Eduard Serrano

Spanish National Research Council | CSIC · Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes

The zooxanthellate coral Oculina patagonica (Scleractinia, Oculinidae) is an invasive species that was first recorded in the Mediterranean Sea in 1966 and currently has expanded its distribution across both the western and eastern Atlantic. Here, we reviewed data from multiple databases to compile historical distribution records of O. patagonica an...

Electronic Supplementary Material (ESM). Appendix 1a. Prey capture under natural conditions of Octocorallia species. All temperate Alcyonaceans, except Alcyonium siderium, have been examined in the Mediterranean Sea Appendix 1b. Prey capture under natural conditions of Hexacorallia species.

Marine ecosystems are threatened by cumulative human-related impacts that cause structural and functional alterations. In the Mediterranean Sea, the zooxanthellate coral Oculina patagonica (Scleractinia, Oculinidae) can turn algal forests into coral-dominated ecosystems and provides a case study for examining how zooxanthellate corals can affect th...

This volume contains the main results of the EC FP7 “The Ocean of Tomorrow” Project CoCoNet, divided in two sections: 1) a set of guidelines to design networks of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas; 2) a smart wind chart that will allow evaluating the possibility of installing Offshore Wind Farms in both seas. The concep...

For large fishes, seagrass canopies typically provide a relatively flat habitat on seabeds, but seagrasses in the genus Posidonia can provide additional habitat complexity by forming organic rich deposits known as mats. Erosional processes can scour channels through the mats, resulting in the formation of escarpments with caves. Here we report that...

Knowledge of reproductive biology is essential for ecological studies on coral population dynamics. The azooxanthellate colonial coral Astroides calycularis is endemic to the western Mediterranean Sea and adjacent Atlantic coasts. Specimens of this species in artificial conditions, an aquarium with enclosed seawater and low food availability, appea...

Remote sensing of sea surface temperature (SST) is widely used in climate scienc because it provides a quasi-synoptic coverage of the ocean. However, the use of these data fo near-shore habitats is hindered by the proximity of the coast, therefore further investigation i needed. We compared remote-sensing SST from the MODIS sensor (aboard the Aqua...

Global warming has many biological effects on corals and plays a central role in the regression of tropical coral reefs; therefore, there is an urgent need to understand how some coral species have adapted to environmental conditions at higher latitudes. We examined the effects of temperature and light on the growth of the zooxanthellate coral Ocul...

Ocean acidification (OA) and warming related to the anthropogenic increase in atmospheric CO2 have been shown to have detrimental effects on several marine organisms, especially those with calcium carbonate structures such as corals. In this study, we evaluate the response of two Mediterranean shallow-water azooxanthellate corals to the projected p...

Marine sponges host bacterial communities with important ecological and economic roles in nature and society, yet these benefits depend largely on the stability of host-symbiont interactions and their susceptibility to changing environmental conditions. Here, we investigated the temporal stability of complex host-microbe symbioses in a temperate, s...

Octocorals are among the most emblematic and representative organisms of sublittoral communities in both tropical and temperate seas. Eunicella singularis is the most abundant gorgonian in shallow waters and the only gorgonian with symbiotic zooxanthellae in the Mediterranean Sea. We studied the natural diet and prey capture rate of this species ov...

Pumping rate is a fundamental aspect of sponge biology directly linked with respiration and filtration rates and, therefore, to the energy and nutrient fluxes of sponges species. High retention efficiency and low energy costs of filtration make sponges successful filter feeders in oligotrophic environments such as the Mediterranean Sea. Nonetheless...

The hermatypic coral Oculina patagonica can drive a compositional shift in shallow water benthic marine communities in the northwestern Mediterranean. Here, we analyze a long-term, large-scale observational dataset to characterize the dynamics of the species' recent northward range shift along the coast of Catalonia and examine the main factors tha...

In recent years, some of the ramifications of the ocean acidification problematic derived from the anthropogenic rising of atmospheric CO2 have been widely studied. In particular, the potential effects of a lowering pH on tropical coral reefs have received special attention. However, only a few studies have focused on testing the effects of ocean a...

Results 1) Depth distribution of the species. The main abundance of the species occurs below 5 m depth. The species decrease in abundance below this depth.and its rare to find colonies deeper than 10 m (Fig. 2). 2) Present occurrence of the species along the study area. In 2008, the species was present in species was present in 19% of the total ass...

Size-frequency distribution of Oculina patagonica populations between 2003 and 2010 at La Hormiga. (EPS)

Macroalgae is the dominant trophic group on Mediterranean infralittoral rocky bottoms, whereas zooxanthellate corals are extremely rare. However, in recent years, the invasive coral Oculina patagonica appears to be increasing its abundance through unknown means. Here we examine the pattern of variation of this species at a marine reserve between 20...

Summer conditions in the Mediterranean Sea are characterized by high temperatures and low food availability. This leads to "summer dormancy" in many benthic suspension feeders due to energetic constraints. Analysis of the most recent 33-year temperature time series demonstrated enhanced stratification due to global warming, which produced a approxi...

Coralligenous communities are presently under the combined pressure of several human-induced impacts; nevertheless, the effects of these disturbances as well as the capacity to recover from them are poorly understood. Facing the complexity to study these effects on the whole array of species dwelling in this high diverse habitat, it is crucial sele...

Late in summer 2003, extensive mass mortality of at least 25 rocky benthic macro-invertebrate species (mainly gorgonians and sponges) was observed in the entire Northwestern (NW) Mediterranean region, affecting several thousand kilometers of coastline. We were able to characterize the mortality event by studying six areas covering the main regions...