CCM2-Artigos (em revistas ou actas indexadas)
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- Anthropogenic particles ingestion by fish larvae in important nursery areas of Iberia (South Europe)Publication . Zeri, Giulia; Baptista, Vânia; Teodosio, Maria; Cruz, JoanaMicroplastics (MPs) are now widespread in the marine environment, and their levels are expected to rise as larger plastic debris continues to break down and new plastic waste enters the ocean. Microplastics ingestion has been documented in fish larvae, which are already particularly vulnerable to predation, environmental stressors, and starvation. This study examines for the first time MPs ingestion by wild fish larvae in Southern Iberia, focusing on two key nursery ecosystems of Portugal: the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon and the Guadiana River estuary. Fish larvae collected monthly from surface water, between April 2023 and March 2024, exhibited encounter rates (ER - Total number of ingested particles/ Total number of organisms analysed *100) of 12.99% in Ria Formosa and 11.54% in the Guadiana estuary. No significant differences were observed in ER among taxa and locations. The ingested particles ranged in size from 20 μm to 2 mm and were predominantly made of rayon, transparent and in the form of fibres. No correlation was found between the size of the larvae and that of the ingested particles. Although larval size had a positive effect on MP ingestion, this effect was not significant. There were no differences in polymer type ingestion among taxa. Our results underline the role of nursery areas as exposure spots and the underestimated pressure of the textile industry on marine ecosystems. Further research is needed to assess the potential consequences of this exposure for larval survival, recruitment success, and the health of adult fish populations.
- MARS lander: georeferencing landing and pop points of untethered ocean monitoring systems using fundamental physicsPublication . Radeta, Marko; Behboodi, Zahra; Zekovic, Vladimir; Alves, Décio; Pestana, David; Nunes, Daniel; Freitas, Margarida; Gupta, Ankit; Pestana, João; Vieira, Dinarte; Almeida, Sílvia; Dias, Morgado; Clode, João Canning; Caldeira, Rui; Relvas, Paulo; Vasiljevic, AntonioSubsurface observations are crucial for understanding the ocean's role in Earth's climate and for refining climate models. However, existing aquatic monitoring systems that allow such insights remain complex and costly due to their high demands for deployment, sampling, and recapture. Since low-cost, easy-to-deploy deep-sea landers are scarce, and with the aim of facilitating more subsurface observations, this study provides a simple method for georeferencing small-sized untethered landers. Their underwater trajectories are modelled with fundamental physics, dead reckoning, lander geometry, and numerical simulations. Using free fall, upthrust, and ocean current dynamics, the proposed approach estimates their underwater trajectories, including landing (at the seabed) and pop (at the sea surface) points. The method relies on the lander's physical characteristics, including its vertical and horizontal cross-sectional areas, to calculate the drag force coefficients used to determine its trajectories during descent and ascent through the water column. Ocean currents' magnitudes are modelled using Ekman's exponential decay down to 90 m of the water column, while the depths until 900 m are modelled from prior ADCP surveys by varying ocean current headings with depth between − 20 and 20◦. Surface ocean and wind current headings are modelled with open datasets from satellite telemetry. Lander's velocity, displacement, and dive time to the landing and pop points, including the total radial excursion and uncertainty in heading, are analytically derived, numerically calculated, and empirically assessed a-posteriori until 90 m, yielding a ~38 m radial excursion (40% error) against the obtained GNSS coordinates in field deployment, and 33◦ in heading uncertainty during a 138-s excursion. Additional random walk simulations are shown for full ocean depth obtaining radial excursion of 1038 m with 278 min total dive time. This approach is generalizable to any subsurface aquatic monitoring systems targeting deployments with diverse payloads from smaller sea vessels, not requiring cranes, radio, GNSS, or acoustic telemetry. Since it accounts for key nature factors, our method provides special benefits in planning and optimizing deployments. Additional discussion focuses on the method's practicality for full ocean depth deployments.
