Checklist of Benthic Cnidaria in the SW Atlantic Ocean (54ºS-56ºS).

In this study we provide an updated checklist of benthic Cnidaria from SW Atlantic Ocean that comprised the Marine Protected Areas Namuncurá I and II, located at Burdwood bank, and other neighbouring locations. A total of 88 taxa was recorded: 36 hydrozoans and 52 anthozoans from which 32 were octocorals, 10 scleractinian corals, 8 sea anemones and 2 zoanthids. Burdwood bank presented the highest richness considering that 87% of the recorded species inhabit this plateau or its slope. Besides some common species widely distributed in the studied sub-areas, at least 24 species represent new distributional records while few were exclusively recorded at Burdwood bank. The inventory here provided will help to identify key habitat-forming species in a complex habitat where marine animal forests and vulnerable marine ecosystems were previously detected. It will be also a very valuable tool for the management and monitoring of the sub-areas under protection.

Avoiding being dragged away: finding egg cases of Schroederichthys bivius (Chondrichthyes: Scyliorhinidae) associated with benthic invertebrates.

Egg cases of the narrowmouthed catshark Schroederichthys bivius were recorded entangled with sponges, corals and tubeworms at different sites in the south-west Atlantic Ocean. This work sheds light on the importance of benthic invertebrates in the life cycle of oviparous chondrichthyan species.