ARQ - LMS - Número 32
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Artigos publicados no Número 32 - 2015
CONTENTS:
GABRIEL, D., W.E. SCHMIDT, D.M. KRAYESKY, D.J. HARRIS & S. FREDERICQ - The crustose red algal genus Peyssonnelia (Peyssonneliales, Rhodophyta) in the Azores: from five to one species.PAIVA, L.S., E.M.C. LIMA, A.I. NETO & J.A.B. BAPTISTA - Screening for angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity of enzymatic hydrolysates obtained from Azorean macroalgae.
NUNES, R., R. GABRIEL, R.B. ELIAS, F. RIGAL, A.O. SOARES, P. CARDOSO & P.A.V. BORGES - Arthropods and other Biota associated with the Azorean Trees and Shrubs
GOMES-PEREIRA, J.N., I. TOJEIRA, L.P. RIBEIRO, R.S. SANTOS, F. DIAS, F. TEMPERA 2015 - First in situ observations of soft bottom megafauna from the Cascais Canyon head.
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS:
LINO, S., J.R. XAVIER, R.S. SANTOS & A. COLAÇO - Sponge perforating lace coral with anticancer activity.AFONSO, P, & N. VASCO RODRIGUES - Summer aggregations of the common eagle ray, Myliobatis aquila.
RICHARDSON, A.J. & A. BRITO - The polygon moray, Gymnothorax polygonius (Poey, 1875): A new record from Ascension Island, South Atlantic.
WEISSMANN, J. & H. SCHAEFER - Honneybees (Apis mellifera) collect latex of Azores bellflowers (Azorina vidalii, Campanulaceae).
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- Arthropods and other Biota associated with the Azorean Trees and Shrubs : Juniperus brevifoliaPublication . Nunes, Rui; Gabriel, Rosalina; Elias, Rui B.; Rigal, François; Borges, Paulo A. V.This work aims to characterize the arthropods and other biota (lichens, bryophytes, vascular plants and birds) associated with the Azorean endemic tree, Juniperus brevifolia. This is the first of a series of publications that will (i) provide a comprehensive list of all the biota associated with the main Azorean endemic trees and shrubs, (ii) describe in detail the diver-sity, abundance and spatial patterns of canopy arthropods, and (iii) whenever possible, to extend biodiversity assessments to communities of bryophytes, lichens, vascular plants and vertebrates. We use standardized sampled data from BALA project for canopy arthropods and for the remaining taxa we surveyed literature data and the Herbarium of University of Azores. Juniperus brevifolia occurs in a wide range of elevation belts in Azores and accommodates a remarkable large number of taxa: besides canopy arthropods (161 species) it is also an important substrate to other vascular species (six species), bryophytes (105 species), lichens (106 species) and also birds (four species). In addition, the species richness and particularly the abundance of endemics are dominant, and the number of conservation concern species for bryophytes is noteworthy (30 out of 70). The complexity of the tree and the high diversity of micro-habitats created the conditions for epiphytic species to easily colonize all parts of the tree, from the bottom, trunk and branches. The communities associated with the Azorean cedar are consequently of a high conservation value and should be further investigated in their ecological dynamics.
- The crustose red algal genus Peyssonnelia (Peyssonneliales, Rhodophyta) in the Azores : from five to one speciesPublication . Gabriel, Daniela; Schmidt, W. E.; Krayesky, D. M.; Harris, D. J.; Fredericq, SuzanneThe family Peyssonneliaceae comprises a worldwide group of non-calcified to calcified, crust-forming red algae of great ecological significance. Of the genera currently recognized in the family, Peyssonnelia has been widely considered to contain the largest number of species, with five members reported for the Azores. Using rbcL as a molecular marker, we here report on the taxonomic identity of recent collections of Peyssonneliaceae from the Azorean islands of São Miguel, Graciosa and Pico, and compare those specimens in a worldwide context. Only a single Peyssonnelia species, P. squamaria, is confirmed for the Azorean archipelago, with three different haplotypes. Although the populations in the Azores are genetically different from those occurring in the Mediterranean, this separation appears to be relatively recent.
- First in situ observations of soft bottom megafauna from the Cascais Canyon headPublication . Gomes-Pereira, José N.; Tojeira, I.; Ribeiro, L. P.; Santos, Ricardo S.; Dias, F.; Tempera, FernandoWe report the first in situ observations of soft bottom megafauna from the Cascais Canyon head. Observations were collected opportunistically during three technical dives with the ROV Luso between 460-805 m at two locations distanced 1,230 m. The habitats were clas-sified as upper bathyal fine mud. The soft bottom fauna was dominated by burrows of Nephrops norvegicus reaching up to 2.9 burrows/m2, a common habitat along the Portu-guese continental margin. To our knowledge, densities are the highest ever reported for depths below 300 m. The ichthyofauna at the upper Cascais Canyon is a mixture of lower shelf and upper bathyal species, including Phycis blennoides, Scyliorhynus canicula, Coe-lorhynchus labiatus/occa and Chimaera monstrosa. Bait release attracted Myxine glutinosa. Surveys in other geological settings of the Cascays Canyon are required to understand more comprehensively the diversity of its sessile and vagile biodiversity.
