Comparative assessment of four ballast water compliance monitoring devices with natural UV-treated water using IMO's monitoring approaches.

Compliance Monitoring Devices (CMDs) are instruments indicating if the 10-50 μm organism abundance in ballast water complies with the International Maritime Organizations' discharge standard. For that, they trade the presumed accuracy of detailed methods for speed and simplicity. In an experiment using UV-treated water, four CMDs were compared, using a Cohen's kappa analysis (ISO 3725), with two detailed methods: Fluorescence Microscopy (FM) and the Most Probable Number (MPN).

Behavioural responses of a trans-hemispheric migrant to climate oscillation.

Large-scale climatic fluctuations, such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, can have dramatic effects on ocean ecosystem productivity. Many mobile species breeding in temperate or higher latitudes escape the extremes of seasonal climate variation through long-distance, even trans-global migration, but how they deal with, or are affected by, such longer phased climate fluctuations is less understood. To investigate how a long-lived migratory species might respond to such periodic environmental change we collected and analysed a 13 year biologging dataset for a trans-equatorial migrant, the Manx shearwater ().

Beach wrack as a potential microplastic hot spot in the South-Eastern Baltic Sea environment.

Beach wrack is considered as a major source of nutrients to the sandy coast ecosystems in the South-East Baltic Sea, and it serves as the natural beach sediment storage and habitat formation material. However, it also could be a hot spot for microplastic and other types of marine litter accumulation. We carried out the recovery rate experiments to determine the most reliable method for a rapid and cost-effective application to extract microplastics from the beach wrack.

Potentially Pathogenic spp. in Algal Wrack Accumulations on Baltic Sea Sandy Beaches.

The bacteria known to cause infections to humans and wildlife have been largely overlooked in coastal environments affected by beach wrack accumulations from seaweed or seagrasses. This study presents findings on the presence and distribution of potentially pathogenic species on coastal beaches that are used for recreation and are affected by red-algae-dominated wrack. Using species-specific primers and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, we identified , .

Assessing climatic conditions and biotic interactions shaping the success of Cystoseira foeniculacea early-life stages.

Early-life stages of canopy-forming macroalgae are critical for the maintenance of natural populations and the success of restoration actions. Unfortunately, the abiotic conditions and biotic interactions shaping the success of these stages have received less attention than the interactions shaping the success of adults. Here, we combined field and mesocosm experiments to explore the effects of temperature, herbivory, and canopy presence on the development of early-life stages of the brown seaweed Cystoseira foeniculacea.

Phylogenetic and molecular characteristics of two Aphanizomenon strains from the Curonian Lagoon, Southeastern Baltic Sea and their biological activities.

Polyphasic approach has become a generally accepted method for the classification of cyanobacteria. In this study, we present a detailed characterisation of two strains, KUCC C1 and KUCC C2, isolated from the Curonian Lagoon and classified to the Aphanizomenon genus. Despite phylogenetic similarity, the strains differ with respect to morphology, ultrastructure characteristics, and the metabolite profile.

Sorption of trivalent europium Eu(III) by Na-substituted bentonite: Mechanistic insight and stabilization effect.

The sorption of Eu(III) by Na-substituted bentonite (Na-bentonite) was investigated as a function of pH and NaNO concentration ([NaNO]). At pH < ∼7.5, Eu(III) sorption decreased with the increasing [NaNO], whereas at pH > ∼7.

LC-MS/MS profiling of the poisonous wild mushroom, Entoloma mastoideum, (Entolomataceae, Basidiomycota) in Sabah (Northern Borneo), Malaysia.

In Malaysia, mushroom poisoning poses a significant public health concern, particularly as local communities frequently consume wild mushrooms without fully recognizing the potential dangers they present. Ingestion of wild mushrooms, which resemble edible species but contain deadly chemicals, is the main cause of poisoning risk. The genus Entoloma (Fr.

Response of particulate organic matter dynamics to the ocean front induced by typhoon Talim in Zhanjiang Bay.

Typhoons greatly affect ocean hydrodynamics, thereby altering ocean productivity and biogeochemistry. This study used stable isotopes and geochemical indicators of particulate organic matter (POM) to investigate the impact of Typhoon Talim (2023) on marine productivity and POM dynamics in Zhanjiang Bay. During the typhoon, an ocean front formed in the upper bay, resulting in a nearly twofold increased POM and enhanced decomposition of resuspended POM, due to the strengthened vertical mixing.

Duckweed protein: Extraction, modification, and potential application.

