Sources of data other than those derived from conventional research protocols may contribute valuable information to fill gaps in knowledge about cetacean occurrences and diversity in a given area and help address conservation issues. The performance of a method to examine cetacean communities based on presence records systematically derived from shared photographs and videos posted by boaters and maritime operators on social media (e.g. YouTube and Facebook) combined with patchy distributed visual/acoustic data collected by researchers has been evaluated. Records (N = 1,274) gathered over a 10‐year period (2008–2017) have been used to obtain insights into species' presence and habitat selection in a scattered study area of the central Mediterranean Sea (Italy). The effectiveness of the method, practical and theoretical advantages, limitations, and challenges of using data originated from social media for research and conservation purposes are discussed. Seven out of the eight cetacean species regularly residing in the Mediterranean have been reported in the area, with different relative densities. Maximum entropy modelling techniques have been applied to the datasets derived from (a) social media, (b) research surveys, and (c) the combination of the two, using six fixed variables as proxies for cetacean presence. Distance from the coast and depth emerged as the main variables predicting encounters, with specificities related to the ecology of the species. The approach was reliable enough to obtain broad‐scale, baseline information on cetacean communities in the region, on the basis of which initial conservation recommendations and future research programmes can be proposed. With the increasing need for studying whale and dolphin population ecology coming from national/international directives, support from citizens to aid research may act as a practical, inexpensive solution to gathering extensive spatial–temporal data for regional‐scale monitoring and for the development of management priorities.

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The adult brain contains niches of neural stem cells that continuously add new neurons to selected circuits throughout life. Two niches have been extensively studied in various mammalian species including humans, the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricles and the subgranular zone of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. Recently, studies conducted mainly in rodents have identified a third neurogenic niche in the adult hypothalamus. In order to evaluate whether a neural stem cell niche also exists in the adult hypothalamus in humans, we performed multiple immunofluorescence labeling to assess the expression of a panel of neural stem/progenitor cell (NPC) markers (Sox2, nestin, vimentin, GLAST, GFAP) in the human hypothalamus and compared them with the mouse, rat and a non-human primate species, the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus). Our results show that the adult human hypothalamus contains four distinct populations of cells that express the five NPC markers: (a) a ribbon of small stellate cells that lines the third ventricular wall behind a hypocellular gap, similar to that found along the lateral ventricles, (b) ependymal cells, (c) tanycytes, which line the floor of the third ventricle in the tuberal region, and (d) a population of small stellate cells in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. In the mouse, rat and mouse lemur hypothalamus, co-expression of NPC markers is primarily restricted to tanycytes, and these species lack a ventricular ribbon. Our work thus identifies four cell populations with the antigenic profile of NPCs in the adult human hypothalamus, of which three appear specific to humans.

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Background The Mediterranean subpopulation of fin whale Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus, 1758) has recently been listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of threatened species. The species is also listed as species in need of strict protection under the Habitat Directive and is one of the indicators for the assessment of Good Environmental Status under the MSFD. Reference values on population abundance and trends are needed in order to set the threshold values and to assess the conservation status of the population. Methods Yearly summer monitoring using ferries as platform of opportunity was performed since 2008 within the framework of the FLT Med Network. Data were collected along several fixed transects crossing the Western Mediterranean basin and the Adriatic and Ionian region. Species presence, expressed by density recorded along the sampled transects, was inspected for assessing interannual variability together with group size. Generalized Additive Models were used to describe density trends over a 11 years’ period (2008–2018). A spatial multi-scale approach was used to highlight intra-basin differences in species presence and distribution during the years. Results Summer presence of fin whales in the western Mediterranean area showed a strong interannual variability, characterized by the alternance of rich and poor years. Small and large groups of fin whales were sighted only during rich years, confirming the favorable feeding condition influencing species presence. Trends highlighted by the GAM can be summarized as positive from 2008 to 2013, and slightly negative from 2014 to 2018. The sub-areas analysis showed a similar pattern, but with a more stable trend during the second period in the Pelagos Sanctuary sub-area, and a negative one in the other two sub-areas. Our findings further confirm the need for an integrated approach foreseeing both, large scale surveys and yearly monitoring at different spatial scales to correct and interpret the basin wide abundance estimates, and to correlate spatial and temporal trends with the ecological and anthropogenic drivers.

Loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta spend most of their life in large marine areas occupying a variety of habitats where they are exposed to different types of threats. Among these, marine litter poses a risk of entanglement or ingestion. Areas of risk exposure can be identified where the species overlap with litter accumulations, but gathering data on this highly mobile species and marine litter, especially in high sea areas, is challenging. Here we analysed 5 years of sea turtle and marine litter data collected by a network of research bodies along fixed trans-border transects in the Mediterranean Sea. Ferries were used as observation platforms to gather systematic data on a seasonal basis using standard protocols. Loggerhead turtle sightings over time and space were compared in terms of sightings per unit effort, and risk-exposure areas were assessed based on seasonal overlap of species hot spots and high-density plastic areas revealed by kernel analysis. In almost 180 000 km surveyed, 1258 sea turtles were recorded, concentrated mostly in the central Adriatic Sea and Sardinia-Sicilian channels during all seasons, and in the central Tyrrhenian Sea during spring. Plastic comprised the highest fraction of litter items detected. Several areas of higher risk exposure, both permanent and seasonal, were identified, mainly in the Adriatic Sea and during the spring−summer seasons. Records of both species and floating litter were highly variable, underlying the need for continuous long-term monitoring to develop sound conservation and management measures, especially in the identified areas of risk exposure.

During the summers of 2010 and 2011, weekly cetacean surveys were undertaken in "passing mode", using ferries as platforms of opportunity, along the "fixed line transect" between Catania and Civitavecchia (southern Italy). Of the 20 species of cetaceans confirmed for the Mediterranean Sea, eight were sighted within the survey period, of which seven species represented by Mediterranean subpopulations (Balaenoptera physalus, Physeter macrocephalus, Stenella coeruleoalba, Delphinus delphis, Grampus griseus, Tursiops truncatus and Ziphius cavirostris) and one is considered a visitor (Steno bredanensis). A total of 220 sightings were effected during 2010 and a total of 240 sightings in 2011. The most frequently recorded species was S. coeruleoalba. By the comparing the data from the two sampling seasons, a significant increase of D. delphis sightings and a decrease of sightings of B. physalus and P. macrocephalus were observed. While all the other species were observed in both sampling seasons, Z. cavirostris and Steno bredanensis were observed only during 2011. The presence of mixed groups of odontocetes was also documented: groups composed of pairs of species were S. coeruleoalba and D. delphis, S. coeruleoalba and T. truncatus, and S. coeruleoalba and G. griseus. The results of this research add useful information on cetacean species in a very poorly known area and highlight the need to standardize large-scale and long-term monitoring programs in order to detect variation in presence, abundance and distribution of cetaceans populations and understand the effect of anthropogenic factors.