Geographical distribution,dispersal and genetic divergence of the mantis shrimp Oratosquilla oratoria (Stomatopoda: Squillidae) in China Sea

The period of Cenozoic Himalayan orogeny was the developmental stage of the marginal seas and islands adjacent to the western Pacific. In the study, the molecular divergence dating between the northern and southern groups by fossil calibration was approximately 10.9 Myr, which was earlier than the time of the formation of Taiwan Island. Statistical-Dispersal Vicariance Analysis (S-DIVA) suggested that mantis shrimp of the China seas originated from two different ancestral regions (i.e., the Yellow Sea and South China Sea). However, the fluctuation of the Taiwan Strait in the late glacial period further influenced the phylogeographic structure of the mantis shrimp. In addition, the opposite ocean currents of the northern and southern seas of China, driving the planktonic larvae of marine species in opposite directions in the reproductive season, further accelerated their genetic divergence. In contrast, there were weak differences among the three northern seas due to their sharing one common ancestral region and then facing the dispersal event in the Cenozoic era and later sudden population expansion in the late Quaternary interglacial (54–75 ka). In conclusion, geological and climatic changes in past geological periods have greatly influenced the geographical distribution, dispersal and genetic divergence of the mantis shrimp.     

Die Anwendung organischwandiger Dinoflagellatenzysten zur Rekonstruktion von Paläoumwelt, Paläoklima und Paläozeanographie: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen

Over the past two decades, organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) have been increasingly used as paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic indicators in marine sediments from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Because dinocysts are acid-resistant and abundant in nearly all aquatic settings, the dinocyst-based environmental and paleoclimatic information is complementary to the data derived from calcareous and siliceous microfossil groups such as foraminifers, calcareous nannoplankton, diatoms, and radiolarians. In some cases, the environmental information of dinocysts even exceeds that of calcareous and siliceous microfossils. The present contribution provides an outline of the present-day knowledge on dinocyst paleoecology. It reviews the potential of dinocysts for the reconstruction of sea-surface productivity, temperature, and salinity as well as their application in sequence stratigraphy. Finally, it evaluates the applicability of dinocysts in reconstructing the paleo-oxygenation in the bottom and pore waters of marine environments and in the lower water column of epeiric seas.     

Preliminary study of the calcareous taphocoenoses in Late Quaternary glacial marine sequences of the Ross Sea (Antarctica)

Three gravity cores were collected in north-western Ross Sea (Coulman Island and Cape Adare areas) during 1998 and 1999 “Progetto Nazionale Ricerche in Antartide”. Several carbonate-rich levels, from Late Pleistocene to Holocene in age, interbedded with glacial marine sequences were recovered. Examination of the compositional characters (X-ray structure, texture, water, TOC and CaCO₃ contents) and taphonomic data (fabric of the fossil concentration, degree of preservation of foraminifers and bryozoans, together with paleoecological inferences) has allowed the preliminary documentation of oscillations of the ice-shelf front in this area. Benthic foraminifer tests in glacial marine sediments older than the Last Glacial Maximum are often badly preserved (abraded and broken), testifying to the persistent transport of these sediments. In the younger sediments, an increased concentration of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma occurs, indicating more open water conditions. The occurrence of a mainly autochthonous fauna in muddy sediments in between two volcanic events in the Coulman Island area could indicate stable environmental conditions. The occurrence of limited % of fragmented foraminifers indicates the decreasing influence of glacial reworking. In the Cape Adare area, mass flow events were common during the Holocene retreat of the ice shelf. Several bioclastic-rich deposits (stylasterids and bryozoans assemblage) in the studied core with interbedded muddy sediments could indicate mass transport events from neighboring shallow environments. During undisturbed open-marine conditions, represented by muddy sedimentation, foraminifers and other calcareous taxa colonized the previous coarse-textured skeletal substratum.     

