Port environments are both heavily impacted by human activities and of high societal importance, making their ecological monitoring essential. The assessment of marine macro invertebrate communities is an important part of such monitoring programs. In an era where molecular methods, such as metabarcoding of bulk DNA or environmental DNA (e-DNA), become increasingly integrated into benthic monitoring, it is crucial to evaluate their performance against morphology-based assessments and to develop robust protocols supported by comprehensive reference databases. We applied a combination of morphological and molecular methods to obtain an exhaustive checklist of the polychaete fauna present in four main Norwegian harbours. Relying on taxonomic expertise and a large sequencing effort, we considerably improved the reference databases for three molecular markers: COI, 16S and 28S with 22, 40 and 36 new sequences respectively, which is a key step in the implementation of molecular monitoring methods. In total, 141 species were morphologically identified. In contrast, integrating data from single-specimen barcoding and metabarcoding revealed 213 species. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) detected 84.4% of the species identified morphologically when all markers were combined. However, only 58.2% of the species detected using HTS could be assigned a species name. None of the sampled harbours showed the presence of non-indigenous species. Our results demonstrate that integrating morphology-based taxonomy with molecular approaches significantly improves biodiversity detection in harbour environments. The results also emphasize the critical need for expanded reference libraries to fully realize the potential of molecular monitoring tools. This in turn highlights the importance of alpha taxonomy and the need for increased taxonomic research.

Accurate biodiversity assessment of marine benthic communities depends strongly on species identification methodologies, yet both traditional morphology-based taxonomy and molecular approaches present inherent limitations. In this study, we investigate the complementarity of morphological identification, DNA barcoding, and metabarcoding to evaluate annelid diversity across western Mediterranean environments with contrasting degrees of anthropogenic influence. Samples were collected from the Bay of Palma (Mallorca), a human-impacted area, and compared with metabarcoding data from the protected Cabrera Archipelago. Morphological examination identified 203 annelid “morphospecies”, while Sanger-based cox1 barcoding successfully generated sequences for 114 of these taxa. High-throughput metabarcoding of pooled samples, combined with phylogenetic species delimitation methods (GMYC and mPTP), revealed substantially higher diversity and uncovered extensive cryptic variation, resulting in up to 359 “molecular species” when datasets were integrated. Nearly half of the metabarcoding units could only be assigned to higher taxonomic ranks, underscoring persistent gaps in reference databases. Comparative analyses showed marked differences in species composition between impacted and protected sites, with a higher incidence of non-indigenous and cryptogenic taxa in Mallorca. Our results demonstrate that neither morphological nor molecular approaches alone can fully characterize annelid biodiversity. Instead, integrative strategies that combine voucher-based taxonomy with metabarcoding provide a more robust framework for biodiversity assessments, enhance reference databases, and improve the reliability of ecological monitoring and conservation outcomes.

The family Cirratulidae is a diverse group of benthic polychaetes with about 400 species described worldwide. Fifty-eight nominal species are recorded in Europe, but recent DNA analyses have revealed that between 83 and 96 additional species inhabit European benthic environments and probably most of them are still undescribed. In this paper, two historical species are re-described due to the lack of details about some relevant morphological characters in the original descriptions: Aphelochaeta marioni (Saint-Joseph, 1894) and Aphelochaeta mcintoshi (Southern, 1914) comb. nov. Following these redescriptions, three new species of the genera Aphelochaeta and Tharyx are described: Aphelochaeta annae sp. nov., Aphelochaeta elinorae sp. nov. and Tharyx emmae sp. nov. Finally, new records of Tharyx maryae Blake & Göransson, 2015, Tharyx robustus Blake & Göransson, 2015 and Kirkegaardia serrata (Eliason, 1962) are presented along with a description of the material examined.

