Due to their high specificity, monogenoids from fish provide an interesting model to study historical associations of hosts and parasites. High agreement between host and parasite phylogeny is often interpreted as evidence of cospeciation. However, cophylogenetic signal may also arise from other, either adaptive or non-adaptive, processes. We applied the recently developed Cophylospace Framework to better understand the evolutionary relationship between monogenoids and marine catfish from the Atlantic coast of South America. The associations between 12 marine catfish and 10 monogenoid species were assessed. Molecular data of host and parasite species were used for phylogenetic reconstruction. We used anchor morphology based on Procrustes coordinates to evaluate whether closely related hosts are associated with morphologically similar parasites. To assess the association between parasite phylogeny and host morphology, we produced a distance matrix based on morphological characters of catfishes. Agreement between phylogenies and between phylogeny and morphology was measured using Procrustes R2 computed with PACo. The parasite phylogeny obtained in this study represents the first complete phylogenetic hypothesis of monogenoids parasitizing ariids from South America. The Cophylospace analysis suggested that phylogenetic and morphological distance of monogenoids contributes similarly to explain the pattern of host–parasite associations, whereas parasite phylogeny is more strongly associated with the morphological traits of the hosts than with host phylogeny. This evidence suggests that cospeciation is not a major force accounting for diversification in the monogenoids studied. Rather host morphological traits seem to be a more important driver, which conforms with evidence from other host‒monogenoid systems.

The introduction of non-native predator fish is thought to have important negative effects on native prey populations. Opsanus beta is a non-native toadfish that was originally described in the Gulf of Mexico, between the west coast of Florida and Belize. In the present study, we describe, for the first time, the occurrence of O. beta in Sepetiba Bay (22°55′S), south-eastern Brazil, probably brought into the bay through ships' ballast water. Thirteen specimens were recorded in this area near to Sepetiba Port. Similarly, three other records of this species in the Brazilian coast were also reported near to port areas at Rio de Janeiro (22°49′S), Santos (23°59′S) and Paranaguá (25°33′S) ports. To confirm the species identity, we employed DNA barcoding and compared our samples with sequences deposited on public databases, which indicated that our samples are highly similar (>99.9% of genetic similarity) to O. beta samples collected near its type locality. Several individuals were found in the capable spawning phase, according to histological analysis of the reproductive cell stages. The environmental plasticity of this species and the favourable local environmental conditions probably enabled the establishment of O. beta in this region. This raises concerns of potential high invasion impact due to this species' diet and reproductive capacity.

Fibropapillomatosis (FP) can be an important conservation threat to green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) due to its widespread distribution and complex aetiology. Thus, understanding the impacts of FP in sea turtle populations is a research priority towards conservation efforts. The body condition index (BCI), based on straight carapace length (SCL) and body mass (BM), is an accurate indicator of body-nutritional condition that can be used in routine green turtle health evaluations. This study aimed to compare BCI in FP-free (N = 369) and FP-affected (N = 518) green turtles from Brazilian feeding areas. Body condition indices were evaluated in terms of the South-west Atlantic Fibropapillomatosis Score – FPSSWA (mild, moderate and severe), study sites (five Brazilian states), origin (intentional capture, fishery, stranding and afloat) and sex (when known). Curved and straight carapace lengths, and body mass were recorded in order to calculate BCI. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in BCI among green turtles from different study areas (P = 0.02), and lower BCI values in FP-free than in FP-positive individuals (P < 0.0001). With regards to origin, the highest BCI was found in the intentional capture group (N = 245; 1.47 ± 0.16), followed by fishery (N = 180; 1.46 ± 0.20). Analysis according to sex revealed a higher mean BCI among females than males (P < 0.017). This study provides relevant data on the health and nutritional status of green turtles along the Brazilian coast, in important feeding areas for this species.

We report the occurrence of the sponge-dwelling snapping shrimp Synalpheus dardeaui (Decapoda: Alpheidae) for the first time from Porto Seguro (Bahia, Brazil) and record an additional sponge host for the species, Ircinia cf. strobilina. Synalpheus dardeaui was previously known from Florida and some localities in the Caribbean Sea. Therefore, the present finding represents the first record of the species in the south-western Atlantic, extending its southern distribution limit by a latitude of 28° from Curaçao (12°N) to Porto Seguro (16°S). Variations between the Brazilian and Florida–Caribbean materials are discussed and illustrated.

A new species of scale worm, Pholoides brasiliensis sp. nov., belonging to the family Sigalionidae, has been found in Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo States, south-east Brazil. The new species is mainly characterized by a long papilla in the subdistal region of the neuropodia and a prominent papilla on the ventral side of the tentaculophore. Pholoides remains species-poor compared to most Sigalionidae genera, and currently comprises four species.

Southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) is a huge marine predator that has a widely circumpolar distribution and breeding sites near the subantarctic convergence. Nevertheless, this seal has been found in several locations far from their breeding grounds. In Brazilian waters this species has been occasionally recorded. The aim of this paper is to review the occurrence of this species along the Brazilian coast, adding new records in the territory. From 1954 to 2008 we compiled 46 records of M. leonina distributed in eight Brazilian coastal states. We present eight non-published records which represent 17.4% of all the records for the Brazilian coast. From 32 sexed seals, 81.2% were males and 61.3% of the specimens were immature. Most records occurred during autumn (N = 15) and winter (N = 18) seasons. Unexpectedly, the records did not show a clear pattern of decrease from high to low latitudinal coastal Brazilian states. The nectonic pattern of M. leonina with the lack of physical barriers and currents moving northwards could be the reason for the dispersion of this seal to different areas along South American coast.

The pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuata) is a small cetacean that can be found worldwide in offshore tropical and warm temperate waters. Most information about F. attenuata has been attributed to stranded or accidentally caught specimens and rarely through observation of free-ranging individuals. There is very little information about this cetacean in South Atlantic waters. In Brazil, only two confirmed strandings and four sightings have been published up to date. In this study we present the third confirmed stranding of the pygmy killer whale on the Brazilian coast. The current and previous records of Brazilian specimens suggest that F. attenuata may eventually use the continental shelf to feed and rest, principally in some areas of the Brazilian waters where this oceanographic feature is narrow.

Sambaqui is the name given to a certain type of archaeological evidence left by fisher/hunter/gatherer groups who inhabited large expanses of the Brazilian coast. The word is of Tupi etymology, tamba meaning shellfish and ki a piling-up (Prous 1991: 204). The Tupi were a horticultural/potter group who lived on the Brazilian coast at the time of the first European arrivals; they coined the term which describes the main characteristic of the sites — the accumulation of great quantities of mollusc shells (FIGURE 1) .