ARQ - LMS - Número 27
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Artigos publicados no Número 27 - 2010
CONTENTS:
SERRANO, Artur R.M. & Paulo A.V. Borges - The cave-adapted arthropod fauna from Madeira archipelago.WALLENSTEIN, Francisco M., S. D. Peres, E. D. Xavier & A. I. Neto - Phytobenthic communities of intertidal rock pools in the eastern islands of Azores and their relation to position on shore and pool morphology.
RIERA, Rodrigo, Jorge Núñez & María del Carmen Brito - Check-list of interstitial polychaetes from intertidal and shallow subtidal soft bottoms of Tenerife, Canary Islands.
PHAM, Christopher K. & Eduardo Isidro - Experimental harvesting of juvenile common octopus Octopus vulgaris,for commercial ongrowing in the Azores.
FAUSTINO, Cláudia E. S., M. A. Silva, T. A.Marques & L. Thomas - Designing a shipboard line transect survey to estimate cetacean abundance off the Azores archipelago.
LINO, Sílvia P. P., Euclides Gonçalves & Jacquie Cozens - The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) on Sal Island, Cape Verde: nesting activity and beach surveillance in 2009.
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS:
ROHÁČEK, Jindřich & Jaroslav Starý - First records of some species of Diptera (Insecta) from the Azores.WIRTZ, Peter & Sammy De Grave - Shrimps (Crustacea, Decapoda, Caridea) associated with gorgonians at the coast of Senegal.
BARREIROS, João P., R. B. Elias, J. Lourenço, E. Dias & P. Borges - First records of Tarentola mauritanica (Linnaeus, 1758) (Reptilia; Gekkonidae) in the Azores.
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- First records of Tarentola mauritanica (Linnaeus, 1758) (Reptilia; Gekkonidae) in the AzoresPublication . Barreiros, João P.; Elias, Rui B.; Lourenço, Joana; Dias, Eduardo; Borges, Paulo A. V.The Moorish gecko Tarentola mauritanica (Linnaeus, 1758) is a widespread species native to the Mediterranean region from southern France to Greece and northern Africa (Loveridge 1947; Martínez-Rica 1997; Hódar 2002; Perera et al. 2008, 2010; Plezeguelos et al. 2008). It has recently been reported as living and breeding in California (Marhdt 1998) and also as an introduced species in Madeira (Báez & Biscoito 1993). Tarentola mauritanica is paraphyletic with respect to T. angustimentalis Steindachner, 1891, a Canary Islands endemic (Harris et al. 2004a). Here we report new occurrences of the Moorish gecko on Terceira Island, Azores archipelago, and 3 other occurrences on the islands of São Miguel and Faial. The possibility of an already established breeding population is discussed.
- Shrimps (Crustacea, Decapoda, Caridea) associated with gorgonians at the coast of SenegalPublication . Wirtz, Peter; Grave, Sammy deSymbioses are common in the marine environment. Some taxa appear to be particularly prone to be involved in associations. Crustaceans probably form more associations with other classes than any other marine animals (Ross 1983), crustacean – cnidarian associations being particularly common (Patton 1967). Gorgonianassociated decapods have been described from both sides of the Atlantic (e.g. Spotte et al. 1994, 1995, Wirtz & d´Udekem d´Acoz 2001, Wirtz et al. 2009). Gorgonians were therefore searched for associated decapods during three dives in the area of NGor, Senegal, i.e. at the western tip of Africa.
- First records of some species of Diptera (Insecta) from the AzoresPublication . Roháček, Jindřich; Starý, JaroslavDuring a collecting trip undertaken by J. Roháček and M. Vála in the São Miguel Island (Azores) in August and September 2006, mainly devoted to acalyptrate flies, three distinctive species of Diptera were found, two of which proved to be hitherto unrecorded from the Azorean archipelago. These additions to the regional fauna are presented below with a discussion of their origin. The voucher specimens of the species recorded below are deposited in the following collections: JSO – collection of J. Starý, Olomouc, Czech Republic, SMOC – Silesian Museum, Opava, Czech Republic, ZMAN – Zoological Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) on Sal Island, Cape Verde : nesting activity and beach surveillance in 2009Publication . Lino, Sílvia P. P.; Gonçalves, Euclides; Cozens, JacquieSurveys for Caretta caretta nesting activities were performed during the nesting seasons from the middle of June to end of October 2009 on Sal Island, Cape Verde. A total of 3628 activities were registered: 1071 nests, 2466 turtle tracks and 91 dead turtles. On nesting beaches still used by locals to catch female turtles for their meat, nightly patrols from 9 pm to 5 am resulted in a significant reduction in turtle mortality in comparison to non patrolled beaches. On beaches regularly patrolled, an increment of nests per km was also observed which allows us to conclude that the presence of trained Rangers does not disturb the turtles or interrupt the nesting process.
