Enrique González-Ortegón

Spanish National Research Council | CSIC · Department of Ecology and Coastal Management

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the eco-physiological responses of the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) to variations in salinity, shedding light on its adaptability and invasive success in aquatic environments. Gender-specific differences in osmoregulation and Electron Transport System (ETS) activity highlight the importance of cons...

Submarine emissions of gases from hydrothermal vents alter the surrounding chemical environment, influencing species responses to the resulting environmental gradients. The 2011 underwater eruption of the Tagoro volcano off the coast of El Hierro in the Atlantic Ocean changed the physical and chemical conditions, impacting the distribution of pelag...

Marine species raft on floating litter, including various plastics, potentially spreading non-native species and threatening global marine habitats. Despite limited attention, Didemnum vexillum, an invasive colonial tunicate in Europe, colonised coasts of southwest Scotland (2009) and northeast Ireland (2012), likely transported via rafting. We stu...

In 2015, an unknown snapping shrimp of the genus Alpheus was collected in the San Pedro River inlet (Bay of Cadiz, SW Spain). Initially, its identification was not possible only based on DNA barcoding or morphology, considering the difficulties in the Alpheus taxonomy and the low percentage of DNA sequences of Alpheus spp. available in public datab...

This paper reports the first record of a rare deep-sea fish Ijimaia loppei Roule, 1922 (Ateleopodiformes: Ateleopodidae) in the Southwest Iberian Peninsula, based on a single specimen (total length 1271 mm) bottom trawled in the mud volcano field in the Gulf of Cadiz, Spain (36º 28′ 54'' N, 7º 07′ 47'' W), at a depth of 585 m, on April 24, 2024. Th...

The highly diverse salt marshes in the Bay of Cadiz (SW Spain) serve as both reservoirs of "blue carbon" and potential sources or sinks of greenhouse gases (GHGs): CO2, CH4, N2O. However, their land-use history raise questions about their net impact on climate change mitigation. The intricate balance of GHG dynamics in salt marshes hinges on variou...

The Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus, a sciaenid fish native to the North Atlantic American coast, holds importance in recreational and commercial fisheries. Moreover, its potential as an invasive species should be noted, given its expansion and establishment in Atlantic European waters. This study reports its southernmost occurrence in Eur...

The Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus (Decapoda, Portunidae) Rathbun, 1896 is native to the east coasts of North and South America and has recently expanded its distribution in the non-native range into the Gulf of Cadiz (SW Iberian Peninsula, Europe). Considering the impacts caused by this invasive species in numerous estuarine ecosystems and...

The ever-accelerating process of introduction and establishment of invasive alien species (IAS) in marine waters requires engaging different actors in the management and planning. To address this challenge, stakeholders need an integrated approach for defining actions of control and management within an ecosystem-based framework: to seek and enhanc...

A new invasive snapping shrimp from the Alpheus lobidens De Haan, 1849 species complex has become one of the most frequently observed crustaceans in certain saltmarshes along the southwestern Spanish coast. The rst place in Europe where this invasion has occurred is reported in this study; however, little is known about this species, even within it...

The present study reports the occurrence of several specimens of the penaeid shrimp Penaeus notialis in the Gulf of Cadiz (Spain). The southern pink shrimp is a penaeid originating from east and west Atlantic tropical coastal waters. New observations of tropical species in temperate waters have increased in the last 20 years. This species may have...

There is a current interest in the study of the geochemical behavior of the rare earth elements (REE) in aquatic systems since their identification as potential microcontaminants in natural waters. In this context, here we report the concentrations and patterns of dissolved REE (dREE) in the waters of the Gulf of Cádiz (GoC) and its major estuaries...

In recent decades, investigations in the southern Iberian Peninsula have increased our understanding of the socioeconomic impact of the spread of the Neolithic in southwestern Europe, including changes in marine resources exploitation. Nevertheless , considerable uncertainty still exists around the seasonality of such subsistence systems and the pu...

Two specimens of the deep–sea fish Tetragonurus cuvieri Risso, 1810 and Notacanthus bonaparte Risso, 1840 were captured in the Gulf of Cadiz on January 2023 at a depth of 14.15 m and on March 2023 at a depth of 532 m, respectively. The identity of the specimens was verified using both morphological and genetic criteria. In this study, we compile in...

