Systematics and character evolution of capitate hydrozoans.

Capitate hydrozoans are a morphologically and ecologically diverse hydrozoan suborder, currently including about 200 species. Being grouped in two clades, Corynida and Zancleida, these hydrozoans still show a number of taxonomic uncertainties at the species, genus and family levels. Many Capitata species established symbiotic relationships with other benthic organisms, including bryozoans, other cnidarians, molluscs and poriferans, as well as with planktonic dinoflagellates for mixotrophic relationships and with bacteria for thiotrophic ectosymbioses. Our study aimed at providing an updated and comprehensive phylogeny reconstruction of the suborder, at modelling the evolution of selected morphological and ecological characters, and at testing evolutionary relationships between the symbiotic lifestyle and the other characters, by integrating taxonomic, ecological and evolutionary data. The phylogenetic hypotheses here presented shed light on the evolutionary relationships within Capitata, with most families and genera being recovered as monophyletic. The genus Zanclea and family Zancleidae, however, were divided into four divergent clades, requiring the establishment of the new genus Apatizanclea and the new combinations for species in Zanclea and Halocoryne genera. The ancestral state reconstructions revealed that symbiosis arose multiple times in the evolutionary history of the Capitata, and that homoplasy is a common phenomenon in the group. Correlations were found between the evolution of symbiosis and morphological characters, such as the perisarc. Overall, our results highlighted that the use of genetic data and a complete knowledge of the life cycles are strongly needed to disentangle taxonomic and systematic issues in capitate hydrozoans. Finally, the colonization of tropical habitat appears to have influenced the evolution of a symbiotic lifestyle, playing important roles in the evolution of the group.

DNA metabarcoding unveils the effects of habitat fragmentation on pollinator diversity, plant-pollinator interactions, and pollination efficiency in Maldive islands.

Habitat fragmentation affects biodiversity, but with unclear effects on pollinators and their interactions with plants in anthropized landscapes. Islands could serve as open air laboratories, suitable to disentangle how land-use alteration impacts pollination ecology. In Maldive islands we investigated how pollinator richness, plant-pollinator interactions and pollination efficiency are influenced by the green area fragmentation (i.e., gardens and semi-natural patches). Moreover, we considered the mediating role of pollinator body size and the plant trait of being invasive in shaping interactions. To do this, we surveyed pollinator insects from 11 islands representing a gradient of green area fragmentation. A DNA metabarcoding approach was adopted to identify the pollen transported by pollinators and characterize the plant-pollinator interactions. We found that intermediate levels of green area fragmentation characterized pollinator communities and increased their species richness, while decreasing interaction network complexity. Invasive plants were more frequently found on pollinator bodies than native or exotic noninvasive ones, indicating a concerningly higher potential for pollen dispersal and reproduction of the former ones. Intriguingly, pollinator body size mediated the effect of landscape alteration on interactions, as only the largest bees expanded the foraging diet in terms of plant richness in the transported pollen at increasing fragmentation. In parallel, the pollination efficiency increased with pollinator species richness in two sentinel plants. This study shows that moderate landscape fragmentation of green areas shapes many aspects of the pollination ecosystem service, where despite interactions being less complex and mediated by pollinator body size, pollinator insect biodiversity and potential plant reproduction are supported.

First record of the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas (Valenciennes, 1839) from the Maldivian archipelago, central Indian Ocean.

Verified records of the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas are lacking in the Maldives. This study provides the first confirmed evidence of 23 sightings observed from 2013 to 2023 in the central and southern atolls of this archipelago. Most of the sightings occurred in close proximity to inhabited areas, where food waste is often discarded into the water, or in several dive sites, suggesting the presence of this species in different locations around central and southern atolls. Although further research is required to fully investigate the C. leucas population in the Maldives, this report documents and confirms its presence in this region.

Diversity, host specificity and biogeography in the Cladocorynidae (Hydrozoa, Capitata), with description of a new genus.

