Vítor C Almada

• ISPA - Instituto Universitário

The processes and timescales associated with ocean-wide changes in the distribution of marine species have intrigued biologists since Darwin’s earliest insights into biogeography. The Azores, a mid-Atlantic volcanic archipelago located 41000 km off the European continental shelf, offers ideal opportunities to investigate phylogeographic colonisatio...

Phylogeographic patterns among coastal fishes are expected to be influenced by distinct ecological, biological and life history traits, along with historical events and oceanography (past and present). This study focuses on the broad range phylogeography of the Montagu's blenny Coryphoblennius galerita, a species with well-known ecological features...

Using the mitochondrial non-coding region I, it was shown that the two Spanish Lampetra planeri populations (Cares–Deva and Olabidea–Ugarana) correspond to different genetic units. The Cares–Deva population is probably a recent offshoot of Lampetra fluviatilis, being the Olabidea–Ugarana population less diverse and of older origin.

The phylogenetic relationships among the North Atlantic Gaidropsarus and between the three Gaidropsarinae genera Gaidropsarus, Ciliata and Enchelyopus are reviewed with the hitherto most comprehensive taxonomic sampling of this group. Phylogenetic results (maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference) based on nuclear (rhodopsin) an...

The use of molecular techniques has shown that hybridization and introgression have significant impacts in evolution, by means of transfer of genetic variation and formation of hybrid species. In this paper we use mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data to investigate the evolutionary history, levels of genetic diversity and population differentiat...

Incomplete knowledge of biodiversity remains a stumbling block for conservation planning, and even occurs within globally important Biodiversity Hotspots. Although technical advances have boosted the power of molecular biodiversity assessments, the link between DNA sequences and species and the analytics to discriminate entities, remain crucial. He...

This study presents the first ethological description of the reproductive behaviour of the cyprinid Squalius pyrenaicus, endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. The behavioural pattern of this endangered species during the breeding season is non-communal and includes the preparation of a spawning pit (depressions in the substratum) by males, a behaviour...

Ciliata mustela is a marine inshore fish which occurs from central Portugal to northeastern Norway. We studied the population structure of this species using cytochrome b gene and the first intron of the nuclear S7 ribosomal protein gene and samples ranging from central Portugal to Gullmars Fjord, Sweden. We tested the following alternative hypothe...

The embryonic and larval development of the pipefish Syngnathus abaster is described, based on ex situ observations. The full development sequence lasted 24-32 days (at 18-19 degrees C), which was shortened to 21 days at higher temperatures (21-22 degrees C). Newborn juveniles, with a uniform dark brown colouration, immediately assumed a benthic sp...

The ways that organisms respond to climatic oscillations depend on a wide range of factors, including life‐history, behaviour, thermal preferences and physiology, and ecology. To investigate these processes, we compared the phylogeographic patterns found in Lampetra fluviatilis and Petromyzon marinus in Europe. We reanalysed all molecular data avai...

A molecular phylogeny of 15 (out of 26 recognized) species of Parablennius Miranda Ribeiro, 1915 was constructed based on two mitochondrial and two nuclear gene fragments, and using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches. The closely related genera Hypleurochilus, Salaria and Scartella were also studied to ascertain their rel...

In many fish species in which males guard nests with their eggs, parental care directed to genetically unrelated offspring may arise for example from nest takeovers or cuckoldry. Lusitanian toadfish (Halobatrachus didactylus) has exclusive male parental care and face intensive nest competition during the breeding season that may lead to care of fos...

The longspined bullhead (Taurulus bubalis, Euphrasen 1786) belongs to the family Cottidae and is a rocky shore species that inhabits the intertidal zones of the Eastern Atlantic since Iceland, southward to Portugal and also the North Sea and Baltic, northward to the Gulf of Finland, with some occurrences in the northern Mediterranean coasts eastwar...

Although navigation is common in many animals, only a few perform true navigation, meaning that they have the ability to return to a given place by relying on indirect cues obtained at the release site (i.e., by relying on information from a "map and compass" mechanism). The common intertidal fish, Lipophrys pholis, is thought to have homing abilit...

Pleistocene climate changes have imposed extreme conditions to intertidal rocky marine communities, forcing many species to significant range shifts in their geographical distributions. Phylogeographic analyses based on both mitochondrial and nuclear genetic markers provide a useful approach to unravel phylogeographic patterns and processes of spec...

The genetic relationships of a population of brook lamprey Lampetra planeri from Spain were analysed using a fragment of the mitochondrial non-coding region in order to describe its relationships with other European Lampetra populations. DNA sequences were obtained from ten larvae, all corresponding to a single private haplotype. Its closest haplot...

Over the last two years (2008-2010) we performed a monitoring project to update the Spanish freshwater fish fauna. We have collected in 785 sampling localities homogeneously distributed throughout Spain each year. We find as the most important result of this study the occurrence of several species that constitute new records for some rivers or basi...

