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Revealing the Biodiversity of Hidden Marine Habitats

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A special issue of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (ISSN 2077-1312). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 May 2024 | Viewed by 15753

Image courtesy of Prof. Dr. Alen Soldo

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Alen Soldo

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Guest Editor

Department of Marine Studies, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
Interests: fisheries; ichthyology; fisheries science; stock assessment; fisheries management; fish ecology; marine ecology; population dynamics; marine environment; fisheries sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Dear Colleagues,

The marine environment is extraordinarily diverse and made up of a large number of different marine habitats identified by physical structures or specific environmental conditions. However, habitats are not discrete, as organisms living in one habitat may interact with other habitats within an ecosystem.

Many of these habitats are poorly studied, with less data than the ocean depths, restricted by inadequate research methods or characterized by habitat complexity. The biodiversity of rocky reefs in tropical, temperate, and cold waters, marine caves and small cryptic habitats at the bottom (crevices and holes in bedrock, coral reef cavities or interstitial spaces among cobble or boulder layers), etc., is still relatively unexplored, hidden primarily due to obscurity of locations of the habitats and inadequate research methods. For example, limited available data are indicating that deeper steep and vertical slopes of rocky reefs, particularly in the Mediterranean, are rich in biodiversity. Covered by coralligenous formations that are complexes of biocoenoses, these habitats are characterized by complexity and heterogeneity, yet overlooked due to the inaccessibility of conventional destructive or underwater visual census methods. There is a similar dearth of data on other hidden habitats, such as marine caves where descriptive or comparative studies on the biodiversity of these habitats are scarce or non-existing. As part of the coastal environment, these habitats are subjected to major environmental stresses, mainly anthropogenic. Potential impacts of these stressors on hidden habitats are difficult to assess because of the lack of baseline data and incomplete sampling.

Thus, this research topic is being focused on the description of the biodiversity of these hidden habitats on all trophic levels and on the identification of environmental drivers of associated species, as well as on habitat functional role not only on its own biodiversity but also of surrounding coastal ecosystems. Accordingly, the new research techniques used for sampling of those habitats should be given importance.

Prof. Dr. Alen Soldo
Guest Editor

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

biodiversity
coralligenous
cryptic
caves
marine habitats
hidden
visual census

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 2510 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Comparison of Methods of Visual Census and Cryptobenthic Fish Collecting, an Integrative Approach to the Qualitative and Quantitative Composition of the Mediterranean Temperate Reef Fish Assemblages

by Marcelo Kovačić, Igor Glavičić, Dejan Paliska, Alen Soldo and Zoran Valić

J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2024, 12(4), 644; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse12040644 - 11 Apr 2024

Viewed by 512

Abstract

The present research quantitatively compared the fish composition among two methods for non-cryptic benthic fish species and one method for cryptobenthic fish species for the first time for the Mediterranean temperate reef fish assemblage. A visual census of fishes was performed within a cylinder of 4 m radius and within a cylinder of 2 m radius, while the cryptobenthic fishes were collected using a square of 1 m² with anesthetic. The data and material were collected at fifty sampling points. The visual census methods together recorded 31 species, and the square with anesthetic method recorded 18 species. The quantitative comparison of methods of visual census and cryptobenthic fish collecting showed significantly different species richness, total fish abundance, and fish assemblage structure among methods. The applied methods were highly complementary. The cylinder of 2 m radius is well suited for epibenthic fishes and the cylinder of 4 m radius is reliable for hyperbenthic and benthopelagic fishes. Therefore, each of the methods well covered one of three components of ichthyobenthos (hyperbenthic, epibenthic, and cryptobenthic fishes), and all three methods together provided a far more complete assessment of fish species composition than any individual census method for the Mediterranean littoral benthic fishes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revealing the Biodiversity of Hidden Marine Habitats)

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16 pages, 2905 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Coastal Fish Fauna in the Cystoseira s.l. Algal Belts: Experiences from the Northern Adriatic Sea

by Lovrenc Lipej, Danijel Ivajnšič, Valentina Pitacco, Domen Trkov, Borut Mavrič and Martina Orlando-Bonaca

J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(5), 888; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11050888 - 22 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1401