中国近海生物固碳强度与潜力

通过现场调查和数据分析,首次探讨了中国近海浮游植物的固碳强度与潜力以及近海人工养殖大型藻类的固碳能力.结果表明,渤、黄、东海的浮游植物固碳强度约为2.22亿t a-1,固碳量的季节变化从大到小的顺序依次为春季、夏季、秋季、冬季,其中春夏季的固碳量占全年的65.3%.南黄海1999～2005年10～11月间浮游植物固碳强度有较大的年际变化,10～11月份7a间其浮游植物最低固碳量为3.54万t d-1,最高为16.58万t d-1,平均为10.50万t d-1,没有明显的年际变化趋势,磷对浮游植物固碳强度的影响最为明显,次之的影响因素是Chl a和亚硝氮 (NO2-N)的含量.南海的固碳能力约为渤黄东海的2倍,为4.16亿t a-1,其季节变化和渤黄东海不同,南海浮游植物在冬季的固碳能力最强,在夏季最弱.整个中国近海浮游植物年固碳量达6.38亿t,可占全球近海区域浮游植物年固碳量的5.77%.实际外海龙须菜的养殖发现,龙须菜每年固定的碳为8.18 t,养殖密度与方式对其产量和固碳量影响巨大.近几年,我国大型经济藻类养殖产量每年在120～150万t左右,换算为固碳量为36～45万t,平均每年40万t,如果海藻养殖产量每年增加5%,到2010年,我国大型经济藻类养殖的固碳量可达57万t a-1,海藻养殖是海洋增加碳汇有多重价值的重要措施.     

Earliest Zanclean age for the Colombacci and uppermost Di Tetto formations of the “latest Messinian” northern Apennines: New palaeoenvironmental data from the Maccarone section (Marche Province, Italy)

The occurrence of planktonic foraminifers in the latest Messinian deposits (uppermost Di Tetto Formation and Colombacci Formation) of the Marche Province (Apennine foredeep, Italy) has stimulated a debate since the 1970s. An earlier palynological study of the entire Maccarone section revealed a pronounced, and a sudden increasing frequency of saccate pollen grains which indicates more distal conditions, and thus a transgression. At first attributed to tectonic activity, this transgression is now interpreted as representing the Zanclean marine transgression after the discovery of Ceratolithusacutus, the calcareous nannofossil marker of the earliest Zanclean in the Mediterranean Sea. Evidence from marine dinoflagellate cysts and planktonic foraminifers supports this result. The Colombacci Formation and uppermost part of the Di Tetto Formation (i.e. the entire p-ev2 stratigraphic unit) belong to the earliest Zanclean. The so-called Lago Mare no longer has a regional chronostratigraphic sense, and should be understood as the invasion of Paratethyan organisms via surface waters owing to a connection at high sea-level between the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Paratethys (Dacic Basin). A new robust environmental reconstruction of the northern Apennine foredeep is proposed, which respectively considers the effects of tectonics and Mediterranean eustasy.     

Phylogeny and ultrastructure of Miliammina fusca: evidence for secondary loss of calcification in a Miliolid Foraminifer

The classification of the Foraminifera, a widely distributed group of largely marine protists, has traditionally been based on morphological characters. The most important of these are the composition and structure of the shell or "test." Here, we use both phylogenetic analysis of the genes for small subunit rRNA and beta-tubulin and ultrastructural analysis to document a reversion in wall type from more derived calcareous tests to an agglutinated test. These data indicate that the genus Miliammina, and possibly other members of the Rzehakinidae, should be placed in the Order Miliolida as opposed to their current assignment in Order Textulariida. We also address the effects this reversion may have had on the ability of rzehakinacids to effectively colonize marginal marine environments. Finally, the hypothesis that some multilocular agglutinated foraminiferans descended from calcareous lineages has implications for interpretation of the foraminiferal fossil record.     

Fossil planktic foraminifera (an overview)

Planktic foraminifera are unicellular marine organisms able to produce calcareous tests, which can be fossilized and, therefore, can give important information about the geologic record. In this overview a summary of the present knowledge of fossil planktic foraminifera together with the gradual steps from the earliest and pioneering to the more recent studies on this microfossil group, is given. In particular, the criteria at the base of the classification of these organisms from the earlier studies until the present, are described and summarized. An overview of the biostratigraphic schemes based on species first and last occurrences and assemblages from different latitudes and different regions is also given. The evolution and the response of planktic foraminifera to changing environmental condition are summarized from the more primitiveGlobigerina-like Jurassic forms, to the specialized and diversified Cretaceous species, until their dramatic crisis across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, their successive recovery in the Paleocene and their evolution toward modern organisms. Finally, an overview is given of the use of planktic foraminifera to reconstruct paleoenvironments from the more simple methods to those implying more sophisticated and recent techniques.      

