First record of the great barracuda, Sphyraena barracuda (Perciformes, Sphyraenidae), in the Azores, north-east Atlantic.

One individual of Sphyraena barracuda was collected on August 5, 2023, in the northern coast of Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal, by spearfishing. In this note, we report this first record and discuss the occurrence, which represents the northernmost one in the north-east Atlantic.

Nonfatal, Nonpredatory Jaguar Attacks in Brazil: A Case Series.

The jaguar, Panthera onca (Linnaeus, 1758), is the biggest felid in the Americas. Its range extends from the southwestern United States to northern Argentina. Herein, we present 5 nonfatal jaguar attacks that occurred in Brazil between March 2010 and November 2021. Most of the cases occurred when the victim encountered a jaguar guarding its food or cubs or devouring prey; none appeared to be the result of predatory behavior.

Testing a global standard for quantifying species recovery and assessing conservation impact.

Recognizing the imperative to evaluate species recovery and conservation impact, in 2012 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) called for development of a "Green List of Species" (now the IUCN Green Status of Species). A draft Green Status framework for assessing species' progress toward recovery, published in 2018, proposed 2 separate but interlinked components: a standardized method (i.e., measurement against benchmarks of species' viability, functionality, and preimpact distribution) to determine current species recovery status (herein species recovery score) and application of that method to estimate past and potential future impacts of conservation based on 4 metrics (conservation legacy, conservation dependence, conservation gain, and recovery potential). We tested the framework with 181 species representing diverse taxa, life histories, biomes, and IUCN Red List categories (extinction risk). Based on the observed distribution of species' recovery scores, we propose the following species recovery categories: fully recovered, slightly depleted, moderately depleted, largely depleted, critically depleted, extinct in the wild, and indeterminate. Fifty-nine percent of tested species were considered largely or critically depleted. Although there was a negative relationship between extinction risk and species recovery score, variation was considerable. Some species in lower risk categories were assessed as farther from recovery than those at higher risk. This emphasizes that species recovery is conceptually different from extinction risk and reinforces the utility of the IUCN Green Status of Species to more fully understand species conservation status. Although extinction risk did not predict conservation legacy, conservation dependence, or conservation gain, it was positively correlated with recovery potential. Only 1.7% of tested species were categorized as zero across all 4 of these conservation impact metrics, indicating that conservation has, or will, play a role in improving or maintaining species status for the vast majority of these species. Based on our results, we devised an updated assessment framework that introduces the option of using a dynamic baseline to assess future impacts of conservation over the short term to avoid misleading results which were generated in a small number of cases, and redefines short term as 10 years to better align with conservation planning. These changes are reflected in the IUCN Green Status of Species Standard.

RESUMEN: Reconociendo que era imperativo evaluar la recuperación de especies y el impacto de la conservación, la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (UICN) convocó en 2012 al desarrollo de una "Lista Verde de Especies" (ahora el Estatus Verde de las Especies de la UICN). Un marco de referencia preliminar de una Lista Verde de Especies para evaluar el progreso de las especies hacia la recuperación, publicado en 2018, proponía 2 componentes separados pero interconectados: un método estandarizado (i.e., medición en relación con puntos de referencia de la viabilidad de especies, funcionalidad y distribución antes del impacto) para determinar el estatus de recuperación actual (puntuación de recuperación de la especie) y la aplicación de ese método para estimar impactos en el pasado y potenciales de conservación basados en 4 medidas (legado de conservación, dependencia de conservación, ganancia de conservación y potencial de recuperación). Probamos el marco de referencia con 181 especies representantes de diversos taxa, historias de vida, biomas, y categorías (riesgo de extinción) en la Lista Roja de la IUCN. Con base en la distribución observada de la puntuación de recuperación de las especies, proponemos las siguientes categorías de recuperación de la especie: totalmente recuperada, ligeramente mermada, moderadamente mermada, mayormente mermada, gravemente mermada, extinta en estado silvestre, e inderterminada. Cincuenta y nueve por ciento de las especies se consideraron mayormente o gravemente mermada. Aunque hubo una relación negativa entre el riesgo de extinción y la puntuación de recuperación de la especie, la variación fue considerable. Algunas especies en las categorías de riesgo bajas fueron evaluadas como más lejos de recuperarse que aquellas con alto riesgo. Esto enfatiza que la recuperación de especies es diferente conceptualmente al riesgo de extinción y refuerza la utilidad del Estado Verde de las Especies de la UICN para comprender integralmente el estatus de conservación de especies. Aunque el riesgo de extinción no predijo el legado de conservación, la dependencia de conservación o la ganancia de conservación, se correlacionó positivamente con la potencial de recuperación. Solo 1.7% de las especies probadas fue categorizado como cero en los 4 indicadores de impacto de la conservación, lo que indica que la conservación ha jugado, o jugará, un papel en la mejoría o mantenimiento del estatus de la especie la gran mayoría de ellas. Con base en nuestros resultados, diseñamos una versión actualizada del marco de referencia para la evaluación que introduce la opción de utilizar una línea de base dinámica para evaluar los impactos futuros de la conservación en el corto plazo y redefine corto plazo como 10 años.

