Rui Pedro Vieira

• PhD
• Principal Fisheries Scientist at Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science

In the framework of the R.V. Nautilus exploration programme, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) surveys were conducted at bathyal depths in the Gorringe Bank. Video transects revealed the presence of the chimaerids Chimaera opalescens and Hydrolagus affinis in the region. An identification key for the north-east Atlantic species of the family Chimaeri...

An inventory of benthic and benthopelagic fishes is presented as a result of two exploratory surveys around Ampère Seamount, between Madeira and the Portuguese mainland, covering water depths from 60 to 4,400 m. A total of 239 fishes were collected using different types of sampling gear. Three chondrichthyan species and 31 teleosts in 21 families w...

Studies concerning marine litter have received great attention over the last several years by the scientific community mainly due to their ecological and economic impacts in marine ecosystems, from coastal waters to the deep ocean seafloor. The distribution, type and abundance of marine litter in Ormonde and Gettysburg, the two seamounts of Gorring...

Deep-sea sponge aggregations are widely recognised as features of conservation interest and vulnerable marine ecosystems that may particularly require protection from the impact of commercial bottom trawl fishing. In 2011 we revisited deep-sea sponge aggregations in the Porcupine Seabight (NE Atlantic, c. 1200 m water depth) originally described by...

This study examines age and growth of Brauer's lanternfish Gymnoscopelus braueri and rhombic lanternfish Krefftichthys anderssoni from the Scotia Sea in the Southern Ocean, through the analysis of annual growth increments deposited on sagittal otoliths. Otolith pairs from 177 G. braueri and 118 K. anderssoni were collected in different seasons from...

The objective of the thirteenth Workshop on the Development of Quantitative Assessment Methodologies based on Life-history traits, exploitation characteristics, and other relevant parameters for data-limited stocks (WKLIFE XIII) was to further develop methods for stock assessment, stock status, and catch advice for stocks in ICES categories 2–6, fo...

The 2023 Annual Symposium of the Fisheries Society of the British Isles hosted opportunities for researchers, scientists, and policy makers to reflect on the state of art of predicting fish distributions and consider the implications to the marine and aquatic environments of a changing climate. The outcome of one special interest group at the Sympo...

The population of common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis in the English Channel recently developed two life cycles: annual (spawning 1 y.o.) and biennial (spawning 2 y.o.) instead of the biennial strategy known before, associated with increasing environmental temperatures in recent decades because of climate changes. Both groups differ in the size of...

The current epoch in fisheries science has been driven by continual advances in laboratory techniques and increasingly sophisticated approaches to analysing datasets. We now have the scientific knowledge and tools to proactively identify obstacles to the sustainable management of marine resources. However, in addition to technological advances, the...

The main aim of WKVMEBM 2022 was to develop and document an operational evidence-based procedure for the production of recurrent ICES advice on VMEs.

Cephalopods are universal to the world's oceans and prey to many fish species. On the northwest European shelf, integrated ecosystem assessments are rapidly evolving into the preferred method for holistically assessing stocks, but cephalopods appear to be an overlooked component, perhaps because their roles in ecosystems have seldom been quantified...

Mercury (Hg) is a non-essential metal that can have toxic effects on the fitness of organisms and tends to bioaccumulate with age and to biomagnify in higher trophic levels. Few studies have assessed oxidative stress and neurotoxicity in deep-water sharks. This study evaluated early ontogenetic changes and physiological effects (antioxidant defence...

Deep-sea elasmobranchs are commonly reported as bycatch of deep-sea fisheries and their subsequent loss has been highlighted as a long-running concern to the ecosystem ecological functioning. To understand the possible consequences of their removal, information on basic ecological traits, such as diet and foraging strategies, is needed. Such aspect...

The joint ICES/NAFO Working Group on Deep-water Ecology (WGDEC) collates new information on the distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) for use in annual ICES advisory processes and the development of new methods/techniques to further our understanding of deep-sea ecosystems, and further suggests novel management tools to ensure human a...