In recent years, the expansion of public biodiversity platforms and associated datasets has greatly improved access to ecological and biological information. These resources now cover vast geographic areas, extended temporal scales, and diverse taxonomic groups, becoming essential for ecological studies by enabling more comprehensive analyses and novel hypotheses testing. Concurrently, the development of programming packages has facilitated data access and interaction, optimizing their retrieval processes. However, most existing tools are limited to specific databases, posing challenges for studies requiring smooth data integration from multiple sources. The growing availability of biodiversity records highlight the urgent need for robust tools to efficiently download, process, and analyse, ecological and biological information. To address this limitation, we introduce biodumpy, a new Python package developed for the retrieval, management, and integration of biological data from several public databases. biodumpy provides access to up-to-date and comprehensive datasets spanning genetic, geographic, taxonomic, and bibliographic sources. It includes specialized modules for efficient data retrieval across taxonomic lists, with the possibility to process multiple modules simultaneously. By integrating diverse data sources, biodumpy enhances data acquisition, providing researchers with a powerful framework for comprehensive analyses and supporting ecological research to tackle complex environmental challenges.

In this study, maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses of molecular markers (two mitochondrial genes—COI and 16S rRNA) confirmed that Lagis koreni Malmgren, 1866 represents in fact two distinct and well-supported species lineages. Examination of individuals collected on the West coast of Sweden, North of Norway, Northwest Spain, and North of Portugal allowed to morphologically characterise these two lineages. Consequently, Lagis koreni is redescribed based on type material, and a new species named Lagis depende sp. nov. is formally described. The size and number of the crenulations of the anal flap are revealed as main discriminant characters. The lectotype of L. koreni was revised and identified to belong to Cistenides hyperborea Malmgren, 1866 and a new lectotype for L. koreni is therefore tentatively proposed. Individuals of Amphictene auricoma (O.F. Müller, 1776) were also included in the molecular analyses resulting in a well-delineated lineage.

Anchialine caves are singular aquatic environments of significant conservation interest, defined by darkness, constant temperature, and low levels of nutrients and dissolved oxygen, as well as vertically stratified water layers. Due to their challenging accessibility, these caves represent one of the few remaining unexplored frontiers on Earth, hosting short-range endemics and ecologically specialized communities highly susceptible to anthropogenic disturbances. Exploration of a cave in the northern region of Mallorca, Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean), has revealed the presence of a new genus and species of Polynoidae, Pollentia perezi Capa, Pons & Jaume, 2022, with presumed deep-sea affinities. Further exploration of this cave system showed two additional polychaetes. The first is a new species of Polycirrus (Terebellidae), whereas the second, Vermiliopsis labiata (Costa, 1861) (Serpulidae), previously known to inhabit marine environments, represents the first record of this species in an achialine cave. Notably, neither the terebellid nor the serpulid exhibits apparent morphological adaptations to their cave habitat. Our study combines morphological and molecular analyses to characterise the polychaete fauna of the Cova des Bastons, Mallorca, and increases the number of taxa associated with Mediterranean anchialine environments.

Cirratulidae is a group of common marine benthic annelids with about 397 nominal species described worldwide, 58 of which are reported in European waters. Due to the general morphological homogeneity among species from several genera, this group is considered difficult to identify to species level, has a complex taxonomical and nomenclatural history and is largely understudied. The aim of this study was to assess the species diversity of Cirratulidae in European waters. Available samples ranged from the Arctic Ocean North of Svalbard, along the European Atlantic coast and the western Mediterranean Sea, and from the intertidal zone down to 2600 m deep, with over 400 sampling sites included. We included 2120 partial sequences from two mitochondrial (COI and 16S rRNA) and one nuclear marker (28S rRNA) from 1098 specimens in analyses, 65% of which were newly produced for this study. We performed relevant distance and tree-based species delimitation analyses (ASAP, PTP, mPTP and GMYC). As a result, 125-129 lineages compatible with the evolutionary definition of species were identified, out of which 83 to 96 lineages represent putative new species to science. This study represents the most inclusive phylogenetic analyses to date. Multitentaculate Cirratulidae is retrieved as a monophyletic group with the inclusion of Chaetocirratulus. The genera Cirratulus, Chaetocirratulus, Caulleriella, Tharyx and Raricirrus are recovered monophyletic. The genus Chaetozone is recovered paraphyletic with Caulleriella nested within it, and the status of the genera Aphelochaeta and Kirkegaardia is unresolved.