- Honeybees (Apis mellifera) collect latex of Azores bellflowers (Azorina vidalii, Campanulaceae)Publication . Weissmann, Julie A.; Schaefer, HannoThe Azores bellflower (Azorina vidalii (H.C.Wats.) Feer, synonym: Campanula vidalii H.C.Wats.) is a small shrub in the bellflower family, Campanulaceae, which is endemic to the Azores archipelago. Its habitats are coastal rocks and cliffs, often with elevated nitrogen levels (sewage water, rubbish) and close to settlements. Azorina is found on all nine islands of the Azores archipelago but is most common on the western islands of Flores and Corvo (Schaefer 2003). The pollination biology of Azorina is still a bit of a mystery: while flower morphology would fit best to bird pollination, birds have never been observed visiting its flowers and today’s avifauna of the archipelago does not include any obvious candidate species. The first author therefore performed an extensive field study in the summer of 2015, mainly on Corvo but also on Flores and Pico islands, in order to identify the pollinators of this enigmatic endemic. […].
- The polygon moray, Gymnothorax polygonius (Poey, 1875) : A new record from Ascension Island, South AtlanticPublication . Richardson, Andrew J.; Brito, AlbertoAscension Island (07°57′S, 14°22′W) is an isolat-ed volcanic edifice in the South Atlantic. The closest land, St. Helena is approximately 700 miles south with the closest land mass of any size being West Africa, 1000 miles to the east. Approximately 1500 miles west of Ascension Island is the coast of Brazil. As such, the fish community of the island is a mixture of eastern and western Atlantic species, although richness is relatively low compared with other similar loca-tions such as Cape Verde (Wirtz et al. 2014). Despite the apparent remoteness of Ascension Island there have been several key publications on the ichthyofauna for the island and surround-ing marine zone. The fish community of Ascen-sion was first summarized by Cadenat & Marchal (1963), with a comprehensive checklist of shal-low-water fish species published by Lubbock (1980) record-ing 71 species. A report on the benthic and near-benthic fish community, from seamounts around Ascension, was compiled in Trunov (2006). The most recent review of the ichthyofauna of Ascen-sion can be found in Wirtz et al. (2014), a study listing 173 fish species, including 12 members of the family Muraenidae. The extensive rocky ma-rine habitat of Ascension Island is often consid-ered a key factor behind the considerable abun-dance of moray eels around the island. On 21 Feburary 2015 an unidentified moray eel was caught by a recreational angler who had been fishing in deep water from a vessel off the west-ern coast of Ascension Island (Fig. 1). The spec-imen did not match any previous identification records of Muraenidae from Ascension Island. […].
- Screening for angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity of enzymatic hydrolysates obtained from Azorean macroalgaePublication . Paiva, Lisete S.; Lima, Elisabete M. C.; Neto, Ana I.; Baptista, José A. B.As part of ongoing studies into the isolation of antihypertensive peptides, 12 common macroalgae species from Azores were investigated for their potential angiotensinconverting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory properties. After optimization of enzymatic hydrolysis conditions, the anti-ACE activity was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The species under study include four Rhodophyta (Gelidium microdon, Osmundea pinnatifida, Porphyra sp. and Pterocladiella capillacea), four Chlorophyta (Chaetomorpha linum, Codium adhaerens, Ulva compressa and Ulva rigida) and four Heterokontophyta (Cystoseira humilis, Fucus spiralis, Padina pavonica and Sargassum cymosum). The bromelain hydrolysates derived from P. capillacea, Porphyra sp., F. spiralis, U. compressa, O. pinnatifida and U. rigida were the most active presenting an ACE inhibitory activity of 48.73 ± 1.58%, 50.96 ± 1.82%, 56.77 ± 1.80%, 59.80 ± 0.95%, 62.59 ± 1.60% and 65.68 ± 0.72%, respectively. These results suggest that some macroalgae from the littoral Azorean sea are potential sources of powerful ACE inhibitor peptides, with potential impact on public health, particularly on the hypertensive patients. These features make these algae valuable to the regional economy and may also provide an incentive for marine biodiversity conservation and valuation of marine algal resources.
- Sponge perforating lace coral with anticancer activityPublication . Lino, Sílvia P. P.; Xavier, Joana; Santos, Ricardo S.; Colaço, AnaThis short note reports results from a pilot study to investigate new anticancer agents from deepsea corals in which colonizing sponges were encountered. The pure white stylasterid coral fans of Errina dabneyi (Pourtalès, 1871) are a conspicuous feature on the upper bathyal slopes in Azorean waters and can be found in depths from 215 to more than 500 m (Wisshak et al. 2009; Braga-Henriques et al. 2013). From the 26 species of Errina known worldwide (most from deeper waters) (Cairns 1983), E. dabneyi seems to be endemic to the Azores Archipelago and the adjacent Mid-Atlantic Ridge region (Zibrowius & Cairns 1992; Braga-Henriques et al. 2013). […].
- Summer aggregations of the common eagle ray, Myliobatis aquilaPublication . Afonso, Pedro; Rodrigues, Nuno V.The aggregation of multiple individuals is a long known behaviour in a variety of elasmobranchs, including reef sharks (Speed et al. 2011), hammerhead sharks (Klimley & Nelson 1984), whale sharks (Hoffmayer et al. 2007), devilrays (Ward-Page et al. 2013; Sobral & Afonso 2014), stingrays (Semeniuk & Rotley 2008), eagle rays (Silliman & Gruber 1999) and cownose rays (Smith et al. 1987). Various functions have been hypothesised to explain these aggregations, including feeding (e.g. Wilson et al. 2001; Rohner et al. 2013), courtship or mating (Whitney et al. 2004; Dudgeon et al. 2008), and cleaning stations (Dewar et al. 2008). However, apart from the obvious cases whenever individuals directly engage in reproductive activities, the social functions that these aggregations might serve are not understood or even described. […].