Alberto Ugolini

• Univertsità degli Studi di Firenze, Italy

Despite the promise of a reduced environmental impact, bioplastics are subjected to dispersion and accumulation similarly to traditional plastics, especially in marine and coastal environments. The environmental impact of bioplastics is attracting increasing attention due to the growing market demand. The ability of the supralittoral amphipod Talit...

Sandy beach ecosystems are particularly affected by plastic pollution. Supralittoral amphipods are important components of the food web in sandy beaches and their ability to ingest microplastics and bioplastics has been assessed. Chitosan, a polysaccharide obtained by deacetylation of chitin, the second most abundant polymer in the world, represent...

This project focuses on amphipod biodiversity assessment, a crustacean key-group of any kind of marine and semi-terrestrial habitats. The first main task is updating the checklist of amphipods in Italian seas and comparing the fauna with the one of the whole Mediterranean Sea. The project has involved several institutions and obtained preliminary r...

Background The seafood consumption and trade have increased over the years, and along its expected expansion pose major challenges to the seafood industry and government institutions. In particular, the global trade in fish products and the consequent consumption are linked to reliable authentication, necessary to guarantee lawful trade and healthy...

The 10th International Symposium Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas: problems and measurements techniques was organized by CNR-IBE in collaboration with Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology , and Natural History Museum of the Mediterranean and under the patronage of University of Florence, University of Catania, Accademia dei L...

The Project “MonitoRARE”, underwritten by the Tuscan regional government in 2018 with the Universities of Florence, Pisa, and Siena (Regional Resolution n° 1047, 02/10/17), predicted an interdisciplinary monitoring program for protected animals, plants, and habitats under the Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 (Habitat Directive) within the...

Viene presentata la prima revisione della Checklist degli Anfipodi dei mari italiani, la cui ultima versione risale al 2010. Gli Anfipodi sono crostacei che si diversificano dal punto di vista ecologico e biologico, costituendo uno dei gruppi dominanti in habitat marini bentonici. Con la loro elevata ricchezza quali-quantitativa svolgono un ruolo c...

It is well known that the celestial polarization is used as a compass cue by many species of insects and crustaceans. Although it has been shown that the sandhopper Talitrus saltator perceives polarized light and possesses an arrangement of the rhabdomeres that could allow e-vector interpretation and utilization, T. saltator does not use the e-vect...

Talitrid amphipods are an important component of detritus web, playing a key role in the fragmentation of organic matters of marine and terrestrial origin, and it is well known that sandhoppers ingest microplastics. To assess the effective consumption of bioplastics and their effects on survival rate and on pollutants transfer (i.e. phthalates) on...

Microplastics pollution is progressively threatening natural parks across the world. In the framework of monitoring this concerning trend, the present study focuses on the occurrence and identification of mesoplastics (MEPs) and microplastics (MPs) in sand samples collected before and after the summer season from the beach of the Nature Park of Mig...

Immature individuals of Afrotridactylus cf. usambaricus (Sjöstedt, 1910) were recorded on a marine sandy beach probably feeding on bacteria, microalgae and mesopsammic organisms. The larvae of this pygmy mole cricket probably obtain these organisms by manipulating grains of sand with their buccal apparatus during the excavation of tunnels close to...

The sandhopper Talitrus saltator relies on both the sun and the moon compasses to return to the belt of damp sand of the beach in which it lives buried during the day. In addition to the sun, the gradient of radiance and the spectral distribution across the sky could provide directional information that T. saltator can potentially use to orient its...

The equatorial sandhopper Talorchestia martensii uses the sun, the moon and the natural magnetic field as orienting compass references. In some arthropod species, the antennae are important for time compensated solar orientation. Therefore, we evaluated the role of antennae in solar, lunar and magnetic compass orientation in T. martensii. We releas...

The evaluation of symbiotic microbial communities occurring in the intestinal tract of animals has received great interest in recent years. However, little is known about gut microbial communities in cetaceans, despite their relevance in the ecology of marine communities. Here, we report an investigation using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of t...

