Cinzia Brugnano

• University of Messina

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...

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...

Zooplankton represents a key contributor to the ocean biological pump through its consumption of sinking and suspended carbon. A specific and highly sensitive method to evaluate zooplankton carbon requirement from the sinking flux is through the estimation of the activity of the electron transport system. The present study was carried out from samp...

The Asiatic copepod species Oithona davisae was initially described from the type locality of the Sacramento San Joaquin Estuary, California, USA (Ferrari and Orsi, 1984). Following recent reports of O. davisae in the Black Sea, we researched the biogeographical distribution and ecology of this species, based on original data and on a critical revi...

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...

Two new species of asterocherid associated with sponges are described from the Mediterranean Sea. They are Psilomyzon laetitiae sp. nov. and Psilomyzon sarcotragusicola sp. nov. The genus Psilomyzon consists of only one known species, P. pauciseta. The two new species can be easily distinguished from the cogener species by reduction of the endopod...

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...

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...

A new species belonging to the genus Eupolymniphilus (Sabelliphilidae) is described from an anchialine cave located on the southern coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea (Central Mediterranean). Among the six species recognized in the genus, the new species E. mediterraneus sp. nov. is most closely related to E. orientalis, E. brevicaudatus and E. occidental...

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...

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 present study focuses on variations in day and night copepod community structure in a meromictic Mediterranean ecosystem (Lake Faro). Because of the high salinity in the lake, this environment is defined as a coastal-marine rather than true-lagoon ecosystem. Copepod abundances showed wide oscillations, with marked spatial and seasonal heterogen...

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...

A new smirnovipinid copepod has been found in a shallow coastal cave located between the villages of Bagnara and Palmi on the Calabria coast. The new species belongs to genus Ginesia Jaume and Boxshall, but this name is already taken by Ginesia Fernández Yépez, a genus of freshwater fish from South America. The name Costanzoia is proposed as replac...

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...

Coastal lagoons are aquatic ecosystems characterised by a high productivity. The artisanal fishing has always been practiced in these areas due to the high yield. This kind of fishery exploits the migratory movements of euryhaline marine fish species between the open sea and the lagoon. The recruitment of these economically valuable marine species...

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...

A new calanoid copepod species Pseudocyclops faroensis sp. nov. is described from a Mediterranean coastal lake on Sicily (Italy). The discovery of P. faroensis sp. nov. increases the number of species of Pseudocyclops known from the Mediterranean to six. Out of 35 species comprising the genus Pseudocyclops, P. faroensis sp. nov., Pseudocyclops gius...

La poblacion de P. xiphophorus del Lago Faro muestra variacion en la forma de la seda caudal V. En algunos especimenes de ambos sexos presenta una morfologia espatulada, pero en otros es esbelta y sin modificaciones. Ocasionalmente, es asimetrica en un mismo individuo. La poblacion del Lago Faro muestra tambien variabilidad en la longitud corporal...

The shallow-living, benthopelagic copepod species Pseudocyclops xiphophorus Wells (R Soc Edimburg 67:1967), collected over a yearly cycle from the fouling material in the brackish water Lake Faro (North-eastern Sicily), showed marked seasonal fluctuations in population abundances, with maximum numbers recorded in autumn. Highest in situ egg product...

Giacomo Zagami, Cinzia Brugnano, and Giuseppe Costanzo (2008) Pseudocyclops giussanii (Copepoda: Calanoida: Pseudocyclopidae), a new species from Lake Faro (central Mediterranean Sea). Zoological Studies 47(5): 605-613. A new species of the calanoid copepod genus Pseudocyclops is described from a Mediterranean coastal lake on Sicily (Italy). Out of...

Egg production, hatching success and naupliar survival were determined for Pseudocyclops xiphophorus pairs fed a Skeletonema marinoi, a flagellate (Tetraselmis suecica, Pavlova lutheri and Isochrysis galbana) and a mixed (Skeletonema and flagellates) diet. Pairs fed Skeletonema marinoi showed significantly lower egg production and naupliar survival...

Il genere Exumella Fosshagen, 1970, comprende 3 specie di copepodi iperbentonico:Exumella polyarthra, E.tubercolata ed E . mediterranea, insediate in acque costiere poco profonde delle Bahamas e in Giamaica ed in grotte marine intorno alle isole di Minorca e Sardegna (mediterraneo occidentale). Nel presente lavoro il ritrovamento di Exumella medite...

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...