Verena Diana Bökenhans

Instituto de Biología de Organismos Marinos (IBIOMAR-CONICET) · Laboratorio de Reproducción y Biología Integrativa de Invertebrados Marinos (LARBIM-IBIOMAR)

The invasive sea slug Pleurobranchaea maculata has quickly spread along the southwestern Atlantic coast, expanding almost 1500 km from Mar del Plata (Buenos Aires) to Bahía Camarones (Chubut) in approximately six years. Certain features of its reproductive biology are of fundamental importance to understand its establishment and expansion. The pres...

The increase of anthropogenic CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere reduces the pH and raises the temperature of the oceans. The combination of both factors impacts the physiological responses and calcium carbonate structures of marine organisms. This study assessed the performance of the juvenile stage of the gastropod Acanthina monodon, after it was cont...

This study provides information about the reproductive cycle of the invasive side-gilled sea slug Pleurobranchaea maculata , currently widely distributed along the Argentine coast. The histological analysis of this simultaneous hermaphrodite showed characteristics of a semelparous species with an annual life cycle. The highest spermatogenic and oog...

Species undergoing postreproductive death experience great changes in their reproductive organs, which are driven by numerous physiological processes. To assess whether apoptotic processes are involved in the dynamics of the reproductive organs of Pleurobranchaea maculata, the gonadal structure of this semelparous side-gilled sea slug was studied u...

Upwelling phenomena alter the physical and chemical parameters of the sea’s subsurface waters, producing low levels of temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen, which can seriously impact the early developmental stages of marine organisms. To understand how upwelling can affect the encapsulated development of the gastropod Acanthina monodon, capsules c...

Exotic species that achieve successful invasions often show considerable dietary plasticity in resource choice, sometimes adjusting their diet to new or variable resources. This can increase species' impact in the recipient environment. In this study, we explore the diet of the invasive gray side-gilled sea slug Pleurobranchaea maculata (Quoy & Gai...

New marine mollusc fishery resources are constantly being incorporated to the international market. The marine gastropod Buccinanops cochlidium (Dillwyn, 1817) is a potential fisheries resource with excellent nutritional qualities. Recently, the first legislation that regulates marine gastropod fisheries based on size limits and reproductive season...

High densities of the invasive sea slug, Pleurobranchaea maculata, have been detected on the Argentinean coast, but studies on the species’ adaptation have been absent until now. Stomach contents of P. maculata in two sampling sites located at Golfo Nuevo, Patagonia Argentina, revealed animals as a major prey, but surprisingly algae ingestion on bo...

Buccinanops globulosus is an edible marine gastropod that is being captured by artisanal fishermen without management regulations. As basic knowledge on population features is required in case a sustained commercial exploitation of this species is established, we estimated and compared the age and growth of B. globulosus in two populations separate...

Age determination in gastropods is an essential tool for understanding the main aspects of population dynamics that allow for the formation of fisheries policies. Small-scale fisheries of the nassariid gastropod Buccinanops globulosus from northern Patagonia are not yet regulated, although it is locally consumed while an incipient commercialization...