We investigated the eye regionalization in Talitrus saltator by morphological, electrophysiological and behavioural experiments. Each ommatidium possesses five radially arranged retinular cells producing a square fused rhabdom by R1–R4 cells; the smaller R5 exists between R1 and R4. The size of R5 rhabdomere is larger in the dorsal part and becomes...

The crustacean Talitrus saltator is known to use many celestial cues during its orientation along the sea-land axis of sandy shores. In this paper, we investigated the existence of the eye regionalization by morphological, electrophysiological and behavioural experiments. Each ommatidium possesses five radially arranged retinular cells producing a...

The Project MONITO-RARE (a cooperation between the Tuscan Regional Government and the Universities of Florence, Pisa and Siena) envisages a monitoring program in the regional territory for animals, plants and habitats protected by the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) to meet Directive requirements and to provide data needed for the Fourth Report acco...

The Mediterranean Sea is affected by one of the most significant plastic pollution worldwide. This review critically evaluates the most recent literature on the presence of microplastics in sediments, suggested to be long term sinks and have a high potential to accumulate this kind of marine debris. A picture of microplastic levels in coastal envir...

The presence and accumulation of plastic waste into the marine environment are well known environmental issues. Microplastics (MPs) end up in sea waters and, due to their hydrophobicity and high surface/volume ratio, POPs tend to sorb and accumulate to their surface. The supralittoral amphipod Talitrus saltator (T. saltator) was selected to study t...

Aim The mid-Miocene closure of the Tethys (Terminal Tethyan Event, TTE) induced by the collision of the African–Arabian plate with the Eurasian plate is considered to be a major driver of tropical marine biodiversity. We used intertidal talitrids of Talorchestia sensu lato to test the hypothesis that the TTE can best explain the current disjunct di...

Aim The mid‐Miocene closure of the Tethys (Terminal Tethyan Event, TTE ) induced by the collision of the African–Arabian plate with the Eurasian plate is considered to be a major driver of tropical marine biodiversity. We used intertidal talitrids of Talorchestia sensu lato to test the hypothesis that the TTE can best explain the current disjunct d...

Talitrus saltator (Montagu) and Orchestia montagui Audouin live in different microhabitats of the same supralittoral belt. T. saltator can be found in the damp sand of beaches with scarce or absent wracked material near the water line. O. montagui is frequently found in the Posidonia banquettes or under wracked material, often in contact with the s...

Experiments conducted in the 1950s provided first evidences that both the sun and the moon constitute astronomical compass cues in the zonal recovery of the supralittoral isopod Tylos europaeus. Whereas the sun-based orientation of this species has been thoroughly confirmed, no other investigation on its ability to orientate according to the moon h...

Animals that use astronomical cues to orientate must make continuous adjustment to account for temporal changes in azimuth caused by Earth’s rotation. For example, the Monarch butterfly possesses a time-compensated sun compass dependent upon a circadian clock in the antennae. The amphipod Talitrus saltator possesses both a sun compass and a moon co...

The difficulties to use the moon as a compass cue are well known: in the same lunar month, the moon never rises at the same hour, it does not show the same shape, and it is not always visible at night. At the equator, the use of the moon as an orienting cue is even more difficult than in the temperate latitudes. In addition to the difficulties list...

Talitrid amphipods (sandhoppers and beach fleas) are typical of the supralittoral zone. They are known to thrive on stranded materials, including detrital marine angiosperms and macroalgae, as well as occasional dead animals. In this work, the gut microbiota of five species of talitrid amphipods (Talitrus saltator, Talorchestia ugolinii, Sardorches...

Occurrence of Operative Taxonomic Units (OTUs). The number of reads for each OTU is reported for each sample. The taxonomy of each OTU is also reported.

Rarefaction analysis on sequencing data of C. caretta gut microbiota.

Principal Component Analysis of OTU abundance in each sample. The percentage of variance displayed by the first two components is reported.

Results of SIMPER analysis on taxa occurrence. The taxonomic attribution of OTUs, the percentage of contribution and the cumulative contribution are reported.

