Many morphological, chemical, and behavioural characteristics of echinoderms have been implicated as defences against ultraviolet light, though no studies have investigated whether adult echinoderms are damaged by this form of radiation. This study tests whether the brittlestar Ophioderma brevispinum (Ophiuroidea: Echinodermata) is damaged by solar ultraviolet radiation. Specimens of O. brevispinum were exposed to sunlight at a field station on the North Carolina coast. After 4 d of exposure, 12 out of 13 animals were dead and the remaining animal was moderately damaged. The animals in the control treatment, protected by a UV-opaque filter, suffered almost no damage.

Long-term fluctuations in the abundance of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus in the north-east Atlantic are compared to the North Atlantic Oscillation index over the period 1958–1995. The strong climate-plankton link previously observed is confirmed and a simple linear regression model is constructed with the aim of predicting the abundance of the species several months in advance. For the years 1993–1995 the model predictions are in accordance with observations, but not in 1996 when the abundance of C. finmarchicus fell, although the climatic scenario indicated that a sharp increase should have occurred. The potential causes of this discrepancy are discussed.

Eggs of the syllid polychaete Atnblyosyllis speciosa are deposited in benthic gelatinous masses. Embryos and larvae develop within these masses until about three weeks after fertilization, after which they crawl or swim away and metamorphose. Only one other syllid, the Mediterranean Syllides edentula, has been reported to form benthic egg masses.

While some syllid polychaetes spawn gametes freely into the water column where they are fertilized and develop without additional parental care, most species protect developing embryos in some fashion. Four modes of brood protection have been reported in the syllids. Protection of embryos within the ventral brood chamber of a planktonic adult is characteristic of members of the subfamily Autolytinae, and of some members of the Eusyllinae (Garwood, 1991). Physical attachment of embryos to the body of the maternal parent (external gestation) occurs in all members of the Exogoninae and in a few eusyllines (Heacox & Schroeder, 1978; Garwood, 1991). Viviparity is less common, having been reported in a few species in the subfamily Syllinae (Schroeder & Hermans, 1975; Ben-Eliahu, 1975) and in one exogonine (Pocklington & Hutcheson, 1983). Finally, the formation of benthic egg masses has been described in only one species, the eusylline Syllides edentula Claparède (Cognetti-Varriale, 1971).

In this study the benthic egg masses and development of another eusylline, Amblyosyllis speciosa Izuka, 1912, are described. In December 1995, at the Friday Harbor Laboratories (FHL), Washington, USA, five adult worms were found on a bivalve shell heavily infested with the boring sponge Cliona sp. Additional specimens and egg masses were collected in June 1996 and April-June 1997 from encrusting sponges on the FHL breakwater.

The scaleworm genus Pholoe (formerly referred to Sigalionidae) is common and often abundant in marine benthos. In northern Europe, 1–3 species may be present in a single sample but not recognized as distinct, or one species may be reported under different names in different studies. This results in an underevaluation of diversity and precludes comparison between data sets. Four valid species of Pholoe are common in nearshore European waters, but inadequate descriptions and species misinterpretation have resulted in most of these being misidentified as the western North Atlantic P. minuta, not known to occur in European waters. The present note attempts to resolve this confusion; it is based on examination of thousands of specimens, many of them alive, from northern Europe and elsewhere. An illustrated key and notes with brief synonymies for four nearshore northern European species are provided; use of Shirlastain A for temporarily darkening protruding structures is described. Pholoe inornata (type species of the genus), P. baltica and P. assimilis (resurrected) are briefly characterized.

Interindividual trail following by the patellid limpet Cellana toreuma was studied by field observations for more than ten successive days in the non-reproductive period. This behaviour was more frequent during spring tides than neap tides, when the limpets were moving longer distances in response to greater tidal amplitudes. Small individuals performed this behaviour with longer distances and higher frequencies than did larger individuals. Path analysis revealed that total distance moved during foraging excursions and mean resting site height had direct and indirect positive effects on the frequency of the interindividual trail following, respectively, and shell length and frequency of intraindividual trail following exerted a direct, negative effect.