Increased intrusion of warming Atlantic water leads to rapid expansion of temperate phytoplankton in the Arctic

The Arctic Ocean and its surrounding shelf seas are warming much faster than the global average, which potentially opens up new distribution areas for temperate‐origin marine phytoplankton. Using over three decades of continuous satellite observations, we show that increased inflow and temperature of Atlantic waters in the Barents Sea resulted in a striking poleward shift in the distribution of blooms of Emiliania huxleyi, a marine calcifying phytoplankton species. This species' blooms are typically associated with temperate waters and have expanded north to 76°N, five degrees further north of its first bloom occurrence in 1989. E. huxleyi's blooms keep pace with the changing climate of the Barents Sea, namely ocean warming and shifts in the position of the Polar Front, resulting in an exceptionally rapid range shift compared to what is generally detected in the marine realm. We propose that as the Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean further atlantifies and ocean temperatures continue to rise, E. huxleyi and other temperate‐origin phytoplankton could well become resident bloom formers in the Arctic Ocean.     

Remarks on the internal structure of the shells of Ammonoidea,Gastropoda and Foraminifera — with a short introduction on biostratigraphy and paleo-ecology

The modern principles of marine biostratigraphy ask for more exact fossil determinations. In view of the increased activity in nearly all countries concerning this modern trend in geology more uniformity in the methods used for the determination of fossils and especially of microfossils, is needed. In this way a better understanding of the stratigraphical range of important species and their natural relations to other species in all parts of the world would be obtained. For this purpose the study of the internal structures is also important: siphuncular structures of the ammonite shell—heterostrophical oldest volutions of gastropods—canal systems of foraminifers. A few examples are given and figured. A few remarks on biostratigraphy, paleo-ecology, facies and guide fossils serve as an introduction.     

Linking evolution and development: Synchrotron Radiation X‐ray tomographic microscopy of planktic foraminifers

Abstract: Making the link between evolutionary processes and development in extinct organisms is usually hampered by the lack of preservation of ontogenetic stages in the fossil record. Planktic foraminifers, which grow by adding chambers, are an ideal target organism for such studies as their test incorporates all prior developmental stages. Previously, studies of development in these organisms were limited by the small size of their early chambers. Here, we describe the application of synchrotron radiation X‐ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM) to document the ontogenetic history of the foraminifers Globigerinoides sacculifer and Globorotalia menardii. Our SRXTM scans permit resolution at submicrometre scale, thereby displaying additional internal structures such as pores, dissolution patterns and complexity of the wall growth. Our methods provide a powerful tool to pick apart the developmental history of these microfossils and subsequently assist in inferring phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary processes.     

Towards the integration of animal‐borne instruments into global ocean observing systems

Marine animals are increasingly instrumented with environmental sensors that provide large volumes of oceanographic data. Here, we conduct an innovative and comprehensive global analysis to determine the potential contribution of animal‐borne instruments (ABI) into ocean observing systems (OOSs) and provide a foundation to establish future integrated ocean monitoring programmes. We analyse the current gaps of the long‐term Argo observing system (>1.5 million profiles) and assess its spatial overlap with the distribution of marine animals across eight major species groups (tuna and billfishes, sharks and rays, marine turtles, pinnipeds, cetaceans, sirenians, flying seabirds and penguins). We combine distribution ranges of 183 species and satellite tracking observations from >3,000 animals. Our analyses identify potential areas where ABI could complement OOS. Specifically, ABI have the potential to fill gaps in marginal seas, upwelling areas, the upper 10 m of the water column, shelf regions and polewards of 60° latitude. Our approach provides the global baseline required to plan the integration of ABI into global and regional OOS while integrating conservation and ocean monitoring priorities.     

深海底栖有孔虫在古海洋学研究中的应用

通过对海洋沉积物的调查分析,探讨地质历史上海洋环流模式和海水物理化学性质的变化是古海洋学研究的重要内容之一。深海底栖有孔虫对环境变化敏感、其壳体稳定同位素和微量元素与海水性质密切相关使得它成为研究古海洋学的有力工具。但同时,底栖有孔虫的生命效应、分布的区域性以及海水自身等因素在一定程度上制约了其应用。本文总结了底栖有孔虫在古海洋学研究中的应用以及限制因素,以利于在具体研究中客观分析,提高古海洋环境重建的可靠性。     

Similar controls on calcification under ocean acidification across unrelated coral reef taxa