We evaluated the use of Talitrus saltator as biomonitor of polychlorinated byphenyls (PCBs) contamination of the supralittoral zone of Mediterranean sandy shores, an area not yet investigated about the presence of these pollutants. Twenty of 22 PCB congeners analysed were detected and quantified in sand and sandhoppers' samples collected in 6 diffe...

We investigate the role of the landscape in the zonal recovery of the Equatorial sandhopper Talorchestia martensii Weber. It is known that this species uses the sun and the magnetic compasses to return to the belt of damp sand of the beach following the shortest route (the sea-land axis). However, the sun is not always easy to use at Equatorial lat...

The influence of salt concentration in the seawater on solar orientation in Talitrus saltator and Talorchestia ugolinii was studied in a confined environment (transparent plexiglass bowls). Sodium and calcium concentrations strongly affect both sea-land orientation and the sun compass mechanism in T.saltator, whereas the behaviour of T. ugolinii is...

The problem sandhoppers face when they find themselves on the dry sand is to reach as quickly as possible the belt of moist sand near the water. Alongside many other orienting factors, here we ask whether sandhoppers use the optic flow they experience to maintain their bearing relative to the sea - land axis. Adult individuals of Talitrus saltator...

Marine coasts represent highly dynamic ecosystems, with sandy beaches being one of the most heterogeneous. Despite the key importance of sandy beaches as transition ecosystems between sea and land, very few studies on the microbiological composition of beach sediments have been performed. To provide a first description of microbial composition of s...

Investigations carried out in the 1950s on the use of polarized light by sandhoppers as a compass reference did not reach convincing results. Therefore, polarized light compass orientation in the sandhopper Talitrus saltator seems to be a traditional attribute more than a solid demonstration. Our tests carried out under artificial and natural condi...

This study evaluates the use of the sandhopper Talitrus saltator as a bioindicator of PAHs contamination of the supralittoral zone of sandy beaches. Adult amphipods were collected at eight localities on the Tuscany shore in summer. Concentrations of 16 PAHs indicated as priority pollutants by the Environmental Protection Agency were determined. T....

To return to the ecologically optimal zone of the beach, the sandhopper Talitrus saltator (Montagu) maintains a constant sea-land direction based on the sun and moon compasses. In this study, we investigated the role of the skylight gradient of luminance in sun and moon identification under natural and artificial conditions of illumination. Clock-s...

In this study we evaluated the use of Talitrus saltator as biomonitor of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) contamination of the supralittoral zone of Mediterranean sandy shores, an area characterized by a strong input of contaminants but not yet investigated about the presence of these pollutants. We detected the presence of twenty PBDE congen...

Sandy shores are subjected to a strong anthropogenic impact that has been dramatically increasing in recent decades. Coastal environments receive a substantial input of contaminants of both natural and human origin, which reach these areas from inland waters and from the sea. Industrial and seaport activities have also increased marine pollution, p...

We investigated behavioural responses (locomotor activity and substrate selection) of the amphipod Talitrus saltator after laboratory exposure to different concentrations of Hg, Cu and Cd. Locomotor activity, measured with a microwave radar device, was assessed in animals exposed to contaminated sand and in sandhoppers previously kept for 48 h in c...

We investigated metallothionein (MT) induction in the talitrid amphipod Talitrus saltator, a well-established biomonitor of trace metal contamination in the supralittoral environment, in response to laboratory exposure to Hg, Cd, or Cu for 3, 6, 24, and 48h. Analyses were also carried out on animals collected in the wild from six localities along t...

We studied the capacity for zonal recovery in an equatorial sandhopper, Talorchestia tricornuta, inhabiting the sandy beaches of equatorial West Africa. These beaches are often narrow and backed by an evident landscape. The sky usually has heavy cloud cover. The experiments were performed both in a confined environment and in the field, in full sun...

The semi-terrestrial sandhopper Talitrus saltator uses celestial visual cues to orient along the sea-land axis of the beach. Previous spectral-filtering experiments suggested that it perceives directional information from wavelengths in the ultraviolet (UV)-blue range. Binary choice experiments between dark and UV (380-nm) light carried out on dark...

