Enrique González-Ortegón

An illustrated key to species of Palaemon and Palaemonetes (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea) from European waters, including the alien species Palaemon macrodactylus

A detailed illustrated key to the identi¢cation of the European species of the genera Palaemon and Palaemonetes is provided.This key has been elaborated taking into account recent changes in the species composition of both genera for European waters, such as the invalidity of Palaemon garciacidi, which is a synonym of P. longirostris, and the presence of an introduced species, Palaemon macrodactylus that has been recently recorded at diierent localities along the Atlantic coast. The key is based on external morphological characters to facilitate its use by non-specialists. Data on the coloration, habitat and distribution of all species are also given.

The decapod crustacean community of the Guadalquivir Estuary (SW Spain): seasonal and inter-year changes in community structure

Monthly samples were taken from May 1997 to March 2002 at three sampling sites within the last 32xa0km of the Guadalquivir Estuary. Twenty-four decapod crustacean species were recorded of which Crangon crangon (Linnaeus), Melicertus kerathurus (Forskal), and Palaemon spp. represented 99% of all collected individuals. These three dominant species showed a similar seasonal density pattern even though peaks in M. kerathurus were lower. Their densities were positively correlated (p < 0.01) with water temperature and salinity, but negatively with turbidity. The highest correlation corresponded to temperature in Palaemon spp. and to salinity in C. crangon and M. kerathurus. Therefore, the total estuarine decapod density also showed a regular seasonal pattern having the lowest figures in late autumn and winter and the highest in spring and summer. In addition, it was positively correlated with water temperature and salinity, but negatively with turbidity. Density decreased upstream, mainly due to the higher density of C. crangon and M. kerathurus in more saline waters. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling ordination of samples also indicated a regular seasonal change in the community, even though inter-year differences between dry and rainy winters were especially great. The first ordination axis was significantly correlated with environmental variables, while the second axis seemed to split samples up following seasonal community changes in species’ composition and dominance.

Eco-evolutionary Dynamics of Individual-Based Food Webs

The past decade has seen the rise of high resolution datasets. One of the main surprises of analysing such data has been the discovery of a large genetic, phenotypic and behavioural variation and heterogeneous metabolic rates among individuals within natural populations. A parallel discovery from theory and experiments has shown a strong temporal convergence between evolutionary and ecological dynamics, but a general framework to analyse from individual-level processes the convergence between ecological and evolutionary dynamics and its implications for patterns of biodiversity in food webs has been particularly lacking. Here, as a first approximation to take into account intraspecific variability and the convergence between the ecological and evolutionary dynamics in large food webs, we develop a model from population genomics and microevolutionary processes that uses sexual reproduction, genetic-distance-based speciation and trophic interactions. We confront the model with the prey consumption per individual predator, species-level connectance and prey–predator diversity in several environmental situations using a large food web with approximately 25,000 sampled prey and predator individuals. We show higher than expected diversity of abundant species in heterogeneous environmental conditions and strong deviations from the observed distribution of individual prey consumption (i.e. individual connectivity per predator) in all the environmental conditions. The observed large variance in individual prey consumption regardless of the environmental variability collapsed species-level connectance after small increases in sampling effort. These results suggest (1) intraspecific variance in prey–predator interactions has a strong effect on the macroscopic properties of food webs and (2) intraspecific variance is a potential driver regulating the speed of the convergence between ecological and evolutionary dynamics in species-rich food webs. These results also suggest that genetic–ecological drift driven by sexual reproduction, equal feeding rate among predator individuals, mutations and genetic-distance-based speciation can be used as a neutral food web dynamics test to detect the ecological and microevolutionary processes underlying the observed patterns of individual and species-based food webs at local and macroecological scales.