The sub-Antarctic South Sandwich Islands forms part of one of the largest marine protected areas (MPAs) in the world. Whilst the neighbouring island of South Georgia is known to be a biodiversity hotspot, very little was known about the benthic biodiversity or biogeography of the South Sandwich Islands. Here we present findings from the first bioph...

The South Sandwich Islands (SSI) are a chain of volcanic islands located to the east of the Scotia Sea, approximately 700 km south-east of South Georgia. To date, knowledge of the SSI benthic environment remains limited. In this context, the Blue Belt Programme conducted a scientific survey in the SSI Marine Protected Area (MPA) during February/Mar...

The present document refers to an update of data provided by the UK (England & Wales) to the ICES WGDEEP 2021 as a preliminary baseline information on biological parameters of ling (Molva molva) in the Celtic Seas Ecoregion. Age estimates varied from 2 to 17 years. The estimated values of von Bertalanffy growth function for ling were L = 148.81 cm,...

The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development presents an exceptional opportunity to effect positive change in ocean use. We outline what is required of the deep-sea research community to achieve these ambitious objectives.

The ocean plays a crucial role in the functioning of the Earth System and in the provision of vital goods and services. The United Nations (UN) declared 2021–2030 as the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The Roadmap for the Ocean Decade aims to achieve six critical societal outcomes (SOs) by 2030, through the pursuit of four o...

Fish morphometric relationships are key tools for fisheries science and studies of food web dynamics and predator foraging behaviour, but parameterisations are lim-ited for Southern Ocean myctophids (Family Myctophidae). New standard length (LS) to total mass (MT) relationships are therefore described for the 12 biomass-dominant myctophid fish spec...

Mesopelagic organisms play an important role in the vertical carbon flux through diel vertical migrations. The mesopelagic fauna of three NE Atlantic seamounts (Gorringe Bank, Josephine and Seine) and surrounding oceanic waters were sampled. Echogram scrutiny suggests a diel vertical migration of the mesopelagic fauna. Muggiaea atlantica and Megany...

The joint ICES/NAFO Working Group on Deep-water Ecology (WGDEC) collates new information on the distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) for use in annual ICES advisory processes and the development of new methods/techniques to further our understanding of deep-sea ecosystems, and further suggests novel management tools to ensure human a...

The Atlantic mackerel, Scomber scombrus, is an economically important and widely distributed fish species in the North Atlantic, currently considered to comprise two stocks: the North-West Atlantic (NWA) and the North-East Atlantic (NEA). Each stock is composed of different spawning components which involve temporal and spatial movements driven by...

Video and image data are regularly used in the field of benthic ecology to document biodiversity. However, their use is subject to a number of challenges, principally the identification of taxa within the images without associated physical specimens. The challenge of applying traditional taxonomic keys to the identification of fauna from images has...

Video and image data are regularly used in the field of benthic ecology to document biodiversity. However, their use is subject to a number of challenges, principally the identification of taxa within the images without associated physical specimens. The challenge of applying traditional taxonomic keys to the identification of fauna from images has...

ICES Scientific Reports/Rapports scientifiques du CIEM

In this paper, we revisit the state of deep‐water fisheries to the west of the British Isles and aim to provide an overview on the key drivers behind community changes along continental margins. The deep‐water fisheries to the west of the British Isles that extend from the shelf‐slope break down to the lower slope and along banks and seamounts of t...

Conservation and ecosystem fishery management on seamounts require good understanding of distribution patterns and assemblage of the mesopelagic fauna, which have a key role linking the oceanic and the neritic realm of seamounts, functioning as food source for epipelagic and demersal organisms. Mesopelagic fauna of three NE Atlantic seamounts (Gorr...

Motivation: The BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community-led open-source database of biodiversity time se...

Motivation: The BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community-led open-source database of biodiversity time se...

Motivation: The BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community led open-source database of biodiversity time se...

Senghor Seamount is an important fishing ground around the Cape Verde archipelago in the Eastern Central Atlantic. On an experimental field survey in October 2009 and December 2011, a total of 115 deep-sea fishes of 26 species belonging to 18 families were caught on the seamount summit, along the slopes and on the adjacent abyssal plane, using long...