Coastal ecosystems of sub-Antarctic islands are threatened by increasing climate-driven changes and direct anthropogenic pressures. Significant effects on marine communities are expected, but benthic ecosystems of these isolated islands remain largely under-explored. Effective preservation of these nearshore environments requires deeper ecological assessments and comprehensive biodiversity knowledge. In this regard, this study reports findings from a survey carried out in 2021 at two sites – Baie du Marin and Crique du Sphinx – located on the eastern coast of Ile de la Possession (sub-Antarctic Crozet archipelago, Southern Ocean). We investigated the composition and structure of nearshore benthic faunal communities using a quantitative fieldwork protocol and an integrative molecular- and morphology-based taxonomic approach. A total of 124 morphotypes were identified, including a high proportion (72%) of rare species. Both sites exhibited similar benthic invertebrate communities. Structurally complex habitats such as hard substrates or areas dominated by macroalgae exhibited higher species richness and diversity. The investigated benthic invertebrate communities are typical of the sub-Antarctic area but featured unique structures, including dense tube-dwelling polychaete colonies. This study will provide a baseline for future monitoring programs and for the preservation of sub-Antarctic coastal benthic ecosystems.

Epipelagic barnacles have been considered good bioindicators since they are abundant and broadly distributed but with apparent tolerance restrictions to temperature and salinity, and also bioaccumulate pollutants. However, Lepas anatifera was found attached to the oceanic gliders, thriving through drastic and unreported environmental fluctuations. This study aimed to assess the resistance and oxidative stress responses of L. anatifera collected from gliders and attached to floating litter to temperature, salinity, and pressure. Barnacles withstood all tested pressure, temperature, and salinity ranges, except the extreme salt concentration. The activities of antioxidant enzymes - catalase and superoxide dismutase - were significantly increased under high temperature, high pressure, and low salinity. Malondialdehyde levels significantly increased only under high pressure. In conclusion, L. anatifera can be considered resistant organisms to extreme environmental changes. However, the instauration of oxidative stress under certain circumstances makes them vulnerable to predicted future trends in marine environments.

Limnology and Oceanography BulletinVolume 32, Issue 2 p. 84-84 Meeting Highlights It will be Worth the Wait: ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting 2023 in Palma de Mallorca Nona Sheila R. Agawin, Nona Sheila R. Agawin [email protected] orcid.org/0000-0001-5951-360X Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorIris E. Hendriks, Iris E. Hendriks orcid.org/0000-0002-2238-6018 Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB), Esporles, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorEva Sintes, Eva Sintes orcid.org/0000-0002-7408-5647 Centro Oceanográfico de Baleares, IEO-CSIC, Palma, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorMaria Ll. Calleja, Maria Ll. Calleja orcid.org/0000-0002-5992-2013 Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorMaria Capa, Maria Capa orcid.org/0000-0002-5063-7961 Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorManuela Gertrudis García Márquez, Manuela Gertrudis García Márquez orcid.org/0000-0001-7698-5932 Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorLluis Gómez-Pujol, Lluis Gómez-Pujol orcid.org/0000-0002-6746-7604 Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorManuel Hidalgo, Manuel Hidalgo orcid.org/0000-0002-3494-9658 Centro Oceanográfico de Baleares, IEO-CSIC, Palma, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorHilmar Hinz, Hilmar Hinz orcid.org/0000-0003-4909-0089 Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB), Esporles, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorNuria Marbá, Nuria Marbá orcid.org/0000-0002-8048-6789 Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB), Esporles, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorElvira Mayol Alcover, Elvira Mayol Alcover orcid.org/0000-0002-6179-8269 Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB), Esporles, SpainSearch for more papers by this author Nona Sheila R. Agawin, Nona Sheila R. Agawin [email protected] orcid.org/0000-0001-5951-360X Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorIris E. Hendriks, Iris E. Hendriks orcid.org/0000-0002-2238-6018 Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB), Esporles, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorEva Sintes, Eva Sintes orcid.org/0000-0002-7408-5647 Centro Oceanográfico de Baleares, IEO-CSIC, Palma, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorMaria Ll. Calleja, Maria Ll. Calleja orcid.org/0000-0002-5992-2013 Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorMaria Capa, Maria Capa orcid.org/0000-0002-5063-7961 Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorManuela Gertrudis García Márquez, Manuela Gertrudis García Márquez orcid.org/0000-0001-7698-5932 Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorLluis Gómez-Pujol, Lluis Gómez-Pujol orcid.org/0000-0002-6746-7604 Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorManuel Hidalgo, Manuel Hidalgo orcid.org/0000-0002-3494-9658 Centro Oceanográfico de Baleares, IEO-CSIC, Palma, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorHilmar Hinz, Hilmar Hinz orcid.org/0000-0003-4909-0089 Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB), Esporles, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorNuria Marbá, Nuria Marbá orcid.org/0000-0002-8048-6789 Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB), Esporles, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorElvira Mayol Alcover, Elvira Mayol Alcover orcid.org/0000-0002-6179-8269 Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB), Esporles, SpainSearch for more papers by this author First published: 04 April 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/lob.10565Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. Volume32, Issue2May 2023Pages 84-84 RelatedInformation