- SAMMBA is a high-throughput pipeline for isolating and phenotyping macroalgal strainsPublication . Alves-Lima, Cicero; de Matos Barreto, Luís António; Monico, Carina; Gouvêa, Lidiane; Félix de Azeredo Pinto e Melo, Francisca; Varga, Brigitta; Filipe, Joana; Camacho, Rita; Lymperaki, Myrsini; Alberto, Filipe; Rörig, Leonardo R.; Engelen, Aschwin; Serrao, Ester A.; Pearson, Gareth Anthony; Martins, NeusaDespite successful preservation efforts, macroalgal diversity remains under-represented in global biobanks. A major limitation is the extreme morphological diversity of seaweed thalli, which hinders standardized isolation and phenotyping and often requires taxon-specific protocols. Here we present SAMMBA (Seaweed Automatable Microplate Microscopy for Breeding Approaches), an end-to-end pipeline for the high-throughput isolation, phenotyping and storage of macroalgal propagules in 384-well plates. By optimizing live-cell manipulation for chlorophyll autofluorescence (CAF) imaging and segmentation, multiple unialgal propagules can be isolated by dilution-based workflows. In a single plate, we obtained 68 singlet gametophyte fragments of Laminaria ochroleuca (17.7%) and 60 meiospores of Phyllariopsis purpurascens (31.25%). We demonstrated taxonomic and morphological versatility by isolating 60 unialgal cultures from three distinct Rhodophyta morphotypes (filamentous, crustose and foliose) and 10 strains of Ulva sp., also in a single plate. Furthermore, CAF-based area increase over 30 days enabled high-precision estimates of specific growth rates, yielding 0.130 ± 0.006 and 0.117 ± 0.01 day− 1 for male and female L. ochroleuca gametophytes, respectively (n = 768; p = 1.27e− 53). This precision substantially increases experimental reproducibility and statistical power compared to conventional methods, supporting high-throughput recovery of unialgal strains without motorized platforms, while remaining fully compatible with automation. SAMMBA expands operational capacity for strain discovery and phenotyping, providing a scalable foundation for phenomics, domestication workflows, and standardized macroalgal biobanking. We outline how the platform can benefit multiple areas of phycological research and facilitate the development of improved strains that can support aquaculture and restoration efforts.
- Improving monitoring, control and surveillance efforts through vessel tracking and fishery dependent dataPublication . Sales Henriques, Nuno; Russo, Tommaso; Erzini, Karim; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel SantosFisheries are amongst the most extractive and damaging activities impacting the marine environment. To control and promote the sustainability of these activities, different laws and regulations were established. Yet, Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing activities are still present to these days and are one of the most threatening problems affecting marine life. To improve the effectiveness of fishing control and surveillance efforts, risk assessment approaches have been proposed to detect risk units with higher probability of illegal actions, such as vessels, seasons or regions, to which control efforts should be given priority. Vessel tracking and fishery dependent data have already proved their potential for gathering important information regarding different aspects of fishing activities, such as species distributions or the estimation of fishing effort. Yet, their usefulness for improving monitoring, control and surveillance efforts has not been fully exploited. Here, we investigate how these two types of data can provide important intelligence, within a risk assessment approach, to identify risk units that have higher probability of failing with landing requirements and how such information can be used to improve fisheries’ monitor, control and surveillance efforts. Our approach is able to identify fishing vessels with higher tendency for not reporting their catches. We saw that a small fraction of fishing vessels are responsible for the majority of unreported landings and that unreported landing events tend to less frequent during the Summer. We also noticed that price variation of sold catches correlates with unreported landing events, which might indicate that it is one of the drivers affecting the seasonality of unreported landing events. Such information is crucial when planning control and enforcement actions, which should focus on those with a higher tendency to act incompliantly and during the periods when this sort of behaviour is more frequent. By following this approach, such effort become more cost effective, which will strengthen the governance of the marine realm.
- Long-term multitracking reveals contrasting yet highly resident movement ecologies of two sympatric and endangered deep-sea sharksPublication . Gandra, Miguel; Fontes, Jorge; Macena, Bruno C.L.; Meyer, Carl G.; Afonso, PedroStudying shark movement ecology is vital for understanding their ecological roles and supporting sustainable management and conservation strategies. However, such information remains scarce for deep-sea sharks. We used biotelemetry to investigate the spatial behaviour and movements of two endangered deep-sea predators, the kitefin (Dalatias licha) and bluntnose sixgill (Hexanchus griseus) sharks, in the Azores, northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. We tagged a total of 21 kitefin sharks with acoustic transmitters (some including depth sensors) and seven sixgill sharks with different tag configurations: three were fitted exclusively with acoustic transmitters, two were double-tagged with both acoustic transmitters and pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs), and two were tagged exclusively with PSATs deployed via a speargun-equipped submersible. Both species exhibited diel vertical migrations and unexpected high site fidelity (up to 4 years), using habitats that inter-connect seamounts, slopes, and island shelves. Sixgill sharks exhibited more extensive and diverse individual home ranges and vertical diel activity patterns than kitefin sharks. Sexual segregation was evident in kitefin sharks, with males and females displaying distinct differences in depth distribution and habitat use, supporting earlier hypotheses based on fisheries data. These behavioural patterns suggest that sixgill sharks function as wide-ranging, deep-sea opportunistic foragers and predators, traversing interconnected habitats in search of prey – including kitefin sharks, which occupy a more slope-associated mesopredator niche. Our novel findings support ecological theory suggesting that deep-sea sharks exhibit far more contrasting spatial ecologies than previously thought, driven by their life histories. These differences may have implications for their high vulnerability to fisheries and climate change-induced habitat degradation.
