Search results for "mediterranean sea."
showing 10 items of 830 documents
Ontogenetic trophic segregation between two threatened smooth-hound sharks in the Central Mediterranean Sea
2020
AbstractElasmobranchs are among the species most threatened by overfishing and a large body of evidence reports their decline around the world. As they are large predators occupying the highest levels of marine food webs, their removal can alter the trophic web dynamic through predatory release effects and trophic cascade. Suitable management of threatened shark species requires a good understanding of their behaviour and feeding ecology. In this study we provide one of the first assessments of the trophic ecology of the “vulnerable” smooth-hounds Mustelus mustelus and M. punctulatus in the Central Mediterranean Sea, based on stomach contents and stable isotope analyses. Ontogenetic diet ch…
Balaenophilus manatorum (Ortíz, Lalana and Torres, 1992) (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) from loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, from Japan and the w…
2010
The ectoparasitic harpacticoid copepod, Balaenophilus manatorum (Ortiz, Lalana and Torres, 1992) (syn. Balaenophilus umigamecolus Ogawa, Matsuzaki and Misaki, 1997), has been reported on 3 species of marine turtles from the Pacific and the Mediterranean and from the West Indian manatee off Cuba in the Caribbean. The 3 available descriptions of this species were made using light microscopy. In this paper, we provide an amended description of B. manatorum using scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) for specimens in the collection from which B. umigamecolus was originally described. This material was collected from 1 loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta, from Japan. The use of SEM allowed us …
Gastrointestinal helminths of cuvier’s beaked whales, ziphius cavirostris, From the Western Mediterranean
2004
We examined the gastrointestinal helminth fauna of 2 Cuvier's beaked whales, Ziphius cavirostris, stranded on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Information regarding intestinal parasites of this species is provided for the first time. Six helminth taxa were identified. Thirty type II larvae of the nematode Anisakis sp. were found in the stomach and the intestine of both hosts; 2 type I larvae of Anisakis sp. were found in the intestine of 1 host. One juvenile of the acanthocephalan Bolbosoma vasculosum was found in the intestine; the metacestode Scolex pleuronectis was found mainly in the terminal colon and the anal crypts of both hosts; adult cestodes of Tetrabothrius sp., which may represe…
Intestinal Helminth Fauna of Bottlenose DolphinTursiops truncatusand Common DolphinDelphinus delphisfrom the Western Mediterranean
2012
We report on the intestinal helminth fauna of 15 bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus and 6 short-beaked common dolphins Delphinus delphis from the western Mediterranean. Eight helminth species were found in bottlenose dolphin, i.e., the digeneans Synthesium tursionis, Brachycladium atlanticum, and Pholeter gastrophilus, the nematode Anisakis sp., and the cestodes Tetrabothrius forsteri, Diphyllobothrium sp., Strobilocephalus triangularis, and tetraphyllidean plerocercoids. Brachycladium atlanticum, S. triangularis , and tetraphyllidean plerocercoids are new host records. No T. forsteri had previously been reported in Mediterranean bottlenose dolphins. Three species of helminths were reco…
Renewable energy sources for energy consumption needs of Malta Island in Mediterranean sea
2016
The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the energetic condition of the Maltese islands and its electrical energy production, focusing on the employment of Renewable Energies in order to increase its energy independence. The main renewable source here proposed is wave energy: thanks to its strategic position, Malta will be able to produce electrical energy using an innovative type of Wave Energy Converter (WEC) based on the prototype of linear generator realized by University of Palermo. The use of this new technology will be able to cut down the electrical energy production from traditional power plants and, consequently, the greenhouse gases emissions (GHG). The procedures applied in …
Sunscreen Products as Emerging Pollutants to Coastal Waters
2013
A growing awareness of the risks associated with skin exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation over the past decades has led to increased use of sunscreen cosmetic products leading the introduction of new chemical compounds in the marine environment. Although coastal tourism and recreation are the largest and most rapidly growing activities in the world, the evaluation of sunscreen as source of chemicals to the coastal marine system has not been addressed. Concentrations of chemical UV filters included in the formulation of sunscreens, such as benzophehone 3 (BZ-3), 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4-MBC), TiO2 and ZnO, are detected in nearshore waters with variable concentrations along the day a…
CITIZEN SCIENCE: A SUCCESSFUL TOOL FOR MONITORING MARINE BIODIVERSITY
2019
The Mediterranean Sea, considered as a true hotspot of biodiversity, is currently experiencing a decline in the number of species and a deterioration of habitats, as a consequence of different anthropogenic pressures, which are predicted to increase in the future. Among these pressures, the increase of human population, habitat modification and loss, pollution, coastal urbanization, overexploitation, the intentional or indirect introduction of Non-Indigenous Species (NIS, i.e. organisms introduced outside of their natural range) and climate changes (i.e. acidification and warming) have been pointed out as the major threats to biodiversity. Therefore, biodiversity monitoring and surveillance…
A False Sense of Protection: Recreational Uses and Illegal Behavior in a Mediterranean Marine Protected Area and Implications for Management.
2019
Over the last 35 years, at both the European and the Italian level, great efforts have been made to increase the number of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs): they are considered an effective tool for protecting oceans and biodiversity. In recent years, MPAs have become more than simply tools to improve marine conservation. In fact, their management agencies are actively involved in the sustainable development of nearby communities through the promotion of recreational activities (boating, snorkeling, diving). Even if the recreational uses of the marine environment are generally considered benign, they can potentially be highly detrimental for species and their habitats. As a result, these activ…
Suborbital climate variability during Marine Isotopic Stage 5 in the central Mediterranean basin: evidence from calcareous plankton record
2006
Abstract New faunal and floral records from Ocean Drilling Project Hole 963A, resolved at ∼80-year spacing, provide evidence of suborbital scale climate variability in the central Mediterranean Sea throughout Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5. Cold events in the central Mediterranean Sea, indicated by low abundances of warm species and high abundances of cold species, are also evident in a planktonic foraminifera paleoclimatic curve. They have been linked to NGRIP Greenland ice core “C” events and appear correlative with similar sub-millennial climate fluctuations identified in the North Atlantic region and in the Alboran Basin (Westernmost Mediterranean). Low-resolution benthic and planktonic O…
Palaeoenvironmental changes in the arid and subarid belt (Sahara-Sahel-Arabian peninsula) from 150 kyr to present
2004
The PEP III Arid to Subarid Belt includes the largest hot desert in the world, the Sahara- Arabian desert and the Sahel zone. The region of interest extends south of the Atlas Mountains and south and east of the Mediterranean Sea to approximately 10 °N and shows a broadly zonal pattern with a varying seasonal distribution of precipitation. In the north (ca. 20–23 °N), rainfall results from the southward displacement of the midlatitude westerlies during winter whereas the south is governed by seasonal northward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Contraction and expansion phases of these presently semi-arid to hyper-arid desert areas result from significant changes in loc…