Rossana Sanfilippo

Enhanced biodiversity in the deep: Early Pleistocene coral communities from southern Italy

The Early Pleistocene fault plane of Furnari, that outcrops in northeastern Sicily (southern Italy), provided a primary hard substrate for the settling and growth of large coral colonies. Even though the corals did not form frameworks, they influenced the composition and distribution of the benthic communities. Corals and associated fauna produced organogenic debris, which was deposited along the fault scarp, within its fractures or at its base.

New species of Hyalopomatus Marenzeller, 1878 (Annelida, Polychaeta, Serpulidae) from Recent Mediterranean deep-water coral mounds and comments on some congeners

Sanfilippo R. 2009. — New species of Hyalopomatus Marenzeller, 1878 (Annelida, Polychaeta, Serpulidae) from Recent Mediterranean deep-water coral mounds and comments on some congeners. Zoosystema 31 (1): 147-161. ABSTRACT Calcareous tubes of the micro-serpulid Hyalopomatus madreporae n. sp. (Polychaeta, Serpulidae) are described from the central Mediterranean. Like congeners, the new Hyalopomatus species has a deep-water distribution (497 to 1146 m). Only empty tubes have been collected, from Madrepora oculata (Linnaeus, 1758) mounds and from muddy sediments associated to the coral framework. The species has been described considering characters of the tube which is small-sized, circular in cross-section and free on its distal end, with a smooth shiny surface. Tube is rather flexible owing to some disruptions and its parts are kept joined by the inner chitinous layer. Way of life of H. madreporae n. sp. is put in relation to such tube feature. Micromorphology of the outer surface and ultrastructure of the tube wall are also described. Morphological characters observed on more than 150 tubes of H. madreporae n. sp., permitted to keep H. madreporae n. sp. apart from the other known Hyalopomatus species. Tubes of H. claparedii Marenzeller, 1878 and H. marenzelleri Langerhans, 1884 from Icelandic waters have been compared with those of H. madreporae n. sp. X-ray microanalyses showed that the organic content in H. madreporae n. sp. is more abundant than in H. claparedii tubes. The discussion covers aspects of tube features used for taxonomy within the genus.

Bryozoan Communities and Thanatocoenoses from Submarine Caves in the Plemmirio Marine Protected Area (SE Sicily)

Living and dead bryozoan communities from three caves in the “Plemmirio Marine Protected Area” (SE Sicily, Italy) were studied. Species richness from each cave and from the area as a whole (72 species) are comparable to those observed in other regions and caves within the Mediterranean. Communities consist largely of cave dwellers, sciaphilic and cryptic species, often related to coralligenous habitats, but include also some generalist species components. Bryozoans from hard surfaces (vaults, walls and floor) and bottom sediments were studied separately taking into account both living specimens and thanatocoenoses. According to previous data, communities of hard surfaces exhibit a trend of decreasing species richness towards the inner area and a clear patchiness, unlike those in sediments whose distribution appears strongly related to local sediment texture. Dead colonies and fragments from both hard surfaces and bottom sediments contribute valuable information concerning the pool of species potentially inhabiting caves. The usefulness and limits of different sampling methods for the study of cave bryozoans are discussed.

Cooling evidence from Pleistocene shelf assemblages in SE Sicily

Abstract A short Lower Pleistocene section, cropping out in SE Sicily, is studied. The sequence mainly consists of richly fossiliferous sandy layers with Arctica islandica, deposited in mid-shelf environments. Molluscs, bryozoans, serpuloideans and calcareous algae are investigated, to identify species with palaeoclimatological implications. Apart from some well-known North Atlantic molluscs, other species are identified as palaeoclimatological tools. Cooling evidence is provided by such palaeoclimatological indicators and by the increasing shell size in some species.

Serpulid communities from two marine caves in the Aegean Sea, eastern Mediterranean

rossana sanfilippo, antonietta rosso, adriano guido and vasilis gerovasileiou Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, Corso Italia, 57, I-95129 Catania, Italy, Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, Via Bucci, cubo 15b, I-87036 Rende, Cosenza, Italy, Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, 71500 Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Bryozoans and serpuloideans in skeletobiont communities from the Pleistocene of Sicily: spatial utilisation and competitive interactions

Sessile encrusters with mineralised skeletons in the fossil record generally retain their original spatial relationships to the substrate and each other. Being short living and not significantly time averaged, communities on shelly substrates represent excellent systems to study such relationships. Bryozoan and serpuloidean skeletobionts on molluscs and rhodolites from Lower Pleistocene localities in Sicily have been studied. Species composition and specimen sizes testify to a short exposure of the shells on the sea floor. Skeletobiont community structure is characterised by the dominance of a few species (5 bryozoans out of 87 and 3 serpuloideans out of 17). Substrate coverage is usually low (<5%), rarely reaching 50-60% or more. On bivalves, skeletobiont distribution does not exhibit a clear trend for inner/outer sides or left/right valves. Oriented growths, differential patterns in microenvironment utilisation of the substrate and spatial competition have been analysed. Several of the recorded overgrowths resulted from superimposition of specimens growing on skeletons of previous, already dead encrusters. True competitive interactions mainly involved bryozoans and only a few serpuloideans. Within bryozoans interspecific encounters usually led to overgrowth or abutment whereas intraspecific encounters commonly resulted in standoffs and growth side by side in cheilostomes, and to fusion of colonies in some cyclostome species.