Population expansion of the invasive Pomacentridae Chromis limbata (Valenciennes, 1833) in southern Brazilian coast: long-term monitoring, fundamental niche availability and new records.

Human-mediated species invasions are recognized as a leading cause of global biotic homogenization and extinction. Studies on colonization events since early stages, establishment of new populations and range extension are scarce because of their rarity, difficult detection and monitoring. Chromis limbata is a reef-associated and non-migratory marine fish from the family Pomacentridae found in depths ranging between 3 and 45 m. The original distribution of the species encompassed exclusively the eastern Atlantic, including the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. It is also commonly reported from West Africa between Senegal and Pointe Noire, Congo. In 2008, vagrant individuals of C. limbata were recorded off the east coast of Santa Catarina Island, South Brazil (27° 41' 44″ S, 48° 27' 53″ W). This study evaluated the increasing densities of C. limbata populations in Santa Catarina State shoreline. Two recent expansions, northwards to São Paulo State and southwards to Rio Grande do Sul State, are discussed, and a niche model of maximum entropy (MaxEnt) was performed to evaluate suitable C. limbata habitats. Brazilian populations are established and significantly increasing in most sites where the species has been detected. The distributional boundaries predicted by the model are clearly wider than their known range of occurrence, evidencing environmental suitability in both hemispheres from areas where the species still does not occur. Ecological processes such as competition, predation and specially habitat selectivity may regulate their populations and overall distribution range. A long-term monitoring programme and population genetics studies are necessary for a better understanding of this invasion and its consequences to natural communities.

Manual asymmetry in older adults on a complex coincidence-anticipation task.

Age-related asymmetrical functional decline was tested in a sample of 57 right-handed volunteers between 65 and 85 years of age. Participants performed a complex coincidence-anticipation (CA) task with both preferred and non-preferred hands. Results demonstrated that the proficiency of a complex CA task was similar for the 2 age groups, but different for the 2 hands. The non-preferred hand was more proficient for temporal accuracy but not for response timing, which was similar for both hands. Moreover, the lack of interaction between age and hand both in response timing and response accuracy reveal symmetric performance across ages.

Development and characterization of 20 polymorphic microsatellite markers for Epinephelus marginatus (Lowe, 1834) (Perciformes: Epinephelidae) using 454 pyrosequencing.

The dusky grouper, Epinephelus marginatus, is a well-known and widespread marine fish assessed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Analyzing the genetic diversity of this species is, therefore, of utmost importance and necessary for conservation purposes. Microsatellites are molecular tools with advantages that are ideal for population analyses. This study provides the first set of species-specific microsatellite loci for E. marginatus that can be applied when assessing both intra- and interpopulation genetic variation. Twenty microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized for the dusky grouper by genotyping 20 individuals obtained from the North Eastern Atlantic Ocean (n = 4) and from the South Western Atlantic Ocean (n = 16). The number of alleles per locus varied from 2 to 11, while the observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.25 to 0.94 and 0.34 to 0.89, respectively. The polymorphic information content varied from moderately to highly informative. This suite of markers provides the first specific nuclear tools for E. marginatus and, thus, allows to assess with more specificity different populations' structures.

Fake spawns and floating particles: a rebuttal of Karkarey et al. "Alternative reproductive tactics and inverse size-assortment in a high-density fish spawning aggregation".

Courtship and spawning behaviors of coral reef fishes are very complex, and sufficient sampling effort and proper methods are required to draw informed conclusions on their mating systems that are grounded in contemporary theories of mate choice and sexual selection. We reviewed the recent study by Karkarey et al. (BMC Ecol 17:10, 2017) on the spawning behavior of Squaretail coralgrouper (Plectropomus areolatus) from India and found no evidence to support their findings of alternative reproductive tactics, unique school-spawning involving a single male with multiple females, or inverse size-assortment. The study lacks scientific credibility due to a lack of rigor in the methodology used, misinterpretation of observed behaviors, misinterpretation of the literature, and insufficient data. Their approach led the authors to produce spurious results and profound, invalid conclusions that violate the most basic assumptions of mate choice and sexual selection theory as applied to mating systems in marine fishes.

Lateral manual asymmetries: a longitudinal study from birth to 24 months.

