Pollution affects even oceanic marine protected areas in Southwestern Atlantic.

Reefs are facing a global decline with sewage pollution emerging as a significant and poorly understood threat. Inadequate wastewater management and disorderly urbanization contribute to water pollution globally. Tropical Southwestern Atlantic comprises a set of oceanic Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) including the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago in Brazil, which has experienced significant population growth without expanding the sewage infrastructure.

The bivalves Amarilladesma mactroides and Donax hanleyanus as bioindicators of the impact of vehicles on Cassino Beach, southern Brazil.

Sandy beaches are the main recreational ecosystems of the world, enabling high ecological impacts, especially on the benthic macrofauna, which inhabit the sandy matrix and have a low capacity of locomotion. Cassino Beach, located in southern Brazil, has intense vehicle traffic during the summer, so the purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of vehicles on the key species Amarilladesma mactroides and Donax hanleyanus. For this purpose, samplings were performed in three sectors of this beach (High Impact, Moderate Impact and Control) during six periods of the year.

Are bivalves a source of microplastics for humans? A case study in the Brazilian markets.

Microplastics (MPs) are a ubiquitous contaminant worldwide, damaging the environment and human health. These particles have been identified in important seafood species, which are a possible source of contamination for humans and must be investigated. This study therefore aimed to identify the concentrations of microplastics in four important species of bivalves commercialized in Brazilian markets.

Concentration of microplastics in bivalves of the environment: a systematic review.

The aim of this review was to identify the current knowledge regarding the concentration of microplastics in bivalves in the marine, estuarine, and freshwater environments. For this purpose, researches were conducted from September 2020 to February 2021 in the Scopus, Web of Science, and Google scholar databases, following a meticulous selection of articles. To comprehensively understand the selected articles, an extensive review was carried out in order to identify the methodologies employed, sampling sites, species evaluated, characteristics of the microplastics (concentrations, shapes, sizes, and polymers) and their relationship with the concentration of this particles in the environment.

On the occurrence and ecology of Glaucus atlanticus Forster, 1777 (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) along the Southwestern Atlantic coast.

Unlike the majority of the nudibranchs, Glaucidae lives adrift at the sea surface within Tropical and Subtropical ocean basins, feeding on cnidarians or using them to attach their egg strings as a reproductive strategy. The latitudinal distribution of Glaucus atlanticus throughout the Brazilian Province is influenced by the Brazil current and, in its austral limit, by seasonal shifts in the Subtropical Convergence Zone (especially under the influence of ENSO El Niño events). Once over the shelf, seasonal wind patterns and meteorological events can force a passive displacement of the species towards the shore.

The impact of short-term depositions of macroalgal blooms on widgeon-grass meadows in a river-dominated estuary.

Macroalgal blooms can trigger adverse biogeochemical conditions at the sediment-water interface of shallow coastal areas, hence threatening critical habitats such as seagrasses meadows. The direction and magnitude of macroalgal blooms impacts on the aquatic ecosystem can be context-dependent, varying according to the local hydrodynamic conditions. Thus, studies investigating the impacts of stagnant algal depositions on the benthos may fail to address realistic situations and interactions which are common in well-flushed systems.