Continental slopes support highly diverse ecosystems, influenced by strong environmental depth-related gradients, but many fundamental aspects of ecosystem dynamics remain poorly understood. Emerging evidences show that human-driven pressures are a primary reason for rapid and unpredictable changes on deep-sea ecosystems. For this reason, it is imp...

Beach seine is one of the most important artisanal fisheries in Portugal, with high socio-economic importance. This small-scale fishery is characterised by a significant bycatch and discards, but scientific information is still limited, particularly regarding its pressures and ecological impacts. In this study, we investigated total landings and di...

Knowledge about sexual segregation and gender-specific, or indeed individual specialization, in marine organisms has improved considerably in the past decade. In this context, we tested the “Intersexual Competition Hypothesis” for penguins by investigating the feeding ecology of Gentoo penguins during their austral winter non-breeding season. We co...

Raw dataset of the diet of gentoo penguins at Bird Island, South Georgia in 2009. (XLSX)

Mapping and quantifying bottom trawling fishing pressure on the seafloor is pivotal to understand its effects on deep-sea benthic habitats. Using data from the Vessel Monitoring System of crustacean trawlers along the Portuguese margin, we have identified the most exploited areas and characterized the most targeted habitats and water depths. We est...

The diets of marine predators are a potential source of information about range shifts in their prey. For example, the short-finned squid Illex argentinus, a commercially fished species on the Patagonian Shelf in the South Atlantic, has been reported in the diet of grey-headed, Thalassarche chrysostoma; black-browed, T. melanophris; and wandering,...

Describing and quantifying community structure is a major topic in trophic ecology. In recent years the concept of the ‘isotopic niche’ has emerged as a potential measure of trophic diversity within and among taxonomic or functional groups. The relationship between isotopic niche and trophic niche is poorly understood, however. Here we apply the co...

Beach seine fishery (Arte Xávega) has a great tradition in Portugal and it is an activity with high socio-economic implications for small fishing communities. However, this fishery is characterised by the significant bycatch and discards of numerous species. In this study, we investigated the feeding habits of two dominant fish species from beach s...

Weddell seals, Leptonychotes weddellii, are important apex predators in the food web of the Antarctic marine ecosystem. However, detailed information on their trophic relationships with cephalopods is scarce. Moreover, cephalopods play a key role in the marine environment, but knowledge of their feeding habits is limited by lack of data. Here, we h...

RationaleThe main limitation of isotopic tracking for inferring distribution is the lack of detailed reference maps of the isotopic landscape (i.e. isoscapes) in the marine environment. Here, we attempt to map the marine C-13 isoscape for the southwestern sector of the Atlantic Ocean, and assess any temporal variation using the wandering albatross...

The cephalopod fauna in Antarctic waters is still poorly known. Here, we assessed the importance of cephalopods in South Georgia (54°S, 38°W) in the diets of albatrosses. The food and feeding ecology of albatrosses during the nonbreeding season is still poorly known, particularly with regard to the cephalopod component. This was studied in black-br...

Estuaries are among the most productive ecosystems and simultaneously among the most threatened by conflicting human activities, which damage their ecological functions. Describing and attempting to understand the structure and functioning of estuaries is an essential step for maintaining and restoring the quality of estuarine ecosystems. The objec...

Mercury emissions have increased over the past decades affecting even remote areas such as Antarctica. As gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) breed on many of the islands surrounding Antarctica, foraging close to their colonies, their mercury load should reflect concentrations in the region. We therefore evaluated mercury concentra- tions in adult g...

Deepwater fish communities were sampled during exploratory surveys on two seamounts of the north- and central eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean. Demersal fishes from Ampère Seamount, located between Madeira and the Portuguese mainland, were sampled during the P384 cruise of R.V. Poseidon in May 2009 and the M83/2 cruise of R.V. Meteor in November/...

The mesopelagic zone is the transition from the upward epipelagic photic zone and the downward abyssopelagic aphotic zone. • Myctophids perform diel vertical migrations (DVMs), swimming to shallower depths at night to feed on zooplankton and returning to mesopelagic depths, were they stay dormant during daytime. • This dim monochromatic environment...