Abstract

Cystoseira s.l. forests are recognised as important habitats which host diverse coastal fish assemblages. Many fish species use such habitats as feeding, breeding, and nursery grounds. Since the coastal fish community depends on the availability of dense macroalgal belts, the decline of these habitats in the Mediterranean Sea also affects the density of coastal fish species. We studied the coastal fish assemblage in Cystoseira s.l. forests in three consecutive years 2019–2021 in the Gulf of Trieste (Adriatic Sea). Data on coastal fish fauna were collected by visual counts conducted by SCUBA diving. Data on algal cover and habitat types were obtained by recording with a video camera. Similarities and differences in the fish community were analysed in terms of habitat and substrate preferences. A total of 34 species were recorded in Cystoseira forests. The results of the present study show that the different algal cover and associated depth gradient have different effects on the fish assemblage in coastal waters, affecting species composition and abundance. For many species, particularly labrids and sea breams, there is a decreasing temporal trend in frequency of occurrence and density. However, fish community trends can be used as a good “proxy” to evaluate the algal belt status. Our results indicate that rapid conservation and restoration actions are needed to stem the decline of Cystoseira s.l. forests. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revealing the Biodiversity of Hidden Marine Habitats)

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12 pages, 2915 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Delimitation of Geographic Distributions of Gobius bucchichi and Gobius incognitus (Teleostei: Gobiidae)

by Marcelo Kovačić, Julien P. Renoult, Roberto Pillon, Murat Bilecenoglu, Francesco Tiralongo, Sergey V. Bogorodsky, Semih Engin, Oleg Kovtun, Patrick Louisy, Robert A. Patzner, Shevy Bat-Sheva Rothman, Alen Soldo and Mehmet Baki Yokes

J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(3), 516; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11030516 - 27 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1149

Abstract

After the description of Gobius incognitus Kovačić & Šanda, 2016, all previous knowledge about the geographic distribution of Gobius bucchichi Steindachner, 1870, as well as its ecology and biology, became obsolete, since it represented the data from the mixture of two species. The known geographic distribution of G. bucchichi and G. incognitus is revisited by validating previously published records, but also and foremost by integrating many new photographic records posted by anglers and divers on social media and on citizen science databases. The present research uses only positively identified records with exact data on locality, coordinates and date of collecting. A total of 1024 confirmed records were collected and retained for inferring distribution maps: 805 records of G. incognitus and 219 records of G. bucchichi. Gobius incognitus is a widespread Mediterranean Sea species with limited presence in the Lusitanian province of the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. It is absent from the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Gobius bucchichi is recorded only in the eastern half of the Mediterranean Sea, from the Adriatic to the Aegean Sea, and in the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revealing the Biodiversity of Hidden Marine Habitats)

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20 pages, 4497 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Factors Influencing Habitat Selection of Three Cryptobenthic Clingfish Species in the Shallow North Adriatic Sea

by Domen Trkov, Danijel Ivajnšič, Marcelo Kovačić and Lovrenc Lipej

J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9(8), 789; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9080789 - 22 Jul 2021

Viewed by 1755

Abstract

Cryptobenthic fishes were often overlooked in the past due to their cryptic lifestyle, so knowledge of their ecology is still incomplete. One of the most poorly studied taxa of fishes in the Mediterranean Sea is clingfish. In this paper we examine the habitat preferences of three clingfish species (Lepadogaster lepadogaster, L. candolii, and Apletodon incognitus) occurring in the Gulf of Trieste (Northern Adriatic). The results show that all three species have a cryptic lifestyle and are well-segregated based on their depth distribution and macro- and microhabitat preferences. L. lepadogaster inhabits shallow waters of the lower mediolittoral and upper infralittoral, where it occurs on rocky bottoms under stones. L. candolii similarly occurs in the rocky infralittoral under stones, but below the lower distribution limit of L. lepadogaster, and in seagrass meadows, where it occupies empty seashells. Such hiding places in seagrass meadows are also occupied by A. incognitus, which mostly occurs below the lower distribution limit of L. candolii. Despite the overlap of depth and macrohabitat, the probability of individuals of two species encountering each other or competing in the same habitat is low when the depth range is combined with the microhabitat preferences of these species. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revealing the Biodiversity of Hidden Marine Habitats)

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15 pages, 567 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Combining Methods to Better Estimate Total Fish Richness on Temperate Reefs: The Case of a Mediterranean Coralligenous Cliff

by Alen Soldo, Igor Glavičić and Marcelo Kovačić

J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9(6), 670; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9060670 - 18 Jun 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1907

