Antonia Granata

• University of Messina

The slender snipe eel Nemichthys scolopaceus Richardson, 1848 is cosmopolitan in tropical and temperate seas, inhabiting the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zone between 200 and 1000 m depth. It is known to be an active predator in DSL (Deep Scattering Layer) and NBA (Near Bottom Assemblage), feeding mostly decapods and euphausiids crustaceans, and pl...

An oceanographic cruise from the southern Adriatic to the northern Ionian Sea in May 2013 allowed us to describe the spatial abundance and distribution of decapod crustacean larval assemblages with a multidisciplinary approach. Seventeen locations on the Apulian and Albanian shelves and offshore waters, including the Strait of Otranto, were sampled...

An oceanographic cruise from southern Adriatic to the northern Ionian basins, during 2013 spring period, allowed us to describe spatial abundance and distribution of decapod crustacean larval assemblages with a multidisciplinary approach. Seventeen locations on the Apulian and Albanian shelves and offshore waters, including the Strait of Otranto, w...

Background Plankton is the essential ecological category that occupies the lower levels of aquatic trophic networks, representing a good indicator of environmental change. However, most studies deal with distribution of single species or taxa and do not take into account the complex of biological interactions of the real world that rule the ecologi...

Acoustic data were collected by means of Simrad EK60 scientific echosounder on board the research vessel “Italica” in the Ross Sea during the 2016/2017 austral summer as part of the P-Rose and CELEBeR projects, within the framework of the Italian National Research Program in Antarctica (PNRA). Sampling activities also involved the collection of ver...

The holoplanktonic scyphozoan Pelagia noctiluca, has attracted attention in the Mediterranean Sea due to its recurrent bloom events and significant ecological and economic impacts. Holoplanktonic medusozoans are thought to have evolved greater tolerance to various environmental factors, allowing them to thrive in open ocean and nearshore environmen...

Simple Summary This study describes the composition, abundance, spatial distribution and differences in day/night vertical distribution of ichthyoplankton in the southern Adriatic Sea. Samples were collected from 9 to 18 May 2013, in multiple layers from near the seabed to the surface by the electronic multinet EZ-NET BIONESS (Bedford Institute of...

A greater understanding of biodiversity and the roles of various species involved in Southern Ocean pelagic food webs is needed to predict and hypothesize about responses to future scenarios in relation to climate changes. The aim of this paper was to describe for the first time the composition, relative abundance, spatial distribution and relation...

Antarctic landfast sea ice (fast ice) is stationary sea ice that is attached to the coast, grounded icebergs, ice shelves, or other protrusions on the continental shelf. Fast ice forms in narrow (generally up to 200 km wide) bands, and ranges in thickness from centimeters to tens of meters. In most regions, it forms in autumn, persists through the...

Sea ice is a key habitat in the high latitude Southern Ocean and is predicted to change in its extent, thickness and duration in coming decades. The sea-ice cover is instrumental in mediating ocean–atmosphere exchanges and provides an important substrate for organisms from microbes and algae to predators. Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, is reli...

In the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Messina (MS) is a very peculiar area, connecting highly different regions and representing a privileged observatory for an early comprehension and assessment of ecosystems shifts. It is hypothesized that the outbreaks observed near the coast of many sites in the Mediterranean Sea may be the result of transpor...

Sea ice is a major driver of biological activity in the Southern Ocean. Its cycle of growth and decay determines life history traits; food web interactions; and populations of many small, ice-associated organisms. The regional ocean modelling system (ROMS) for sea ice in the western Ross Sea has highlighted two modes of sea ice duration: fast-melti...

An investigation on microplankton composition and spatial distribution has been carried out around Italian seas. The analysis of 53 samples, collected in 2017 at two depths in 27 different stations, has led to a scenario of horizontal distribution of microplankton. Dinophyta and Ciliophora were chosen as representatives of the whole microplankton c...

It is well known that microplastics are ingested by a wide range of marine organisms. Little is known about their occurrence in cnidarians. The paper reports microplastic contamination in Pelagia noctiluca, collected from the Strait of Messina. Our results confirm the ability of this species to uptake plastic particles, in relation to its feeding b...

Timing and rates of release of particulate organic matter (POM) beneath the Antarctic sea ice during the melting season are relatively unknown. To shed light on this topic, we investigated: i) quantity and biochemical composition of POM released below annual sea ice in Terra Nova Bay (TNB, Ross Sea, Antarctica) through sediment traps deployed at 10...

Distributional data on planktic copepods (Crustacea, Copepoda) collected in the framework of the III rd , V th , and X th Expeditions of the Italian National Antarctic Program (PNRA) to the Ross Sea sector from 1987 to 1995 are here provided. Sampling was performed with BIONESS and WP2 nets at 94 sampling stations at depths of 0-1,000 m, with a spe...