Longitudinal studies tracking the early development of manual asymmetries are fairly rare compared to the large number of studies assessing hand preference in infancy. Moreover, most prior longitudinal studies have performed behavioral observation over relatively short-time spans considering the celerity of early development. This study aims (i) to investigate the direction and consistency of manual lateral asymmetries over a longer period, from birth to 24 months of age, and (ii) to compare individual and group trajectories to better understand discrepancies between prior studies. Nineteen healthy infants were observed eight times in tasks that were adjusted progressively as infants manual skills developed. Results suggested two distinct periods in terms of the direction, strength, and consistency of manual preference. First, infants went through an initial phase characterized by a lack of lateral manual asymmetries. From 9 months of age, however, group analyses revealed an emerging and steadily growing right lateral bias over time, while individual trajectories revealed that the group-level right-bias formed progressively from a background of highly fluctuating and highly variable developmental trajectories.

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Portuguese version of the Parental Supervision Attributes Profile Questionnaire.

OBJECTIVES: To cross-culturally adapt and validate the Portuguese version of the Parental Supervision Attributes Profile Questionnaire (PSAPQ). The PSAPQ is a measure of parental supervision, which has not been translated and adapted into any language other than English. METHODS: The Portuguese version was the result of forward/backward translations, consensus panels and pretesting. Reliability and internal consistency were assessed using Cronbach's α, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in adults with different educational levels. RESULTS: Cronbach's α (α=0.70-0.79) and ICC (>0.75) were acceptable in three of four factors. The results of CFA (χ(2)/df=2.243; CFI=0.951; GFI=0.96; RMSEA=0.056; P(RMSEA ≤ 0.05)=0.222) suggest a good adjustment between the factors. CONCLUSIONS: The Portuguese version of PSAPQ showed acceptable psychometric properties. This study evidenced some vulnerabilities of the fate subscale, emphasising the need for further investigation of the effects of the educational level of the parents.

Influence of age, sex and somatic variables on the motor performance of pre-school children.

BACKGROUND: Biological factors can affect the motor development process of children. However, the magnitude of these effects throughout the developmental process remains fairly unknown. AIM: To determine the influence of age, sex and selected somatic measures on the motor performance of pre-school children. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Three hundred and sixty-seven pre-schoolers (172 boys and 195 girls), aged from 3-5 years old, were recruited from 10 public pre-schools located in the district of Viana do Castelo, Portugal. The children's motor performance was assessed by five motor sub-tests of Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2: grasping, visuo-motor integration, stationary, locomotion and object manipulation sub-tests. Age, sex, height, weight and BMI were considered as hypothetical predictors of motor performance. Pearson's correlation test and multiple linear regression analysis were used to explore the magnitude of the relationship between motor sub-tests and the hypothetical predictors. RESULTS: Depending on the motor sub-test and age group, the models predicted motor performance from a minimum of 3.6% to a maximum of 34.4%. Age in months and sex stood out as the main predictors of motor performance. CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between motor performance and selected biological factors varied with age and with the specificity of the motor test.

Sea turtle (Reptilia, Testudines) diversity and occurrence in the Azores Archipelago (NE Atlantic).

Background: Six species of marine turtles occur in the Azores Archipelago. The loggerhead, Carettacaretta (Linnaeus, 1758), is by far the most common species and is being constantly monitored and tagged by a joint project between the University of the Azores and the University of Florida since 1989. With the implementation of the tuna fishery observers (for dolphin safe seals), an increment of sea turtle reports has been verified as expected. The leather back turtle, Dermochelyscoriacea (Vandelli, 1761) is the second most observed species in the Azores' EEZ, a fact probably also linked to the tuna fishery observation programme. All other species are occasional/vagrant albeit the green turtle, Cheloniamydas (Linnaeus, 1758) is more commonly seen than the others. Historically, sea turtles were occasionally taken for food in specific fishing villages and ports. Since 1986, sea turtles, as well as all marine mammals, are fully protected in the Azores although human-related activities (e.g. plastics, discarded fishing gear) do generate serious injuries and deaths. New information: In this paper, we update sea turtle species' checklist for the Azores and give detailed geographic coordinates on their known occurrences.

Perceiving children's behavior and reaching limits in a risk environment.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of parents' perception of children's reaching limits in a risk scenario. A sample of 68 parents of 1- to 4-year-olds were asked to make a prior estimate of their children's behavior and action limits in a task that involved retrieving a toy out of the water. The action modes used for reaching, accuracy of estimates, and error tendency were investigated. Several morphological variables, walking experience, and swimming program experience were analyzed as predictors of maximum and estimated maximum reachability. Most children sat to retrieve the toy out of the water and fell in while attempting to grasp beyond their reaching limit. Nearly 80% of the parents correctly predicted their children's behavior when the toy was unreachable. Parents were cautious in predicting their children's maximum reachability (>50% underestimates). Mothers were more accurate than fathers in estimating their children's reaching limit. The prediction of children's capabilities was based partially on body dimensions and proportions.