The semi-terrestrial sandhopper Talitrus saltator uses celestial visual cues to orient along the sea-land axis of the beach. Previous spectral-filtering experiments suggested that it perceives directional information from wavelengths in the ultraviolet (UV)-blue range. Binary choice experiments between dark and UV (380-nm) light carried out on dark...

Solar orientation experiments have shown that laboratory-born (inexpert) young of the littoral isopod Tylos europaeus are capable of using the sun compass to assume an escape direction corresponding to the Y axis of their mother's home shore. As in sandhoppers, the escape direction and capacity for solar orientation appear to be innate. The hypothe...

Experiments to investigate orientation in a confined environment were performed in Kenya with the sandhopper Talorchestia martensii (Weber). Releases were carried out under the sun and with an artificial magnetic field (magnetic North deflected to the West), near the equinox when the zenithal distance of the sun was less than 5°. The results clearl...

The capacity for initial orientation in workers of Polistes dominulus has been analysed and some of the orienting factors behind the proposed navigatory mechanism identified. As in females of the same species, it has been shown that: (1) the wasp gather directional information during displacement; (2) this information is of a visual nature, and (3)...

Sandhoppers are reported to rely on the length of the light phase to calculate a mean variation of azimuth speed. We conducted some experiments to test the influence of the length of the light phase on the computation of the azimuthal speed variation of the sun during the day by homing pigeons. We performed releases with birds which had been subjec...

Trace metals are one of the groups of pollutants that reduce genetic variability in natural populations, causing the phenomenon known as "genetic erosion". In this study we evaluate the relationship between trace metals contamination (Hg, Cd and Cu) and genetic variability, assessed using fluorescent Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats (fISSRs). We used...

Workers of Polistes gallicus were displaced in transparent plexiglass test tubes, which allowed them sight of the sky, sun and landscape and then released, in a series of trials at various distances from the nests, in the open and in confined conditions (using an arena) to assess their ability of initial orientation and homing. Results show that th...

Predation experiments in tanks with the two-banded bream fish Diplodus vulgaris and the sandhopper Talitrus saltator demonstrated that: 1. some specific behaviours; and 2. crypsis of the back have an antipredator function. They reduced by one-half the predatory attacks in the water, under artificial conditions.

Homing mechanisms of the European slave-making ant Polyergus rufescens Latr. are investigated by field experiments. The analysis of the behaviour and paths of both homing scouts and raiders after passive displacement showed that: i. Scouts probably home by using a path integration system based on celestial cues; and ii. Displaced raiders do not see...

A dulotic colony of the obligatory slave-making ant Polyergus rufescens was monitored daily in the field (Parma, Italy) from 1100–2000 h over the summers of 1991 and 1992. The first P. rufescens workers to emerge from the nest each day were individually marked and their activity was accurately recorded. The path of 47 such individuals (21 over a co...

The role of salinity in the ecophysiology of many intertidal invertebrates has been extensively investigated. Calcium (Ca(2+)), magnesium (Mg(2+)), potassium (K(+)) and sodium (Na(+)) are the major constituents of seawater and it has been demonstrated that sandhoppers tested under the sun in diluted seawater (3.5 per thousand) head seaward, instead...

We investigated the use of the skylight intensity gradient as a new celestial compass cue in sandhoppers (Talitrus saltator). Experiments were conducted at different latitudes (temperate and equatorial) with different zenithal distances of the sun under a translucent (opaline) Plexiglas dome. We also used a blue filter placed on the translucent dom...

In this study we tested the existence of a sun‐compass in North‐European (British) sandhoppers. Adult sandhoppers Talitrus saltator assume and maintain the direction of the Y (sea‐land) axis of their beach by means of a chronometrical sun‐compass. This is demonstrated by mirror and clock‐shifting experiments. Differences in zonal maintenance betwee...

Although many studies have focused on trace metals accumulation, investigations of talitrid amphipods as biomarkers are rare. This study explores the possibility of using the solar orientation capacity of Talitrus saltator as a behavioural marker of exposure to two essential (Cu and Zn) and two non-essential (Cd and Hg) metals. LC(50) analyses perf...

