Margarida Cristo

Phylogeny, molecular ecology and taxonomy of southern Iberian lineages of Triops mauritanicus (Crustacea: Notostraca)

We investigated the phylogeography of the main lineages in the tadpole shrimp Triops mauritanicus Ghigi in the south-western Iberian Peninsula, using mitochondrial 12S and 16S rDNA sequences. Our results indicate that a fourth, hitherto unknown main phylogenetic lineage occurs in Iberia, so that in total, the species is divided into six distinct clades, comprising T. m. mauritanicus, T. m. simplex Ghigi, and four as yet unnamed lineages that appear to be endemic to Iberia. Percentages of sequence divergence among the main clades in T. mauritanicus reach the range reported for recognized species in other notostracan lineages. A thorough morphological investigation also revealed that the differentiation among these lineages is higher than previously thought, and that populations of three of the main clades within T. mauritanicus can be reliably separated from each other and from the remaining lineages based on the morphology of adult males. The remaining clades also show a significant level of morphological differentiation, but include a certain proportion of populations for which the additional application of molecular methods is needed for a reliable determination. The geographic distributions of 12S haplotypes are indicative of frequent dispersal events and gene flow among populations belonging to the same main lineage, but give no evidence of recent migration events among different main lineages, suggesting that there is no gene flow among the latter. Our data thus suggest that the six main lineages within T. mauritanicus represent distinct species. We therefore describe the Iberian lineages as T. baeticus Korn n. sp., T. emeritensis Korn & Pérez-Bote n. sp., T. gadensis Korn & García-de-Lomas n. sp., and T. vicentinus Korn, Machado, Cristo & Cancela da Fonseca n. sp., and reinstate T. simplex Ghigi to full species status. Our data confirm the general, previously recognized pattern of a lower dispersal probability in gonochoric Triops taxa. However, we found evidence that passive dispersal in Triops may be further complicated by a strong habitat dependence of dispersal probability, mediated by prevailing dispersal vectors.

Sister species within the Triops cancriformis lineage (Crustacea, Notostraca)

We investigated the phylogenetic relationships among the three presently recognized subspecies of the tadpole shrimp, Triops cancriformis, using mitochondrial 16S and 12S rDNA sequences. Our results indicate that the taxon is divided into two distinct lineages. One lineage is formed of T. c. cancriformis populations and samples from northern Spain that had been classified as T. c. simplex in the most recent literature. The second lineage comprises all populations of T. c. mauritanicus and northern African populations of T. c. simplex. These two main lineages separated 2.3 to 8.9 million years ago, based on the range of inferred molecular clocks recognized for crustacean mtDNA sequence divergence. Percentages of divergence are in the range reported for recognized species in other notostracan lineages and we therefore propose to recognize them as two species, Triops cancriformis and Triops mauritanicus. The latter would comprise two subspecies in northern Africa, one consisting of the Moroccan populations of the former T. c. mauritanicus, the other comprising the African populations of the former T. c. simplex. It also includes three as‐yet unnamed lineages. A comparison of morphological characters with the molecular data revealed that the former T. c. simplex cannot be reliably separated from T. c. cancriformis, using morphological characters that have hitherto been used to distinguish among subspecies of T. cancriformis. Our investigation is the first to demonstrate the presence of T. c. cancriformis in Africa (Tunisia). The genetic haplotypes of these populations are identical with haplotypes also occurring in Central and Western Europe, as well as in Sicily. Therefore, we hypothesize that the African populations of T. c. cancriformis represent a result of repeated long‐distance dispersal across the Mediterranean Sea.

Field estimation of daily ration of Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) in the south of Portugal

Abstract Daily ration estimates of Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) from field samplings over a 24‐h cycle were obtained. Four tows were conducted in the middle continental slope, off the south coast of Portugal. The results from Eggers (1977, 1979) and Elliot & Persson (1978) daily ration models were compared, by the Worobec 8‐method (1984), showing no significant differences among them. The estimates of food consumption obtained varied from 1.098 to 1.170 g dry food per 100 g body wet weight in males and 1.642 to 1.755 g dry food per 100 g body wet weight in females. Our results were compared with daily rations reported for other crustaceans. Daily ration values were compared and tested by a two‐way ANOVA, with interaction, showing significant differences between sexes. This has been registered for other decapods and may be explained by a period of active growth in females, on the onset of vitellogenesis, increasing their nutritional/ feeding needs.

