In spite of being one of the most relevant components of the biosphere, the plankton-benthos network is still poorly studied as such. This is partly due to the irregular occurrence of driving phenomena such as gelatinous plankton pulses in this realm. Gelatinous plankters rely on their life cycles and histories to exploit temporarily abundant resources with an undeniable, but often overlooked, impact on marine food webs. Dramatic increases of gelatinous filter-feeders and/or carnivores (both native and nonindigenous species) are frequently observed, and explanations of these blooms alternatively invoke ecosystem variability, climate change, unspecified anthropogenic perturbation or removal of top predators from trophic networks. Gelatinous plankters, however, are not anomalies in plankton dynamics: the recognition of the ecological importance of their pulses, based on their life cycle patterns (often involving benthic stages), is a critical breakthrough to understand the cycling diversity of plankton in space and time. The current study focuses on the many neglected aspects of the ecology and biology of gelatinous zooplankton, describes how life cycle patterns are central in marine ecology, as are the pulses of gelatinous organisms, and highlights how such a dramatic lack of knowledge can affect our understanding of the marine ecosystem as a whole.

Jellyfish are recorded with increasing frequency and magnitude in many coastal areas and several species display biological features comparable to the most popular Asiatic edible jellyfish. The biochemical and antioxidant properties of wild gelatinous biomasses, in terms of nutritional and nutraceutical values, are still largely unexplored. In this paper, three of the most abundant and commonly recorded jellyfish species (Aurelia sp.1, Cotylorhiza tuberculata and Rhizostoma pulmo) in the Mediterranean Sea were subject to investigation. A sequential enzymatic hydrolysis of jellyfish proteins was set up by pepsin and collagenase treatments of jellyfish samples after aqueous or hydroalcoholic protein extraction. The content and composition of proteins, amino acids, phenolics, and fatty acids of the three species were recorded and compared. Protein content (mainly represented by collagen) up to 40% of jellyfish dry weight were found in two of the three jellyfish species (C. tuberculata and R. pulmo), whereas the presence of ω-3 and ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) was significantly higher in the zooxanthellate jellyfish C. tuberculata only. Remarkable antioxidant ability was also recorded from both proteinaceous and non proteinaceous extracts and the hydrolyzed protein fractions in all the three species. The abundance of collagen, peptides and other bioactive molecules make these Mediterranean gelatinous biomasses a largely untapped source of natural compounds of nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and pharmacological interest.

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We present a contribution to the knowledge of marine and brackish water alien species (infraspecific taxa included) recorded along the Italian coasts. The Italian Peninsula, with over 7,000 km of coastline, is located in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, splitting the Western and the Eastern basins. Data were collected from published material, mostly authored by the experts of different marine taxa participating in the "Allochthonous Species Group" of the Italian Society of Marine Biology (SIBM). The data have been reviewed according to the taxonomic expertise of the authors and are organized in a referenced database containing information on each species about: distribution along Italian coasts, the native range, most probable vectors of introduction, population status and impact. The total number of marine alien species recorded along Italian coasts during the selected time period 1945-2009 is relatively high: 165 species, in many cases native from tropical regions of the world. Most of them were introduced in the 1980s and 1990s, whereas in the last few years the number of new records has decreased. The highest number of alien species has been observed in the northern Adriatic Sea, particularly in the Lagoon of Venice, which is the main hotspot of introduction. Of the total number of species, 46% was unable to establish resident populations in the Italian seas; 15% (24 species) rapidly increased their populations and extended their geographical range, consequently they may be considered invasive species