A survey of the invasive pearl oyster Pinctada radiata along the Balearic Archipelago was conducted based on the COI mitochondrial marker. Results confirmed the identity of the specimens as P. radiata. The Balearic populations are certainly of Indo-Pacific origin but not from the Persian Gulf nor from other introduced populations in the eastern or central Mediterranean, therefore the precise origin remains to be discovered. Despite the small number of samples from the Persian Gulf compared to the Mediterranean, the haplotype diversity is higher in the native populations compared to the non-native.

We describe Loimia davidi sp. nov. (Annelida, Terebellidae) from São Miguel Island (Azores). It resembles Loimia gigantea (Montagu, 1819) (English Channel) in having very large adults, the ventral shield shape and the types of capillary notochaetae (three), while differing in shape and colour of the lateral lappets, branchiae length, the arrangement of segments, ventral shields, uncini and pygidial papillae. Large (> 30 cm long) and small (≈ 5 cm long) specimens of L. davidi sp. nov. show typically interspecific morphological differences while clustering in a single entity after species delimitation analyses of a cytochrome c oxidase I fragment. Therefore, we consider them to belong to a single species and discuss the taxonomic implications of size-dependent morphological differences. Within Loimia, we (1) suggest that large specimens may have been scarcely reported due to their rarity and collecting difficulty, while small specimens may have been reported either as ‘sp.’ or as the ‘cosmopolitan’ Loimia medusa (Savigny, 1822), (2) evaluate the size-related morphological disparity in all described species using a hypervolume analysis, (3) identify possible similar size-dependency in previously described species, (4) summarise the morphological information of all known species of Loimia; and (5) discuss on the four species reported in Europe.

Several new species of genus Terebellides Sars, 1835 (Annelida, Trichobranchidae) have been recently described from the Northeast Atlantic Ocean after the detection of a large complex of species based on DNA sequence data from previous research. Some of those species (belonging to the so-called Group A) have already been described elsewhere. In this paper, we revise several Terebellides clades belonging to Groups B, C and D resulting in the identification of five nominal species: Terebellides gracilis Malm, 1874, Terebellides atlantis Williams, 1984, Terebellides williamsae Jirkov, 1989, Terebellides irinae Gagaev, 2009, and Terebellides shetlandica Parapar, Moreira & O’Reilly, 2016, plus one new species described here as Terebellides lavesqueisp. nov. All these species are characterised by a combination of morphological features complemented with a nucleotide diagnostic approach (specific COI nucleotides in the alignment position). Morphological characters used to discriminate between taxa refer to the branchial shape, presence/absence of ciliated papillae dorsal to thoracic notopodia and the morphology of thoracic and abdominal uncinal teeth. An updated identification key to all described species of this genus in NE Atlantic waters is also included.

A remarkable new genus and species of scale worm (Annelida: Polynoidae) was found on the bottom sediments of an anchialine cave on the island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean). Specimens reach up to 2 cm long, lack eyes and body pigmentation except for a few scattered minute speckles and show enlarged parapodia and sensorial appendages. A red brain is visible through the translucent tegument. Morphological features resemble those of Eulagiscinae, currently comprising eight species in three genera. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences are not conclusive on the position of the new taxon but affinity to Eulagiscinae is not ruled out, particularly when taxa with missing data or non-homologous insertion sites are excluded from the analyses. Pollentia perezi gen. & sp. nov. is characterized by a unique set of morphological features: 13 pairs of dorsal elytra; a single type of notochaetae (stout, with spinous rows and pointed tip); and two types of neurochaetae (superior flattened, spinous with tridentate tip; inferior shorter and thinner, lanceolate and pectinate). Some characteristics, such as the long parapodial appendages and swimming habits, are shared with other cave scale worms. However, the new taxon is not closely related to the other two known cave-dwelling polynoids.

