Papers by ALFONSO ANGEL RAMOS ESPLA
Becas de estudios de especies y medios biologicos espanoles de la Fundacion Juan March.-- 504 pages
Revista de la Academia Canaria de Ciencias: = Folia Canariensis Academiae Scientiarum, Dec 1, 2015
Varias especies de Actiniarios y Escleractinias han sido recolectadas y estudiadas a lo largo de ... more Varias especies de Actiniarios y Escleractinias han sido recolectadas y estudiadas a lo largo de la costa noroeste africana y algunos de sus archipiélagos. Esta es la primera parte de un artículo más extenso que está centrado en Marruecos y Cabo Verde pero que también incluye información de otras zonas geográficas (Islas Canarias, Madeira, Gabón y Mauritania). La segunda parte incluirá bastante material del Golfo de Guinea. Cuatro nuevas especies y un nuevo género son descritos además de cinco nuevos registros de especies para la región estudiada. Bellactis caeruleus, Tubastrea caboverdiana, Thalamophyllia wirtzi y Africana wirtzi son las cuatro especies y el nuevo género descrito para la ciencia. Se han completado algunas descripciones de especies que de una forma y otra no estaban bien estudiadas.
Canelobre: Revista del Instituto Alicantino de Cultura "Juan Gil-Albert", 2012
Regional Studies in Marine Science, Mar 1, 2021
Abstract Ascidians form aggregations in soft bottoms, thereby creating a complex habitat and incr... more Abstract Ascidians form aggregations in soft bottoms, thereby creating a complex habitat and increasing the biodiversity by providing new substrates, food, and refuge. As sessile and filtering organisms, they are extremely vulnerable to bottom trawling, which exerts a strong pressure on the circalittoral soft bottoms and could be used as bioindicators of this impact. During the MEDITS surveys of 2010 and 2017, the ascidiofauna of the Iberian Mediterranean Sea was studied from Alboran Sea to Catalonia at depths ranging from 37.5 to 693 m. A total of 3810 specimens belonging to 10 families and 38 species were assessed. Taxocenosis demonstrated that Southeast (SE) and Northeast (NE) Iberian Peninsula host a high diversity, specific richness, and abundance of both colonial and solitary species; however, in the Gulf of Valencia, the rates were lower than those previously recorded, and the colonial strategies were scarce. This may have occurred as a result of the continental shelf being steeper in the Alboran Sea and the SE and NE zones coasts than in the shallow shelf of Gulf of Valencia, which is more prone to bottom trawling. Moreover, differences were found in terms of depth, with the highest values of the previous rates being lower than 50 m, where Spanish legislation prohibits bottom trawling at depths lower than that mentioned. For the results obtained, both the taxocenosis of the ascidians and their strategies could be good indicators of the condition of the circalittoral soft bottoms of the Mediterranean Sea impacted by bottom trawling.
Mediterranean Marine Science, May 4, 2018
Gelatinous zooplankton, including jellyfish, ctenophores and pelagic tunicates, constitute fragil... more Gelatinous zooplankton, including jellyfish, ctenophores and pelagic tunicates, constitute fragile marine animals that live in the water column, and represent an important resource for marine food webs through seasonal pulses. Although there is scarce evidence for gelatinous zooplankton occurring in the stomach contents of apex, endothermic predators such as cetaceans, the ecological significance of such observations requires consideration. We herein report the occurrence of pelagic tunicates in the stomach of three individual calves of two cetacean species from the western Mediterranean, and collate all previous reports of gelatinous zooplankton in cetacean diets. We briefly discuss the possible dietary significance of these observations.
Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019
Marine and Freshwater Research
Context Botryllus schlosseri and Diplosoma listerianum are spreading along the south-western coas... more Context Botryllus schlosseri and Diplosoma listerianum are spreading along the south-western coast of Iceland. Both species are non-indigenous and originated from the temperate zone. In some geographic regions, these species have been associated with negative ecological and economic impacts. The proliferation of these colonial tunicates in newly colonised areas will benefit from the projected warming of sea-surface temperatures. Aims Owing to the influence of temperature in physiological processes of marine invertebrates, the determination of the temporal dynamic of breeding activity is crucial for operational field control actions aiming to keep population abundances below a density-dependent adverse effect. Methods Colonies of B. schlosseri and D. listerianum were collected during a 12-month period, in Sandgerði, south-western Iceland. The number of oocytes and larvae were counted. Key results This study showed that both species are present year-round in south-western Iceland. The...
Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer de Salammbô, 2018
Dans la région côtière du golfe de Gabés, l'inventaire et la distribution des mollusques et des c... more Dans la région côtière du golfe de Gabés, l'inventaire et la distribution des mollusques et des crustacés décapodes exotiques et leur bio-invasion ont été étudiés par dragage et chalutage benthique à bord d'un chalutier, durant deux campagnes estivales (été 2009 et été 2010). L'inventaire compte quatre espèces de Mollusques (deux Gastéropodes et deux Bivalves) et quatre espèces de Crustacés décapodes. Pour les Mollusques, trois espèces ont été bien établies dans le golfe (Erosaria turdus, Fulvia fragilis et Pinctada radiata), alors que, pour les Crustacés décapodes, seulement, une espèce a été très abondante dans le golfe (Trachysalambria palaestiniensis). Cette étude a montré que parmi huit espèces introduites il y'à quatre qui ont été considérée comme espèces invasives. Ainsi que, l'abondance de ces espèces a augmenté considérablement d'une année à l'autre. Cette bio-invasion a influencé sur l'écosystème du golfe de Gabès en particulier sur le type du substrat, la flore et la distribution des espèces autochtones. Mots clés: Distribution spatiale, bio-invasion, golfe de Gabès (Sud de la Méditerranée),
Calyptraeid gastropods are common fouling organisms in some areas, and have been introduced frequ... more Calyptraeid gastropods are common fouling organisms in some areas, and have been introduced frequently into bays and ports in the northern hemisphere. In some cases, introduced calyptraeids have spread extensively, while several other calyptraeid introductions have persisted but failed to expand geographically. Calyptraeid species are often difficult to identify to species making it difficult to identify the origin of many introductions. Here we use DNA sequence data to confirm that a Mediterranean population of the spiny slipper snail Bostrycapulus, previously referred to as B. aculeatus and B. calyptraeformis, is in fact B. odites from the South Atlantic, and that this population probably originated in South America.