The ready availability of abundant food sources can be a key factor in the success of biological invasions. This study provides information about feeding habits, dietary niche, and seasonal and ontogenetic diet changes of the American invasive weakfish Cynoscion regalis in the Gulf of Cádiz, where its population is increasing exponentially since 20...

Concerning microplastics (MPs) contamination is increasing due their negative impacts on marine food webs and their potential toxicity to wildlife and humans. In this study, we analyze the presence of MPs in the stomachs of the commercial fish species Scomber colias (Atlantic chub mackerel) in the Gulf of Cadiz (GoC). Out of the 104 analyzed stomac...

In order to study the trophic level of small tuna species and their contribution to the carbon flow in pelagic food webs, an analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes was carried out. The investigation was focused on four small tuna species (Auxis rochei, Auxis thazard, Euthynnus alletteratus and Sarda sarda) commonly harvested in the northea...

Climate change may enhance the establishment of introduced species, as well as the poleward shift in distribution of numerous species over decades. Long-term research and monitoring of an ecosystem at the southernmost point of the Atlantic coast of Europe should be an important priority in order to detect and understand trends in species compositio...

Changes in the temperature or salinity of ocean waters can affect marine organisms at multiple trophic levels. Both environmental variables could have an impact on marine microalgae populations. Therefore, the effect of the combination of three levels of temperature (20, 24 and 28 °C), and three levels of salinity (33, 36, and 39 PSU) were evaluate...

Life history parameters are indicators of stock structure and for the dynamics of biological populations. In this work, we examine multiple life-history parameters (size distribution, growth, mortality, and longevity) of Palaemon longirostris H. Milne Edwards, 1837 inhabiting the estuarine temperate waters of the Guadalquivir estuary through size-f...

Two specimens of the deep-sea fish Tetragonurus cuvieri (Risso, 1810) and Notacanthus bonaparte (Risso, 1840) were captured in the Gulf of Cadiz on January 2023 at a depth of 14.15 m and on March 2023 at a depth of 532 m, respectively. The identity of the specimens was verified using both morphological and genetic criteria. They are uncommonly obse...

The introduction of non-indigenous species to aquatic ecosystems is one of the main threats to global biodiversity. This paper reports the occurrence of the blue swimmer crab Portunus segnis in southwestern European waters (i.e., the Gulf of Cadiz). We discuss the invasive potential of P. segnis and possible mechanisms of its expansion into this ne...

The Atlantic blue crab, native from the east coast of the American continent, is a portunid, estuarine crab that has been recently considered invasive in many areas of the European and African continents, being cited in the Guadalquivir estuary in 2017 for the first time. The feeding habits of the Atlantic blue crab were studied as predictor of foo...

The present study reports the occurrence of several specimens of the penaeid shrimp Penaeus (Farfantepenaeus) notialis in the Gulf of Cadiz (Spain). The southern pink shrimp is a penaeid original from east and west Atlantic tropical coastal waters. New observations of tropical species in temperate waters have increased in the last twenty years. Thi...

The analysis of body relationships and condition factors are useful tools in studies of marine populations, and they have been widely used in fishery research and management. In this study, width–weight (WWR) and length–weight (LWR) relationships and Fulton’s condition factors were analyzed for six commercially important decapod crustacean species...

Behavioral changes associated with exposure to pollutants represent the earliest response for organisms confronted by perceivable chemical signals. This study was carried out with the objective of evaluating behavioral responses associated with different scenarios of exposure to pollutants (non-forced vs forced) in two shrimp species (Penaeus vanna...

Fragments of microplastics (<5 mm) found in commercial species of fish, crustaceans, and bivalves, are an issue of global concern. The bioaccumulation of microplastics and other anthropogenic particles in different levels of the food web may provoke unwanted impacts on marine ecosystems and cause pernicious effects on human health. Here, we study t...

Scavengers play a key role in nutrient cycling and in the energy transfer between the terrestrial-aquatic interface (Beasley et al. 2012). Obligatory scavengers feed exclusively on carrion, while some predator species act opportunistically as facultative scavengers when carrion is available (Morton 2006; Moleón and Sánchez-Zapata 2015). Species of...