- fair-fish database|catch: a platform for global assessment of welfare hazards affecting aquatic animals in fisheriesPublication . Maia, Caroline M.; Cabrera-Álvarez, María José; Volstorf, JennyFish welfare is a crucial issue that needs to be addressed in fisheries. Thus, the scope of the fair-fish database - an online open-access platform - was expanded from aquaculture (farm branch) to fisheries (catch branch). It provides farm and catch welfare profiles (WelfareChecks) of aquatic species based on literature reviews. In the catch branch, each WelfareCheck encompasses a species in relation to a specific fishing method used to catch it, assessing 10 criteria covering welfare hazards throughout the steps of the catching process: prospection, setting, catching, emersion, release from gear, bycatch avoidance, sorting, discarding, storing, and stunning/slaughter. In each criterion, we assess the likelihood and potential of experiencing good welfare under minimal and highstandard fisheries conditions, respectively, besides the certainty level about these. A final WelfareScore is provided for each profile, which serves as a benchmark for assessing and improving fish welfare. Since its publication in 2023, we have published five WelfareChecks. The goal is to increase the number of profiles for several fished species and catching methods over time. In conclusion, the catch branch of the fair-fish database serves as an open-access source providing an overview of the welfare of a fished species given a certain catching method. It is a reliable tool that raises public awareness of fish welfare, provides scientists with insight into knowledge gaps, and offers practitioners with suggestions about how to avoid welfare risks.
- Metal ecotoxicity in sea anemones: accumulation, effects, and knowledge gapsPublication . Vilke, Juliano Marcelo; Power, Deborah Mary; Vieira de Sousa, Cármen Sofia; Mestre, NéliaMetals are a major class of legacy pollutants that end up in marine ecosystems, posing a significant threat to marine biota, including sea anemones. The current review critically synthesises studies published over the last 50 years on the uptake, tissue distribution, and biological effects of 20 metals across 18 sea anemone species in both field and laboratory settings, including interactions with climate change stressors (salinity and pH). Field studies have focused on bioaccumulation and report the high capacity of sea anemones to accumulate metals, mainly iron and barium, primarily in the pedal disk. Laboratory exposure studies reveal a dose- and timedependent accumulation and highlight that symbionts take up and store essential metals (Cu, Fe, and Mn) due to their key biological roles. Available data point to Exaiptasia pallida as a promising model for metal ecotoxicology. Across studies, metals elicit alterations at molecular to behavioural/morphological levels, including transcriptome reprogramming, oxidative stress, and detoxification failures, as well as genotoxicity, cellular injury, immune dysfunction, metabolic and morphological disruption, reproductive impairment, and bleaching, which are generally amplified by climate change stressors. Ultimately, this review identifies key knowledge gaps and outlines future research directions on metal ecotoxicity in sea anemones. Collectively, these insights position sea anemones as informative sentinels of metal contamination in marine ecosystems.