Sand-smelts are small fishes inhabiting inshore, brackish and freshwater environments and with a distribution in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, extending south into the Indian Ocean. Here, we present a broad phylogenetic analysis of the genus Atherina using three mitochondrial (control region, 12S and 16S) and two nuclear markers (rhod...

The study of the phylogeography of inshore fish from West Europe is revealing diverse geographical and demographical patterns. Some species conform to the phylogeographic patterns typical of terrestrial organisms, with marked signatures of the last glaciation and a decline of genetic diversity to the north of the species range. Other species, howev...

Signal attributes should show different degrees of variability depending on the information to be conveyed. Species identity is usually associated with stereotyped features of a signal, whereas other types of information such as individual quality and motivation are associated with signal plasticity. Lusitanian toadfish males form aggregations duri...

The genetic structure of Squalius populations from Portuguese Atlantic- and Mediterranean-type streams (assigned to six distinct morphoclimatic regions) was compared using sequences of the cytb and beta-actin genes. The drainage area was significantly correlated to all the genetic diversity indices, pointing to the need to control for this effect i...

We explore the phylogeography of the broadcast spawner Marthasterias glacialis along south Europe and Azores. Sequences of the cytochrome c oxidase gene from 225 specimens, belonging to 10 localities, were analysed. We found 73 haplotypes grouped within two lineages (divergence 2.9%). One lineage was Atlanto–Mediterranean, whereas another one was e...

Parablennius gattorugine and Parablennius ruber are closely related sympatric western European species. In this note, traits that distinguish the larvae of both species are presented and it is demonstrated that conflicting descriptions reported in the literature on the larvae of P. gattorugine stem from confusion between the two species. I N T R O...

Lusitanian toadfish males that provide parental care rely on acoustic signals (the boatwhistle) to attract females to their nest. We test the hypothesis that male quality, namely male size and condition that are relevant for parental success, is reflected in vocal activity and boatwhistle characteristics and thus advertised to females. We recorded...

Ex situ reproduction of species in risk of extinction has been recognized by several authors (e.g., Gipps 1991; Maitland and Lyle 1992; Xia et al. 2005; Gayton 2008) as a solu-tion for populations whose survival is threat-ened by an extremely low number of indi-viduals and severe habitat degradation. Under such scenarios, although it may be difficu...

The populations of brook lamprey Lampetra planeri of Portuguese Rivers were analysed phylogeographically using a fragment of 644 bp of the mitochondrial control region of 158 individuals from six populations. Samples representing L. planeri and migratory lampreys Lampetra fluviatilis of rivers draining to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea were also...

The operational sex ratio (OSR) is thought to be a major factor influencing the intensity of mating competition and sexual selection. Even though many studies on species with conventional sex roles have shown that alterations in the OSR can either intensify male–male competition or promote female–female competitive interactions, sometimes resulting...

Male signals are frequently studied in a single behavioral context, but in some cases they may assist multiple functions, namely for both male–male competition and female mate choice. Boatwhistles are known as the mate attraction calls of toadfishes typically produced during the breeding season. However, recent observations with the Lusitanian toad...

Salaria fluviatilis is one of the few freshwater members of the family Blenniidae and occurs around the Mediterranean Basin. This species is vulnerable or endangered in most countries where it occurs. Thus, information on its developmental biology and the establishment of methods for ex situ reproduction of highly endangered populations, to preserv...

Several species of seabirds show cyclic patterns of attendance at their nesting colonies. We examined the patterns of variation in the numbers of Cory's shearwater at three colonies (two oceanic and one located on the continental shelf), including the world's largest, at Selvagem Grande, Madeira, Portugal and considered several hypotheses concernin...

Theoretical studies predict that females should invest in current reproduction according to both the expected payoffs from mating with different-quality males and their future mating prospects. The Syngnathidae family, with its male pregnancy together with the occurrence of varying degrees of sex-role reversal, constitutes an exceptional model to s...

Fish belonging to the genus Macroramphosus are distributed throughout the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Some authors consider this genus monotypic, Macroramphosus scolopax being the only valid species. Other authors consider (based on several morphological and ecological characters) that another species (Macroramphosus gracilis) exists and o...

A fragment of the mitochondrial control region was used to assess phylogeographic patterns and historical demography of the sand-smelt Atherina presbyter in the North-eastern Atlantic, covering its geographical range. A striking result is the highly marked differentiation between the Canary Islands population and western European ones. A genetic st...

During high-tide, the majority of Gobius cobitis exhibit a microhabitat shift, moving up to the mid-intertidal walls and cliffs, a typical blenniid habitat that is not used by this species during low-tide. Observations on feeding behaviour that showed that fish behave as an ambush predator, being capable of hunting fish of considerable size, combin...

In this paper, the phylogenetic relationships of the marine blenny Salaria pavo and the freshwater S. fluviatilis and S. economidisi were analyzed using four molecular markers: the mitochondrial 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, and the control region and the nuclear first intron of the S7 ribosomal protein. The monophyly of Salaria is supported, as well as that...