During a diving survey on soft-bottom habitats in the Gulf of Cadiz (Southwestern Spain), the use of the sea cucumber Holothuria arguinensis (Echinodermata, Holothuriidae) as a shelter by juvenile Senegal’s sea bream Diplodus bellottii (Chordata: Sparidae) was observed. Eight juvenile sea bream D. bellottii were videoed sheltering under the sea cuc...

In this study, 110 male and female blue crabs Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 were collected from the coastal waters of Morocco, Africa using baited traps between February and December 2021. Here, we report the first occurrence of the species in the ports of Tangier and Tangier Med (the Strait of Gibraltar). These additional records support recen...

The invasive Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus has considerably extended its distribution along the Gulf of Cadiz and Moroccan coasts in the northeast Atlantic. This could indicate a new introduction event in the Gulf of Cadiz from the native area, in case of detectable genetic differences from the Mediterranean Sea populations. To test this a...

Callinectes sapidus, the invasive blue crab from the west of the Atlantic Ocean, has extended its distribution along the Atlantic coast around the Gulf of Cadiz and increased massively since 2016. Food web studies are useful for understanding changes in ecosystems caused by exotic species. Stable isotope analysis (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) were used to as...

Fragments of plastic called microplastics (MPs; < 5mm) are an issue of global concern and they have been identified in commercial species of fish, crustaceans, and bivalves. The bioaccumulation of MPs in different levels of the food webs may provoke unwanted impacts in marine ecosystems and cause pernicious effects regarding human health. In the pr...

The ubiquity of small plastic fragments and fibres, called microplastics (MPs; < 5mm), in the marine environment has allowed their incorporation to marine organisms. Such incorporation can have an impact in the health of marine ecosystem and in human health, as MPs can be found in seafood commercial species (JPI Oceans, 2020). Overall, the main rou...

Weakfish (Cynoscion regalis) has been present in Iberian waters since at least 2011, when it was first recorded in the Guadalquivir estuary. Little is known about the preferences and feeding strategies of weakfish outside of its native range; therefore, in this work, we carried out a comprehensive study between March 2021 and September 2021 to eluc...

Climate change may enhance the establishment of introduced species, as well as the poleward shift in distribution of numerous species over decades. Long-term research and monitoring of an ecosystem at the southernmost point of the Atlantic coast of Europe should be an important priority in order to detect and understand trends in species compositio...

Species' responses to climate change may vary considerably among populations. Various response patterns define the portfolio available for a species to cope with and mitigate effects of climate change. Here, we quantified variation in larval survival and physiological rates of Carcinus maenas among populations occurring in distant or contrasting ha...

Integrative taxonomy studies have allowed us to clarify some taxonomic problems in cryptic species within species of InachusWeber, 1795 with two protogastric tubercles found in European waters. Several morphotypes of Inachus phalangium (Fabricius, 1775) are recognized, and a new species is described from the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula,...

Some of the elements in the rocky intertidal zone, such as boulders, act as a refuge, mating, feeding and nursery areas for marine fauna. In the present study, we analysed the population structure of the intertidal stone crab Xantho poressa in a human-restricted area, between March 2019 and February 2020, comprised of a rocky shore along the SW Atl...

Small microplastics (SMPs) in the gulf of Cadiz was sampled at 5 m depth by pumping it through the ship's pipe system and filtered through a 45 μm mesh size net. Our study reveals that higher densities have been found (130 mg⋅m − 3) compared to other regions worldwide and these densities decreased from the coastline to the outer stations, showing a...

Fragments of microplastics (< 5mm) found in commercial species of fish, crustaceans, and bivalves, are an issue of global concern. The bioaccumulation of microplastics in different levels of the food web may provoke unwanted impacts on marine ecosystems and cause pernicious effects on human health. Here, we study the presence of anthropogenic parti...

The use of non-forced multi-compartmented exposure systems has gained importance in the assessment of the contamination-driven spatial avoidance response. This new paradigm of exposure makes it possible to assess how contaminants fragment habitats, interfering in the spatial distribution and species’ habitat selection processes. In this approach, o...