Identificação das espécies de tunicados não indígenas da costa portuguesa M@rBis Sistema de Infor... more Identificação das espécies de tunicados não indígenas da costa portuguesa M@rBis Sistema de Informação para a Biodiversidade Marinha Identificação das espécies de tunicados não indígenas da costa portuguesa M@rBis Sistema de Informação para a Biodiversidade Marinha Para este descritor, a "Decisão COM 2010/477/UE" 1 propôs os seguintes critérios e indicadores: Critério 2.1 Abundância e caracterização do estado das espécies não indígenas, em especial das invasivas. Indicador 2.1.1 Tendências em matéria de abundância, ocorrência temporal e distribuição espacial no meio natural das espécies não indígenas, em especial espécies não indígenas invasivas, nomeadamente em zonas de risco, em relação com os principais vetores e vias de propagação dessas espécies. Critério 2.2 Impacto ambiental das espécies não indígenas invasivas. Indicador 2.2.1 Rácio entre espécies não indígenas invasivas e espécies indígenas em alguns grupos taxonómicos que foram objeto de estudos aprofundados (como por exemplo, peixes, macroalgas e moluscos) e que podem permitir avaliar as alterações na composição por espécie (por exemplo, na sequência da deslocação das espécies indígenas) Indicador 2.2.2 Impactos de espécies não indígenas invasivas ao nível das espécies, habitats e ecossistemas, se exequível.
In this study, 21 stations were sampled, 11 in the Djerba island coast and 10 in the western coas... more In this study, 21 stations were sampled, 11 in the Djerba island coast and 10 in the western coast of Tunis bay. Then, samples were sifted on a square mesh of 1 mm a side, and the animals collected were identified and counted. Lacking an efficient single index suitable for application in all situations, several traditional nonparametric indices of biodiversity were selected, calculated and discussed. Results show that the community composition is totally different in the two studied sites, and, within each site, several species are common, but Bull. Inst. Natn. Scien. Tech. Mer de Salammbô, Vol. 40, 2013 52 they exchange the leader ranks from one station to another. For biodiversity measurement and since results show varying values depending on indices at several stations, an arithmetic mean index was calculated at each station on the basis of the most similar indices. It shows that, overall, the biodiversity is significantly higher in Tunis bay coast than in Djerba coast. These res...
MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS El área estudiada se ha extendido desde el norte de la isla Livingston (Shetla... more MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS El área estudiada se ha extendido desde el norte de la isla Livingston (Shetlands del Sur) (62o00’S, 60o30’W) hasta el extremo oriental del mar de Admunsen (70o52`S, 98o26’W), cubriendo la zona de la península Antártica y el mar de Bellingshausen, a profundidades comprendidas entre 40 y 3.300 m. A lo largo de las tres campañas Bentart se han muestreado 72 estaciones con una red de arrastre tipo Agassiz. ANTECEDENTES En contraste con el mar de Weddell, el conocimiento sobre la fauna bentónica en el sector occidental del Antártico era, hasta hace sólo unos años, bastante pobre (Arnaud, 1992). Aunque varias expediciones recogieron invertebrados en la zona meridional de la península Antártica y el mar de Bellingshausen durante los dos últimos siglos y se han llevado a cabo algunos muestreos del megabentos (Starmans et al., 1995), ninguna expedición se había centrado en el estudio del sector Pacífico de la Antártida (Arnzt et al., 1994). Por ello la zona fue elegida co...
Becas de estudios de especies y medios biologicos espanoles de la Fundacion Juan March.-- 504 pages
BioInvasions Records, 2020
Non-indigenous species (NIS) represent a serious problem worldwide, where ascidians are one of th... more Non-indigenous species (NIS) represent a serious problem worldwide, where ascidians are one of the most important taxa. However, little has been done to document the non-indigenous ascidians in Iceland, and over the past decade only two species had been recorded prior to the present study, Ciona intestinalis in 2007 and Botryllus schlosseri in 2011. To increase the knowledge of this taxon, extensive sampling was carried out in shallow waters around Iceland, during the summer 2018, in ports and on ropes of a long-line mussel aquaculture. In total, eleven species were identified, four native and seven NIS, of which Diplosoma listerianum, Ascidiella aspersa, Botrylloides violaceus, Molgula manhattensis and Ciona cf. robusta, are now reported for the first time in Iceland. The highest abundance of non-indigenous ascidians appeared among the ports in southwestern Iceland (Sandgerði, Hafnarfjörður). As pointed out for other regions, the most likely vector is maritime traffic (hull fouling and ballast water), although other vectors cannot be ruled out. The future expansion of these non-indigenous ascidians around Iceland must be monitored, where local maritime traffic could play an important role. Furthermore, global warming may facilitate the access and establishment of these species in colder areas with arctic influence (north and east of Iceland), which are likely still free of these species.
Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019
Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019
Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019
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Papers by ALFONSO ANGEL RAMOS ESPLA