In some marine fishes, males migrate from deeper to littoral water to breed, where they defend nests and provide parental care. In this study, we describe seasonal patterns of shelter occupation in estuarine shallow waters and assess social aggregation in the Lusitanian toadfish (Batrachoididae), a vocal species with male parental care. Occupation...

The phylogenetic relationships of the poorly known Macaronesian moray G. bacalladoi were investigated using three mitochondrial markers and a fragment of the nuclear rhodopsin gene. Atlantic morays of the genera Gymnothorax, Enchelycore and Muraena were included in the analysis. Maximum parsimony, Minimum Evolution (neighbor-joining) and Bayesian a...

Aim To test the importance of the Lago Mare stage of the Messinian Salinity Crisis for the dispersal and diversification of European leuciscins (Cyprinidae: Leuciscinae). Location Europe. Methods Cytochrome b sequences of European leuciscins were employed to investigate phylogenetic relationships among species, using Bayesian inference, and to esti...

In this note we report on changes of activity level of littoral fish and their use of different microhabitats in an altered intertidal environment, where intertidal fish are never emersed and turbulence is confined to high tides. Despite these atypical conditions, the structure of the assemblage is basically the same found in a typical rocky-shore...

The temporal patterns of feeding activity of Lipophrys pholis and Coryphoblennius galerita were studied by snorkelling dives during high-waters. The feeding activity was especially intense during the rising-tide when compared to the ebbing-tide. The relative abundances of C. galerita and small L. pholis observed on rock-walls were higher during the...

Larval development of Gobius xanthocephalus with descriptions of the ontogeny of the main structures, changes in pigmentation patterns and allometric relationships are presented for the first time. No previous descriptions of G. xanthocephalus larvae are available and therefore field collected larvae were compared with larvae obtained under control...

Several characteristics of the Gobiesocidae, such as the fact that they are small cryptic fishes, could explain the scarcity of studies on these species when compared with other rocky littoral fish families. Analyses of molecular and meristic data are in agreement with the views of previous workers. The genus Lepadogaster must be redefined to inclu...

1. Some syngnathid species show varying degrees of sex role reversal aside from male pregnancy, with females competing for access to mates and sometimes presenting conspicuous secondary sexual characters. Among other variables, brooding space constraints are usually considered a key element in female reproductive success, contributing strongly to t...

In this paper, the patterns of cladogenesis in the cyprinid fish genus Iberochondrostoma were analysed using a mitochondrial (cytochrome b) and a nuclear (beta-actin) gene fragment. The two genes yielded discordant results. While the cytochrome b gene yielded a fully dichotomous tree, where all species of the genus are monophyletic, the much slower...

The northeastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea share geological histories and display great faunal affinities. The majority of the Mediterranean species have Atlantic origins, with a few species with tropical affinities. These include the parrotfish Sparisoma cretense and the wrasse Thalassoma pavo that are restricted to the subtropical northe...

CHAPTER SUMMARY We present an outline of the potential that a phylogenetic approach may bring to the study of alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) and discuss some of the difficulties and methodological problems that must be addressed if we are to apply the phylogenetic method successfully. We illustrate the principles presented by applying them...

Squalius alburnoides is a widely distributed intergeneric hybrid complex with fish of both sexes, varying ploidy levels and proportions of the parental genomes. Its dispersal routes were here delineated and framed by the reconstruction of the phylogeny and phylogeography of other Squalius with which it hybridizes, based on the available data on the...

Despite much effort to ascertain the consequences of temperature variation for a wide range of animal performance traits, the effect of temperature on interactions among organisms is still poorly understood. The present work tests for a direct influence of water temperature on sexual recognition, mate preferences and female–female interactions in t...

Coryphoblennius galerita is a small intertidal fish with a wide distribution and limited dispersal ability, occurring in the northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. In this study, we examined Atlantic and Mediterranean populations of C. galerita to assess levels of genetic divergence across populations and to elucidate historical and contemporary...

In this paper, we analysed the phylogeography of the Critically Endangered fish Chondrostoma lusitanicum (Cyprinidae) endemic to Portugal. A fragment of the mitochondrial cyt b gene and one from the nuclear beta-actin gene were sequenced. The results support recognition of 3 ESU's distributed as follows: 1) Sado River, 2) the Tagus River basin and...

Phylogeography of Diplodus sargus from the northeastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean was assessed using sequences from the mitochondrial control region and the first intron of the S7 ribosomal protein gene. The relationship between genetic and geographic distances supported an isolation by distance model, with the Azores having a peripheral posit...

Since its first record in a tributary of the Ebro basin in 1992, the bleak Alburnus alburnus has spread to almost the whole Iberian Peninsula. In this paper (based on electrofishing surveys in 598 localities), we provide information on the expansion of the bleak. We detail current distribution in the Ebro basin and the rivers of the Eastern Pyrenee...

Patterns of interannual variation are described for an inshore fish assemblage off the Arrábida rocky coast (Portugal). During an 11 yr period, the fish assemblage showed pronounced changes especially within its tropical, warm-temperate and cold-temperate elements. These changes followed a fluctuating pattern connected with the North Atlantic Oscil...