The hydrozoan family Cladocorynidae inhabits tropical to temperate waters and comprises the two genera Pteroclava and Cladocoryne. Pteroclava lives in association with some octocorals and hydrozoans, whereas Cladocoryne is more generalist in terms of substrate choice. This work provides a thorough morpho-molecular reassessment of the Cladocorynidae by presenting the first well-supported phylogeny of the family based on the analyses of three mitochondrial and four nuclear markers. Notably, the two nominal genera were confirmed to be monophyletic and both morphological and genetic data led to the formal description of a new genus exclusively associated with octocorals, Pseudozanclea gen. nov. Maggioni & Montano. Accordingly, the diagnosis of the family was updated. The ancestral state reconstruction of selected characters revealed that the symbiosis with octocorals likely appeared in the most recent common ancestor of Pteroclava and Pseudozanclea. Additionally, the presence of euryteles aggregation in the polyp stage and the exumbrellar nematocyst pouches with euryteles represent synapomorphies of all cladocorynid taxa and probably emerged in their most recent common ancestor. The analysis of several Pteroclava krempfi colonies from Indo-Pacific and Caribbean localities associated with several host octocorals revealed a high intra-specific genetic variability. Single- and multi-locus species delimitations resulted in three to five species hypotheses, but the statistical analysis of morphometric data showed only limited distinction among the clades of P. krempfi. However, P. krempfi clades showed differences in both host specificity, mostly at the octocoral family level, and geographic distribution, with one clade found exclusively in the Caribbean Sea and the others found in the Indo-Pacific.

Cytotoxic Compounds from Alcyoniidae: An Overview of the Last 30 Years.

The octocoral family Alcyoniidae represents a rich source of bioactive substances with intriguing and unique structural features. This review aims to provide an updated overview of the compounds isolated from Alcyoniidae and displaying potential cytotoxic activity. In order to allow a better comparison among the bioactive compounds, we focused on molecules evaluated in vitro by using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, by far the most widely used method to analyze cell proliferation and viability. Specifically, we surveyed the last thirty years of research, finding 153 papers reporting on 344 compounds with proven cytotoxicity. The data were organized in tables to provide a ranking of the most active compounds, to be exploited for the selection of the most promising candidates for further screening and pre-clinical evaluation as anti-cancer agents. Specifically, we found that (22S,24S)-24-methyl-22,25-epoxyfurost-5-ene-3ß,20ß-diol (16), 3ß,11-dihydroxy-24-methylene-9,11-secocholestan-5-en-9-one (23), (24S)-ergostane-3ß,5α,6ß,25 tetraol (146), sinulerectadione (227), sinulerectol C (229), and cladieunicellin I (277) exhibited stronger cytotoxicity than their respective positive control and that their mechanism of action has not yet been further investigated.

Effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on the management of coral restoration projects.

Coral restoration initiatives are gaining significant momentum in a global effort to enhance the recovery of degraded coral reefs. However, the implementation and upkeep of coral nurseries are particularly demanding, so that unforeseen breaks in maintenance operations might jeopardize well-established projects. In the last 2 years, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a temporary yet prolonged abandonment of several coral gardening infrastructures worldwide, including remote localities. Here we provide a first assessment of the potential impacts of monitoring and maintenance breakdown in a suite of coral restoration projects (based on floating rope nurseries) in Colombia, Seychelles, and Maldives. Our study comprises nine nurseries from six locations, hosting a total of 3,554 fragments belonging to three coral genera, that were left unsupervised for a period spanning from 29 to 61 weeks. Floating nursery structures experienced various levels of damage, and total fragment survival spanned from 40 to 95% among projects, with Pocillopora showing the highest survival rate in all locations present. Overall, our study shows that, under certain conditions, abandoned coral nurseries can remain functional for several months without suffering critical failure from biofouling and hydrodynamism. Still, even where gardening infrastructures were only marginally affected, the unavoidable interruptions in data collection have slowed down ongoing project progress, diminishing previous investments and reducing future funding opportunities. These results highlight the need to increase the resilience and self-sufficiency of coral restoration projects, so that the next global lockdown will not further shrink the increasing efforts to prevent coral reefs from disappearing.

Global tropical reef fish richness could decline by around half if corals are lost.