Spatial characteristics and species niche attributes modulate the response by aquatic passive dispersers to habitat degradation

Therelativeinfluencesoflocalandregionalfactorsonthedistributionofpassivedispersersmaybealteredby habitatdegradation,partlyviadifferentialeffectsonspeciesdependingontheirnichebreadths.Tostudythis,wecompared the effects of local (pond, water and vegetation characteristics) and regional (Morans eigenvector maps) factors on passively dispersing large branchiopod crustaceans from two areas of the Iberian Peninsula differing in habitat condition (i.e. well preserved vs impacted). Species were arranged from generalists to specialists based on niche breadth. We hypothesised that (1) habitat degradation would favour functional homogenisation, resulting in higher occurrences of generalist species in the impacted area; because generalist species are likely to be less dependent on local factors, we alsohypothesisedthat(2)regionalfactorswouldbemoreimportantintheimpactedarea.Aspredicted,themostgeneralist species had higher occurrences in the impacted area, resulting in functional homogenisation. Ultimately, this process affected metacommunity dynamics that were more influenced by regional than local factors because generalist species were widely distributed regardless of habitat degradation. Additional keywords: Anostraca, habitat conservation, logistic regression, Mediterranean ponds, Notostraca, OMI analyses, spatial ecology, Spinicaudata, temporary pool.

Diet of the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis (Cephalopoda: Sepiidae) off the south coast of Portugal (eastern Algarve)

The diet of Sepia officinalis was studied by examining the stomach contents of 522 specimens caught off the coast of the Algarve, Portugal. A total of 49 different prey items, belonging to six taxa (Polychaeta, Cephalopoda, Teleostei, Bivalvia, Crustacea and Gastropoda) was found, indicating opportunistic feeding behaviour. The diet was examined in relation to season, sex and size. The diet of males and females were similar. For small S. officinalis, crustaceans were more important in weight, whereas for larger specimens, fish were dominant. Seasonal differences in the diet were apparent but were shown to be possibly influenced by the cuttlefish size.

Assessing the conservation status of Mediterranean temporary ponds using biodiversity: a new tool for practitioners

AbstractThe assessment of the habitat condition is the first step of conservation actions and several tools are available to assess wetlands. However, only a few tools are adapted to the priority habitat Mediterranean temporary ponds. Thus, our objectives were (i) to identify biological indicators associated with the different conservation status of Mediterranean temporary ponds and (ii) to create an efficient evaluation tool for non-experts using indicators of conservation status. A total of 87 ponds were sampled in southwest Portugal to assess the presence of plants, large branchiopods, amphibians, threatened voles and bats. Ponds with favourable conservation status showed higher species richness of plants, large branchiopods and amphibians. We identified eighteen indicators for favourable ponds: 15 plants, one large branchiopod and two amphibian taxa. We propose a new tool to assess the conservation status of Mediterranean temporary ponds based on the presence of these indicators. This tool is an alternative to other common, but time-consuming, methods and can be readily used by trained practitioners. The replication and adaptation of this tool to other regions and habitats enables the collection of comparable data and the geographical scaling-up of the assessments.

First record of the spottail mantis shrimp, Squilla mantis (Stomatopoda, Squillidae), in the Ria Formosa lagoon (Algarve coast, southern Portugal)

PAULO VASCONCELOS1,2,5), ANDRÉ N. CARVALHO1), DAVID PILÓ1), MIGUEL B. GASPAR1,3) and MARGARIDA CRISTO3,4) 1) Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA), Avenida 5 de Outubro s/n, 8700-305 Olhão, Portugal 2) Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM), Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal 3) CCMAR, Centro de Ciências do Mar, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal 4) Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal