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Preprints

Filtering by Subject: Marine Biology

Body condition as a shared response to environment in a commercially important demersal fish assemblage

Philina English, Sean C. Anderson, Robyn E. Forrest

Published: 2025-06-28
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Marine Biology

Measures of an organism's weight at a given length are often considered reliable indicators of energy reserves or `condition', which can be related to fecundity and risk of mortality. Understanding the impact of environmental change on fish condition may therefore be critical for sustainable management of human activities in marine ecosystems. We investigated how changes in Canadian Pacific [...]

The role of osmorespiratory compromise in metabolism and hypoxia tolerance of a purportedly oxyconforming teleost

Timothy D Clark, Luis L Kuchenmüller, Elizabeth C Hoots, et al.

Published: 2025-06-26
Subjects: Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Physiology, Zoology

Fish must manage the competing demands of ion balance and gas exchange across the gills – a physiological tension known as the osmorespiratory compromise. In dynamic estuarine environments, the osmorespiratory compromise may be exacerbated by variable salinity and periods of hypoxia that demand high respiratory work. This study examined whether exposure to isosmotic conditions (9 ppt) lowers [...]

Macroalgae morphological complexity affects the functional diversity of epifaunal annelid assemblages

Samuel Delgado Mendes, Nykon Craveiro, Paulo Cesar de Paiva, et al.

Published: 2025-06-17
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Marine Biology

Host structural complexity influences the diversity of associated epifaunal species, but its role in shaping functional trait diversity remains underexplored. We developed a trait-based framework to assess whether macroalgal structural complexity significantly influences the functional assembly of marine annelid epifauna in a sandstone reef system at Enseada dos Corais Beach (NE Brazil). Sampling [...]

Enhancing motivation to learn about the ocean through VR underwater field skills in a Higher Education setting

Sally Anne Keith, Laura-Li Jeannot, Emma McKinley, et al.

Published: 2025-06-16
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences, Psychology, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly recognised as a tool for enhancing engagement and motivation in education. This is particularly true where access to experiential learning is limited, as is often the case in marine ecology courses. However, evaluations of the effectiveness of VR as a teaching and learning tool in higher education is limited. Here, we use the Explore experience developed by [...]

Elevating the importance of Risk of Bias assessment for ecology and evolution

Antica Culina, Dugald Foster, Matthew Grainger, et al.

Published: 2025-06-16
Subjects: Agriculture, Animal Sciences, Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Microbiology, Plant Sciences, Research Methods in Life Sciences

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are key evidence synthesis methods informing research and policy. An assessment of the Risk of Bias (RoB) in included studies is normally considered an essential component of these. However, RoB assessment is rare in ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB), and tools from other fields are seldom adopted. To identify reasons for this limited uptake, we surveyed [...]

Oxygen supersaturation has negligible effects on warming tolerance in aquatic ectotherms

Graham D Raby, Jeremy De Bonville, Leroy Reynolds, et al.

Published: 2025-05-15
Subjects: Aquaculture and Fisheries Life Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Marine Biology

Under the midday sun when photosynthesizers are producing oxygen, shallow aquatic ecosystems can become supersaturated with oxygen (>100% air saturation) while they simultaneously peak in water temperature. It has been suggested that oxygen supersaturation could protect water-breathing animals from mortality during heatwaves because of the potential role of oxygen in governing thermal [...]

Global population delineations and conservation status for marine turtles: tools, methods, and guidance

Bryan P Wallace, Federico Alberto Abreu-Grobois, Peter H Dutton, et al.

Published: 2025-05-14
Subjects: Marine Biology, Other Life Sciences, Population Biology

Removing dead coral after marine heatwaves can mitigate coral-algae competition and increase viable coral recruitment

Kai Kopecky, Gaia Pavoni, Massimiliano Corsini, et al.

Published: 2025-05-07
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Marine Biology

Ecological disturbance regimes are shifting and leaving behind novel legacies, like the remnant structures of dead foundation species, which have poorly known impacts on ecosystem resilience. We explored how dead coral skeletons produced by marine heatwaves–material legacies of increasingly common disturbances on coral reefs–influence spatial competition between corals and macroalgae, focusing on [...]

Slithering Sentinels: assessing the relevance of sea snakes as bioindicators for monitoring New Caledonia's Lagoon

David Hudry

Published: 2025-04-30
Subjects: Biology, Marine Biology

Coral reefs are vital ecosystems, rich in biodiversity and economically significant. However, they face severe threats from human activities such as climate change, pollution, and overfishing. Large-scale monitoring is crucial for their conservation. Integrative bioindicators are needed to better assess their health. Marine snakes, as high-level predators with strong site fidelity, are excellent [...]

Seasonal upwelling and depth-driven gradients foster functional overdispersion in Southwestern Atlantic annelid assemblages

Samuel Delgado Mendes, Paulo Cesar de Paiva, Rodolfo Leandro Nascimento

Published: 2025-04-28
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Marine Biology

Marine communities on continental shelves form through a combination of environmental filtering, biotic interaction, and dispersal-based processes. These shelves present depth-related environmental gradients from nearshore and seasonal upwelling systems, which periodically supply cold, dispersalenhancing, nutrient-rich waters, providing an ideal setting to explore spatiotemporal [...]

Seeking to quantify contributions that fisheries operations can make to a global Nature Positive goal

Stefanía Ásta Karlsdóttir, Hollie Booth, Tim Davies, et al.

Published: 2025-04-25
Subjects: Biodiversity, Marine Biology

Amidst global efforts to address biodiversity loss, the concept of ‘Nature Positive’ has gained traction as a societal goal aligned with the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). While the goal is increasingly being embraced by businesses and governments, there has been little investigation into how fisheries, a key sector in the global economy and a major driver of marine biodiversity loss, could [...]

The case for octopus sentience: a follow-up to Simone’s “Are octopuses sentient beings?”

Michaella Pereira Andrade, Charles MD Santos

Published: 2025-04-24
Subjects: Life Sciences, Marine Biology

Recently, a paper published in a Brazilian malacology online journal argued against the existence of sentience in octopuses based on disputable arguments – the presence of cannibalistic behavior, absence of sociality and parental care, short lives, size and complexity of the nervous system and intelligence. This response discusses a different perspective on the issue of octopus sentience, [...]

The impact of the rhizocephalan parasitic barnacle on its host crab through non-consumptive effects

Asami Kajimoto, Kenji Toyota, Yoichi Yusa

Published: 2025-04-21
Subjects: Marine Biology

Parasites can significantly influence ecological communities by altering host traits. Rhizocephalans, a group closely related to thoracican barnacles within Cirripedia, are common in marine ecosystems and profoundly impact their hosts, most notably by inducing reproductive castration. However, their influence on other host traits, particularly those related to predator defense, remains [...]

Vibrissae length as a morphological proxy for foraging behaviour in pinnipeds

Svenja Stoehr, Alexandra Childs, Oliver Krüger, et al.

Published: 2025-03-31
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Marine Biology

Foraging behavior is a key driver of ecological and evolutionary processes, with individual specialization shaping how populations respond to environmental change. Polymorphisms in foraging strategies can both enhance and limit behavioral flexibility at the population level, making it crucial to study individual variation. However, studying foraging is notoriously difficult, and while biologging [...]

Seasonal dynamics of epifaunal communities on the Sargassum beds of the coast of Noto Peninsula, Japan

Keito Tsunoda, Yukimasa Higashide, Shouzo Ogiso, et al.

Published: 2025-03-21
Subjects: Marine Biology

Epifaunal communities inhabiting seaweeds are key components of temperate rocky reef ecosystems, playing vital roles in nutrient cycling and biodiversity maintenance. However, limited research has addressed their seasonal dynamics in the semi-enclosed Sea of Japan. This study examined the seasonal changes in epifaunal communities associated with two dominant brown algae, Sargassum macrocarpum and [...]

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