On 8 November 1996, a female thresher shark (Figure 1) was caught in a purse seine full of bluefish (Pomatomus saltator), off Şile (41°15′24″N 29°35′30″E). The shark was photographed and tooth samples from lower and upper jaws were removed, and placed in the personal collection of the author. The total length of the shark was 453 cm.

Alopias vulpinus (Bonnaterre, 1788) is one of the three species of the family Alopiidae (Compagno, 1984). The thresher shark occurs worldwide, usually far offshore in temperate to tropical oceans, but where there are schools of bluefish, mackerel and squid, it may come close to the shore in pursuit. It is one of the most common shark species in the Mediterranean Sea (Quero, 1984). According to Devedjian (1926), Rhasis Erazi (1942) and Slastenenko (1955–1956) thresher sharks occur in the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Black Sea, however, over the last 40 years there have been no reports of this species in these areas (Ak§iray, 1987).

The capture of a single specimen of Kyphosus sectator (Osteichthyes: Kyphosidae) is reported from the island of Mallorca. It represents the first record of this species in the Balearic Sea (western Mediterranean). Some aspects relative to its distribution and ecology are also given.

On 16 September 1996, a single specimen of Bermuda sea chub, Kyphosus sectator (Linnaeus, 1766) (Osteichthyes: Kyphosidae), was caught with a surrounding purse seine by an artisanal fishing vessel involved in the dolphin-fish (Coryphaena hippurus Linnaeus, 1758) fishery carried out in Mallorcan waters (western Mediterranean) (Massutí & Morales-Nin, 1995). The set was made around drifting wooden flotsam, in waters approximately 600 m deep, and 9 nautical miles from the eastern coast of Mallorca (Figure 1). The surface temperature was approximately 23°C throughout the thermocline, down to a depth of 40 m (S. Devdero, unpublished data).

Seasonal variation in the abundance of marine plankton taxa is commonly expressed in the form of ‘mean annual cycles', in which the mean abundance over several years for a particluar season is plotted against the time of year. Typically, such mean annual cycles are used to compare patterns between different spatial locations. We wish to argue, however, that this can be very misleading since the shape of the underlying seasonal cycle itself may change with time as well as location. Thus, it is possible that the mean annual cycle may never actually occur in the environment in any location, nor need it characterize the underlying cyclicity in any one year. Moreover, ignoring changes in the shape of seasonal cycles over time can obscure important demographic shifts in plankton populations. It is therefore essential to test statistically for any changes in the shape of annual cycles before assuming their stability through time. Here we report on continuous plankton recorder (CPR) data of the calanoid copepod Calanus finmarchicus in which there is a demonstrable change over time in the pattern of seasonal fluctuations in abundance, and we discuss briefly the demographic implications of this change.

Deep-water trawling for fish species on the shelf slope off Scotland results in a by-catch of rare cephalopod species. The cirrate octopus Opisthoteuthis grimaldii is normally present below 800 m; at least one other species of cirrate and five species of incirrate octopus are found; significant extensions of range and depth are recorded. An incidental catch of the ommastrephid squid, Todarodes sagittatus, included a fully mature specimen and is indicative of its probable breeding locations. The results highlight the many taxonomic and systematic uncertainties surrounding the rarer cephalopod forms, and emphasize the utility of the fishing by-catch.

The status of the two indigenous species of sea horse, the British sea horse (spiny sea horse) (Hippocampus ramulosus) and the European sea horse (short snouted sea horse) (Hippocampus hippocampus) are not exactly known. The British Sea Horse Survey has been set out to identify sites and populations around the British Isles.

