Mercurio Maria

Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro | Università di Bari · Department of Biology

Background The demosponge Hymeniacidon perlevis is characterized by wide geographic distribution and great adaptability to numerous and highly variable climatic and hydrological conditions. Indeed, the species can colonize many different environments, including several unusual ones, such as concrete drainage conduits of a marine land-based fish far...

Mesophotic bioconstructions are highly dynamic communities starting at 30-40 meters in depth and extending to over 150 meters formed as a result of the multilayer calcium carbonate depositions of benthic organisms. It is established that they are highly diverse, hosting also three-dimensional habitat-building taxa, which can have a direct influence...

The accumulation of abandoned fishing gear and litter is considered one of the most important factors contributing to marine environmental degradation worldwide. In the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, little is known about their effect on coralligenous habitats, one of the most important benthic ecosystems in the Mediterranean. In this study, four sites...

Coralligenous bioconstructions are one of the Mediterranean's most distinctive and bio-diverse marine habitats. This research aimed to provide a preliminary characterization of macro-benthic coralligenous assemblages at four sites located in the Marine National Park of Karaburun-Sazan in Albania. We analyzed images obtained from videos recorded alo...

The analysis of 879 ROV dives carried out along the Italian coasts on hard substrata at mesophotic and upper bathyal depths (40-775 m) allowed us to evaluate the current basin-scale presence, relative abundance, bathymetric limits, and habitat preferences of one of the most charismatic Mediterranean habitat-former anthozoan species, Corallium rubru...

A widespread and diversified mesophotic system of carbonate bioconstructions along the Southern Adriatic and Ionian Italian coasts is described, providing new data on the distribution, structure and associated megabenthic assemblages of mesophotic Mediterranean bioconstructions. The bioconstructions were detected at six different sites off the coas...

The expansion of aquaculture practices in coastal areas can alter the balance of microbial communities in nearby marine ecosystems with negative impacts on both farmed and natural species, as well as on human health through their consumption. Among marine filter-feeder invertebrates, poriferans are known as effective microbial bioremediators, even...

Solid phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was employed for the headspace determination of the volatile organic fraction emitted by two of the most common Mediterranean demosponges, Ircinia variabilis and Sarcotragus spinosulus, and of indole and some biogenic amines released by sponges in an aqueous...

Confined marine environments are particularly susceptible to climate change and anthropic pressures. Indeed, the long-term monitoring of benthic assemblages in these environments allows us to understand the direction of changes over time. The demosponge Geodia cydonium is a suitable study case, since it is widely represented in many Mediterranean e...

Poriferans, as sessile organisms without rigid external covering, use secondary metabolites for protection from predators and fouling organisms. The present study tested the antifouling activity of ethanolic extract of the Mediterranean alien calcareous sponge Paraleucilla magna towards juvenile mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis . Furthermore, toxi...

In the different mesophotic bioconstructions recently found along the Southeastern Italian coast, polychaetes have been proved to show high species richness and diversity, hitherto never investigated. In the present study, the species composition and functional role of polychaete assemblages were analysed; the updated key to identification of the M...

The sponge fauna colonizing rhodolith beds from Ustica Island marine protected area was studied. Moreover, an inventory of the sponge species present along the island's coasts was carried out for the first time. Analysis of rhodoliths trapped in nets used by local fishermen at two sites and data obtained from underwater video images were used to id...

The present paper provides a multidisciplinary fine-scale description of a Mediterranean mesophotic new habitat dominated by the bivalve Neopycnodonte cochlear (Poli, 1795), building large and thick pinnacles on vertical cliffs at two study areas along the southern Italian coast. The pinnacles, constituted by a multilayered aggregation of living an...

This is the first description of a Mediterranean mesophotic coral reef. The bioconstruction extended for 2.5 km along the Italian Adriatic coast in the bathymetric range −30/−55 m. It appeared as a framework of coral blocks mostly built by two scleractinians, Phyllangia americana mouchezii (Lacaze-Duthiers, 1897) and Polycyathus muellerae (Abel, 19...

• The aim of this study was to provide further knowledge of the ecological, spatial, and temporal distribution and life‐cycle traits of the sympatric seahorse species Hippocampus hippocampus and Hippocampus guttulatus. • From 2011 to 2014, data were collected from 20 sites along the Apulian coast (Southern Italy) in order to cover a wide range of c...

t Sponge assemblages associated with coralligenous outcrops were studied with the aim of describing and comparing their composition, morphological features and distribution at different depths (shallow vs. deep) along the Apulian coasts. In addition, image analysis enabled the description of the main features of coralligenous outcrops and the detec...

Pinna nobilis Linnaeus, 1758 represent the largest Mediterranean bivalve mollusc, protected by European Council Directive 92/43/EEC (EEC, 1992) and Barcelona Convention. This species experienced the regression in its geographic distribution and density decrease, due to the deterioration of habitats and overexploitation. It is commonly found in the...

1. Spread of alien species (AS) is a serious threat to marine habitats and analysis of principal descriptors of their occurrence is pivotal to set reliable conservation strategies. 2. In order to assess the susceptibility of marine habitats to biological invasions, a dataset was gathered of the occurrence of 3899 species from 29 phyla, taken from 9...

The present work focused on the taxonomic composition, spatial distributions, and temporal distributions of the sponge fauna from the main lagoon systems of southern Italy: Lesina,Varano, Taranto, Alimini, Faro, Ganzirri,Tindari and Marsala. Overall, 62 sponge species were recorded, belonging to the classes Demospongiae (52 species), Calcarea (8) a...