The food and feeding ecology of albatrosses during the nonbreeding season is still poorly known, particularly with regard to the cephalopod component. This was studied in black-browed Thalassarche melanophris and grey-headed T. chrysostoma albatrosses by analysing boluses collected shortly after adults returned to colonies at Bird Island, South Geo...

Feeding habits of Scorpaena maderensis Valenciennes, 1833 from the Azores archipelago were investigated. The stomach contents of 245 specimens, collected between August 1997 and July 1999, were analysed. Decapod crustaceans and teleost fishes constitute the main food items, revealing a high level of specialization by S. maderensis. Ontogenic shifts...

Deep-sea fishes inhabit an environment where light plays a crucial ecological role with consequences on their behaviour, but little is known on how visual adaptations evolved to these specific light conditions. The mesopelagic zone is the transition from the upward epipelagic photic zone to the downward abyssopelagic aphotic zone. In this dim envir...

The existence of a wide bed of the crinoid Leptometra celtica (M'Andrew and Barrett 1857), at approx-imately 500 m depth, off the Portuguese south coast is inferred from remotely operated vehicle (ROV) transects carried out as part of a research project (IMPACT) aimed at evaluating the impact of bottom trawling on the burrowing crustacean Norway lo...

Marine litter in mud volcano from the Horseshoe Slope Rise (NE Atlantic)

In this study, the length-weight (LWR) parameters were estimated for six syngnathid species, including 2 seahorses and 4 pipefishes, from Ria Formosa, a temperate lagoon from the south coast of Portugal. A total of 5070 fishes were used to determine the LWR. The estimated b value ranged from 2.95 (Nerophis ophidion) to 3.36 (Syngnathus abaster). To...

This note reports the first record of Alosa fallax (Lacépède, 1803) in the Azores Archipelago (NE Atlantic, Portugal). Being an anadromous species, this occurrence is quite unexpected since there are no suitable breeding habitats for this species in these volcanic islands, isolated and river less. Although A. fallax is known to migrate offshore, it...

A new deep-sea fish is reported for the tropical eastern Atlantic. The rare chiasmodontid Kali macrodon was caught for the first time in Cape Verdean waters during an oceanographic survey in September 2009. This record provides the fifth occur- rence for the species in the north-eastern Atlantic and represents the third specimen ever caught in trop...

The weight-length relationships (WLR) were estimated for five fish species of Ria Formosa, a coastal lagoon in southern Portugal. WLRs for Gobius couchi, Pomatoschistus microps and Parablennius pilicornis were determined for the first time ever and for Gobius cruentatus for the first time for the southern European Atlantic coast.

The whalefish Cetichthys indagator is reported for the first time in the North Atlantic Ocean. This record increases to five the number of specimens ever caught and represents the northernmost occurrence of this species in the northern hemisphere.

The wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) is regarded as a generalist predator, but can it be consistent in its foraging niche at an individual level? This study tested short- and long-term consistency in the foraging niche in terms of habitat use, trophic level and, by inference, prey selection. Fieldwork was carried out at Bird Island, South Geo...

Cruise M83/2 aimed at a characterization of the Ampère Seamount ecosystem and at an analysis of its driving forces. Ampère is part of the Horeshoe Seamount Chain which extends between Portugal mainland and the island of Madeira. The results of the study will be compared to other seamounts in the NE Atlantic, in particular to the well-studied Seine...

Three specimens of Grammicolepis brachiusculus were caught by the commercial bottom longline fisheries off Terceira and Faial Islands, Azores Archipelago. This is the first record of the species for the region, and one of few ever caught in the NE Atlantic.

Three specimens of Grammicolepis brachiusculus were caught by the commercial bottom hand and longline fisheries off Terceira and Faial Islands, Azores Archipelago. This is the first record of the species for the region, and one of few ever caught in the NE Atlantic.

There is a wide variety of toxins in aquatic animals, most of which are unknown, both regarding its composition and biochemical characterization and the potential effects in humans (Sosa-Rosales et al., 2005). While it is also important to evaluate potential use in pharmacology and medicine, particularly in anaesthesiology and immunology. In this p...