs, with a length interval of 25.8 and 34.2 cm total length. The trophic spectrum was analysed to explain a possible food link with the FAD. The diet of Polyprion was mainly based on juvenile fish Trachurus and the eunestonic isopod Idotea metallica that were associated with the objects providing evidence for a trophic relation to the artificial structures.

The commensal relationship between a snailfish, tentatively identified as Careproctus sp. (Osteichthyes: Liparidae), and the lithodid crab Paralomis formosa (Crustacea: Lithodidae) was photographed in situ using a baited camera vehicle, deployed at depths of 625-1525 m around Shag Rocks and South Georgia in the Southern Ocean. The series of time-lapse photographs taken clearly showed that the small liparid fish `hitched rides' on the crabs, presumably attaching to the dorsal carapace and legs of the crabs by means of their ventral sucking disk. Liparid fish of 20-90 mm total length, corresponding to juveniles and adult sizes, were observed on the crabs and indicate that Careproctus sp. is closely associated with P. formosa for the whole of the life cycle of the fish. Such an association may provide the snailfish with protection from potential predators as well as a means of transport towards food-falls but at no apparent cost to the crabs.

Arm loss in two species of starfish Marthasterias glacialis and Asterias rubens (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) was recorded at eight sites in Lough Hyne, south-west Ireland. There was a significant positive correlation between the density of predators (Luidia ciliaris (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) and Cancer pagurus (Crustacea: Brachyura)) and arm loss in both species of starfish. The results suggest that predators may be responsible for a significant proportion of observed arm loss in these two species of starfish in Lough Hyne.

Substratum choice tests conducted on early juveniles of Lipophrys pholis show that they clearly prefer rocky to sandy substrata. The cues involved are still unknown. It is likely that this early preference for the habitat of the adults affords them a greater protection from both predators and wave action. At this early stage agonistic behaviour, although in simple forms, is already present and may play a role in competition for the best shelters.

Several colonies of the phlebobranch ascidian Perophora japonica were found during 1999 at a marina in Plymouth Sound, Devon, UK. The species was still present in the spring of 2000. This appears to be the first record from British coasts of the species, which is native to Japan and Korea but is previously known from northern France. The stolons of P. japonica bear distinctive, star-shaped terminal buds, which are bright yellow in the Plymouth population. Comparison is made with Atlantic representatives of the genus, particularly the native British species P. listeri.

Seasonal and spatial variations in the distribution and abundance of Ophiothrix fragilis larvae (2-arm to 8-arm stages) were determined from a series of plankton net tows in the Dover Strait in 1995 and 1996. Ophioplutei appeared in the plankton between June and September. Larval population was constituted by ophioplutei from different spatio–temporal origins. A major fraction of the ophioplutei observed in the Dover Strait might come from a population localized southward.

The stomach contents of two Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris), male and female, stranded on the western Mediterranean coast were analysed. Food consisted exclusively of hard cephalopod remains. The character of this teuthophagous diet agrees with the offshore and deep diving behaviour of Z. cavirostris.

Intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies were detected in the mature red blood cells of twenty juvenile loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, captured in Madeira. The bodies were mostly single, round to oval, frequently irregular in outline, and their diameter varied from 0.5 to 2.0 μm. Most bodies were associated with small granular areas, often in the form of a tail or projection. In some cells, only granular areas were apparent. The nuclei of most erythrocytes were irregular in outline but degeneration of red blood cells was not observed. The identity of these intraerythrocytic structures is not clear but they may be viral or rickettsial in nature.

The first dorsal fin spines were used to estimate the age of juvenile bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, from the Mediterranean Sea. Observations on the type of growth zones occurring on the outside margin of each spine section by month and marginal increment analysis indicated that only one translucent zone is formed per year between February and April, when lower sea surface temperatures are observed. Age estimations were based on counts of translucent zones on the spine sections and mean size at estimated age was calculated for the first three years of life.

This communication reports on experiments, which studied the variation in competitive performance of juvenile cod (Gadus morhua L.) and their growth rates. The fish were held in groups of five in either summer or winter conditions and tested for their individual response to prey offered sequentially. There was marked individual variability. Fish that took the highest share of prey tended also to be those that took prey earlier than others. In winter conditions these fish were the largest, but in summer conditions size had no effect. There was a positive influence of the indices of competitive performance on individual growth rate but the relationship was not significant

The pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuata) is an offshore, tropical and subtropical delphinid found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. The species has only recently been studied, mostly from specimens collected from strandings. While over 52 reports exist for the Atlantic Ocean, only one record exists for the Caribbean Sea. A new record of a mass stranding of pygmy killer whales from the British Virgin Islands is documented and the pathology and life history of the specimens is described, associating the stranding process with the meteorological and oceanographic disturbance of Hurricane Marilyn, which devastated the Virgin Islands a day prior to the stranding. This stranding event constitutes the sixth known mass stranding for the species worldwide, the first record for pygmy killer whales for the northeastern Caribbean and the second for the entire Caribbean Sea.

One hundred and fifty-one Centroscyllium fabricii stomachs containing food were analysed on board freezer vessels in north-west Atlantic in 1992. Three length groups were established to study variations in diet with length. The most important prey group was waste products from fish processing by the fleet and fish. Diet varied with length, smaller specimens feeding on crustaceans and molluscs, offal and fish forming the main prey in larger predators.

The hypothesis of a locomotor role for the free rays of Trigloporus lastoviza is supported by: (1) their periodic retraction and protraction during slow displacement over the substratum whenever the propulsive body wave responsible for swimming is not visible; (2) the integration of the rays' individual cycles into a hexapod gait apparently generated by a metachronal impulse; and (3) the kinematic features of the longest free ray in relation to the bottom-walking velocity.

Molluscan biogeographical studies around the British Isles and along the north coast of France have revealed a recurring association between the tube-building polychaetes Sabellaria spp. and two marine snails: the pyramidellid gastropod Noemiamea dolioliformis and the aclid, Graphis albida. Whilst few pyramidellids are considered to be host-specific, the evidence from these studies has shown that living animals of N. dolioliformis are only ever associated with Sabellaria spp. There is also a clear relationship between G. albida and Sabellaria spp. but as yet insufficient evidence that it associates only with these polychaetes.

The pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuata) is an offshore, tropical and subtropical delphinid found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. The species has only recently been studied, mostly from specimens collected from strandings. While over 52 reports exist for the Atlantic Ocean, only one record exists for the Caribbean Sea. A new record of a mass stranding of pygmy killer whales from the British Virgin Islands is documented and the pathology and life history of the specimens is described, associating the stranding process with the meteorological and oceanographic disturbance of Hurricane Marilyn, which devastated the Virgin Islands a day prior to the stranding. This stranding event constitutes the sixth known mass stranding for the species worldwide, the first record for pygmy killer whales for the northeastern Caribbean and the second for the entire Caribbean Sea.