Mesopelagic organisms form huge biomass aggregations, supporting important pelagic trophic webs and several top predators. Although some studies on the occurrence, biology and ecology of these organisms are available, to date there are no investigations on their potential use for anticancer and antimicrobial biotechnological applications. The aim o...

Copepod community structure was investigated every 6 h during a 24-h cycle at a fixed station in the open Ligurian Sea during a BioLig cruise (May 2013), using a BIONESS multiple-net sampler. The vertical distribution and diel vertical migration in the 0–1300 m water column are described for the main copepod species. Cluster analysis identified thr...

Changes in the composition and biomass distribution of deep-living zooplankton over wide gradients of depth (0–1300 m) have been analyzed in the Central Ligurian Basin (Northwestern Mediterranean Sea), seeking the environmental variables responsible for these changes. Spring vertical distribution (early May 2013) and diel vertical migration (DVM) o...

Composition, density and specimen sizes of pelagic polychaete assemblages were analyzed in the Southern Adriatic Sea. The study was based on finely stratified vertical (0–1100 m) and spatial sampling (17 stations) representing spring conditions. Holoplanktonic polychaetes were distributed in both neritic and pelagic waters, although the highest den...

The number of studies showing the impact of microplastics (MPs) on marine organisms is constantly increasing. It is now known that, due to the small size, microplastics can be ingested by a wide range of organisms, such as zooplankton, invertebrates and fish. However, the occurrence of MPs in cnidarians is still little explored. The present study a...

This study describes for the first time the feeding behaviour and mesopelagic food consumption of adult Trachurus picturatus in the Strait of Messina (central Mediterranean Sea), where the distinctive hydrodynamic regime and the lunar cycle influence food availability for this predator. Indeed, the Strait of Messina is characterized by the upwellin...

Transitional water ecosystems, like brackish coastal lagoons, provide important services but are subjected to several anthropogenic impacts that can initially lead to biodiversity modifications and then to critical alterations of ecosystem processes. Assessment and monitoring of the health status of these ecosystems is extremely important. This stu...

Transitional water ecosystems can be exposed to high levels of anthropic pressure. The main aim of this study was to present the 'Capo Peloro' lakes (southern Italy) case study, which highlights the advantageous use of ecotoxicological biomarkers in key copepod species, to reveal potential contamination in transitional water ecosystems. The focus w...

The present study provides insight into specific zooplankton oxygen and carbon demands (per unit biomass) and community zooplankton respiration and carbon requirements in the Ross Sea (Antarctica). In the literature, there is a lack of data in this area. The role of mesozooplankton in carbon remineralisation in coastal and pelagic environments was...

The Strait of Messina is certainly a focal area for the biological cycle of the jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca in the Western Mediterranean Sea. By means of both original and literature data, a conceptual model outlining the biological cycle of this species is proposed. P. noctiluca reproduces from late winter to late spring in the Aeolian Island Arch...

Quantitative sampling of zooplankton communities from ice-covered waters presents many technical and logistic difficulties. Currently available techniques enable only vertical tows through relatively small ice holes, and the filtered volumes are generally low. For these reasons, we developed and tested Micro-Net Environmental Sampling System (Micro...

This study enlarge the knowledge on species composition, distribution and community structure of pelagic polychaetes on the basis of finely stratified spatial sampling representing austral summer conditions in the Strait of Magellan. Zooplankton samples were collected in late austral summer 1995. A total of 56,489 pelagic polychaete specimens were...

The shallow-living, benthopelagic copepod species Pseudocyclops umbraticus was collected seasonally during night-time samplings of the brackish waters of Lake Faro (north-eastern Sicily). It showed marked seasonal fluctuations in population abundance, with maximum numbers recorded in summer. In the laboratory, the mean daily egg production rates of...

The shallow-living, benthopelagic copepod species Pseudocyclops umbraticus was collected seasonally during night-time samplings of the brackish waters of Lake Faro (north-eastern Sicily). It showed marked seasonal fluctuations in population abundance, with maximum numbers recorded in summer. In the laboratory, the mean daily egg production rates of...

The purpose of this paper was to study the community structure, in terms of species composition, abundance and spatial distribution, of fish larvae in a wide coastal area of Sicily facing the Southeastern Tyrrhenian Sea, extending for 2300 km2 from Cape Cefalù to the west, to Cape Rasocolmo in the east. This study analyses how species are assembled...