Reef fishes are a treasured part of marine biodiversity, and also provide needed protein for many millions of people. Although most reef fishes might survive projected increases in ocean temperatures, corals are less tolerant. A few fish species strictly depend on corals for food and shelter, suggesting that coral extinctions could lead to some secondary fish extinctions. However, secondary extinctions could extend far beyond those few coral-dependent species. Furthermore, it is yet unknown how such fish declines might vary around the world. Current coral mass mortalities led us to ask how fish communities would respond to coral loss within and across oceans. We mapped 6964 coral-reef-fish species and 119 coral genera, and then regressed reef-fish species richness against coral generic richness at the 1° scale (after controlling for biogeographic factors that drive species diversification). Consistent with small-scale studies, statistical extrapolations suggested that local fish richness across the globe would be around half its current value in a hypothetical world without coral, leading to more areas with low or intermediate fish species richness and fewer fish diversity hotspots.

[The new national guidelines for the keeping of the Italian Sinonasal Cancer Registry (ReNaTuNS)]. / Il nuovo manuale operativo ReNaTuNS per la gestione dei casi di tumore naso-sinusale.

Sinonasal cancers (SNC) are rare tumours with predominant occupational aetiology associated with exposures to specific carcinogens. In Italy, SNC incidence has been under compulsory surveillance since 2008, through the National Sinonasal Cancer Registry (ReNaTuNS), a nationwide cancer registry coordinated by the National Institute for Insurance Against Accidents at Work (Inail). The ReNaTuNS has a regional structure with local registries, established at Regional Operating Centres (CORs). Currently, seven Italian Regions are active in SNC search and, together with Inail, have recently released a new version of the national guidelines for keeping the Registry (available on the Inail website). The aim of this text is to present the new guidelines, an updating version, and to underline the relevance of this tool in enforcing the role of the ReNaTuNS, considering the high occupational fraction of SNC and the unicity of the Italian Registry, which collects all the information available on occupational exposures of each SNC case registered. It is recommended that the active search for SNC cases and the analysis of exposure become a systematic and well-organized activity to prevent or reduce risks of exposure and to support and improve the efficiency of the compensation and welfare system.

Local acclimatisation-driven differential gene and protein expression patterns of Hsp70 in Acropora muricata: Implications for coral tolerance to bleaching.

Corals show spatial acclimatisation to local environment conditions. However, the various cellular mechanisms involved in local acclimatisation and variable bleaching patterns in corals remain to be thoroughly understood. In this study, the modulation of a protein implicated in cellular heat stress tolerance, the heat shock protein 70, was compared at both gene (hsp70) and protein (Hsp70) expression level in bleaching tolerant near-coast Acropora muricata colonies and bleaching susceptible reef colonies, in the lagoon of Belle Mare (Mauritius). The relative Hsp70 levels varied significantly between colonies from the two different locations, colonies having different health conditions and the year of collection. Before the bleaching event of 2016, near-coast colonies had higher basal levels of both Hsp70 gene and protein compared to reef colonies. During the bleaching event, the near-coast colonies did not bleach and had significantly higher relative levels of both Hsp70 gene and protein compared to bleached reef colonies. No significant genetic differentiation between the two studied coral populations was observed and all the colonies analysed were associated with Symbiodiniaceae of the genus Symbiodinium (Clade A) irrespective of location and sampling period. These findings provide further evidence of the involvement of Hsp70 in conferring bleaching tolerance to corals. Moreover, the consistent expression differences of Hsp70 gene and protein between the near-coast and reef coral populations in a natural setting indicate that the modulation of this Hsp is involved in local acclimatisation of corals to their environments.

Cryptic species and host specificity in the bryozoan-associated hydrozoan Zanclea divergens (Hydrozoa, Zancleidae).

