Monica Angelica Varella Petti

Anthropogenic debris has been documented in Antarctica for the past 40 years. Upon breakdown, large pieces become microdebris, which reaches the seafloor through a variety of physical and biological processes. The Antarctic benthos, deeply reliant on sinking organic particles, is thus vulnerable to ingesting microdebris. By using benthic specimens sampled between 1986 and 2016 and deposited in biological collections, we provide the first record of microdebris in Southern Ocean deep-sea invertebrates. Specimens from 15 species (n = 169 organisms) had their gut content examined, with 13 species yielding microdebris in the shape of fibers (n = 85 fibers). The highest ingestion percentages were recorded in the sea cucumbers Heterocucumis steineni (100%), Molpadia violacea (83%) and Scotoplanes globosa (75%), and in the brittle star Amphioplus peregrinator (53%). Deposit- and suspension-feeding were the strategies which yielded the most fibers, accounting for 83.53% of particles. Seven fibers were identified as microplastics, composed of polyamide, polycarbonate, polyester, polyethylene terephthalate, polyisoprene and polysulfone. We also provide the earliest record of a microplastic in Antarctica, a polysulfone fiber ingested by a Boreomysis sp. mysid caught in 1986. The occurrence of fibers in the world's most remote continental margin renews concerns of pollution in seemingly isolated regions.

Biological scientific collections provide a robust framework for studying past and present biodiversity through different perspectives. Mapping and sharing their information content may aid to reduce biodiversity shortfalls, such as those observed in annelid polychaetes. These are among the most important groups of marine invertebrates, playing pivotal ecological roles in benthic habitats, and being important bioindicators. The main scientific polychaete collections in Brazil are concentrated in four institutions: Museum of Zoology and Oceanographic Institute of University of São Paulo, Museum of Biological Diversity of State University of Campinas, and National Museum of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. This paper explores the history and taxonomic knowledge of these collections, offering a comprehensive overview of their current statuses and highlighting challenges for the future. Together, these four collections safeguard over 300,000 samples from 68 polychaete families and 1,267 species representing 89% of the families and 94% of the species reported for the Brazilian coast. Among these samples, 252 are holotypes, which have rapidly increased in numbers in the past couple of decades due to the rise of species originally described from Brazil. Despite the long-standing presence of some of these institutions, the organization of their polychaete collections only began in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The organization of these official collections allowed the rescue of samples scattered around the institutions and made them available for further studies. All the Brazilian coastline is represented in these collections, but São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are overrepresented. Historical factors, such as collection mergers, expeditions, and targeted projects, also influenced the geographic distribution of samples. Brazilian scientific polychaete collections have significantly advanced in the last 15 years. However, the associated data still needs better structuring and accessibility to the scientific community via open-access online platforms allowing further investigation on Brazilian polychaete biodiversity.

The Antarctic environment has special characteristics that influence the local marine life. The benthic organisms, adapted to these extreme conditions of life, are subject nowadays to effects of climate change. Recently, the consequences of glacier retreat on these assemblages have been observed in many West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) regions, including King George Island (KGI). This study described the spatial variation of the benthic macrofauna in different areas of the Martel Inlet (Admiralty Bay - KGI), at depths around 25-30 m. Sampling was done in January 2001 at ten stations classified in localities according to their proximity to ice-margin/coastline in marine-terminating glacier (MTG), terrestrial-terminating glacier (TTG) and ice-free area (IFA). The total density and the abundance of annelids, nematodes, peracarid crustaceans and bivalves were higher at IFA stations. The locality discrimination by taxa and species was independent of available environmental/sedimentary conditions or was the result of unmeasured variables or species life history processes not assessed herein. Considering that our findings were obtained 21 years ago, they will be especially useful for comparing future studies of benthic assemblage responses to the influence of climate change and continuous glacier retreats in the WAP region.

Patches of Diopatra species from Brazilian sandy beaches were followed for ca. 50 years. Data were accessed from papers, gray literature, images and collections to verify time changes in the South Brazilian Bight (SBB) from 1974-2021. We modeled maximum density over time at 15 beaches, observing very high densities (> 100 ind.m-2) in 1974 followed by a decrease (~ 10 ind.m-2) of three species of Diopatra until 1995 and a strong decline (1996-2002) when populations were almost regionally extinct (0-1 ind. m-2). A slight recovery (3-4 ind.m-2) occurred after 2006 for a single species, D. marinae, associated with warmer northern waters, suggesting a range shift. This pattern was associated with a) heatwaves linked to an El-Niño event (1988) and gradual SST surface warming of ca. 1 oC since 1974. The usage of Diopatra spp. as fishing bait could also be associated with such a reduction. After 2016, D. neapolitana, a likely alien species, was established in the SBB in high densities. Projections based on Species Distribution Modeling (SDM) suggest a potential of invasion in the same range of the known species of D. cuprea complex along the Brazilian coast despite that there are no signs of competition between both species.