- Designing a shipboard line transect survey to estimate cetacean abundance off the Azores archipelagoPublication . Faustino, Cláudia E. S.; Silva, Mónica A.; Marques, Tiago A.; Thomas, LenManagement schemes dedicated to the conservation of wildlife populations rely on the effective monitoring of population size, and this may require the accurate and precise estimation of this parameter. Line transect distance sampling can be an effective approach for estimating abundance. Little information is available regarding cetacean abundance in the Azores. This paper had two aims: 1) to design a line transect shipboard survey to estimate the absolute abundance of the most common cetaceans off the Azores; and 2) to provide a set of potential survey effort scenarios to policy makers and environmental managers. Three survey scenarios are assessed, and one detailed survey design is presented. A total of 8,800 km of survey effort is recommended; at this level the expected coefficient of variation of estimates is less than 0.3 for most species. However, if logistic constraints prevent this, at least 5,000 km of survey effort should be used to achieve minimum sample size requirements; this is estimated to take 36 days of effort. It is also recommended to conduct a pilot survey. This would provide more detailed information that could be used to improve the survey design of what would be the first survey of this magnitude ever to be implemented in the Azores.
- Experimental harvesting of juvenile common octopus Octopus vulgaris, for commercial ongrowing in the AzoresPublication . Pham, Christopher K.; Isidro, EduardoOctopus aquaculture is currently restricted to ongrowing of sub-adult to commercial size because culture of paralarvae remains a bottleneck. In most countries, commercial ongrowing rely upon existing pot fisheries for octopuses for obtaining their specimens. In the Azores, such fishery does not exist and effective methods of harvest are required if farming is to be implemented. In this study, we investigated the potential of obtaining subadult octopuses on the coast of Faial Island, Azores. Two sets of traps (n=30) consisting of 3 PVC tubes within cement blocks were set-up on two different substrates; soft sediment (Pedro Miguel) and rocky-sand (Pasteleiro) at depth varying between 10 and 30 metres. From June to August 2006, 11 hauls per site were performed. A total of 191 octopuses (from 1.1 to 989 g; average = 135.3 g) were captured. Catches in the soft sediment site were significantly higher than in the other location (CPUE: mean ± SD: 0.33 ± 0.17 vs. 0.15 ± 0.17 octopus trap-1 hour-1*100). The catch was initially dominated by octopus of 300-400 g but as fishing continued, this size classes disappeared and was replaced by smaller individuals. As a result, half of the catch at both sites (51.8%) was composed of specimens with a weight equal or inferior to 50 grams. The occurrence of summer recruitment event combined with a natural displacement of larger individuals into deeper waters is most probably responsible for this pattern. Our results showed that in shallow water and during this period of the year, individuals inferior to 50 grams are far more abundant than larger octopuses and should be the target size class for ongrowing activities.
- Check-list of interstitial polychaetes from intertidal and shallow subtidal soft bottoms of Tenerife, Canary IslandsPublication . Riera, Rodrigo; Núñez, Jorge; Carmen Brito, María delA check-list of polychaete species from two stations on the south coast of Tenerife (Los Abrigos and Los Cristianos) at two different tidal levels, intertidal and shallow subtidal (3 m depth) is presented. A total of 47 species were collected, the hesionid Microphthalmus pseudoaberrans Campoy & Viéitez, 1982 and the spionids Rhynchospio glutaea (Ehlers, 1897) and Spio filicornis (O.F. Müller, 1776) being the most abundant. With 18 species the family Syllidae is the most diverse, followed by the Spionidae and Paraonidae with 6 and 5 species, respectively. The interstitial polychaetes found are represented by both meiofaunalsized and small-sized macrofaunal species.
- Phytobenthic communities of intertidal rock pools in the eastern islands of Azores and their relation to position on shore and pool morphologyPublication . Wallenstein, Francisco; Peres, Sara D.; Xavier, Emanuel D.; Neto, Ana I.This study aimed to characterize algal composition inside rock-pools from two islands of the Azores archipelago (São Miguel and Santa Maria) and relate it to shore height and pool morphology. Pools were categorized as upper, medium and lower intertidal according to the surrounding communities. Maximum depth and surface area were used to reflect morphology and qualitative sampling to evaluate algal species richness. PRIMER software assessed the similarity across islands, sites, shore heights and pool morphology. Eighty eight algal taxa were identified in pools from São Miguel and 52 from Santa Maria. Rhodophycean species dominated rock-pool flora on both islands. Differences were found across islands and sites. Higher species richness was observed at medium intertidal pools. Algae composition was not affected by shore height in pools from Santa Maria. São Miguel’s medium and lower pools were grouped separately from upper ones. Pool morphology did not influence significantly the algae composition.
- The cave‐adapted arthropod fauna from Madeira archipelagoPublication . Serrano, Artur R. M.; Borges, Paulo A. V.This work provides an overview of the hypogean fauna from the Madeira archipelago, presenting a list of obligated cave-dwelling species. A total of 6 troglobiont species in 5 orders have been described to date. The cave fauna in Madeira can be considered poor when compared with either the local epigean fauna or the cave fauna of other Macaronesian archipelagos. Curious is the occurrence of one wood-louse cave species (Trichoniscus bassoti), which apparently is the only troglobite living in more than one Macaronesian archipelago (Canaries and Madeira). Major problems related to the conservation of cave fauna are discussed, but it is clear that the protection of this specialized fauna requires the adequate management of surface habitats.