Frithjof C Küpper

University of Aberdeen | ABDN · College of Life Sciences and Medicine

Iron-chelating siderophores such as aerobactin and petrobactin are produced by marine bacteria to sequester iron under low iron stress. Those that contain a citrate moiety undergo light-catalyzed ligand-to-metal charge transfer, inducing decarboxylation and formation of photoproducts. In this work, we employed density functional theory to obtain th...

Many gaps in our theoretical understanding of the variations in the diversity and structure of intertidal communities exist for the Eastern Pacific. In order to fill some of these gaps, we censused intertidal communities and compared patterns of diversity on multiple spatial scales using several measures in alpha (α) and beta (β) diversities at twe...

A new species of the amphipod genus Pontocrates (Boeck 1871), family Oedicerotidae, is described from Cyprus in the south-eastern Mediterranean Sea. It is a sister taxon to Pontocrates moorei (Myers & Ashelby 2022), currently recorded solely from the British Isles. It is the third species of Pontocrates now known to occur in the Mediterranean Sea.

The minute marine multicellular heterokont alga originally described as “ Giraudyopsis stellifer ” by P.J.L. Dangeard, nom. inval. , from Atlantic France, was re-isolated by the germling emergence technique and classified according to psa A and psb C sequences. It is genetically similar (99–100 % identity) to Phaeosaccion multiseriatum R.A. Anderse...

Seaweeds are important components of marine ecosystems with emerging potential in aquaculture and as sources of biofuel, food products and pharmacological compounds. However, an increasingly recognised threat to natural and industrial seaweed populations is infection with parasitic single‐celled eukaryotes from the relatively understudied oomycete...

Large areas of the Pacific coast of the Americas remain unstudied regarding their intertidal ecosystems. Given the increasing disturbance related to human impacts on intertidal ecosystems, it is essential to gather census data on the biological composition of poorly studied regions so that a framework for future monitoring and management can be dev...

This work carried out metabolic profiling on nine brown, one red, and two green algae species collected from different sampling sites of Kuwait’s coastal waters in the Arabian Gulf. Freeze-dried seaweed samples were processed by solvent extraction and analysed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for metabolite Identification. Seaweed extract...

To achieve sustainable development, the energy transition from lignite burning to renewable energy resources for electric power generation is essential for Greece. Wind and solar energy have emerged as significant sources in this transition. Surprisingly, numerous studies have examined the potential for onshore wind based on land eligibility, while...

Research on intertidal mussel assemblages and associated communities has revealed that complexity and structure are influenced by environmental heterogeneity and local-scale factors affecting recruitment. Research in situ in eastern and western Pacific intertidal ecosystems has suggested drivers of species diversity and community structure encompas...

The identification of macroalgal species within the Laurencia complex is challenging, due to the presence of inconspicuous morphological characters, extensive variation in these traits and a diverse biogeography. Moreover, for a number of these species, no DNA sequence data are available in online databases. For this study, five algal specimens, te...

Brine discharged from seawater desalination plants impacts marine life by exposure to increased salinity and, in some cases, temperature. However, the responses of individual species to such stress remains poorly known yet their understanding is essential for assessing and predicting the impacts of seawater desalination plants. In this study, unial...

Symbiotic microalgal–bacterial biofilms can be very attractive for potato wastewater treatment. Microalgae remove nitrogen and phosphorus and simultaneously produce the oxygen that is required for the aerobic, heterotrophic degradation of organic pollutants. In this study, symbiotic microalgal–bacterial biofilms were grown in flow cells with ammoni...

Iron is accumulated symplastically in kelp in a non-ferritin core that seems to be a general feature of brown algae. Microprobe studies show that Fe binding depends on tissue type. The sea is generally an iron-poor environment and brown algae were recognized in recent years for having a unique, ferritin-free iron storage system. Kelp (Laminaria dig...

The diversity and distribution of polychaetes in the coastal area and the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus is presented based on both the literature records and new data acquired in a wide range of environmental monitoring programmes and research projects. A total of 585 polychaete species belonging to 49 families were reported in Cyprus waters; among...