Assessment of the interaction between the white shrimp, Palaemon longirostris, and the exotic oriental shrimp, Palaemon macrodactylus, in a European estuary (SW Spain)

Results of field surveys, stomach content analysis, and laboratory measurements of oxygen consumption at different salinities in the exotic shrimp Palaemon macrodactylus and its native counterpart P. longirostris from the Guadalquivir estuary (SW Spain) were used to assess interaction between both species. After its first record in this estuary in 1998, P. macrodactylus has shown a gradual increase in density and its estuarine population has been clearly dominated by juveniles. Feeding habits of both shrimps indicated a strong trophic overlap between them, with mysids as main prey. Their salinity-related and spatial distribution patterns show that maximal inter-specific overlap between the two populations occurs in the inner, less saline part of the estuary. Specific oxygen consumption rates under different salinities and water oxygen concentrations suggest a more efficient metabolism and a higher tolerance to hypoxic conditions in brackish waters by P. macrodactylus than by P. longirostris. Such inter-specific physiological differences could have made it possible for the exotic P. macrodactylus to invade an estuarine stretch that, prior to its arrival, was infra-utilized by native species.

Effects of the river discharge management on the nursery function of the Guadalquivir river estuary (SW Spain)

Within the Guadalquivir estuary, young recruits of marine species seem to respond to changes in freshwater flow by moving with the mass of estuarine water that is most “suitable” for them. The control of the river flow, from a dam 110 km upstream from the river mouth, has an immediate effect on the estuarine salinity gradient, displacing it either seaward or upstream. Consequently, there is a reduction or enlargement of the estuarine area that is used as nursery grounds. The analysis of the temporal estuarine recruitment and spatial distribution of young stages of marine species, during six annual cycles, provides evidence that the estuarine zone used as nursery grounds is mainly that part situated seaward from an isohaline value of 5. The relationship between the position of that isohaline (D5) and the freshwater discharges from the dam was also examined during high and low tides. It was found that a high percentage of the isohaline position variation (75% and 73% at high and low tides, respectively) can be explained by the freshwater volume discharged from the dam during the previous week. These preliminary results suggest that an accurate model of the relationship between these two variables may be a useful tool for future management strategies of freshwater discharges to the estuary.

Effects of freshwater inputs on the lower trophic levels of a temperate estuary: physical, physiological or trophic forcing?

The aim of this 6xa0year study was to assess whether freshwater inputs (rainfall and dam discharges) were acting as physical, physiological or trophic forcing factors on phytoplankton pigment concentrations and the dominant mysids of a temperate estuary (Guadalquivir estuary; SW, Spain). The effects of natural and human-controlled freshwater inputs modified the physico-chemical conditions and consequently biological production (bottom up control). Nutrient (nitrogen hypernutrification), suspended particulate matter and allochthonous photosynthetic pigment imports linked to freshwater inputs from adjacent habitats were observed, as well as light-limited autochthonous primary production. Seasonal and/or spatial patterns were shown by all study variables, including mysids. Freshwater management effects on dominant mysids differed depending on the species’ salinity tolerance (physiological forcing) and preferred prey availability (trophic forcing). Moreover, high inorganic matter content had a negative effect on the density of Mesopodopsis slabberi (physical forcing), which led to an increased detritivory/herbivory ratio (Neomysis integer/M. slabberi ratio). In conclusion, freshwater inputs appeared to effect estuarine lower trophic levels via a combination of different forcing mechanisms. Although several general patterns can be derived, the response of the system to freshwater inputs was not always univocal.

First report of the oriental shrimp Palaemon macrodactylus Rathbun, 1902 (Decapoda, Caridea, Palaemonidae) from German waters

The native East Asian shrimp Palaemon macrodactylus has become a common inhabitant of estuaries along the Pacific coast of North America. More recently (documented since 1999), the species has also been colonising European waters and has been reported from Spain, England, Belgium and the Netherlands. In this study, we present a chronology of the reported introductions of this species and provide the first detailed report of its occurrence in German waters. P. macrodactylus was found in the Geeste river mouth (Weser Estuary) as well as in Hooksiel, north of Wilhelmshaven between 2004 and 2005. We assume its presence in other estuarine habitats of the North Sea and predict its introduction into the Baltic Sea.