Zanclea divergens is a tropical hydrozoan living in symbiotic association with bryozoans and currently reported from Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Maldives. Here, we used an integrative approach to assess the morpho-molecular diversity of the species across the Indo-Pacific. Phylogenetic and species delimitation analyses based on seven mitochondrial and nuclear loci revealed four well-supported molecular lineages corresponding to cryptic species, and representing a Pacific clade, an Indian clade, and two Red Sea clades. Since the general polyp morphology was almost identical in all samples, the nematocyst capsules were measured and analysed to search for possible fine-scale differences, and their statistical treatment revealed a significant difference in terms of length and width among the clades investigated. All Zanclea divergens specimens were specifically associated with cheilostome bryozoans belonging to the genus Celleporaria. The Pacific and Indian clades were associated with Celleporaria sp. and C. vermiformis, respectively, whereas both Red Sea lineages were associated with C. pigmentaria. Nevertheless, the sequencing of host bryozoans revealed that one of the Red Sea hydrozoan clades is associated with two morphologically undistinguishable, but genetically divergent, bryozoan species. Overall, our results show that Z. divergens is a species complex composed of morphologically cryptic lineages showing partially disjunct distributions and host specificity. The presence of two sympatric lineages living on the same host species reveal complex dynamics of diversification, and future research aimed at understanding their diversification process will likely improve our knowledge on the mechanisms of speciation among currently sympatric cryptic species.

[The new ReNaTuNS operating manual for nasal sinus tumor case management].

SUMMARY: No abstract available.

Sinonasal cancer in the Italian national surveillance system: Epidemiology, occupation, and public health implications.

BACKGROUND: Sinonasal cancer (SNC) is a rare tumor with predominant occupational etiology associated with exposures to specific carcinogens. The aim of this study is to describe SNC cases recorded in Italy in the period 2000-2016. METHODS: Clinical information, occupational history, and lifestyle habits of SNC cases collected in the Italian Sinonasal Cancer Register were examined. Age-standardized rates were estimated. RESULTS: Overall, 1529 cases were recorded. The age-standardized incidence rates per 100 000 person-years were 0.65 in men and 0.26 in women. Occupational exposures were predominant among the attributed exposure settings, primarily to wood and leather dusts. Other putative causal agents included chrome, solvents, tannins, formaldehyde, textile dusts, and pesticides. Many cases had unknown exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Epidemiological surveillance of SNC cases and their occupational history is fundamental for monitoring the occurrence of the disease in exposed workers in industrial sectors generally not considered at risk of SNC as well as in non-occupational settings.

Monitoring and assessing a 2-year outbreak of the corallivorous seastar Acanthaster planci in Ari Atoll, Republic of Maldives.

Outbreaks of the corallivorous crown-of-thorns seastars have received increasing attention due to their negative impacts on coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. However, outbreaks in remote and dislocated islands are still poorly understood. This study aims to begin filling informational gaps regarding outbreaks of Acanthaster planci in the remote islands of the central Ari Atoll, Republic of Maldives. The population of A. planci was monitored during three periods over 2 years (2015-2016) to evaluate variations in abundance and to characterise size structure and feeding behaviour. The outbreak appeared to be severe and active throughout the entire study period. The size structure analysis revealed a multimodal distribution dominated by individuals between 20 and 30 cm, suggesting that the outbreak may have resulted from a few nearby mass spawning events. Additionally, the most abundant live coral was Porites, which was also the most consumed genus; however, the electivity index showed a preference for corals of the genera Favites and Pavona. Finally, we also highlighted the need for more geographically extended surveys to better understand local patterns regarding outbreaks of A. planci in the Republic of Maldives.

Corals hosting symbiotic hydrozoans are less susceptible to predation and disease.

In spite of growing evidence that climate change may dramatically affect networks of interacting species, whether-and to what extent-ecological interactions can mediate species' responses to disturbances is an open question. Here we show how a largely overseen association such as that between hydrozoans and scleractinian corals could be possibly associated with a reduction in coral susceptibility to ever-increasing predator and disease outbreaks. We examined 2455 scleractinian colonies (from both Maldivian and the Saudi Arabian coral reefs) searching for non-random patterns in the occurrence of hydrozoans on corals showing signs of different health conditions (i.e. bleaching, algal overgrowth, corallivory and different coral diseases). We show that, after accounting for geographical, ecological and co-evolutionary factors, signs of disease and corallivory are significantly lower in coral colonies hosting hydrozoans than in hydrozoan-free ones. This finding has important implications for our understanding of the ecology of coral reefs, and for their conservation in the current scenario of global change, because it suggests that symbiotic hydrozoans may play an active role in protecting their scleractinian hosts from stresses induced by warming water temperatures.