A new filamentous bangiophycean marine red alga, treated here under the provisional name Kuwaitiella rubra, was found in Kuwait in the Northwestern Arabian Gulf. The intensively red upright thallus of up to 1 cm in length, fixed to the substratum by a colourless rhizoid, is initially uniseriate but becomes biseriate in its distal part upon transfor...

Cryptic stages of diverse macroalgae present in natural substrata, “the bank of microscopic forms”, were isolated into clonal cultures and identified based on both morphological characteristics and DNA barcoding. Approximately 120 clonal isolates from 308 natural substratum samples were collected from the entire coastline of Kuwait. Amongst these i...

This article investigates the species of the family Sargassaceae present in Kuwait, analyzing nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) sequences of 67 individuals collected in 2018–2020. Morphological characterization and DNA barcoding confirmed the presence of eight taxa that belong to Sargassaceae. Five species belong to the genus S...

Ulva L. species are problematic to identify since they have cryptic morphologies with few distinctive features, as well as significant intraspecific variation. In this study, we report two new records for the Maltese islands: the heterokont benthic multicellular algae Ulva torta (Mertens) Trevisan and Ulva californica Wille, which were isolated and...

We report two new algal records from the Maltese islands: Hincksia mitchelliae (= Feldmannia mitchelliae) (Phaeophyceae) and Palisada tenerrima (Rhodophyceae). The former species was grown in culture from an Ulva sp. blade, while the latter was collected in the field. Our study employed an innovative integrative approach including morphological cri...

Living specimens of the macroalga Palmaria decipiens were collected from 100 m depth, representing a new confirmed depth record, considerably exceeding the previous record of 42 m depth. Previous deeper collections (below conventional SCUBA depths) have relied on dredge/grab samples or drop camera surveys. Remote techniques cannot conclusively prov...

Cymodocea nodosa is a common seagrass species of shallow and sheltered Mediterranean waters, where extreme flushing of plumes can occur during excessive rainfall. Cymodocea nodosa shoots were sampled from two habitats of Kavala Gulf, one nearly pristine (less stressed, Vrasidas) and another highly stressed (Nea Karvali), to study if flooding might...

Various species of marine micro-filamentous green algae (<5 mm) remain overlooked globally. They are difficult to identify in field collections due to their diminutive size and their cryptic morphology. During this study, algal cultures combined with DNA barcoding helped to overcome these challenges. Both substratum samples and macrophytic fragment...

This article provides a topical review of East Mediterranean phycology and seagrass biology, with a special focus on the outcomes of the multi-year project “Brown algal biodiversity and ecology in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea” supported by the TOTAL Foundation. Following a general overview of East Mediterranean seaweed biogeography and taxonomy, t...

A new filamentous marine red alga, Kuwaitiella rubra gen. et sp. nov. (Bangiales, Rhodophyta), is described from Kuwait in the north‐western Arabian Gulf (also referred to as the Persian Gulf). It was found on a submerged fishing line. The intensively red upright thallus of up to 1 cm in length consists of cells containing a single stellate plastid...

We investigated the population dynamics of a highly clonal marine angiosperm, Cymodocea nodosa, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, to identify the historical dynamics , demography, and connectivity of the species in the area. Eighteen microsatel-lite loci were used in conjunction with coalescent methods to investigate the genetic structure and demog...

Reducing the carbon emissions from hotels on non-interconnected islands (NII) is essential in the context of a low carbon future for the Mediterranean region. Maritime tourism is the major source of income for Greece and many other countries in the region, as well as hot-temperate and tropical regions worldwide. Like many NIIs, Rhodes attracts a hi...

This Collective Article presents new information about the occurrence of 21 taxa that belong to six Phyla: one Cnidaria, one Ctenophora, two Annelida, four Mollusca, two Arthropoda, and eleven Chordata. These records were reported from ten countries from the western to the eastern Mediterranean Sea as follows: Spain: early colonization signs of the...

The Little Neptune grass Cymodocea nodosa is a key seagrass species in the Mediterranean Sea, forming extensive and patchy meadows in shallow coastal and transitional ecosystems. In such habitats, high temperatures and salinities, separately and in combination, can be significant stressors in the context of climate change, particularly during heatw...

The Port of Rotterdam is a heavily man-modified estuarine system, Europe's major seaport and home to a large number of chemical and petrochemical plants, many of which are supplied with distilled water from two demineralized water plants in Botlek and Maasvlakte. In this study, we assessed the ecological conditions near the brine outfalls and at a...

