Encrusting and excavating Caribbean sponges Cliona aprica, C. caribbaea and C. tenuis (Hadromerida: Clionaidae) aggressively undermine and displace live coral tissue. To establish modes and rates of lateral advance into neighboring organisms, 171 sponge individuals were studied for 13 mo. Sponge advancement into live coral, via excavation underneath boundary polyps, occurred only when the 2 con...

Unusually for invertebrates, linguliform brachiopods employ calcium phosphate mineral in hard tissue formation, in common with the evolutionarily distant vertebrates. Using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (SSNMR) and X-ray powder diffraction, we compare the organic constitution, crystallinity and organic matrix-mineral interface of phosphatic brachiopod shells with those of ...

The arsenic content of various water bodies in Argentina is higher than the acceptable levels for human and animal uses. Cyanobacteria are widely distributed in aquatic environments and can bioaccumulate arsenic (As). This study presents the response of indigenous cyanobacteria to As(III) and As(V), including the species Tolypothrix tenuis, Nostoc muscorum and Nostoc minutum, previously used wi...