Genetic drift and non-random mating seldom influence species with large breeding populations and high dispersal potential, characterized by unstructured gene pool and panmixia at a scale lower than the minimum dispersal range of individuals. In the present study, a set of nine microsatellite markers was developed and used to investigate the spatio-temporal genetic patterns of the holoplanktonic...

(Pelagia noctiluca) — a well-known summer problem off Spain’s Mediterranean beaches – thriving through the winter. Joseph Maria Gili, leading the survey, said that these animals developed last autumn and will themselves reproduce in the spring in readiness for what is expected to be another massive summer population around Spain’s beaches this year. While measures are now being considered to pr...

Cnidarians may negatively impact human activities and public health but concomitantly their venom represents a rich source of bioactive substances. Pelagia noctiluca is the most venomous and abundant jellyfish of the Mediterranean Sea and possesses a venom with hemolytic and cytolytic activity for which the mechanism is largely unknown. Here we show that exposure of mammalian cells to crude ven...

—Popelairia letitiae (Bourcier & Mulsant. 1852), known from two specimens supposedly from Bolivia, appears to be a valid species. Analysis of plumage color and morphometries indicates that P. letitiae does not represent an immature plumage or geographic variant of Discosura longicauda. although this species and P. letitiae may be sister taxa. No credible evidence for a hybrid origin of P. letit...

Spatial abundance patterns of the heterotrophic dinoflagellate, Noctiluca scintillans, were investigated along the southeast coast of Australia to address the hypothesis that population growth of Noctiluca is driven by anthropogenic eutrophication. Abundance patterns were related to the immediate physical flow field and not the conditions conducive to growth. Noctiluca cells were advected south...

The light organs of female specimens of the glow-worm Lampyris noctiluca were investigated by enzyme histochemical tests, lipid stains, and electron microscopy. Differences, both histochemical and in fine structure, were found between the cells of the photocyte and reflector layers. The photocytes contained a vesiculated reticulum, photocyte granules, amorphous granules, and numerous mitochondr...