We investigated the population dynamics of a highly clonal marine angiosperm, Cymodocea nodosa, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, to identify the historical dynamics , demography, and connectivity of the species in the area. Eighteen microsatel-lite loci were used in conjunction with coalescent methods to investigate the genetic structure and demog...

Cymodocea nodosa, a typical marine angiosperm species in the Mediterranean Sea, hosts a range of epiphytic algae. Epiphyte abundance varies at different spatial scales, yet epiphyte diversity and community composition are poorly understood. This study explores the epiphytes on C. nodosa from two reference meadows (Thasos, Vrasidas) and one anthropo...

Many marine algae are strong accumulators of halogens. Commercial iodine production started by burning seaweeds in the 19th century. The high iodine content of certain seaweeds has potential pharmaceutical and nutritional applications. While the metabolism of iodine in brown algae is linked to oxidative metabolism, with iodide serving the function...

The fatty acid (FA) compositions of ten seaweeds representative of Chlorophyta, Rhodophyta, and Ochrophyta from Kuwait in the Arabian Gulf region were determined and are discussed in the context of their potential nutritional perspectives for seaweed valorization. All the seaweeds had higher saturated fatty acid (SFA) and lower monounsaturated (MUF...

The heterokont benthic multicellular algae Schizocladia ischiensis E.C. Henry, K. Okuda et H. Kawai (Schizocladiophyceae), Hecatonema terminale (Kützing) Kylin and Striaria attenuata (Greville) Greville (Phaeophyceae) are reported for the first time from the waters around the Maltese islands in the central Mediterranean. They were identified throug...

Kelp (Laminaria digitata) uses iodide as a unique inorganic antioxidant to protect its surface and apoplastic space against reactive oxygen species such as ozone, hydrogen peroxide and superoxide, with implications for atmospheric and marine chemistry as well as regional climatic processes. If kelp is covered by seawater, this results in iodide lea...

The finding of the enigmatic pathogen Anisolpidium rosenvingei in the filamentous brown macroalga Pylaiella littoralis presented a unique opportunity to histochemically study the distribution of chitin in this little-known pathogen using FUNGALASE™-F, a fluorescein-labelled chitinase. Chitin was found localised to the exit tube of this pathogen, wh...

The genetic biodiversity of Mediterranean macroalgae is generally understudied, a fact which is especially important in the case of morphologically cryptic taxa. As a result, it is often challenging to compare DNA barcodes from Mediterranean samples to references in online databases since, very often, no close hits are available. At a regional scal...

Kelp (Laminaria digitata) uses iodide as a unique inorganic antioxidant to protect its surface and apoplastic space against reactive oxygen species such as ozone, hydrogen peroxide and superoxide, with implications for atmospheric and marine chemistry as well as regional climatic processes. If kelp is covered by seawater, this results in iodide lea...

Even though seaweeds have been considered a nutrient-rich dietary source of minerals in other parts of the world, there is little knowledge about trace element accumulation in seaweeds of the Arabian Gulf. The Arabian Gulf is of particular interest due to being an extreme environment, as it features some of the highest temperatures and salinities o...

This study aimed to survey algal model organisms, covering phylogenetically representative and ecologically relevant taxa. Reports about the occurrence of sulfonates (particularly sulfoquinovose, taurine, and isethionate) in marine algae are scarce, and their likely relevance in global biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem functioning is poorly known...

Cymodocea nodosa , a typical marine angiosperm species in the Mediterranean Sea, hosts a range of epiphytic algae. Epiphyte abundance varies at different spatial scales, yet epiphyte diversity and community composition are poorly understood. This study explores the epiphytes on C. nodosa from two reference meadows (Thasos, Vrasidas) and one anthrop...

The objective of the present study is to examine the fine structure of vegetative cells of Laminaria digitata using both chemical fixation and cryofixation. Laminaria digitata was chosen due to its importance as a model organism in a wide range of biological studies, as a keystone species on rocky shores of the North Atlantic, its use of iodide as...

