We give a list of Cirripedia from Madeira Island and nearby deep water, based on specimens in the collection of the Museu Municipal do Funchal (Histo´ria Natural) (MMF), records mentioned in the literature, and recent collections. Tesseropora atlantica Newman and Ross, 1976 is recorded from Madeira for the first time. The Megabalanus of Madeira is M. azoricus. There are 20 genera containing 27 species, of which 22 occur in depths less than 200 m. Of these shallow water species, eight are wide-ranging oceanic forms that attach to other organisms or to floating objects, leaving just 13 truly benthic shallow water barnacles. This low diversity is probably a consequence of the distance from the continental coasts and the small area of the available habitat. No endemic species have been found.
Fish assemblages in Cais do Carva˜o Bay, Madeira Island, a proposed marine protected area (MPA), were determined from a diver visual census. A total of 32 transect counts were performed. Habitats sampled included sandy bottom, rocky boulders, vertical walls and rocky outcrops. Species richness, diversity, density, trophic structure, size and spatial organization were documented for the fish assemblages. Forty-four species from 23 families were encountered; 32% belonged to Sparidae (10) and Labridae (four). The greatest species richness (25) was observed in rocky boulder habitat at 10-15 m depth, while the lowest (five) occurred over a deeper sand habitat. The greatest density (760Á5 individuals per 100 m 2 ) was recorded over rocky outcropping (20-25 m deep), and the lowest of 11Á6 individuals per 100 m 2 was over a sand bottom at 10-15 m depth. Thalassoma pavo, Abudefduf luridus and Chromis limbata had higher densities on hard bottoms, while Heteroconger longissimus was the most abundant species in sand bottom habitats. No significant differences were detected for all indices calculated among depth intervals for sand and rocky boulder stations. Sand and rock boulder substratum, however, differed significantly for the 10-15 m depth stratum. # 2005 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles
The Selvagens Islands are located in the northeastern Atlantic between the Canary Islands and Madeira Island. As a result of their small size, remote location and harsh sea conditions only a few studies have been conducted to describe their marine species diversity. We were able to identify 29 new coastal fish species, an increase of 33% in the ichthyofauna described for these islands (n = 88). There is a prevalence of species with tropical affinities and only 2.3% (n = 2) are endemic to Macaronesia. Considered a stepping-stone colonization vector from the nearest continental shore, as proposed by other authors for this region, the Selvagens Islands host 34.1% of the ichthyofauna described for the much larger Canary Islands (n species = 258, submerged area n SelvagensIs. = 2.3%) and 47.3% of the ichthyofauna described for the more distantly located Madeira Island (n species = 186, submerged area n SelvagensIs. = 17.9%). Interestingly, 6.8% (n = 6) of the species failed to bridge the gap between the Selvagens Islands and Madeira Island. Data collected so far showed no trend toward an increasing number of species with high dispersal capability. The Selvagens Islands are an example of a high coastal species diversity occurring even in very small areas of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean.
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