Abstract

Coralligenous habitat is considered as one of the most important special habitat types in the Mediterranean; however, due to its inaccessibility, little is known about it, although it is considered as one of the Mediterranean’s richest habitats in terms of species. Due to a low number of studies, it was presumed that the richness of coralligenous fish assemblages is underestimated using traditional visual census methods which are not applicable to the deep, steep, and vertical slopes of coralligenous cliffs and do not capture exhaustively cryptobenthic species commonly found in this habitat. This paper aims at producing a more complete assessment of fish assemblages on a coralligenous cliff by combining different methods, particularly the deep vertical transect visual census and square with anesthetics method. A total of 76 fish species were recorded on a single coralligenous cliff, supporting the opinion that coralligenous cliffs are important Mediterranean biodiversity hotspots. The analysis of species traits between species recorded by the different methods showed how complementary they are to better describe species compositions. Hence, the result of this study demonstrates that the combined use of methods is essential for a more exhaustive description of the whole fish community structure and for accurate estimates of the abundance and diversity patterns, particularly in complex habitats such as coralligenous cliffs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revealing the Biodiversity of Hidden Marine Habitats)

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18 pages, 145214 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Rarely Reported Cryptobenthic Fish in Marine Caves of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

by Michail Ragkousis, Markos Digenis, Marcelo Kovačić, Stelios Katsanevakis and Vasilis Gerovasileiou

J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9(6), 557; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9060557 - 21 May 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4458

Abstract

Data on the distribution and ecology of cryptobenthic fish of marine caves in the Mediterranean Sea are extremely scarce but necessary for scientists and marine managers alike in order to understand these fish’s ecological role and assess their conservation status. Broadscale surveys by implementing underwater visual census and photographic sampling in marine caves of the northeastern Mediterranean Sea, within different expeditions during the last 5 years, brought to light new records of eight rarely reported cryptobenthic fish species. To a smaller extent, complementary citizen science data from diving professionals of Crete were used to fill distribution gaps. A total of 36 new records (66 individuals) from 18 marine caves and caverns of the Aegean and northeastern Levantine Seas were assembled, belonging to the gobies Corcyrogobius liechtensteini, Didogobius splechtnai, Gammogobius steinitzi, and Thorogobius ephippiatus, the blenny Microlipophrys nigriceps, the tripterygiid Tripterygion melanurum, the speleophilic bythitid Grammonus ater, and the gobiesocid Lepadogaster cf. lepadogaster. The above species have been rarely reported from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, with D. splechtnai and G. steinitzi being recorded for the first and second time from Greek waters, respectively, while L. cf. lepadogaster constitutes the second record of a clingfish species in a marine cave of the Aegean Sea. Interesting behavioral and ecological habits were also noted for some species, based on in situ observations and photographic evidence. Our study contributes to filling gaps in the knowledge of cave fish diversity and demonstrates that cryptobenthic mobile species in understudied cryptic habitats are more common than previously thought in the Mediterranean Sea. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revealing the Biodiversity of Hidden Marine Habitats)

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Review

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17 pages, 5039 KiB

Open AccessReview

Biodiversity of Upwelling Coastal Systems of the Southern Caribbean Sea Adjacent to Guajira Peninsula

by Catalina Vasquez-Carrillo and Kathleen Sullivan Sealey

J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9(8), 846; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9080846 - 05 Aug 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3068

Abstract

This paper describes the unique natural communities and biodiversity of the upwelling coastal system along the Guajira peninsula in the southern Caribbean Sea. The Guajira peninsula has a small human population with limited infrastructure and limited opportunities for coastal research, yet its coastal upwelling system is unique in the Tropical Western Atlantic region. This report includes both field observations along with a review of literature on the biodiversity of coastal eastern Guajira. In addition, it identifies missing information on the coastal system that is key to its management and conservation. Mangrove wetlands along with submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) communities in a combination of consolidated and unconsolidated shorelines (e.g., rocky shores, cliffs, and beaches) form unique habitats in eastern Guajira. The diversity of these habitats is illustrated with the Bahia Hondita marine lagoon, where critical nursery habitat for several commercial valuable and endangered fisheries species, including sharks and sea turtles, is observed. Less information is available on more cryptic fauna, invertebrates, and coastal plankton species. Several anthropogenic factors are threatening species diversity in coastal Guajira, including overgrazing, mining, and target-species overfishing. Additional threats, such as extreme weather events (e.g., storms and droughts) as well as changes in coastal water quality, are also impacting species. The protection of the Guajira’s biodiversity would depend on local communities’ governance and empowerment as well as law enforcement for mining and agriculture operations. Management plans can include reducing land-based sources of pollution and building coastal resilience for climate change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revealing the Biodiversity of Hidden Marine Habitats)

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