Ocean acidification (OA) is a major threat to marine ecosystems, particularly coral reefs which are heavily reliant on calcareous species. OA decreases seawater pH and calcium carbonate saturation state (Ω), and increases the concentration of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). Intense scientific effort has attempted to determine the mechanisms via which ocean acidification (OA) influences calcification, led by early hypotheses that calcium carbonate saturation state (Ω) is the main driver. We grew corals and coralline algae for 8–21 weeks, under treatments where the seawater parameters Ω, pH, and DIC were manipulated to examine their differential effects on calcification rates and calcifying fluid chemistry (Ω_cf, pH_cf, and DIC_cf). Here, using long duration experiments, we provide geochemical evidence that differing physiological controls on carbonate chemistry at the site of calcification, rather than seawater Ω, are the main determinants of calcification. We found that changes in seawater pH and DIC rather than Ω had the greatest effects on calcification and calcifying fluid chemistry, though the effects of seawater carbonate chemistry were limited. Our results demonstrate the capacity of organisms from taxa with vastly different calcification mechanisms to regulate their internal chemistry under extreme chemical conditions. These findings provide an explanation for the resistance of some species to OA, while also demonstrating how changes in seawater DIC and pH under OA influence calcification of key coral reef taxa.     

Marine mites (Halacaroidea: Acari): a geographical and ecological survey

Halacarid mites (Acari), with almost 700 species described, inhabit marine and freshwater habitats. The majority of genera are recorded from at least two ocean basins or continents. There is no evidence of endemic genera, in either littoral faunal provinces or in deep-sea regions. Copidognathus, a genus comprising 1/4 of all species described, is found in almost all geographic regions, depths and habitats. Other genera dominate or are restricted to cold waters, to warm waters or to distinct habitats.Corresponding habitats on either side of the boreal Atlantic Ocean harbour congeneric, identical, sibling or morphologically similar species. The fauna in the western Atlantic is less diverse than that in the eastern. Amphiatlantics are restricted to certain genera. Transatlantic distribution is independent of the niche inhabited.Of the marine halacarid species recorded from the boreal western Atlantic, 41% are amphiatlantics, while only one species is recorded from both the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. The Caribbean and the Mediterranean faunas are dominated by genera in which amphiatlantics are unknown.Most of the Black Sea species of the genus Halacarellus also occur in the Baltic, North Sea or North Atlantic, whereas the Copidognathus fauna of the Black Sea is similar to that of the Mediterranean.Halacarids are thought to be an ancient taxon, with most genera probably having been present since the Mesozoic and with several species having an age of at least 50 million years. Evidence for their antiquity is found in the distributional pattern of marine and limnic genera and species, in the lack of endemic genera despite low fecundity and lack of dispersal stages, and in the fact that amphiatlantics are restricted to certain genera without relationships to the niches inhabited.     

中国海物种的一般特点

中国海已记录20 278个物种,它们隶属于5个界、44个门,其中,有12个门是海洋特有的。中国海洋的物种比淡水多,比陆地少。物种数由北往南递增。中国海洋的物种有暖水种、温水种和广分布种。许多热带海洋生物分布的北界和一些温带海洋生物分布的的南缘就在中国海域。     

Lipid and DNA Evidence of Dominance of Planktonic Archaea Preserved in Sediments of the South China Sea: Insight for Application of the TEX86 Proxy in an Unstable Marine Sediment Environment

The marine planktonic archaea are dominated by Thaumarchaeotal Marine Group I, which is characterized by the lipid biomarker thaumarchaeol. The marine benthic archaea are characterized by greater diversity of currently unknown species whose lipid biomarker signatures are uncertain. In this study, a sediment core from the northwestern part of the South China Sea (SCS) (water depth 1474 m) was analyzed using molecular DNA and lipid biomarker approaches. While 16S rRNA gene analysis showed changing archaeal community structures with sediment depth, this change had little impact on the fossil record of archaeal lipids that are characteristic of the planktonic community. As a result, the fossil archaeal lipids recorded paleo sea surface temperature of the SCS since the last glacial maxima by the TEX₈₆ proxy, which agreed generally with the winter temperature recorded by planktonic foraminiferas collected from the same area of the SCS that hosted mass-transported deposits. This suggests that this deep water deposit may have partially preserved paleoclimate record reflecting seasonal temperature variation in a near shore setting, which is in contrast to annual sea surface temperature or sub sea surface temperature variation recorded by TEX₈₆ in the open ocean.     