Abstract The effect of different temperatures and salinities on the cardiac frequency of the freshwater shrimp Palaemonetes antennarius is investigated. The results show that both temperature and salinity influence heart rate. Variations in water temperature are associated with changes in heart rate: variations higher than 8°C in 6 h affect not onl...

The present paper assesses the use of the supralittoral amphipod Talitrus saltator as a bioindicator of the effects of human trampling on the supralittoral sandy band. Samplings in delimited areas were carried out at sites subjected to different human impact. The results showed a strong negative correlation between the number of swimmers and the sa...

Abstract This study examines the capacity in Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa L. to assume a correct direction towards the bank it originally came from when released in water, by using only celestial orienting cues. These cues can be identified as the sun and, probably, polarized skylight. The orienting mechanism is time-compensated.

The sandhopper Talitrus saltator has an endogenous activity rhythm with a circadian periodicity. It is well known for its ability to compensate for the apparent movement of the sun during its migrations along the sea-land axis of the beach. Both chronometric mechanisms are entrained by the natural LD photoperiod. Using actographic recordings and te...

We investigated the physiological plasticity and environmental tolerance of two phylogenetically closely related, ecologically similar and co-occurring species of supralittoral amphipods differing drastically in the size of their geographical ranges. A series of physiological traits were characterised for the Corsican-endemic Talorchestia ugolinii...

The sandhopper Talitrus saltator is known to use sun and moon compasses to return to the band of wet sand on a beach. The two compass systems are based on separate chronometric mechanisms that compensate for the azimuthal movement of the two astronomical cues. The aim of our research was to test whether the sandhopper's time-compensating mechanism...

This work assesses the use of the amphipod Talitrus saltator, a typical inhabitant of Mediterranean sandy beaches, as a bioindicator of trace metals contamination and human disturbance on the supralittoral band. The trace metal analysis confirmed the ability of T. saltator to accumulate Hg, Zn, Cu, Cd, Fe, Cr, and Al. The results of sampling, carri...

A declining population of the freshwater turtle Mauremys rivulata (Chelonia, Geoemydidae) living in a human-impacted area along the Strymon River, just upstream from Kerkini Lake (Prefecture of Serres, northern Greece), was investigated by capture–recapture and radio-tracking. Fyke nets placed along the river and in ponds lying on the riparian lowl...

The use of the landscape in the zonal recovery of Talitrus saltator (Montagu) was demonstrated in the past using natural and artificial landscapes. Here we evaluate the importance of colour in the landscape orientation of sandhoppers. Adult individuals of T. saltator were released in a Plexiglas bowl under the sun, with a view of an artificial land...

Adults of Talorchestia martensii were individually released in a confined environment, with and without the natural magnetic field, under the sun and in a dark room. The sandhoppers scanned the horizontal component of the magnetic field by left and right oscillations of the entire major body axis. The frequency of this behaviour increased in a zero...

We investigated the effect of hyposmotic stress upon osmotic capacity (OC), heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) of an Atlantic population of the sandhopper Talitrus saltator. Strictly consecutive monitoring of cardiac activity and measurement of OC was achieved by employing a non-invasive infrared technique to monitor heart activity an...

We assessed the capacity for heavy metals accumulation in Talorchestia ugolinii by standard methods of heavy metals analysis. To compare the bioaccumulation in syntopic sandhopper species, we collected samples of T. ugolinii and Talitrus saltator living on the same and on different beaches in Corsica. There was a marked difference in the zonal dist...

Our experiments, carried out at night and during the day on adults and laboratory-born young of the sandhopper Talitrus saltator , deal with the identification and use of the moon as an orientating factor. Sandhoppers were released in an apparatus (a Plexiglas dome) that produced a scenario similar to the natural one (with artificial sky, moon or s...

No morphological clues on the amphipod head indicate the existence of ocelli. However, as in several isopod species studied so far, two rudimentary photoreceptors are integrated into the medio-dorsal part of the brain. This electron microscopical study of the photoreceptors is the first report on the presence of ocelli in amphipods. Each ocellus is...

