Thirty years of a bottom oxygen depletion-renewal cycle in the coastal yet deep environment of the West Saronikos Gulf (Greece): Its drivers and the impact on the benthic communities.

In the period 1987-2017, a series of physical and chemical measurements related to oxygen variability at a trough area with a maximum depth of ~420 m in the West Saronikos Gulf, reveal the following: In the early 90s, deep winter mixing occurred resulting in an oxygenation down to ~420 m followed by an oxygen decline. This decline reached near-bottom hypoxic conditions (O < ~62 μM (μmol/L)) after 1998, while a denitrification phase occurred after 2000 and a complete bottom anoxia in 2005. In June 2012, an oxygenation down to ~350 m was detected that most likely occurred in winter 2012.

Viral Metagenomic Content Reflects Seawater Ecological Quality in the Coastal Zone.

Viruses interfere with their host's metabolism through the expression of auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) that, until now, are mostly studied under large physicochemical gradients. Here, we focus on coastal marine ecosystems and we sequence the viral metagenome (virome) of samples with discrete levels of human-driven disturbances. We aim to describe the relevance of viromics with respect to ecological quality status, defined by the classic seawater trophic index (TRIX).

Polychaetes of Greece: an updated and annotated checklist.

Background: The last annotated checklist of marine polychaetes in Greece was published in 2001. Since then, global taxonomic progress, combined with many new species records for Greece, required a thorough review of the taxonomic, nomenclatural and biogeographic status of the national species list. This checklist revises the status of all extant polychaete species reported from the Greek Exclusive Economic Zone since 1832.

One Step forward: Benthic Pelagic Coupling and Indicators for Environmental Status.

A large data set from the Eastern Mediterranean was analyzed to explore the relationship between seawater column variables and benthic community status. Our results showed a strong quantitative link between the seawater column variables (Chlorophyll a and Eutrophication Index) and various indicators describing benthic diversity and community composition. The percentage of benthic opportunistic species increased significantly in the stations with high trophic status of the seawater column and so did the strength of the coupling between values of seawater column and benthic indicators.

The rare subgroup C1 of Marphysa (Polychaeta, Eunicidae): re-description of species and first records in the Mediterranean Sea.

Marphysa is one of the largest genera in the family Eunicidae, containing 76 valid species. However, among them there are only five species that share the diagnostic characters of having only composite falcigers in inferior setae and branchiae confined in the anterior body. These species are relatively rare and less described while in their original descriptions their differentiation is mainly based on features believed to be age-specific today.