Phylogeographic heterogeneity of the brown macroalga Sargassum horneri (Fucaceae) in the northwestern Pacific in relation to late Pleistocene glaciation and tectonic configurations

Pleistocene glacial oscillations and associated tectonic processes are believed to have influenced the historical abundances and distribution of organisms in the Asia Northwest Pacific (ANP). Accumulating evidence indicates that factors shaping tempospatial population dynamics and distribution patterns of marine taxa vary with biogeographical latitude, pelagic behaviour and oceanographic regimes. To detect what kinds of historical and contemporary factors affected genetic connectivity, phylogeographic profiles of littoral macroalga Sargassum horneri in the ANP were analysed based on mitochondrial (Cox3) and chloroplast (rbcL) data sets. Five distinct clades were recovered. A strong signature of biogeographical structure was revealed (Φ(CT) = 0.487, P < 0.0001) derived from remarkable differentiation in clade distribution, as clade I is restricted to Chinese marginal seas (Yellow-Bohai Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea), whereas clades II-V are discontinuously scattered around the main Islands of Japan. Furthermore, two secondary contact regions were identified along the south Japan-Pacific coastline. This significant differentiation between the two basins may reflect historical glacial isolation in the northwestern Pacific, which is congruent with the estimates of clade divergence and demographic expansion during the late Quaternary low sea levels. Analysis of molecular variance and the population-pair statistic F(ST) also revealed significant genetic structural differences between Chinese marginal seas and the Japanese basin. This exceptional phylogeographic architecture in S. horneri, initially shaped by historical geographic isolation during the late Pleistocene ice age and physical biogeographical barriers, can be complicated by oceanographic regimes (ocean surface currents) and relocating behaviour such as oceanic drifting.     

Biology and Ecology of Marginopora vertebralis (Foraminiferida), Great Barrier Reef

SYNOPSIS. Marginopora vertebralis Quoy and Gaimard is a large calcareous Foraminiferida adapted to euphotic sedimentary basins associated with tropical reefs. This and other species of foraminiferids commonly are abundant and loosely bind substrate sediments with their pseudopods to reduce erosion by waves and currents. Three stages of shell construction, embryonic, laminate and reproduction chamber stages, characterize major changes in the growth of individuals. A flexostyle in the embryonic apparatus and reproductive chambers that are well developed are reported for the 1st time in this species and genus. Reproduction in M. vertebralis is primarily asexual and reproductive activity is greatest during the late spring on the Great Barrier Reef. Reproductive maturity requires a year and commonly longer.
M. vertebralis is host to at least one species and perhaps several species of zooxanthellae-dinoflagellates of which the most common is Gymnodinium rotundatum in its motile form. These zooxanthellae are abundant in the protoplasm of M. vertebralis , give the living foraminifer a distinctive yellow-brownish green color, and apparently are symbiotic. M. vertebralis and perhaps other large calcareous foraminifers which are hosts to similar zooxanthellae-dinoflagellates may have an important ecologic relationship to hermatypic corals in serving as an alternate host in the life cycle of this symbiotic group. Such a symbiotic and alternate-host relationship may explain the similar geographic distributions of large calcareous foraminifers and reef-building hermatypic corals.     

Distribution of Antarctic benthic foraminifers settling on the pecten Adamussium colbecki

Summary Some benthic foraminifers in Explorers Cove, Antarctica, occur both in the sediment and on hard objects such as rocks and invertebrates. The abundances of four of these foraminiferal species have been measured from sediment samples and from the upper valve of the pecten Adamussium colbecki. The two calcareous species, Cibicides refulgens and Rosalina globularis were more abundant on the pecten shells than the sediment: the agglutinated species, Trochammina ochracea and T. malovensis were more abundant in the sediment. A zone of low foraminiferal density was observed around the outer margin of each shell, but no evidence of an influence of pecten feeding currents on the foraminiferal distributions was found. The size of the pecten shell influenced the density of epizoic foraminifers colonizing it; large shells (area >43 cm²) supported much higher densities than smaller ones.     

Shell structure and affinity of the Carboniferous microproblematicurn Saccamminopsis

Extremely well preserved specimens of the Carboniferous microproblematicum Saccamminopsis Sollas, 1921, from the Visean of Poland reveal a primary structure of the chamber wall, different from that hitherto suggested in hypothetical reconstructions. The calcareous wall is regularly perforated by fine pores which sometimes appear to be bifurcated, but no larger holes are present. The new observations, however, do not resolve the question of affiliation to algae or foraminifers. Similarity of general morphology and shell microstructure justifies a synonymization of Saccam-minopsis the Famennian genus Baculella Conil & Dreesen, 1985. Saccamminopsis is indicative of an extremely shallow marine sedimentary environment.□ Algae, Carboniferous, Foraminifera, problematica , Saccamminopsis.