Perceiving affordances in rugby union.

To succeed in competitive environments, players need to continuously adjust their decisions and actions to the behaviour of relevant others. Players' interactions demand ongoing decisions that are constrained by what is previously defined (e.g., coaches' prescriptions that establish 'what' to do) and by information that is available in the context and specifies not only 'what' the player should do, but also 'how', 'when' and 'where'. We describe what affordances emerge to the ball carrier as a consequence of changes in kinematic variables, such as interpersonal distances or distances to the nearest sideline. Changes in these variables determine whether and when different actions are possible. The ball carrier tended to perform a pass when the tackler was farthest from the sideline and the velocity of approach to the tackler did not seem to effect the ball carrier's decision. In the few episodes where the ball carrier moved forward instead of passing the ball, he was mainly influenced by contextual information, such as the variability of the players' distance to the nearest sideline. In sum, actors must be aware of the affordances of others that are specified by particular variables that become available just before decision-making.

Pinniped (Carnivora, Phocidae) occurrences in the Azores Archipelago (NE Atlantic).

Background: The last Pinniped species update was in 2010, as part of the list of the terrestrial and marine biota from the Azores. This list includes a chapter dedicated to marine mammals, based on previously published bibliography. New information: No new species were added since that list was publlished. However, there were new occurrences since the last update.

Updated checklist of Azores Actinopterygii (Gnathostomata: Osteichthyes).

BACKGROUND: Since the first published comprehensive checklist of Azorean fishes - covering the whole Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) region - several new records have been published and an updated checklist published in 2010. This new dataset covers all confirmed species of actinopterygians for the Azorean EEZ. NEW INFORMATION: In this update, we made corrections to the previous checklists, updated the taxonomy according to the most recent bibliography and added two new species to the Azorean Actinopterygii checklist.

Updated checklist of Azores Chondrichthyes (Vertebrata: Gnathostomata).

Background: Several lists of marine fish from Azores have been published in the past. Most of those publications are difficult to access on line and several were not published in peer-reviewed journals. New information: This checklist updates all the chondrichthyan records for the Azores Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), according to the most recent taxonomic classification of cartilaginous fish, as well as providing information on the conservation status for all species. We also present recent literature data on rare species and recent records for Azores. This is the first comprehensive list of cartilaginous fishes from Azores to be published in the GBIF database.

Manual asymmetry in a complex coincidence-anticipation task: handedness and gender effects.

This study investigated the effects of handedness and gender on manual asymmetry in the performance of a complex coincidence-anticipation task. Left-handed (N=63) and right-handed (N=93) undergraduate students (78 males, 78 females) were required to press six buttons sequentially in conjunction with visual stimulation provided by a coincidence-anticipation apparatus. Participants were further separated into subgroups based on the degree of hand preference. Timing accuracy (AE, CE, VE) and timing response (IT, MT, AT) were analysed. Results showed that, concerning accuracy, (i) strong left-handers were more accurate than the other groups; (ii) performance with the preferred hand was superior to that of the non-preferred hand; and (iii) males outperformed females. Concerning timing response, (i) the preferred hand was faster than the non-preferred hand for movement time and (ii) males were faster in initiating the movement than females. These findings indicate that coincidence-anticipation competence appears to be influenced by hand preference, performing hand, and gender. In addition, findings are discussed in the framework of the hemispheric functional lateralisation for the planning and organisation of movement execution.

Biota from the coastal wetlands of Praia da Vitória (Terceira, Azores, Portugal): Part 3 - Birds.

BACKGROUND: The data presented here come from field observations of Aves between August 2013 and October 2018 as part of a LIFE research project aiming to preserve and restore three coastal wetlands from Praia da Vitória (Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal). Systematic monthly observations were carried out for five years in order to provide a checklist and monitoring of bird species and subspecies observed in three sites: Paul da Praia da Vitória (PPV), Paul do Belo Jardim (PBJ) and Paul da Pedreira do Cabo da Praia (PPCP). Main objectives were to determine their ornithological richness while also adding data to the overall knowledge of Azorean Avifauna and to monitor seasonal and between-year variation on species abundance. NEW INFORMATION: During a five-year observation period (2013-2018), a total of 82,985 birds belonging to 108 species/subspecies were observed. From this, 16,663 were in PPV, 11,793 from PBJ and 54,529 from PPCP. The total richness was 55, 40 and 85, respectively. Three species are first records for the Azores: Aythya americana (Eyton, 1838); Chlidonias leucopterus (Temminck, 1815) and Tringa brevipes (Vieillot, 1816). One species is a new record for Terceira Island: Lophodytes cucullatus (Linnaeus, 1758).