Morphological and genetic variation in the North Atlantic copepod, Centropages typicus

Author(s):  
Claudia Castellani ◽  
Alistair J. Lindley ◽  
Marianne Wootton ◽  
Christopher M. Lee ◽  
Richard R. Kirby

This study describes phenotypic and genotypic variations in the planktonic copepod, Centropages typicus (Copepoda: Calanoida) that indicate differentiation between geographical samples. We found consistent differences in the morphology of the chela of the sexually modified fifth pereiopod (P5) of male C. typicus between samples from the Mediterranean, western North Atlantic and eastern North Atlantic. A 560 base pairs (bp) region of the C. typicus mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and a 462 bp fragment of the nuclear rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) tandem array were analysed to determine whether these morphological variations reflect population genetic differentiation. Mitochondrial haplotype diversity was found to be high with 100 unique COI haplotypes among 116 individuals. Analysis of mtCOI variation suggested differentiation between the Mediterranean and Atlantic populations but no separation was detected within the Atlantic. Intragenomic variation in the ITS array suggested genetic differentiation between samples from the western North Atlantic and those from the eastern North Atlantic and Mediterranean. Breeding experiments would be required to elucidate the extent of genetic isolation between C. typicus from the different population centres.

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (8) ◽  
pp. 1800-1817 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Susan Lozier ◽  
Laurie Sindlinger

Abstract A recent study of the eastern North Atlantic detailed significant increases in the temperature and salinity of the Mediterranean Overflow Water (MOW) from 1950 to 2000. To examine the degree to which the source waters, which spill over the sill at the Strait of Gibraltar, could be responsible for these observations in the open Atlantic, a box model of water mass transformation by marginal seas was employed. Time series for the salinity of the inflowing North Atlantic surface waters, freshwater fluxes in the Mediterranean (evaporation and precipitation and river runoff), and the volumetric flow rates for the inflow and outflow across the Strait of Gibraltar were used to predict the salinity of the source waters to the North Atlantic from 1950 to 2000. Results from this calculation reveal that source water changes have minimal impact on MOW property changes on interannual and decadal time scales. It is suggested instead that circulation changes within the open Atlantic alter the advective–diffusive pathways of MOW such that property changes within the MOW reservoir are created.


1993 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Knappertsbusch

Abstract. During scanning electron microscope investigations of living coccolithophorids from the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, two hitherto undescribed species of the genus Syracosphaera Lohmann, 1902 emend. Gaarder (in Gaarder and Heimdal, 1977) were found. The first species, Syracosphaera noroiticus sp. nov., was recorded in the Gulf of Lyons (Mediterranean Sea), and the second, S. marginaporata sp. nov., was found in the eastern North Atlantic.


1963 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 789-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. McK. Bary

Monthly temperature-salinity diagrams for 1957 have demonstrated that three surface oceanic "water bodies" were consistently present in the eastern North Atlantic; two are regarded as modified North Atlantic Central water which give rise to the third by mixing. As well in the oceanic areas, large and small, high or low salinity patches of water were common. Effects of seasonal climatic fluctuations differed in the several oceanic water bodies. In coastal waters, differences in properties and in seasonal and annual cycles of the properties distinguish the waters from the North Sea, English Channel and the western entrance to the Channel.The geographic distributions of the oceanic waters are consistent with "northern" and "southern" water bodies mixing to form a "transitional" water. Within this distribution there are short-term changes in boundaries and long-term (seasonal) changes in size of the water bodies.Water in the western approaches to the English Channel appeared to be influenced chiefly by the mixed, oceanic transitional water; oceanic influences in the North Sea appear to have been from northern and transitional waters.


Author(s):  
Conor Ryan ◽  
Pádraig Whooley ◽  
Simon D. Berrow ◽  
Colin Barnes ◽  
Nick Massett ◽  
...  

Knowledge on the ecology of humpback whales in the eastern North Atlantic is lacking by comparison with most other ocean basins. Humpback whales were historically over-exploited in the region and are still found in low relative abundances. This, coupled with their large range makes them difficult to study. With the aim of informing more effective conservation measures in Ireland, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group began recording sightings and images suitable for photo-identification of humpback whales from Irish waters in 1999. Validated records submitted by members of the public and data from dedicated surveys were analysed to form a longitudinal study of individually recognizable humpback whales. The distribution, relative abundance and seasonality of humpback whale sighting records are presented, revealing discrete important areas for humpback whales in Irish coastal waters. An annual easterly movement of humpback whales along the southern coast of Ireland is documented, mirroring that of their preferred prey: herring and sprat. Photo-identification images were compared with others collected throughout the North Atlantic (N = 8016), resulting in matches of two individuals between Ireland and Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands but no matches to known breeding grounds (Cape Verde and West Indies). This study demonstrates that combining public records with dedicated survey data is an effective approach to studying low-density, threatened migratory species over temporal and spatial scales that are relevant to conservation and management.


