0000000000326149
AUTHOR
Giuseppe Corriero
Density Decline in a Mediterranean Seahorse Population: Natural Fluctuations or New Emerging Threats?
Illegal wildlife trade is considered one of the most serious threats to biodiversity worldwide, along with habitat loss/degradation and overfishing of wild stocks. Seahorses are considered at high risk as these fish represent an important component of traditional Chinese medicine but are also sold as curios and ornamental fish. On a worldwide level, illegal trade is controlled by numerous laws and regulations, but it seems to continue by assuming more dynamic routes. In the Mediterranean Sea, Hippocampus guttulatus formed one of the largest populations at Mar Piccolo di Taranto in South-Eastern Italy. During the routine monitoring of this population in 2016, a dramatic density decrease was …
Mediterranean bioconstructions along the Italian coast
Marine bioconstructions are biodiversity-rich, three-dimensional biogenic structures, regulating key ecological functions of benthic ecosystems worldwide. Tropical coral reefs are outstanding for their beauty, diversity and complexity, but analogous types of bioconstructions are also present in temperate seas. The main bioconstructions in the Mediterranean Sea are represented by coralligenous formations, vermetid reefs, deep-sea cold-water corals, Lithophyllum byssoides trottoirs, coral banks formed by the shallow-water corals Cladocora caespitosa or Astroides calycularis, and sabellariid or serpulid worm reefs. Bioconstructions change the morphological and chemicophysical features of prima…
Gone before its known? Camera-trapping shows alarming levels of putative hybrids in the wildcat (Felis silvestris) population of the Gargano National Park (Southern Italy)
Abstract The European wildcat is a small carnivore widespread across Europe and hybridization with the domestic cat is one of the major threats to wildcats. We estimate the population density of wild-living cats (both wildcats and putative hybrids based on pelage) in the Gargano National Park (Southern Italy). We sampled 20 stations for 540 camera days. We obtained 23 images from 17 detections at 10 cameras, and we identified 10 individuals (6 wildcats and 4 putative hybrids). Population density was estimated at 0.34 ± 0.15 SE wild-living cats/km2. The proportion of putative hybrids indicates an alarming hybridization for this population.
Mediterranean Bioconstructions Along the Italian Coast
Marine bioconstructions are biodiversity-rich, three-dimensional biogenic structures, regulating key ecological functions of benthic ecosystems worldwide. Tropical coral reefs are outstanding for their beauty, diversity and complexity, but analogous types of bioconstructions are also present in temperate seas. The main bioconstructions in the Mediterranean Sea are represented by coralligenous formations, vermetid reefs, deep-sea cold-water corals, Lithophyllum byssoides trottoirs, coral banks formed by the shallow-water corals Cladocora caespitosa or Astroides calycularis, and sabellariid or serpulid worm reefs. Bioconstructions change the morphological and chemicophysical features of prima…
Cervical Neuroma Presenting as a Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Case Report
OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: The association of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) with spinal lesions is well known, but hemorrhage from a cervical schwannoma is exceedingly rare. The histopathology and the mechanism of bleeding are discussed. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: We report a healthy 37-year-old man presenting with SAH after intense physical stress caused by bleeding of a cervical neuroma. INTERVENTION: A C6-T1 laminectomy disclosed an ovoid lesion, 4 cm in diameter; extremely dilated veins originated from the tumor. Removal of the spinal lesion resulted in immediate decongestion of the related venous network. The histopathological examination confirmed that the lesion was a telangiectatic schwa…