Marine biodiversity underpins ecosystem health and societal well-being. Preservation of biodiversity hotspots is a global challenge. Molecular tools, like DNA barcoding and metabarcoding, hold great potential for biodiversity monitoring, possibly outperforming more traditional taxonomic methods. However, metabarcoding-based biodiversity assessments are limited by the availability of sequences in barcoding reference databases; a lack thereof results in high percentages of unassigned sequences. In this study we (i) present the current status of known vs. barcoded marine species at a global scale based on online taxonomic and genetic databases; and (ii) compare the current status with data from ten years ago. Then we analyzed occurrence data of marine animal species from five Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) classified as biodiversity hotspots, to identify any consistent disparities in COI barcoding coverage between geographic regions and at phylum level. Barcoding coverage varied among LMEs (from 36.8% to 62.4% COI-barcoded species) and phyla (from 4.8% to 74.7% COI-barcoded species), with Porifera, Bryozoa and Platyhelminthes being highly underrepresented, compared to Chordata, Arthropoda and Mollusca. We demonstrate that although barcoded marine species increased from 9.5% to 14.2% since the last assessment in 2011, about 15,000 (corresponding to 7.8% increase) new species were described from 2011 to 2021. The next ten years will thus be crucial to enroll concrete collaborative measures and long term initiatives (e.g., Horizon 2030, Ocean Decade) to populate barcoding libraries for the marine realm.

Marine biodiversity underpins ecosystem health and societal well-being. Preservation of biodiversity hotspots is a global challenge. Molecular tools, like DNA barcoding and metabarcoding, hold great potential for biodiversity monitoring, possibly outperforming more traditional taxonomic methods. However, metabarcoding-based biodiversity assessments are limited by the availability of sequences in barcoding reference databases; a lack thereof results in high percentages of unassigned sequences. In this study, we (i) present the current status of known vs. barcoded marine animal species at a global scale based on online taxonomic and genetic databases (NCBI and BOLD) and (ii) compare the current status with data from ten years ago. Then, we focused our attention on occurrence data of marine animal species from five Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) representing the most well studied biodiversity hotspots, to identify disparities in COI barcoding coverage between geographic regions and at phylum level. Barcoding coverage varied among LMEs (from 36.8% to 62.4% COI-barcoded species) and phyla (from 4.8% to 74.7% COI-barcoded species), with Porifera, Bryozoa and Platyhelminthes being highly underrepresented, compared to Chordata, Arthropoda and Mollusca. We demonstrate that barcoded marine species increased from 9.5% to 14.2% since the last assessment in 2011, due to new barcodes both on already described species and on newly described ones (about 15,000 new species were described from 2011 to 2021). The next ten years will thus be crucial to enroll concrete collaborative measures and long term initiatives (e.g., Horizon 2030, Ocean Decade) to boost animal barcoding libraries for the marine realm.

In Australia, the deep-water (bathyal and abyssal) benthic invertebrate fauna is poorly known in comparison with that of shallow (subtidal and shelf) habitats. Benthic fauna from the deep eastern Australian margin was sampled systematically for the first time during 2017 RV ‘Investigator’ voyage ‘Sampling the Abyss’. Box core, Brenke sledge, and beam trawl samples were collected at one-degree intervals from Tasmania, 42°S, to southern Queensland, 24°S, from 900 to 4800 m depth. Annelids collected were identified by taxonomic experts on individual families around the world. A complete list of all identified species is presented, accompanied with brief morphological diagnoses, taxonomic remarks, and colour images. A total of more than 6000 annelid specimens consisting of 50 families (47 Polychaeta, one Echiura, two Sipuncula) and 214 species were recovered. Twenty-seven species were given valid names, 45 were assigned the qualifier cf., 87 the qualifier sp., and 55 species were considered new to science. Geographical ranges of 16 morphospecies extended along the eastern Australian margin to the Great Australian Bight, South Australia; however, these ranges need to be confirmed with genetic data. This work providing critical baseline biodiversity data on an important group of benthic invertebrates from a virtually unknown region of the world’s ocean will act as a springboard for future taxonomic and biogeographic studies in the area.