1996 ◽  
Vol 42 (142) ◽  
pp. 440-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto H. Gwiazda ◽  
Sidney R. Hemming ◽  
Wallace S. Broecker ◽  
Tullis Onsttot ◽  
Chris Mueller

Abstract40Ar/39Ar ages of most single ice-ratted amphiboles from Heinrich layer 2 (H2) from a core in the Labrador Sea, a core in the eastern North Atlantic and a core in the western North Atlantic range from 1600 to 2000 Ma. This range is identical to that for K/Ar ages from the Churchill province of the Canadian Shield that outcrops at Hudson Strait and forms the basement of the northern part of Hudson Bay. The ambient glacial sediment includes some younger and older grains derived from Paleozoic, Mesoproterozoic and Archean sources, but still the majority of the amphiboles have ages in the 1600–2000 Ma interval. The Ca/K ratios of these 1600–2000 Ma old amphiboles, however, have a bimodal distribution in contrast with the uniformity of the Ca/K ratios of H2 amphiboles. This indicates that 1600–2000 Ma old amphiboles of the ambient sediment were derived from an additional Early Proterozoic source besides Churchill province. In H2, Churchill-derived grains constitute 20–40% of the ice-rafted debris (IRD). The fraction in the ambient glacial sediment is 65–80%. Results presented here are consistent with the hypothesis that Heinrich events were produced by a sudden intensification of the iceberg discharge through Hudson Strait that mixed, in the North Atlantic, with icebergs that continued to calve from other ice sheets. The shift from mixed sources in the background sediment to a large dominance of Churchill province grains in H2 indicates that, even if calving of other ice sheets intensified during the Heinrich episode, the increase in the iceberg discharge via Hudson Strait from the Hudson Bay drainage basin of the Laurentide ice sheet was by far the largest.


Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armand Hernández ◽  
Mário Cachão ◽  
Pedro Sousa ◽  
Ricardo M. Trigo ◽  
Jürg Luterbacher ◽  
...  

Nearshore upwelling along the eastern North Atlantic margin regulates regional marine ecosystem productivity and thus impacts blue economies. While most global circulation models show an increase in the intensity and duration of seasonal upwelling at high latitudes under future human-induced warmer conditions, projections for the North Atlantic are still ambiguous. Due to the low temporal resolution of coastal upwelling records, little is known about the impact of natural forcing mechanisms on upwelling variability. Here, we present a microfossil-based proxy record and modeling simulations for the warmest period of the Holocene (ca. 9–5 ka) to estimate the contribution of the natural variability in North Atlantic upwelling via atmospheric and oceanic dynamics. We found that more frequent high-pressure conditions in the eastern North Atlantic associated with solar activity and orbital parameters triggered upwelling variations at multidecadal and millennial time scales, respectively. Our new findings offer insights into the role of external forcing mechanisms in upwelling changes before the Anthropocene, which must be considered when producing future projections of midlatitude upwelling activity.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasmine Ferrario ◽  
Agnese Marchini ◽  
Martina Marić ◽  
Dan Minchin ◽  
Anna Occhipinti-Ambrogi

The Pacific cheilostome bryozoan Celleporaria brunnea (Hincks, 1884), a non-indigenous species already known for the Mediterranean Sea, was recorded in 2013-2014 from nine Italian port localities (Genoa, Santa Margherita Ligure, La Spezia, Leghorn, Viareggio, Olbia, Porto Rotondo, Porto Torres and Castelsardo) in the North-western Mediterranean Sea; in 2014 it was also found for the first time in the Adriatic Sea, in the marina “Kornati”, Biograd na Moru (Croatia). In Italy, specimens of C. brunnea were found in 44 out of 105 samples (48% from harbour sites ad 52% from marinas). These data confirm and update the distribution of C. brunnea in the Mediterranean Sea, and provide evidence that recreational boating is a vector responsible for the successful spread of this species. Previous literature data have shown the existence of differences in orifice and interzooidal avicularia length and width among different localities of the invaded range of C. brunnea. Therefore, measurements of orifice and avicularia were assessed for respectively 30 zooids and 8 to 30 interzooidal avicularia for both Italian and Croatian localities, and compared with literature data, in order to verify the existence of differences in the populations of C. brunnea that could reflect the geographic pattern of its invasion range. Our data show high variability of orifice measures among and within localities: zooids with broader than long orifice coexisted with others displaying longer than broad orifice, or similar values for both length and width. The morphological variation of C. brunnea in these localities, and above all the large variability of samples within single localities or even within colonies poses questions on the reliability of such morphometric characters for inter and intraspecific evaluations.


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