Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The study of benthic meiofauna has been undertaken in Latin America since the beginning of the 20th century, recently gaining attention due to its recognized role on the ecological functioning of meiofauna assemblages. Bibliometric data provide information regarding research results, explain the degree to which a subject has advanced, and identify its major strengths and weaknesses. In Latin American countries, this type of review is scarce for meiofauna communities. This study analyzes knowledge of marine meiofauna by focusing on the documents Latin American authors published from 1990 to 2021. Documents from three bibliographic databases were analyzed to obtain the most relevant bibliometric indicators. Moreover, the interrelationships between authors, countries, and concepts were analyzed using science mapping techniques. Latin American research on marine meiofauna has increased since the 1990s, producing a total of 399 documents over three decades by almost 1,000 authors. Brazil produced the majority of these documents (predominantly published by Brazilian authors and institutions). The number of documents by country was associated with five development indicators. Their main sources and keywords indicate that ecology, oceanography, and biogeography were the main addressed topics, especially on deep marine environments. Most productive authors were clustered into main research groups with varying degrees of links. We conclude that research efforts on marine meiofauna are gaining importance despite the small number of documents by a relatively low number of research groups. We found a high centralization of documents by countries and a relation with four indicators, such as country size and research spending. Greater regional collaboration could further expand the knowledge of marine meiofauna in Latin America.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The exploited mangrove crab Ucides cordatus, an important ecosystem engineer in South American mangroves, has a biphasic lifecycle with pelagic larvae developing offshore. Megalopae return to the mangrove forest to settle, i.e., metamorphose into benthic juveniles but its environmental drivers remain poorly understood. We postulate that conspecific crabs facilitate recruitment. In the field, we investigated whether the number of recruits is higher near conspecific burrows than in areas without conspecific bioturbation. Recruit sampling was conducted monthly from April 2008 to May 2009 along an environmental gradient. First, U. cordatus recruits of that year emerged from March to July. Intraspecific facilitation was indicated by significantly higher recruit numbers in bioturbated than in non-bioturbated substrates. Recruits were most abundant in zones with intermediate conditions of inundation, leaf litter standing stock, sediment consistency, luminosity, temperature, salinity, and pH. Avoidance of more inundated zones likely reduces predation by fishes and of less inundated zones helps individuals escape more stressful, drier environmental conditions. The observed habitat-specific recruitment pattern must be considered when designing field assessments of the population structure of U. cordatus (which should include sampling recruits) and enhancing stocks by releasing laboratory-cultivated larvae and first juveniles into the wild.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT We describe a new species of Loimia, from shallow waters off Northern Papua New Guinea and compare morphologically to other species recorded from the region and a key is provided. We provide a Maximum likelihood tree for species of Loimia for which we have data and it forms a distinct clade from other species. Finally, we discuss characters that we consider as useful specific characters in this large genus, which includes many poorly described species.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Alitta succinea (Leuckart, 1847) is an errant segmented worm from the Nereididae family (Annelida) and is broadly distributed around the greater Atlantic basin. A. succinea is a resilient mobile omnivore that plays an important role in connecting lower and upper levels of the food web. Like many other nereidids, A. succinea metamorphoses into reproductive swimming forms, called epitokes, before entering the water column to spawn. In Galveston, Texas the species A. succinea is commonly found in fouling communities attached to artificial structures in marinas. This study presents a two-year survey of a population found in the Texas A&M University at Galveston Boat Basin. Over the two-year period, we collected over 2,000 A.succinea individuals for a gross comparison of population dynamics and morphometrics. During the summer, we found high numbers of small individuals, indicating a primary recruitment period. This was further corroborated by the high number of epitokes in the summer compared to the winter and spring. During the summer and fall, the observed epitokes were significantly smaller than those found in the winter and spring, which supports previous research that shows a positive relationship between temperature and developmental rates. The continual presence of epitokes indicates the existence of a recruitment process that occurs continuously throughout the year. In terms of morphometrics, atokes and epitokes, both females and males, had their own unique profiles. As we expected, epitokes have larger eyes and wider posterior segments compared to atokes. Interestingly, we found females to be significantly larger than males, no matter the season. This study presents an updated approach to staging sexually reproductive individuals to help standardize taxonomic descriptions.