Since its first record in Europe as an exotic species back in 2009 at the Schelde estuary (Belgium), the weakfish Cynoscion regalis -native from North America East coast- has increased its presence in the Iberian Peninsula waters. Identified for the first time in the Guadalquivir River estuary (2011) and later in the Sado estuary (2014), C. regalis...

Temperature is a well-known environmental factor that affects the survival rate and development times of larvae in many brachyuran species. Intertidal species, such as the stone crab Xantho poressa are subject to aquatic and aerial temperature conditions, which make them suitable model species to analyse the effects of climate change. In this study...

New observations of non-indigenous species (NIS) in coastal waters, such as the Gulf of Cadiz (Spain) have increased since 1980 and more or less exponentially in the last five years. Ballast water has become the most significant pathway for unintentional introductions of NIS into marine ecosystems. For example, the marine larvae of crustacean decap...

In a restored wetland (South of Spain), where different flow regimes control water exchange with the adjacent Guadalquivir estuary, the native Palaemon varians coexists with an exotic counterpart species Palaemon macrodactylus. This controlled m\acrocosm offers an excellent opportunity to investigate how the effects of water management, through dif...

Modelling the environmental factors influencing the spatial variation of fish early life stages density and their drift history can identify the key biological and physical processes for the recruitment variability. Distance-based linear multivariate techniques were used to characterize the spawning areas of the European anchovy Engraulis encrasico...

Achieving a precise nutritional characterization of suspended particulate organic matter (SPOM) is key for understanding the efficiency of bottom-up trophic fluxes in estuaries. Assessing the nutritional status of SPOM in turbid estuaries is challenging due to the complex mixing and degradation dynamics of the autotrophic, heterotrophic and detrita...

The study of the recent colonisation of a symbiont and its interaction with host communities in new locations is an opportunity to understand how they interact. The use of isotopic ratios in trophic ecology can provide measurements of a species’ isotopic niche, as well as knowledge about how the isotopic niches between symbiont and host species ove...

The real distribution range of a species is mostly unknown due to the lack of sampling in certain regions in the world. This may be especially problematic for freshwater species in the Mediterranean basin since its freshwater inhabitants are taxa highly sensitive to anthropogenic disturbances. The cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene in Atyaephy...

The ability of aquatic organisms to sense the surrounding environment chemically and interpret such signals correctly is crucial for their ecological niche and survival. Although it is an oversimplification of the ecological interactions, we could consider that a significant part of the decisions taken by organisms are, to some extent, chemically d...

Observations of previously unrecorded non-native species in the Gulf of Cadiz (Spain), situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, have accelerated since 1980, and increased rapidly in the past 5 years. Four new records of decapod crustaceans have been detected in this region: the African snapping shrimp Alpheus sp., the West Afr...

The first case of abnormal leucism in the European Sardine or Pilchard Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum, 1792) is reported. A few sardines with abnormal pigmentation were captured by fishermen in the northern part of the Gulf of Cadiz (SW Atlantic coast), between Portugal and Spain, and one specimen was presented to the authors for examination. Species...

Diazinon is one of the insecticides that represent a high risk for Costa Rican estuarine environments due to its widespread use in pineapple plantations. In estuaries, organisms are frequently submitted to stress caused by natural factors (e.g., continuous changes in salinity levels) and, additionally, to stress due to contamination. Therefore, the...

The genus Palaemon comprises worldwide marine and freshwater shrimps and prawns, and some of them are ecologically or commercially important species. Palaemon is not currently a monophyletic group, so phylogenetics and systematics are constantly changing. Species crypticism has been pointed out in several Palaemon species, being the clearest eviden...

The ecological role of consumers in a food web requires identifying their energy sources to estimate their trophic positions (TPs). This is relevant in ecosystems inhabited by endemic species such as the decapod crustacean Dugastella valentina. This species inhabits the freshwater streams around the Gulf of Valencia (eastern Spain) which has been c...

When shrimps select a habitat, the presence of elements like predators, shelters and contamination might determine if an area is preferred or avoided. We hypothesised that when shrimps are exposed to a situation in which they have to select whether to avoid contamination, seek shelters or protect themselves against predators, they will avoid the si...