To acquire more information about the identification and use of the sun and other celestial cues in the sea-land orientation of the sandhopper Talitrus saltator, we carried out releases in a confined environment during a partial solar eclipse and at sunset. The sandhoppers were unable to identify the sun (86% covered) during the eclipse nor to use...

To provide a first assessment of the parameters used by adult individuals of the supralittoral isopod Tylos europaeus to recognize the sun as a compass orienting reference, we used the apparatus designed and tested with the amphipod T. saltator. The apparatus reproduces a scenario similar to the natural one (with a false sun and sky illuminated art...

The use of sandhoppers and beachfleas as biomonitors of heavy metals contamination is relatively recent. Using adult individuals of Talitrus saltator from nine localities on the northern Mediterranean Sea, we studied the concentrations of eight trace elements: Al, Cd, Cr, Fe, Hg, Pb, Cu, Zn, both in the substratum and in the individuals. We also ca...

The present study examines phylogenetic relationships among Mediterranean sandhoppers. Particular attention is given to the Talorchestia group which presents serious systematic problems. Mitochondrial DNA investigations show that the Mediterranean species are clearly separate from Talorchestia martensii, the species chosen as outgroup, because it c...

An optocardiographic non-invasive technique was used to monitor heart activity in small arthropods. Heart rate was recorded in adult individuals of the supralittoral amphipod Talitrus saltator after 3 h of immersion in marine artificial water (0, 11 and 33‰, t = 15 ± 1 °C). Mean heart rate (± SE) ranged from 210 ± 26 beats min−1 (at 33‰) to 276 ± 1...

The aim of the present review is to combine knowledge of locomotor activity rhythms with that of compass orientation in littoral arthropods. Talitrid amphipods (the sandhoppers) represent a good biological model in the fields of animal orientation and biological rhythms. The paper examines the activity rhythms of different species of sandhoppers (m...

The supralittoral amphipod Talitrus saltator is well known for its capacity for astronomical orientation using the sun and moon as compasses. It has also been demonstrated that the sun compass is innate in this species. In our experiments, we released inexpert (naive) young born in the laboratory into a confined environment under the full moon and...

Experiments on solar orientation were conducted with adult amphipods (Talitrus saltator) subjected to a reduction and/or phase shift of the hours of light (L) or dark (D) with respect to the natural photoperiod: 15 h:9 h L:D (controls), 15 h:9 h inverted (i.e. phase-shifted by 12 h and tested with the sun during the subjective night), 4 h:20 h, 20...

The aim of the present study was to assess the influence of the local optical factor (i.e., inhomogeneity in spectral composition between the hemidomes of sky over the sea and over land at the beach) on the ability of zonal orientation of the amphipod Talitrus saltator. The experiments were conducted in the laboratory using coloured filters and an...

The orientation of sandhoppers, along with that of starlings and bees, constitutes one of the classical examples of the use of chronometrically compensated celestial orienting cues. It was also the first known case of unidirectional astronomical orientation in the littoral environment (see Pardi and Papi 1952, 1953; Pardi 1957, Pardi and Ercolini 1...

I investigated the relationship between the sun compass and the magnetic compass in zonal orientation of the equatorial sandhopper Talorchestia martensii. I carried out experiments in Kenya, in a confined environment, during the equinoctial phase, in which it is theoretically difficult to use the sun as an orienting cue because of the marked variat...

The relationship between the chronometric system of compensation for the apparent movement of the sun and that for the moon has been the subject of several, never proven, hypotheses. Our studies on sandhoppers have demonstrated that the chronometric mechanism of the moon compass is separate from that of the sun compass. They show (i) that a period...

In the last 30 years, lunar orientation has received little attention from students of animal orientation. Even in Talitrus saltator, the first animals in which the lunar compass was demonstrated, research did not continue. Our studies have demonstrated that: 1) chronometrically compensated lunar orientation is independent of the earth's magnetic f...

The chronometric mechanism of compensation for the apparent movement of the sun was investigated in adult individuals of Talitrus saltator (Amphipoda: Talitridae) from Mediterranean latitudes. The individuals were subjected to alteration of the duration of illumination, while its phase remained the same as in nature. A close relation between photop...