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT Harmful algal blooms (HABs) can negatively affect coastal water quality, aquatic fauna, and human health from the consumption of toxin-contaminated seafood. Estuaries are especially prone to the incidence of these noxious events and sensitive to the associated damage. This study represents a comprehensive overview of previous investigations reporting the occurrence of harmful algae and/or phycotoxins in the Paranaguá Estuarine Complex (CEP), in Southern Brazil. Secondary data from 2002 to 2021 were combined with new results obtained from widely spaced sampling campaigns performed from 2018 to 2019 to assess the periods and estuarine sectors at greater risk for the incidence of HABs. In total, about 600 water/sediment samples containing harmful microalgae and 675 tissue samples of phycotoxin-contaminated fauna were analyzed. The most frequent and abundant species of potentially toxic microalgae were dinoflagellates belonging to the species complexes Dinophysis acuminata and Prorocentrum lima, producers of diarrhetic shellfish toxins (DSTs), and diatoms of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia, producers of amnesic shellfish toxins (ASTs). Okadaic acid, a DST, was by far the most common toxin in the fauna, reaching higher levels in primary consumers such as bivalve mollusks (mussels, oysters, and clams), zooplankton, and suspension-feeding crustaceans (ghost shrimps), and moderate to low levels in cephalopods, fishes, gastropods, echinoderms, sea turtles, seabirds, and cetaceans. Less rainy periods (winter-early spring) were associated with the highest incidence of DSTs and blooms of their producing algae P. lima and Dinophysis spp., mainly in the middle region of Paranaguá Bay and on the shallow continental platform adjacent to the estuarine mouth. However, certain HAB-forming species may be more successful in inner estuarine areas ( Prorocentrum cordatum) and during different periods, such as late summer—early fall ( Pseudo-nitzschia spp.). Continuous monitoring of harmful algae and toxins is therefore highly recommended to mitigate the effects of HABs in the entire estuary.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Biomarkers of environmental contamination have been frequently used in the assessment of marine ecosystem quality because they provide quantitative measures of biological changes in organisms exposed to pollutants such as hydrocarbons from oil spills. Polychaetes have been tested as sentinel organisms of marine environmental health because they are abundant taxa of benthic assemblages and their sedentary lifestyle ensures chronic exposure to toxins in impacted areas. In this study, we evaluated whether the polychaete Scolelepis goodbodyi can be used as a reliable sentinel species for exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from an experimental diesel spill in a dissipative sand beach in the Southern Atlantic. The design used in this study comprised replicated control and diesel impact sites sampled four times (one, two, four and seven days) before and after the impact. Total PAH levels reached 114.0 ng g -1 in the impact site one day after the diesel spill; however, the pattern of biomarker responses in S. goodbodyi was primarily influenced by spatial variation rather than being attributed to the simulated diesel spill. The apparent absence of a contaminating effect may be linked to the low levels of the toxins retained in the sediment after the spill was simulated to elicit a response or to the presence of an efficient repair system within the organism. Furthermore, the sediments tested in this study, composed of sandy fractions, had a low capacity to concentrate PAHs after the simulated diesel spill, which may have contributed to the low significant changes in their biomarker activities. Based on our results, further studies testing other Polychaeta species and simulating oil spills in sedimentary environments composed of fine sediments such as salt marshes and mangroves may help produce evidence on more effective biomarker responses in these organisms.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Drones have proven to be versatile tools for scientific studies aimed at assessing the environmental quality of various ecosystems. This study diagnosed the restinga vegetation in the coastal municipality of Pontal do Paraná, in the state of Paraná, Southern Brazil. This vegetation, which extends over 21.72 km of the coastline of the municipality, was grouped into eight sectors to optimize 27 drone flight plans. The images obtained were transformed into orthomosaics and classified into eight classes, following the random forest classifier: herbaceous, shrubby, arboreal, sand, degraded area, irregular construction, water, and other. We observed 289.11 ha of restinga, of which 183.66 ha (63.5%) corresponded to conserved areas and 105.45 ha (36.5%), to a total degraded area with irregular constructions, vegetation suppression, and introduction of exotic species. Sectors 1 and 5 showed the lowest (8.19 ha) and highest (21.00 ha) values of degraded areas, respectively. Sectors 6 and 8 were the most critical: their degraded areas exceeded the conserved areas of restinga by 4.15 and 3.95 ha, respectively. The main causes of the degradation n in this study refer to irregular occupation. Drone images are a valuable tool for environmental management and vegetation analysis of difficult-to-access sites.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract A new syllid species belonging to the genus Sphaerosyllis ( Claparède, 1863 ) was found in Southeast Brazil during the development of the project “Environmental, social and economic susceptibility of Ilha Grande Bay to spillage and the presence of oil at sea.” Hence, this paper contains its morphological description, obtained after careful examination of several specimens under light and scanning electron microscopy. The new species can be diagnosed by the presence of intersegmental brown stripes along all body segments, fused palps for most of its length, a prostomium semicircular with three antennae, one simple dorsal chaeta, one simple ventral chaeta and 3–4 falcigers bearing unidentate blades. Finally, an identification key and a comparative table are provided for all the species formally recorded in Brazil to date.