The present study focus on some aspects of zooplankton structure in the Alcantara River (Sicily, Italy), in relation to environmental factors. Zooplankton samplings were performed in spring in four sites, located from up-to downstream along the river course. Four low-flow velocity station points were chosen along a transversal river section in each...

This study was developed within the framework of a broad international project, ‘Ecological water quality assessment of the Alcantara (Italy), James (USA) and Guadalfeo (Spain) rivers using bioindicators’, established by the Center for Integrative Mediterranean Studies (CIMS), a collaborative research centre consisting of the University of Messina...

Benthic macroinvertebrates are important components of aquatic river ecosystems. These organisms are often used for biological monitoring since they are good indicators of the aquatic freshwater environment health status which can be negatively affected by human, agricultural and industrial activities. Many studies focused on the use of observed ch...

To identify some of the possible environmental factors stimulating the increasingly frequent outbreaks of the scyphomedusa Pelagia noctiluca in the Straits of Messina, we investigated its abundance, growth, reproduction and feeding over a 4-year period, from 2007 to 2011, at two coastal sites. Using either field investigations and manipulative expe...

Mesozooplankton plays a role in particulate organic carbon (POC) remineralisation from the pelagic sinking POC flux down the water column. The vertical distribution (to 1000 m depth), diel variability (during a 24 h cycle) and seasonal differences of the mesozooplankton carbon requirement (μg C g−1 d−1), estimated by measuring the activity of the e...

The most part of the stations included in the CoCoNET project sampling plane have been previously investigated by the multinet BIONESS from bottom (sampling depth max: 800m) to surface, in October 2000 and April-May 2001. In both periods, higher values of zooplankton abundances and biomass were detected along the Italian than Albanian coasts. Zoopl...

Spring vertical distribution of copepod communities was studied every 6 h during a 24 h cycle, using the BIONESS multinet, to evaluate diel vertical migration (DVM) of the key species in a Central Tyrrhenian Sea station (from 0 to 2000 m). Similar abundance trends were detected for the four sampling times. Highest abundances were recorded between 2...

Spatial and temporal variability in zooplankton was studied at eight stations located in the Lesina Lagoon (South Adriatic Sea) Salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll a (in the lagoon) at these stations were also assessed. The zooplankton community was characterised by clear seasonal oscillations and mostly represented by copepods...

The main aim of this work was to identify zooplankton assemblages by means of statistical testing and associate them with hydrographic properties of the Strait of Magellan and its microbasins. Zooplankton samples were collected by the R/V Cariboo in late austral summer 1991. Nineteen stations were sampled by BIONESS from the surface layer to 900m d...

The purpose of this paper was to study the spatial distribution, abundance and composition of fish larvae in the northern Ionian Sea. Samples were collected to the 600m depth with an electronic multinet BIONESS during the “INTERREG Italia-Grecia” oceanographic cruise carried out in March 2000 off the Apulian Italian coast. A total of 46 species of...

Knowledge on community structure oriented to describe energy flow during late summer season in Paso Ancho basin (Strait of Magellan) is scarce and particularly affected by vertical diel migration (VDM). The main aim of this work is to identify the VDM patterns of selected species and functional feeding groups of mesozooplankton, collected by the el...

During an autumn oceanographic cruise in October 2004, 87 zooplankton samples were collected from 12 sites, located along inshore–offshore sections around the Egadi Island Archipelago, a central Mediterranean key region. Zooplankton samples were taken by the electronic multinet BIONESS, equipped with a multi-parameter probe system in order to measu...

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge on the feeding habits of larvae and juvenile Pleuragramma antarcticum in the western Ross Sea. In summer, the diet of P. antarcticum postlarvae (8–17mm) was dominated by calanoid eggs (35.5%), Limacina (32.1%) and tintinnids (17.6%), while the principal food of juveniles consisted mainly of co...

Six naupliar stages are described based on specimens of Stephos longipes Giesbrecht, 1902, obtained from sea ice near Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica. Marked differences between nauplii of Stephos longipes and Paralabidocera antarctica (I. C. Thompson, 1898) were used only to identify the two species in the samples. The copepods Stephos longipes and Har...

Average abundance values for Euphausia crystallorophias in the shelf region of Terra Nova Bay were generally high. Mean number of adults and juveniles were 20 and 87ind/m2, respectively, while larval concentrations were much higher, reaching a mean of 14,764ind/m2. Euphausia crystallorophias were very patchy in their distribution during all stages...

The biomarker approach has been used for 25 years to study the environmental quality of marine, brackish and freshwater ecosystems. Biomarkers may indicate health status and can be applied to organisms of all zoological phyla by destructive or non destructive methods. For 5 years we have been using this approach in zooplankton to detect ecotoxicolo...