SERENA MUCCIOLO, FRINE CARDONE, CATERINA LONGO, MARIA MERCURIO, CARLOTTA NONNIS MARZANO, CATALDO PIERRI, GIUSEPPE CORRIERO Department of Biology, University of Bari, Aldo Moro, Via Orabona 4 – 70125 Bari, Italy TAXONOMIC COMPOSITION AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPONGE COMMUNITY IN THE APULIAN CORALLIGENOUS Coralligenous assemblages, calcareous format...

The reproductive cycle of the demosponge Sarcotragus spinosulus from two different shallow environments (La Pierta and La Strea) of the Ionian coasts of Apulia (SE Italy) was studied from February 2006 to February 2007 in 20 tagged specimens. The sponge is viviparous. All the monitored specimens showed sexual reproduction, even if the process usual...

Sperm ultrastructure and some steps of spermatogenesis of the serpulids Hydroides dianthus, Serpula vermicularis and Vermiliopsis infundibulum are reported. In all the species examined the germinal cells originated from a germinative epithelium associated to blood vessels in the intersegmental septa. The spermatocytes were irregular in shape with a...

Phylogeny of Syllidae is under debate due to new studies based on molecular and morphological data. The noticeable taxonomic diversity of syllids (about 700 listed species) is also mirrored in the array of reproductive strategies as well as in sperm morphology, counting a display of forms already supposed to reflect phylogenetic relationships betwe...

The present study focuses on the reproductive success of transplants of the bath sponge Spongia officinalis Linnaeus, 1759, with the aim of investigating the possibility of restocking this species, one of the most endangered organisms of the Mediterranean sessile zoobenthos. Transplants of S. officinalis, collected from a wild population along the...

The buds of the sponge Tethya seychellensis, collected in May 2006 from South Male Atoll (Maldives), have been processed for histological and ultrastructural investigations. Buds show three stages, different in morphology and size, reflecting different steps of their differentiation: round‐shaped buds (stage I), cylindrical‐shaped buds (II) and thi...

The analysis of the complex reproductive patterns of Syllidae may drastically change the taxonomic hierarchy of the family. To further contribute to the knowledge of Syllidae we have described the sperm ultra-structure and some steps of spermiogenesis of Odontosyllis ctenostoma Claparede, 1868, the first non interstitial eusylline investigated. The...

The analysis of the complex reproductive patterns of Syllidae may drastically change the taxonomic hierarchy of the family. To further contribute to the knowledge of Syllidae we have described the sperm ultra-structure and some steps of spermiogenesis of Odontosyllis ctenostomo Claparede, 1868, the first non interstitial eusylline investigated. The...

This study was carried out to evaluate the microbiological accumulation capability of the demosponge Spongia officinalis var. adriatica. Six microbiological parameters were researched in two sampling periods in the water and in reared sponge samples coming from sites with different degrees of microbial contamination: an off-shore fish farm displace...

Spermatogenesis of the marine sponge Halichondria semitubulosa (formerly Pellina semitubulosa) has been investigated at the ultrastructural level. This process can be observed in March when, among the choanocyte chambers of the aquiferous system, spermatic cysts are visible. They are delimited by pinacocyte‐like cells and include elements in progre...

The reproductive cycle of Geodia cydonium in a semi-enclosed Mediterranean bay (Porto Cesareo, SW Apulia) was studied with monthly frequency over a 3-year period. The investigation was carried out by utilizing a technique consisting of tagging ten individuals with a PVC stick and cutting off, by means of a metal cork borer, small samples (cylinders...

The spatial distribution and temporal changes of demosponges and bryozoans in the northern basin of the Venice Lagoon were studied from samples collected from wooden piles and artificial rocks in June and October 2001. Twenty species of demosponges and 18 species of bryozoans were recorded. Sponges were found at 10 out of 11 sampling stations, whil...

A study on the filtering activity has been carried out on reared specimens of the demosponge Spongia officinalis var. adriatica coming from an off-shore farm displaced off the Apulian coast (Ionian Sea). The experience was carried out under laboratory conditions, by using natural seawater collected from the sponge environment. The study demonstrate...

Morphological plasticity and ecological aspects of the demosponge Geodia cydonium (Jameson) were studied from seasonal samples collected over 1year in two semi-enclosed Mediterranean bays of the Southern Italian coast (Marsala lagoon and Porto Cesareo basin). Sponge specimens present two morphs: sessile and non-sessile, both of which showed constan...

The hard bottom fauna of the marine protected area of Porto Cesareo (Salento Peninsula) was examined considering two representative benthic groups, Porifera and Polychaeta. Sampling was performed by SCUBA divers from the surface to a depth of 25 m in a variety of environments. Sponge and pnlychaete assemblages were rich and diversified. with a tota...

The availability of bath sponges has been recently reduced due to the depletion of natural banks due to the high fishing pressure together with some local epidemic events. At present, the commercial supply is far below the demand. The main purpose of this work was to estimate the rearing performance of Spongia officinalis var. adriatica, one of the...

The benthic community of the lagoon of Lesina was studied from July 2000 to June 2001. The distribution of the main macrophytobenthic species was recorded by visual census at 24 stations in July 2000. The macrofauna, from both hard and soft substrates, was analyzed at five stations with seasonal frequency; in addition, the main hydrologic parameter...

 The variations in both silica content and spicular size were studied in two populations of the demosponge Pellina semitubulosa (Lieberkühn). Samples were collected over a period of 1 year (June 1994 to May 1995) in two Mediterranean coastal basins: Porto Cesareo (southwestern Apulia) and Marsala (northwestern Sicily). The values of spicule size (l...