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT Functional traits, short life cycles, and the pivotal role in the ocean make copepod diversity a solid foundation for assessing the effect of global changes in marine food webs and ecosystem functioning. Climate change and extreme events, particularly El Niño, can affect coastal ecosystems. The Arvoredo Marine Biological Reserve (MPA), located in highly productive coastal waters of the Southern Brazilian Bight, presents complex climate and oceanographic conditions. This study investigates the influence of oceanographic processes and El Niño 2015-2016 on the copepod functional diversity from 2014 to 2016 in the Arvoredo MPA. Horizontal tows were performed using a WP2 net with a mesh size of 200 µm. The 41 species accounted for 19 functional entities and four functional groups. Our findings reveal that the seasonal intrusion of water masses influenced copepod functional diversity. During summer, the upwelling of South Atlantic Central Water increased nutrient availability and favored large herbivore-omnivores and carnivores. The Plata Plume Water enrichment during winter coincided with a decline in functional richness and abundance, leading to the predominance of the Oithona nana, a small-sized omnivore. Compensatory mechanisms were observed as functional equivalence and species composition shifts. Acartia lilljeborgii and Temora turbinata exhibited functional equivalence and compensated for each other in response to salinity changes associated with upwelling and El Niño. The copepod assemblage demonstrated the ability to maintain functional diversity despite changes in copepod abundance. However, the decline in functional diversity and abundance during the intense winter indicated potential disruption in trophic dynamics and ecosystem functioning. Maintaining balance and compensating for disturbances such as El Niño is crucial for marine food web resilience. The functional trait approach provided a comprehensive understanding of the copepod assemblage in Arvoredo MPA, contributing to a broader knowledge of the impact of oceanographic processes intensification. Monitoring functional diversity and abundance is crucial for evaluating the effects of copepod assemblage changes in ecosystem functionings.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT Sandy beaches have different shoreline change rates (i.e., erosion/accretion rates). An erosive process on beaches poses risks for human-occupied areas. One example is Matinhos Beach (state of Paraná - Brazil), which has an average annual erosion rate of around 1.5 m yr-1 This study applied a methodology that combines in situ measurements and numerical modeling to simulate the physical processes in the coastal area of Matinhos during the 2018 Austral winter. Monthly DGPS surveys were carried out in the study area from June to September. The MOHID modeling system was applied to simulate hydrodynamics and sediment transport, considering waves and tidal forcing validated with in situ data. The WAVEWATCH III and SWAN models were applied in a nesting approach to simulate the waves at Matinhos Beach. The GFS was used to assess the wind conditions. The study period showed a dynamic evolution of accretion and erosion between monthly measurements with no clear pattern in most profiles. Significant sand accumulation was observed near the headland. Morphological changes were minor due to the predominance of low energy without significant storm events. The measured morphological changes are in line with the residual littoral drift obtained from the modeling results for the period. The residual current velocities were towards the southwest, with magnitudes ranging from 0.15 m s-1 to 0.2 m s-1. A slight variation in the angle of wave incidence (10°) may change the direction (southwest or northeast) and intensity of the littoral drift. The applied methodology can reduce uncertainty and support effective coastal management. However, the seasonal scales of wave climate cannot be disregarded, nor can the need for coastal oceanographic data.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT We present the first report of plastic biomedia contamination on Brazilian beaches based on evidence collected from 14 beaches of the Paraná state coastline (southern Brazil). Plastic biomedia, also called biocarriers, are small, perforated plastic pieces used worldwide in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) that apply the Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) process. Accidental release of these particles into the environment adds to Ocean’s long-term plastic pollution problem. A high amount of plastic biomedia presence in the coastal areas of Paraná was first noticed by a community member, who found 411 plastic particles on a beach located in Pontal do Paraná, bringing this issue to our attention. In this study, plastic biomedia was retrieved from drift line alongshore transects (0.3 to 1 km long) and cross-shore transects (5 m wide) from the water line to the backshore zone. A total of 749 items were collected from 11 of the 14 sampled beaches, including the Mel and Superagui Islands nature reserves. The decreasing trend in plastic biomedia abundance with the increase in distance of the PEC southern outlet suggests that these particles probably originate from a WWTP in the Paranaguá Estuarine Complex (PEC). Once in the water, these floating plastic particles that followed the suspended sediment transport pattern were exported to coastal waters and were transported by longshore currents. Highlighting the potential role of the PEC as a substantial vector for marine debris to the Paraná coastline. The most likely source of this novel plastic contaminant to the Brazilian coastline are WWTP with MBBR systems. Therefore, stakeholders need to discuss and establish a reporting system so that plastic biomedia spillovers or losses are reported, and its dispersal in the environment is reduced.