The optimum path to follow when subjected to cross flows was first considered over 80 years ago by the German mathematician Ernst Zermelo, in the context of a boat being displaced by ocean currents, and has become known as the 'Zermelo navigation problem'. However, the ability of migrating animals to solve this problem has received limited consideration, even though wind and ocean currents caus...

Identifying highly frequented areas is a priority for sea turtle conservation, and the distribution of young individuals in open waters represents a major knowledge gap due to methodological biases. The drift of hatchlings from 38 loggerhead Caretta caretta and 10 green Chelonia mydas turtle nesting sites in the Mediterranean was simulated for the first 6 mo of life, with simulations repeated f...

Stable isotope data are useful for inferring foraging and niche variation in marine taxa but can be difficult to interpret, in part because different foraging patterns may result in similar isotopic values. Here, we integrate stable isotope analysis (δ13C and δ15N) with behavioral data to investigate the foraging ecology of loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta on a feeding ground in Shark Bay, We...

Range shifts are of great importance as a response for species facing climate change. In the light of current ocean-surface warming, many studies have focused on the capacity of marine ectotherms to shift their ranges latitudinally. Bathymetric range shifts offer an important alternative, and may be the sole option for species already at high latitudes or those within enclosed seas; yet relevan...

The phylogenetic analysis of Sergestoidea based on 253 morphological characters and encompassing all 99 valid species confirmed all previously recognized genus-level clades. Analysis retrieved five major robust clades that correspond to families Luciferidae, Sergestidae, Acetidae fam.n., Sicyonellidae fam.n. and Petalidiumidae fam.n. Synonymy, emended diagnoses and composition of revealed famil...

Centropages typims is a temperate neritic-coastal species of the North Atlantic Oceans, generally found between thelatitudes of the Mediterranean and the Norwegian Sea. Therefore, the species experiences a large number of environmentsand adjusts its life cycle in response to changes in key abiotic pa rameters such as temperature. Using data from the Con-tinuous Plankton Recorder (CP...

The population structure (NI to adults) of the copepods Centropages typicus and Temora stylifera was investigated in parallel at two sites in the eutrophic and oligotrophic waters of the Gulf of Naples (Tyrrhenian Sea) with the aim of identifying the environmental factors that modulate the occurrence of these calanoids that are abundant in the neritic waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Monthly zo...

Understanding the patterns of spatial and temporal distribution in threshold habitats of highly migratory and endangered species is important for understanding their habitat requirements and recovery trends. Herein, we present new data about the distribution of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in neritic waters off the northern coast of Peru: an area that constitutes a transitional path...

The use of genomic data and the rise of phylogenomics have radically changed our view of the eukaryotic tree of life at a high taxonomic level by identifying 4-6 "supergroups." Yet, our understanding of the evolution of key innovations within each of these supergroups is limited because of poor species sampling relative to the massive diversity encompassed by each supergroup. Here we apply a mu...

Cement plants in the central Hudson River valley utilize limestones of the Helderbergian Series of the Lower Devonian. Chiefly calcilutites, calcarenites, and cherty calcisiltites, these rocks represent progressively deeper environments, from lagoonal to neritic, with scattered reef deposits. Stratigraphic continuity is marked, and a layer-bylayer analysis shows strikingly constant chemical com...