Discovering alternative protein sources that are both nutritious and environmentally friendly is essential to meet the growing global population's needs. Duckweed offers promise due to its cosmopolitan distribution, rapid growth, high protein content, and scalability from household tanks to large lagoons without requiring arable land that competes for the major crops. Rich in essential amino acids, particularly branched-chain amino acids, duckweed supports human health.

Biodiversity of microorganisms in the Baltic Sea: the power of novel methods in the identification of marine microbes.

Until recently, the data on the diversity of the entire microbial community from the Baltic Sea were relatively rare and very scarce. However, modern molecular methods have provided new insights into this field with interesting results. They can be summarized as follows.

Potential biocontrol for bacterial and viral disease treatment in aquaculture: a minireview.

Aquaculture is part of the crucial industry that supplies food, especially for the global human population that is gradually increasing annually. Innovations of culture techniques have been improved throughout the years but aquaculture is regularly susceptible to bacterial and viral diseases. Numerous factors could contribute to occurrence of disease and usually they are from environmental or human stressors on the cultured animals.

Characterizing fluvial impact on the biochemical composition of particulate organic matter in the Laptev Sea and Western East Siberian Sea during the late summer of 2018.

The Laptev Sea (LS) and Western East Siberian Sea (W-ESS) are paradigmatic examples of seas dominated by terrestrial organic matter, attributed to substantial Siberian River discharges and coastal erosion. The influx of terrestrial organic matter significantly alters the biochemical composition of particulate organic matter (POM) in these Arctic coastal regions, potentially reducing the nutritional quality available to higher trophic levels. This study investigated the origin and qualitative characteristics of POM in the LS and W-ESS during the late summer of 2018 by analyzing elemental ratios (C/N ratio), stable carbon isotopes (δC), and biochemical compositions (biomolecular and amino acid (AA) compositions).

Co-occurrence between key HAB species and particle-attached bacteria and substrate specificity of attached bacteria in the coastal ecosystem.

The ecological dynamics of particle-attached bacteria (PAB) were observed through changes in the core phytoplankton phycosphere, and were associated with the dynamics of free-living bacteria (FLB) using metabarcoding and microscopic analyses over 210 days (with weekly sampling intervals) in the Jangmok coastal ecosystem, South Korea. Cluster analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling classified the phytoplankton community into six groups comprising core phytoplankton species, including the harmful algal species Akashiwo sanguinea (dinoflagellate) in late autumn, Teleaulax amphioxeia (cryptomonads) in early winter and spring, Skeletonema marinoi-dohrnii complex (diatom) in winter, Pseudo-nitzschia delicatissima (diatom) in early spring, and diatom complexes such as Chaetoceros curvisetus and Leptocylindrus danicus in late spring. We identified 59 and 32 indicators in PAB and FLB, respectively, which rapidly changed with the succession of the six core phytoplankton species.

Determining ecological interactions of key dinoflagellate species using an intensive metabarcoding approach in a semi-closed coastal ecosystem of South Korea.

Marine phytoplankton communities are pivotal in biogeochemical cycles and impact global climate change. However, the dynamics of the dinoflagellate community, its co-occurrence relationship with other eukaryotic plankton communities, and environmental factors remain poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to analyze the temporal changes in the eukaryotic plankton community using a 18S rDNA metabarcoding approach.

Microbiome signature of different stages of hypoxia event in Wonmun Bay.

We investigated how microbial communities associated with different hypoxic stages respond to environmental changes across three water depths in Wonmun Bay, South Korea. Analysis of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), and nutrient concentrations revealed prominent seasonal shifts and strong stratification during summer hypoxia. Metabarcoding of prokaryotic 16 S rRNA genes and phototrophic eukaryotic chloroplasts along with quantitative PCR (qPCR) revealed variations in the abundance and composition of these communities.

Sea surface carbon dioxide during early summer at the Tuandao nearshore time series site.

To investigate air-sea CO flux at the Qingdao nearshore site and its temporal variations, a high-resolution continuous observation of surface carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO) was carried out at Zhongyuan Pier near Tuandao from May 25 to July 8, 2019. It was observed that during this period, surface pCO varied between ∼490 and ∼690 μatm, mainly associated with sea surface temperature. Surface pCO also displayed substantial diurnal variations, with an average amplitude of 64 ± 21 μatm, largely dominated by biological activities.

Cloning and functionally characterization of TtVtg2-like in horseshoe crab Tachypleus tridentatus: A special focus on ovarian development.

Horseshoe crabs are living fossils. In recent decades, the population of horseshoe crabs, especially the tri-spine horseshoe crab Tachypleus tridentatus, has decreased significantly and was listed as an 'endangered species' under the IUCN Red List in 2019. In order to improve the reproduction of T.