The aim of this study was to investigate patterns of abundance, distribution, temporal changes and species composition of the dominant ice-associated copepods in the spring annual pack ice, platelet ice and water column at Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea, during late spring 1997. Ice cores were drilled for temporal and spatial scales. Stephos longipes and...

Field and laboratory studies were carried out on the bentho-planktonic species P. xiphophorus Wells, 1967. This species was found in the Mediterranean Sea, in the brackish Lake Faro (north-eastern Sicily) for the first time. Specimens of P. xiphophorus were collected from November 2003 to September 2004. Immediately after sampling, all adult female...

During the fifteenth Italian Antarctic expedition, in the framework of the Pack Ice Ecosystem Dynamics programme, we investigated structure and functioning of the sympagic communities in the annual pack ice at Terra Nova Bay (74 °41.72′ S, 164 °11.63′ E). From November 1 to November 30 1999, we collected intact sea ice cores and platelet ice sample...

Field evidence is presented showing that hatching success in the copepods Acartia clausi and Calanus helgolandicus was greatly modified during 2 major late-winter diatom blooms in the North Adriatic (Mediterranean) Sea in 1997 and 1998 compared to post-bloom conditions in early summer of 1997. In February of both years, diatoms represented >90% of...

During Italian expeditions, ichthyoplankton was collected in the Ross Sea and Terra Nova Bay, by BIONESS and Hamburg Plankton Net (250-m and 500-m mesh, respectively). A total of 394,453 fish larvae representing 46 species, 27 genera and 9 families were collected. Pleuragramma antarcticum dominated during three of the four cruises, whilst in 1994/1...

Two oceanographic cruises were carried out in the northern Adriatic Sea, from June, 1996 to February, 1997. Samples were collected using a BIONESS electronic multinet (204 samples on 54 stations) along inshore-offshore sections. Zooplankton abundance and biomass were estimated in relation to the variability of temperature, salinity and fluorescence...

Fish larval biomass was compared with plankton abundance and production in the coastal south Tyrrhenian Sea from November 1994 to October 1995. Sardina pilchardus was the most representative species in biomass, followed by Gymnammodytes cicerellus. S. pilchardus showed a larger spawning period (January to May) together with Engraulis encrasico/us (...

We here review various studies concerning the ecology of mesopelagic organisms in the South Tyrrhenian Sea and other oceans to direct attention to the importance of mesopelagic animals within the context of meso- and epi-pelagic food webs. The results of recent studies on the micronekton in the South Tyrrhenian Sea were examined (Marabello 1994; Gu...

Within the framework of the Prisma 2 Project, four oceanographic cruises were carried out in the central and northern Adriatic Sea from June 1996 to March 1997. Samples were collected both by BIONESS electronic multinet (204 samples from 54 sites) and by WP2 (101 samples from 19 sites) along inshore-offshore sections. The spatial-temporal distribut...

Samples used for this research were collected during the oceanographic cruises POP — EOCUMM ′95 (15 to 30 July 1995, N/O Italica) and carried out by a BIONESS multinet. Samples were taken on 8 stations, in lonian and in South Tyrrhenian Seas, across the Straits of Messina. All stations have been sampled at regular intervals of six hours (6.00 h; 12...

Six postlarval and an adult bathydraconid were collected in Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea, during January-February 1988 and February 1998, respectively. The adult was identified as Acanthodraco dewitti Skora, 1995 (type locality South Shetland Islands), a species not recorded in the Ross Sea. The postlarvae may be those of A. dewitti. The morphology and...

During the summer Italian Antarctic Expeditions of 1987–88 (Polar Queen cruise) and 1989–90 (Cariboo cruise), mysids were collected in Terra Nova Bay and the western Ross Sea (268 and 572 samples, respectively), by a multinet BIONESS. Four species (Boreomysis brucei, Caesaromysis hispida, Dactylabblyops hogdsoni and Euchaetomera zurstasseni) were c...

During four spring-summer Italian Antarctic expeditions to Terra Nova Bay and the Western Ross Sea in 1988, 1989–90, 1994–95 and 1996, zooplankton and ichtyoplankton were collected by a multinet BIONESS (250 μm and 500 μm) and PHN (500 μm), respectively. Nototheniids were predominant in the whole study area, representing 97.3% of all larvae. Pleura...

During the Italian Antarctic Expedition of 1987–1988 zooplankton was collected in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea) by a multinet BIONESS (250-μm or 500-μm net mesh size). The early life history of Pleuragramma antarcticum was described from 268 samples. More than 98% of a total of 34,436 fish larvae belonged to P. antarcticum. The mean relative abundance...