World Register of marine Cave Species (WoRCS): a new Thematic Species Database for marine and anchialine cave biodiversity

Gerovasileiou, Vasilis; Martínez, Alejandro; Álvarez, Fernándo; Boxshall, Geoff A.; Humphreys, William F.; Jaume, Damià; Becking, Leontine E.; Muricy, Guilherme; Hengstum, van Peter J.; Dekeyzer, Stefanie; Decock, Wim; Vanhoorne, B.; Vandepitte, L.; Bailly, Nicolas; Iliffe, Thomas M.

doi:10.3897/rio.2.e10451

Cited by 35 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Thus far, the majority of records (>85%) corresponds to semi-submerged caves, which are easier to spot and access by scientists and recreational divers. However, the increasing interest for the monitoring and protection of this habitat type (UNEP-MAP-RAC/SPA, 2015a, 2017; Gerovasileiou et al, 2016), coupled with the new trends of recreational SCUBA diving, including cave and deep diving, are expected to further raise the number of existing records, especially those of the entirely submerged caves.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assembling Ecological Pieces to Reconstruct the Conservation Puzzle of the Aegean Sea

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The effective conservation of marine biodiversity through an integrated ecosystem-based management approach requires a sound knowledge of the spatial distribution of habitats and species. Although costly in terms of time and resources, acquiring such information is essential for the development of rigorous management plans and the meaningful prioritization of conservation actions. Located in the northeastern part of the Mediterranean, the Aegean Sea represents a stronghold for marine biodiversity. However, conservation efforts are hampered by the apparent lack of spatial information regarding marine habitats and species. This work is the first to address this knowledge gap by assembling, updating, and mapping information on the distribution of key ecological components. A range of data sources and methodological approaches was utilized to compile and complement the available data on 68 ecological features of conservation interest (58 animal species, six habitat categories, and four other vulnerable ecological features). A standardized data evaluation procedure was applied, based on five semi-quantitative data quality indicators in the form of a pedigree matrix. This approach assessed the sufficiency of the datasets and allowed the identification of the main sources of uncertainty, highlighting aspects that require further investigation. The overall dataset was found to be sufficient in terms of reliability and spatiotemporal relevance. However, it lacked in completeness, showing that there are still large areas of the Aegean that remain understudied, while further research is needed to elucidate the distribution patterns and conservation status of several ecological features; especially the less charismatic Sini et al.Aegean Sea Conservation Puzzle ones and those found in waters deeper than 40 m. Moreover, existing conservation measures appear to be inadequate to safeguard biodiversity. Only 2.3% of the study area corresponds to designated areas for conservation, while 41 of the ecological features are underrepresented in these areas. Considering the high geomorphological complexity and transnational character of the Aegean Sea, this study does not offer a complete account of the multifaceted diversity of this ecoregion. Instead, it represents a significant starting point and a solid basis for the development of systematic conservation plans that will allow the effective protection of biodiversity within an adaptive management framework.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assembling Ecological Pieces to Reconstruct the Conservation Puzzle of the Aegean Sea

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Scale worms have successfully adapted to all marine environments, including caves, and are obligate predators armed with a muscular proboscis and raptorial‐like jaws (Barnich & Fiege, ; Rouse & Pleijel, ). To date, several scale worms have been recorded in cave habitats, ranging from being present in the interstitial environment of sandy sediments to living in larger crevices, and even within the water column of large cave systems (Gerovasileiou et al., ). As a result, across annelids, scale worms represent a good framework for investigations of morphological changes associated with the colonization of varying cave habitats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anophthalmia and elongation of body appendages in cave scale worms (Annelida: Aphroditiformia)

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study addresses whether cave dwelling annelids exhibited similar reductive and constructive traits equally as strong as those of arthropods and vertebrates inhabiting caves. Known as troglomorphism, these adaptations bring about striking morphologies across invertebrates and vertebrates from both aquatic and terrestrial cave habitats, and include varying degrees of eye and pigmentation loss, as well as hypertrophy of body appendages and sensorial structures. Employing phylogenetic comparative methods and ancestral character reconstructions on a worldwide data set of a group of annelids, the scale worms (Aphroditiformia), we investigate the behavioural and morphological traits of species living in marine caves in comparison with those species living outside caves. Our work demonstrated that cave scale worms respond similar to arthropods in cave environments, showing a significant elongation of sensory parapodial cirri, while lacking eyes and pigmentation. However, whereas elongation of sensory appendages likely occurred in correlation to cave colonization, eyes were plausibly lost in correlation with specialization and colonization of deepsea habitats. K E Y W O R D Sadaptation, hypogean, phylogenetic comparative methods, phylogenetic signal, troglomorphism

show abstract

“…Although Mediterranean marine cave communities have been the subject of research in several studies, considerable knowledge gaps still exist, with regard to certain regions (e.g. eastern and southern Mediterranean sectors) and taxonomic groups (Gerovasileiou et al, 2015(Gerovasileiou et al, , 2016a.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serpulid communities from two marine caves in the Aegean Sea, eastern Mediterranean

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper is a first detailed contribution to the knowledge of serpulid diversity from marine caves of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. A total of 27 taxa were recorded in two submerged caves of Lesvos Island, in the Aegean Sea. A clear trend of variability was observed with serpulid abundance, specifically that of sciaphilic and deep-sea species, increasing inwards while the number of taxa and species diversity did not change significantly across the two caves. In the innermost sectors of the studied caves two types of bioconstructions were observed: (a) ‘coiled doughnuts’ ofProtula, recorded for the first time in Mediterranean caves; and (b) ‘biostalactites’ mainly consisting of skeletal metazoans recorded for the first time from the eastern Mediterranean. The results of the present study revealed new faunal elements and type of bioconstructions for the Mediterranean marine caves, showing that several aspects of their communities are still poorly known and deserve to be further investigated.

show abstract

World Register of marine Cave Species (WoRCS): a new Thematic Species Database for marine and anchialine cave biodiversity

Cited by 35 publications

References 51 publications

Assembling Ecological Pieces to Reconstruct the Conservation Puzzle of the Aegean Sea

Assembling Ecological Pieces to Reconstruct the Conservation Puzzle of the Aegean Sea

Anophthalmia and elongation of body appendages in cave scale worms (Annelida: Aphroditiformia)

Serpulid communities from two marine caves in the Aegean Sea, eastern Mediterranean

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About