- First assessment of blue carbon stocks, sequestration rates and potential sources since 1900 at Arguin Island (Mauritania)Publication . Martins, Márcio; Abrantes, Fatima; Aires, Tania; Rautenbach, Sarah; Engelen, Aschwin; Encarnação, João Pedro da Silva; Abecasis, David; Gandega, Cheikhna; Magalhães, Vitor; Brahim, Khallahi; Ebaye, Sidina; Barusseau, Jean-Paul; Freiwald, André; Barrena de los Santos, Carmen; Serrao, Ester A.; Santos, RuiGlobal blue carbon assessments are hindered by a lack of data from understudied seagrass regions, such as those of Western Africa. This study reports the first in situ records of organic carbon (OC) stocks and burial rates for seagrass beds at Arguin Island, Banc d'Arguin (Mauritania), Western Africa, measured in intertidal Zostera noltei and subtidal Cymodocea nodosa meadows. The major blue carbon sources in seagrass meadows since 1900 were assessed using sedimentary environmental DNA (eDNA) and chronostratigraphy. The OC stocks in the top 50 cm of the sediment cores were not significantly different between the beds of the two seagrass species and averaged 27.8±7.14 Mg C ha−1, which is 5 times higher than that in adjacent unvegetated sediments. The OC sequestration rate for the past 100 years was 10.3±1.4 g C m−2 year−1 in C. nodosa sediments and 12.3±5.9 g C m−2 year−1 in Z. noltei sediments. Sedimentary eDNA analysis revealed that the major OC source within the C. nodosa and Z. noltei sediments has been the seagrass species itself, with low contributions from allochthonous eDNA reads. Carbon sources in Z. noltei meadows were more diverse than those in C. nodosa meadows. In bare sediment, diatoms were the major carbon source. The present study demonstrates the potential of sedimentary eDNA to reveal the major sources of organic matter in blue carbon ecosystems, improving our understanding of the provenance of sedimentary OC and thus carbon cycling processes. Additionally, it provides new OC stock and sequestration rate measurements from a region of the world that remains underrepresented in global blue carbon assessments.
- High variability in aggression and habituation to the mirror assay in ornamental Siamese fighting fish Betta splendensPublication . Coelho da Silva, Melina; Canario, Adelino; Hubbard, Peter; Cardoso, Sara D.; Gonçalves, DavidUnderstanding consistent inter-individual variability in animal behaviour, known as personality traits, is essential for exploring the mechanisms and evolutionary consequences of behavioural diversity. Aggressive behaviour influences survival, resource acquisition, and reproduction, so clarifying individual differences can enhance our understanding of ecological dynamics and improve experimental design accuracy in behavioural studies. In this study, ornamental male Betta splendens, a model organism for aggression research, were analysed for intra- and inter-individual variability in aggressive responses to their mirror image—a standard method for assessing aggression in fish—once per week, and their consistency was evaluated over three consecutive weeks There were significant differences in aggressive behaviour across individuals, with coefficients of variation ranging from 29 to 60%. While most fish exhibited the full suite of aggressive displays, some showed no aggressive behaviour, while others only displayed threat behaviours but did not advance to the attacks. The consistency of individual threat and attack behaviours varied, but repeatability was high overall (intra-class correlation coefficients≥0.5), indicating that individual fish have different levels of aggression. There was habituation to the mirror assay, with aggression decreasing significantly by the second week, though the degree of habituation, a form of learning, varied among individuals in some behaviours. Air-breathing frequency correlated positively with aggression behaviours and can be considered an indicator to infer aggression level in this species. These results indicate that inter-individual variation in aggressive behaviour and habituation to repeated testing using the mirror assay should be considered in aggression studies using B. splendens and potentially in other species.
- Hypoxia impairs survival and alters immune and iron metabolism gene expression during shark early ontogenyPublication . Martins, Sandra; Varela, Jaquelino; Félix, Rute; Santos, Catarina Pereira; Paula, José Ricardo; Power, Deborah Mary; Rosa, RuiThe global oxygen inventory has been declining worldwide, primarily due to climate change. The importance of oxygen for aerobic respiration and its homeostasis makes declining oxygen levels a concern, particularly during energy demanding lifecycle stages. The effects of low oxygen levels on neuroendocrine responses and immune competence of developing sharks were studied in the head and trunk tissues of early (EE; before pre-hatching) and late embryos (LE) of small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) under six days of deoxygenation (93 % O2 of air saturation) and hypoxic conditions (26 % O2). Catshark embryos were resilient to deoxygenation, with only a 10 % decline in survival compared to the control, and only the gene expression of melanotransferrin changed. Under hypoxia, growth was unaffected, but survival decreased by 31 % compared to the control in LE, highlighting an inadequate physiological response. Developmental stage affected the expression of hypoxiainducible factor 1 alpha (hif1a), iron metabolism and immune-related genes, pointing to critical response mechanisms. The EE stage had an optimised stress response under hypoxia compared to LE, with the upregulation of the hif1a gene. The lack of a protective response and compromised immune-related functions under hypoxia in LE raise concerns about species survival under climate change. These findings highlight the need for further research on the likely resilience of sharks to environmental challenges.