Os braquiúros ocupam uma posição de destaque na comunidade da epifauna bentônica do infralitoral de Ubatuba, sendo o conhecimento de seu papel na rede trófíca elemento essencial para a compreensão da estrutura e dinâmica deste ecossistema. Examinou-se o conteúdo estomacal de 2516 exemplares das 5 espécies mais abundantes da área em profundidades de 15 a 50 metros: Persephona mediterrânea, Portunus spinimanus, Callinectes omatus, Libinia spinosa e Hepatus pudibundus. As coletas foram efetuadas com rede de arrasto de portas, a partir de outubro de 1985, com periodicidade sazonal, até julho de 1986. Coletas adicionais foram realizadas no verão e inverno de 1987 a 30 m de profundidade. As espécies de braquiúros apresentaram dietas distintas baseadas principalmente em camarões, poliquetas e caranguejos. A proporção com que os itens ocorreram nos estômagos dos braquiúros esteve relacionada com a disponibilidade da presa no local, sendo registradas importantes variações sazonais. Os braquiúros apresentaram um hábito carnívoro, sendo impossível enquadrá-los em um único nível trófico. Estes animais têm um papel fundamental na transferência eficiente de energia, já que em sua dieta generalista, incluem também animais de níveis tróficos inferiores. Os exemplares adultos de maior tamanho parecem ser predadores de topo do ecossistema estudado.

Brazil is characterized as a megadiverse country, and one of the factors that guarantees the knowledge and preservation of this biodiversity is an improvement in the biological collections. They represent a country's biological, scientific, cultural, and genetic heritage and their preservation depends on a joint effort of researchers, institutions, and public authorities. Marine biological collections of invertebrates and algae of the state of São Paulo represent a high percentage of the national collections, with five biological collections deposited in state institutions. Currently, these collections safeguard the vast majority of the state's marine collection and make up one of the largest in the country. Therefore, the objective of this research is to present information on marine biological collections in the state of São Paulo, their current status, funding, and future perspectives, creating communication opportunities and considering the factors that impact their development. Support from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) surpasses state limits, since many studies address broader areas and/or establish diverse partnerships with other institutions from outside São Paulo. This is reflected in the taxonomic and geographic scope of the biological collections in the state, since these host specimens/species from different regions of the country, or even from other countries. However, it is worth mentioning that it is not enough to invest in expeditions to enrich the collections without valuing the training of qualified personnel, both for the collections maintenance and for their taxonomic refinement.

Phyllodocida is a clade of errantiate annelids characterized by having ventral sensory palps, anterior enlarged cirri, axial muscular proboscis, compound chaetae (if present) with a single ligament, and of lacking dorsolateral folds. Members of most families date back to the Carboniferous, although the earliest fossil was dated from the Devonian. Phyllodocida holds 27 well-established and morphologically homogenous clades ranked as families, gathering more than 4600 currently accepted nominal species. Among them, Syllidae and Polynoidae are the most specious polychaete groups. Species of Phyllodocida are mainly found in the marine benthos, although a few inhabit freshwater, terrestrial and planktonic environments, and occur from intertidal to deep waters in all oceans. In this review, we (1) explore the current knowledge on species diversity trends (based on traditional species concept and molecular data), phylogeny, ecology, and geographic distribution for the whole group, (2) try to identify the main knowledge gaps, and (3) focus on selected families: Alciopidae, Goniadidae, Glyceridae, Iospilidae, Lopadorrhynchidae, Polynoidae, Pontodoridae, Nephtyidae, Sphaerodoridae, Syllidae, Tomopteridae, Typhloscolecidae, and Yndolaciidae. The highest species richness is concentrated in European, North American, and Australian continental shelves (reflecting a strong sampling bias). While most data come from shallow coastal and surface environments most world oceans are clearly under-studied. The overall trends indicate that new descriptions are constantly added through time and that less than 10% of the known species have molecular barcode information available.