A multiple stressor approach to study the toxicity and sub-lethal effects of pharmaceutical compounds on the larval development of a marine invertebrate

We studied the effects of three common pharmaceutical compounds on growth, development and body mass of larval stages of the marine shrimp Palaemon serratus at different temperatures and salinities. The pharmaceuticals compounds tested were the anti-inflammatory and analgesic diclofenac sodium, the lipid regulator clofibric acid and the fungicide clotrimazole. Neither diclofenac nor clofibric acid had any effect on growth, development or survival, although the maximum concentrations tested were 40 times higher than those observed in European coastal waters. Clotrimazole had significant effects at the higher concentration (2.78 μg L(-1)) when larvae were reared in full salinity sea water (32 PSU) and at the lower concentration (0.14 μg L(-1)) when larvae were reared at 20PSU. Changes in body mass at larval stage resulted from effects of these compounds on growth and developmental rates, specifically the changes in intermoult duration and in the number of larval instars required to reach the juvenile stage. The results demonstrate that the effects of emergent compounds on growth and development may be stronger when organisms are under some additional stress.

Freshwater scarcity effects on the aquatic macrofauna of a European Mediterranean-climate estuary

In the Mediterranean-climate zone, recurrent drought events and increasing water demand generally lead to a decrease in freshwater input to estuaries. This water scarcity may alter the proper function of estuaries as nursery areas for marine species and as permanent habitat for estuarine species. A 12-year data set of the aquatic macrofauna (fish, decapod and mysid crustaceans) in a Mediterranean estuary (Guadalquivir estuary, South Spain) was analysed to test if water scarcity favours the nursery function of regional estuaries to the detriment of permanent estuarine inhabitants. Target species typically displayed a salinity-related distribution and estuarine salinisation in dry years resulted in a general upstream community displacement. However, annual densities of marine species were neither consistently higher in dry years nor estuarine species during wet years. Exceptions included the estuarine mysid Neomysis integer and the marine shrimp Crangon crangon, which were more abundant in wet and dry years, respectively. High and persistent turbidity, a collateral effect of water scarcity, altered both the structural (salinity-related pattern) and functional (key prey species and predator density) community characteristics, chiefly after the second drought period of the analysis. The observed high inter-year environmental variability, as well as species-specific effects of water scarcity, suggests that exhaustive and long-term sampling programmes will be required for rigorously monitoring the estuarine communities of the Mediterranean-climate region.

Effects of food limitation and pharmaceutical compounds on the larval development and morphology of Palaemon serratus

Few ecotoxicological studies consider the roles of maternal influences and suboptimal environmental conditions when assessing the impact of pollutants on organisms. We studied the combined effects of pharmaceutical compounds, food condition and maternal body size on growth, development, body mass and morphology of larvae of the marine shrimp Palaemon serratus. Limited food availability is considered a factor leading to reduced survival and growth in marine crustacean larvae. It is known that P. serratus responses to food limitation vary among larvae hatched from females of different body length. The pharmaceuticals tested were the anti-inflammatory and analgesic diclofenac sodium (DS: at 77 μg L-1 and 720 μg L-1) the lipid regulator clofibric acid (CA: at 42 μg L-1 and 394 μg L-1) and the fungicide clotrimazole (CLZ: at 0.07 μg L-1 and 3.16 μg L-1). We observed morphological abnormalities in larvae exposed to CLZ. In addition, effects of this compound were stronger under food limitation leading to (1) reduced survival by 30%, (2) reduced juvenile body mass (22%) and (3) reduction in the number of molt stages (from 13 to 9) during larval development. This latter effect may indicate that CLZ reduced the larval capacity to respond to food limitation because development through a longer route, with additional stages, is considered an adaptive response to prioritize maintenance over morphogenesis. CA and DS affected developmental rate under food limitation but not growth or body mass. The toxic effects of CLZ, at lower concentrations than CA and DS, were stronger in larvae with higher body mass, hatched from the largest females. This suggests that maternal influences and suboptimal environmental conditions should be further studied to inform modeling of the effects of emergent compounds on larvae of marine coastal species.