A 300,000 year record of cold-water coral mound build-up at the East Melilla Coral Province (SE Alboran Sea, western Mediterranean)

This study provides a detailed reconstruction of cold-water coral mound build-up within the East Melilla Coral Province (Southeast Alboran Sea) over the last 300 ky. Based on benthic foraminiferal assemblages, macrofaunal quantification, grain size analysis, sediment geochemistry, and foraminiferal stable isotope compositions, a reconstruction of environmental conditions having prevailed in the region is proposed. The variations in planktonic and benthic δ18O values indicate that cold-water coral mound build-up follows and records global climate variability. In contrast to northeast Atlantic counterparts, coral mound build-up in the southeast Alboran Sea occurs during glacial as well as during interglacial periods and at very low aggradation rates (between 1 and 10 cm.ky−1). Environmental conditions during glacial periods, particularly during the Last Glacial Maximum, appear to better suit the ecological requirements of the erect cheilostome bryozoan Buskea dichotoma. We propose that Buskea dichotoma has an important role in the build-up of cold-water coral mounds at the East Melilla Coral Province during glacial periods. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages suggest that important terrestrial input favoured cold-water coral proliferation during interglacial periods. The existence of strong Alboran Gyres during interglacial periods, promoting mixing between surface and intermediate water masses and bottom water turbulence, was possibly beneficial for cold-water coral development. Conversely, benthic foraminiferal assemblages indicate that the seafloor received less organic matter during glacial periods. Overall, the arid continental conditions combined to more stratified water masses resulted in limited coral proliferation during glacial times.

Presence and the global implications of plastics in wild commercial fish in the Alboran Sea

The presence of plastic in the environment has become a major problem for marine megafauna. The identification of the global micro and mesoplastic uptake by commercial fish populations may allow for a better understanding of their impact. This study aims to: (i) determine the presence and composition of plastic in two pelagic fish (Engraulis encrasicolus and Scomber scombrus) and two demersal species (Scyliorinus canicula and Mullus barbatus) from the Alboran Sea (western Mediterranean) to quantify the relationship between plastic prevalence and habitat and feeding behavior in the selected fish species, (ii) compare local measurements made of the presence of plastics ingested by these four fish species with published values from a across their range literature review, and (iii) identify the methodologies used in similar studies of plastic pollution in fish. Across their range, the highest occurrence of plastics was found in E. encrasicolus, which contrasts to that found in S. scombrus at the Alboran sea. Material analysis of the collected data showed the most predominant fiber color was black and the predominant plastic polymer was polyethylene. The increasing emerging risk of plastics and the levels of macro- and micro-plastic ingested by seafood in this study support the suggest that quantifying plastic presence and composition may be essential as a food safety measure.

The genus Sveltia (Gastropoda, Cancellariidae) in the Atlantic Pliocene of Iberia with a new species from the Cenozoic Mondego Basin of Portugal

The cancellarid genus Sveltia Jousseaume, 1887, is widespread in western European and North African Neogene marine fossil assemblages. In Pliocene deposits it is commonly represented by Sveltia varicosa (Brocchi, 1814), which until recently was considered a widely distributed taxon in the Mediterranean Sea and adjacent Atlantic faunas. A recent review of the species from the Pliocene of Italy and Spain (Guadalquivir Basin), leading to the erection of S. confusa, prompted the reassessment of the Sveltia material from the Atlantic Pliocene of the Portuguese Mondego Basin and the subsequent description of Sveltia sofiae n. sp. Consequently, a mosaic of species has emerged from what was previously viewed as the broad Atlanto-Mediterranean range of the widespread and quite variable S. varicosa. From a biogeographic standpoint, it is now clear that S. varicosa was a Mediterranean species, occurring east of the Alboran Sea. Sveltia confusa had a mainly Atlantic distribution, from the French Pliocene Ligerian Gulf to the Gulf of Cadiz, at least, and straddling the Strait of Gibraltar into the Alboran Sea. Sveltia sofiae n. sp. was endemic to western Iberia, represented today only in the western Portuguese Mondego Basin. Sveltia is a thermophilic genus. Since early Pliocene times, because of northeastern Atlantic sea surface temperature decline, it underwent a southward range contraction, occurring today—in the eastern Atlantic—from Cape Blanc, Mauritania, south. This range reduction was coupled with the post mid-Piacenzian southward contraction of the Pliocene Mediterranean-West African tropical molluscan province and the consequent rise of the present-day Mediterranean-Moroccan subtropical province. UUID: http://zoobank.org/0cf3c73a-8d57-472e-87e4-f1ad065e5fb6.