Several invasive non-indigenous species (NIS) cause ecological and socio-economic impacts. A good understanding of the impacts of invasive NIS in Mediterranean habitats is important for managing and prioritising measures in the marine environment. We applied a conservative additive model to sum up the Cumulative IMPacts of invasive Alien (CIMPAL) s...

Cyprus relies on seawater desalination for a large part of its drinking water supply, with reverse osmosis providing more than 95% of the total desalination capacity in the country. Nevertheless, the environmental impacts of desalination for the Cypriot environment remain poorly understood. Using a combination of mining existing governmental and co...

Aquatic invasive species are among the greatest threats to freshwater biodiversity. The aim of this study was to understand the effects of two invasive watermilfoil species ( Myriophyllum heterophyllum Michx. and Myriophyllum spicatum L.) on native macrophyte communities and to assess community response to a range of invasion intensities as well as...

The relationships among the Aurearenophyceae, Phaeothamniophyceae, Phaeophyceae and Xanthophyceae lineages of the Heterokontophyta SI clade are not well known. By adding previously unexamined taxa related to these classes in a five gene phylogeny (SSU rRNA, atpB, psaA, psaB, rbcL), we recovered an assemblage of taxa previously unrecognized. We prop...

Even though seaweeds have been recognized as key players in the ocean-to-atmosphere transfer of iodine in other parts of the world, there is a complete lack of knowledge about iodine accumulation in seaweeds of the Arabian Gulf. Similarly, very little is known about fluorine in seaweeds, anywhere in the world. Given that the Arabian Gulf is of part...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Macrocystis pyrifera and Lessonia spicata are economically and ecologically relevant brown seaweeds that recently have been classified as members of two separated families within Laminariales (kelps). Here we describe for the first time the Macrocystis pyrifera x Lessonia spicata hybridization in the wild (Chiloe Island, Southeastern Pacific), wher...

Information on the ecology of invertebrate communities populating Macrocystis pyrifera forests in the Falkland Islands is scarce. Indeed, the factors influencing diversity, distribution and community structure have never been studied here. Benthic photoquadrats were collected along three permanent 20 m transects at three depth strata (shallow 5–10...

Very little is known about the marine macroalgae of artificial reefs—especially in the North Atlantic—despite the growing number and extent of man-made structures in the sea, and even though seaweed communities have paramount importance as primary producers, but also as feeding, reproductive and nursery grounds in coastal ecosystems. This paper exp...

This review article explores the state of DNA barcoding of macroalgae in the Mediterranean Sea. Data from the Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD) were utilised in conjunction with a thorough bibliographic review. Our findings indicate that from around 1124 records of algae in the Mediterranean Sea, only 114 species have been barcoded. We thus conclu...

Substratum collected during diving surveys of sublittoral communities off the Greek island of Rhodes (Dodecanese, South-East Aegean) in late 2015 was incubated in the laboratory. Among the emerging macroalgal germlings, there was the second-ever record and isolate of the small benthic multicellular alga Schizocladia ischiensis of the poorly known m...

Parts of the macroalgal flora of the eastern Mediterranean remain incompletely known. This applies in particular to the circalittoral communities. This study, based upon 2 cruises in the Ionian and Aegean Seas, surveyed benthic communities from 40 to 150 m depth by remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) with a special focus on detecting communities of the...

For many types of seaweeds in Polar Regions, open questions remain about how their life cycle contributes to their overall adaptation to the extreme abiotic environment. This applies in particular to the major canopy-forming brown algae in much of the Antarctic Peninsula of the genus Desmarestia, which was investigated here. Diving surveys around R...

Surveys of the seaweed flora of the Falkland Islands and of Tierra del Fuego revealed the presence of a new species of brown alga. Dictyota falklandica sp. nov. inhabits the shallow rocky infralittoral in sheltered localities and the lower intertidal in more exposed sites. Dictyota falklandica has a regular to irregular habit of dichotomously branc...

Cephalopods are a versatile group with several mechanisms in place to ensure the success of future generations. The Patagonian long-finned squid (Doryteuthis gahi) populations on the southern Patagonian shelf are believed to be genetically homogenous, but the mechanisms connecting them geographically and temporally are unresolved. Individual growth...

Brown algae include the strongest accumulators of iodine among living systems. This paper reviews the current state of bioinorganic research in the field, focusing on the models Laminaria digitata, Macrocystis...