Land use and land cover (LULC) of the Republic of the Maldives: first national map and LULC change analysis using remote-sensing data.

The Maldives islands in recent decades have experienced dramatic land-use change. Uninhabited islands were turned into new resort islands; evergreen tropical forests were cut, to be replaced by fields and new built-up areas. All these changes happened without a proper monitoring and urban planning strategy from the Maldivian government due to the lack of national land-use and land-cover (LULC) data. This study aimed to realize the first land-use map of the entire Maldives archipelago and to detect land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) using high-resolution satellite images and socioeconomic data. Due to the peculiar geographic and environmental features of the archipelago, the land-use map was obtained by visual interpretation and manual digitization of land-use patches. The images used, dated 2011, were obtained from Digital Globe's WorldView 1 and WorldView 2 satellites. Nine land-use classes and 18 subclasses were identified and mapped. During a field survey, ground control points were collected to test the geographic and thematic accuracy of the land-use map. The final product's overall accuracy was 85%. Once the accuracy of the map had been checked, LULCC maps were created using images from the early 2000s derived from Google Earth historical imagery. Post-classification comparison of the classified maps showed that growth of built-up and agricultural areas resulted in decreases in forest land and shrubland. The LULCC maps also revealed an increase in land reclamation inside lagoons near inhabited islands, resulting in environmental impacts on fragile reef habitat. The LULC map of the Republic of the Maldives produced in this study can be used by government authorities to make sustainable land-use planning decisions and to provide better management of land use and land cover.

Modulation of Hsp60 in response to coral brown band disease.

Brown band disease (BrB), a virulent coral disease characterized by a dense concentration of ciliates ingesting coral tissue, is responsible for ongoing coral losses on Indo-Pacific reefs. Although several efforts have been made to identify the microbial communities associated with BrB and study the disease ecology, less attention has been given to the effect of ciliate presence on coral physiology. Levels of the mitochondrial heat shock protein 60-kDa (Hsp60, a biomarker indicative of cellular stress) were analyzed in apparently healthy coral polyps located at different distances along the advancing front of infection in Acropora muricata colonies affected by BrB in a Maldivian reef. Different Hsp60 levels were found in different parts of the same colony. Starting from a basal protein level in the healthy control colonies, a down-regulation of Hsp60 expression was detected near the ciliate band, indicating that the Hsp60 defense activity was probably already compromised due to the rapid progression rate of the BrB ciliate on the diseased branches and/or to the etiology of the disease. Moving away from the band, the Hsp60 levels gradually returned to a state comparable to that found in the control, showing that cellular damage was confined to areas near the infection. In conclusion, we propose the analysis of Hsp60 modulation as a useful tool for examining physiological variations that are not detected at the morphological level in corals subjected to epizootic diseases, while providing new insights into the immune response of corals.

Lobophylliidae (Cnidaria, Scleractinia) reshuffled: pervasive non-monophyly at genus level.

The Indo-Pacific scleractinian coral family Lobophylliidae was recently described on the basis of molecular data and micromorphological and microstructural characters. We present the most comprehensive molecular phylogeny reconstruction of the family to date based on COI and rDNA including 9 genera and 32 species, 14 of which were investigated for the first time. The monophyly of the family is now strongly supported, with the inclusion of the genera Acanthastrea and Micromussa, whereas previously it was based on uncertain molecular relationships. Nevertheless, these and the other lobophylliid genera Echinophyllia, Micromussa, Oxypora, and Symphyllia, are not themselves monophyletic and need to be investigated from a morphological point of view. Acanthastrea faviaformis is nested within the family Merulinidae. This study highlights the need for further analyses at species level and of formal taxonomic actions.

Application of non-lethal bioSPME-LC-MS/MS for the detection of human pharmaceuticals in soft corals: A survey at the North Nilandhe atoll (Maldives).