New faunistic data on the Pleistocene environmental evolution of the south-western edge of the Hyblean Plateau (SE Sicily)

Faunistic associations of the Lower Pleistocene sediments, out-cropping at Cartiera Molino along the true right bank of the Ippari River (Vittoria, SE Sicily), have been investigated. This study integrates data obtained from the analysis of ostracods, foraminifers, bryozoans and serpulids found within a six metre thick sedimentary section. This multiproxy approach allowed us to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental evolution of this south-western sector of the Hyblean Plateau (Comiso-Vittoria area) from fluvially-influenced shallow marine settings, recorded in the lower portion of the succession, to progressively shallower, transitional and brackish environments, testified in mid levels, up to freshwater environments at the top of the section.

Deep-sea (250–1,550 m) Benthic Thanatocoenoses from the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea

Bathyal benthic thanatocoenoses from 28 stations in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea are studied, focusing on molluscs, bryozoans and serpulids. On the basis of faunal affinities, sampled stations were grouped into three bathymetrical belts: “A” (248–505 m), “B” (696–1,096 m) and “C” (1,139–1,536 m). Major faunal changes occurred between 500 and 600 m depths (i.e. between belts A and B), due to changes in the dominant molluscs (mainly Benthonella tenella, Ennucula corbuloides, Ledella messannensis, Yoldiella micrometrica and Katadesmia cuneata), bryozoans (e.g. Tubulipora sp. 1 and Setosella folini) and serpulids (e.g, Filogranula stellata and Filograna sp. 1), which were absent in belt A, and increased in abundance in the deepest belt (C). Faunas from stations below 500–600 m may define the typical Mediterranean deep bathyal assemblages. Differences between Pleistocene and Recent bathyal Mediterranean benthos are discussed. We hypothesise that the latter is “residual” i.e. composed mainly by species that endured changes that occurred from the psycrospheric Plio-Pleistocene to the warm-homothermic Recent conditions.

Paleoecological interpretation of a Holocene sand body in the coastal area of Phetchaburi, Gulf of Thailand

Faunal examination is made of 4 samples, 2 from the Recent Ban Laem Phak Bia sand spit, and 2 from the Holocene sand body of Ban Bang Ket. Fossil and modern assemblages are compared on the basis of overall composition, taxa abundances, and of autoecological investigation on life habit, substrate preference, feeding type, depth range and ecological meaning of the identified species. The Holocene assemblage of Ban Bang Ket, compared to the Recent one of Ban Laem Phak Bia, 1) exhibits generally similar overall composition and ecological structure, 2) contains much of the dominant species characterizing the modern assemblage, and 3) includes all taxa that are members of the living molluscan community. On this basis, the molluscan assemblage of Ban Bang Ket results to be the Holocene counterpart of the modern one of Ban Laem Phak Bia, and reflects the same environmental conditions recorded for the latter. Thus, the sand body near Ban Bang Ket is interpreted as a Holocene equivalent of the sand spit of Ban Laem Phak Bia.

Microbial Biomineralization in Biotic Crusts from a Pleistocene Marine Cave (NW Sicily, Italy)

ABSTRACT Biotic crusts occurring in the Early Pleistocene Rumena Cave, in NW Sicily, have been analyzed from a geomicrobiological point of view. The crusts consist largely of scleractinians and of subordinate bryozoans and serpuloideans, all typical of submarine cave biota. Encrustations document a blind cave in a shadowed setting, or possibly below the fair weather swell zone. Autochthonous and, subordinately, detrital fractions were observed within the skeletal framework of biotic crusts. The syndepositional lithified fraction occurs mainly as very fine-grained laminations. Clotted peloidal and aphanitic (structureless) textures occur in the micrites as well. Autochthonous micrite is always associated with a significant amount of organic matter remains. In caves from the Plemmirio area in SE Sicily, the autochthonous microbial micrite, occurring in the bioconstructions, contains bacterial lipid biomarkers, including abundant compounds derived from sulfate-reducing bacteria. It is likely that a similar microbial mediation was involved in the formation of the autochthonous micrite present in the biotic crusts of the Rumena Cave.