The native British sea horses Hippocampus ramulosus Leach and Hippocampus hippocampus Linnaeus are thought to be facing an uncertain future but not from collecting as in tropical species used in the Chinese medicine trade, but from direct interference with their habitat. It was therefore proposed that a survey be carried out to find the extent of their ranges and populations and whether they required protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

In the description of the two species for the survey it was decided to use size and presence or absence of appendages on the dorsal region to identify species. Relative snout to head ratios were not used as it was felt that this had to be discouraged as it would have meant handling the animals and the subsequent stress involved was not acceptable to an animal that is easily stressed.

A specimen of Chaunoteuthis mollis (Cephalopoda: Onychoteuthidae), a mature mated female, from the Straits of Messina was examined. Measurements and indices were compared with those of Onychoteuthis banksii reported by previous authors. The differences found were attributed to the degeneration of the C. mollis specimen, due to sexual maturation. Two subocular (one under each eye) and two visceral photophores, similar to those of O. banksii, were present in the C. mollis specimen. The size of the posterior visceral photophore of C. mollis fit the regression line correlating posterior photophore diameter to mantle length in O. banksii. These results corroborate the hypothesis, put forward by other authors, that C. mollis represents the mature female of O. banksii.

Introduced for aquaculture purposes, Ruditapes philippinarum has naturally recruited in several areas along the French Atlantic coast, and is subject to recurrent mortalities in late winter. The possible impact of these mortalities on both newly settled spat and juvenile R. philippinarum, was examined in a population from the Bay of Brest (western Brittany), in parallel with a survey of the main environmental parameters. From February to March 1994, 84% of the juvenile clams, between 1 and 2-y old, disappeared. No direct link could be made between these mortalities and the environmental parameters. Such winter mortalities were not observed in the newly settled spat.

The diet of Synaphobranchus kaupi from the Porcupine Seabight is described. A sample of 110 eel stomachs containing food, were analysed and the general size–depth trend among eels with food in their stomachs. Larger individuals are found in deeper waters. Fish are the main prey for larger eels and crustaceans are preferred by smaller individuals.

Synaphobranchus kaupi Johnson, 1862 is a slope dwelling eel, abundant in the north-east Atlantic Ocean from 230 to 2420 m deep on the continental slope (Haedrich & Merrett, 1988). It is the most abundant species on the slopes of the Porcupine Seabight, off south-west Ireland (Merrett et al, 1991; Priede et al., 1994) and was classified as a benthopelagic predator of the fourth level, predator of predators (Saldanha, 1991).

The diet of S. kaupi has been described from the slope off the middle Atlantic coast of the USA (Sedberry & Musick, 1978), from the Portuguese slope and in the Bay of Biscay (Saldanha, 1991), from the west African slope (Merrett & Marshall, 1981; Merrett & Domanski, 1985) and from the Rockall Trough (Gordon & Mauchline, 1996).

Our specimens were captured during a joint IOS/SAMS survey (Merret et al., 1991). From a total catch of 8792 S. kaupi, captured between 1979 and 1983 in the Porcupine Seabight, ranging from 470 to 2230 m deep, fish stomachs were removed aboard ship and 110 with food were kept in 5% formalin for further analysis.

Presumptive viral erythrocytic necrosis (VEN) was recorded from 1/4 of the benthopelagic fish Coryphaenoides (Nematonurus) armatus (Teleostei: Macrouridae) trawled from the abyss west of Portugal. In a blood smear made from the caudal vein of this fish, 8·6% of erythrocytes contained 1–2 intracytoplasmic inclusions which were invariably round and 1·13 ±0·43 μm in diameter. An eosinophilic granular area accompanied many inclusions. In comparison with erythrocytes from uninfected specimens of C. (N.) armatus, most of those from the infected fish were larger. Erythrocytes with suspected VEN exhibited either normal staining, or were pale, with swollen or crenated nuclei which were often displaced to the cell periphery. Erythrocyte ghosts, with and without inclusions and granules, were present in the same infected fish, suggesting osmotic damage to red cells resulting from the infection. None of 13 other C. (N.) armatus and 27 fish examined from collections made south of Maderia, representing another 20 species of benthic, benthopelagic and mid-water fish, had detectable infections.