At present the information regarding the occurrence of human pharmaceuticals (PhaCs) in coral reefs and their potential impacts on the associated fauna is limited. To optimize the collection of data in these delicate environments, we employed a solid-phase microextraction (bioSPME) and liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) procedure that enabled in vivo determinations in soft corals. Specifically, we researched the antibiotics Ofloxacin Sulfamethoxazole and Clarithromycin, the anti-inflammatory Diclofenac Propyphenazone Ketoprofen and Amisulpride, the neuroactive compounds Gabapentin-lactam, the beta-blocker Metoprolol and the antiepileptic Carbamazepine. Reproducibility was between 2.1% and 9.9% and method detection limits LODs) were between 0.2 and 1.6 ng/g and LOQs between 0.8 and 5.4 mg/g. The method was then applied to establish a baseline for the occurrence of these compounds in the Maldivian archipelago. Colonies of Sarcophyton sp. and Sinularia sp. were sampled along an inner-outer reef transect. Five of the ten targeted PhaCs were identified, and 40% of the surveyed coral colonies showed the occurrence of at least one of the selected compounds. The highest concentrations were found inside the atoll rim. Oxoflacin (9.5 ± 3.9 ng/g) and Ketoprofen (4.5 ± 2.3 ng/g) were the compounds with the highest average concentrations. Outside the atoll rim, only one sample showed contamination levels above the detection limit. No significant differences were highlighted among the two surveyed soft coral species, both in terms of average concentrations and bioconcentration factors (BCFs).

Physical and cellular impact of environmentally relevant microplastic exposure on thermally challenged Pocillopora damicornis (Cnidaria, Scleractinia).

Microplastic pollution is an increasing threat to coral reefs, which are already strongly challenged by climate change-related heat stress. Although it is known that scleractinian corals can ingest microplastic, little is known about their egestion and how microplastic exposure may impair corals at physiological and cellular levels. In addition, the effects of microplastic pollution at current environmental concentration have been little investigated to date, particularly in corals already impacted by heat stress. In this study, the combined effects of these environmental threats on Pocillopora damicornis were investigated from a physical and cellular perspective. Colonies were exposed to three concentrations of polyethylene microplastic beads (no microplastic beads: [No MP], 1 mg/L: [Low MP]; 10 mg/L: [High MP]), and two different temperatures (25 °C and 30 °C) for 72 h. No visual signs of stress in corals, such as abnormal mucus production and polyp extroflection, were recorded. At [Low MP], beads adhered to colonies were ingested but were also egested. Moreover, thermally stressed colonies showed a lower adhesion and higher egestion of microplastic beads. Coral bleaching was observed with an increase in temperature and microplastic bead concentration, as indicated by a general decrease in chlorophyll concentration and Symbiodiniaceae density. An increase in lipid peroxidation was measured in colonies exposed to [Low MP] and [High MP] and an up-regulation of stress response gene hsp70 was observed due to the synergistic interaction of both stressors. Overall, our findings showed that heat stress still represents the main threat to P. damicornis, while the effect of microplastics on coral health and physiology may be minor, especially at control temperature. However, microplastics could exacerbate the effect of thermal stress on cellular homeostasis, even at [Low MP]. While reducing ocean warming is critical for preserving coral reefs, effective management of emerging threats like microplastic pollution is equally essential.

Phthalate levels in common sea anemone Actinia equina and Anemonia viridis: A proxy of short-term microplastic interaction?

Phthalates are widely employed plasticizers blended to plastic polymers that, during plastic aging and weathering are prone to leach in the surrounding environment. Thus, phthalates were proposed to indirectly evaluate MPs contamination in marine environments, with still uncertain and scarce data, particularly for wildlife. This study investigates simultaneously microplastics (MPs) and phthalates (PAEs) occurrence in wild Actinia equina and Anemonia viridis, two common and edible sea anemone species. Both species had a 100 % frequency of MPs occurrence, with similar average concentrations. PAEs were detected in 70 % of samples, with concentrations up to 150 ng/g in A. equina and 144.3 ng/g for A. viridis. MPs and PAEs present in sea anemone tissues appear to reflect seawater plastic contamination conditions in the study area. Given the rapid biodegradation of PAEs, occurrence and concentrations of both these additives and their metabolites could be useful tracers of short-term plastic debris-biota interactions.