Revista de divulgación científica Hidden Nature 10 sobre Especies Exóticas Invasoras

The present study reports the occurrence of several specimens of the African caridean shrimp Lysmata uncicornis Holthuis & Maurin, 1952 in the NE Atlantic coast (Gulf of Cadiz, Spain and the Algarve, Portugal). Lysmata uncicornis is a poorly studied species that has been originally described from the Atlantic waters of Morocco, where it was first c...

The GoC shelf waters present much higher concentrations of dissolved Cu, Cd, and Zn than other coastal areas, constituting an important source of these elements onto its neighbouring basins, i.e., the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. In this study we assessed the role of the GoC surface currents in the trace metals transport. For this purp...

The African parasitic pea crab Afropinnotheres monodi lives in association with a high number of different bivalve species, although in its reproductive phase (soft females) a high prevalence has been observed infesting mainly intertidal Mytilus galloprovincialis. In recent years this pea crab has been recorded in the south of Iberian Peninsula, wi...

Naturalised populations in estuaries are characteristic of non-native species tolerant to the salinity gradient. The non-native isopod Synidotea laticauda, since the first record in 1991 in a European estuary, has been continuously recorded in others (e.g. in 1994 in the Guadalquivir estuary). Possible links between physiology and its successful es...

As many other Pinnotherid crabs, the African pea crab Afropinnotheres monodi live in association with the mantle cavity of different bivalve species. This pea crab causes a significant reduction of the condition index of the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. The greatest effects brought about for the infestation with soft females (larger size and o...

Phytoplankton community composition expresses estuarine functionality and its assessment can be improved by implementing novel quantitative fatty acid based procedures. Fatty acids have similar potential to pigments for quantifying phytoplankton functional groups but have been far less applied. A recently created dataset containing vast information...

The Atlantic tarpon Megalops atlanticus Valenciennes, 1847 is a very large, highly migratory fish that frequents coastal and inshore waters. Its distribution ranges the western Atlantic, from Nova Scotia to Argentina, the eastern Pacific, near the opening of the Panama Canal, and the eastern Atlantic, mainly along the west coast of Africa, from Mau...

Essential fish habitats (EFHs) are all aquatic habitats and substrates fundamental for spawning, breeding, feeding and/or growing to maturity. Estuaries are a good example of this because they play an important role as nursery grounds for several marine species. Despite their importance for completing the life cycle of some fish stocks, little is k...

Phytoplankton community composition expresses estuarine functionality and its assessment can be improved by implementing novel quantitative fatty acid based procedures. Fatty acids have similar potential to pigments for quantifying phytoplankton functional groups but have been far less applied. A recently created dataset containing vast information...

• The common littoral shrimp Palaemon serratus is an ecologically and economically important decapod crustacean. Understanding the spatial structure of its populations is crucial to implement effective management strategies. • In this study, 17 polymorphic microsatellite nuclear markers were examined in 252 individuals to explore the genetic divers...

The marine parasitic African pea crab Afropinnotheres monodi Manning, 1993 has well-established populations in the gulf of Cadiz, where it is invasive. In this study, its tolerance to temperature and salinity variation during larval development were studied in the laboratory. Larvae were reared in seawater (salinity 36) at different temperatures (5...

Metals transported into the coastal zone by the South Iberian rivers are key to understand the biogeochemical cycles and distribution of trace elements in the Gulf of Cadiz (GoC hereinafter) and the exchange with the Mediterranean Sea. Previous studies carried out in the 80s have suggested that metal enrichment in the Alboran Sea (Western Mediterra...

Contamination is an important factor for determining the pattern of habitat selection by organisms. Since many organisms are able to move from contaminated to more favorable habitats, we aimed to: (i) verify if the contamination along the river Guadalete (Spain) could generate a chemical barrier, restricting the displacement of freshwater shrimps (...

Understanding the biogeochemical cycles and distribution of trace elements in the marine environment is one of the main challenges in chemical oceanography. We describe herein the trace metal composition of the uppermost surface ocean of various oceanographic regions (Arctic and Southern Oceans, subtropical Atlantic Ocean, and Mediterranean Sea). O...