Understanding of the spatial distribution and habitat use in different stages of a life cycle represents the essential aspect of threatened species management and conservation. In the present paper, the spatial and temporal patterns of habitat use in juvenile and adult life stages of the long-snouted seahorse Hippocampus guttulatus in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Apulia—Italy) (40°28′N, 17°16′W) were examined. From October 2012 to January 2014, monthly visual censuses were conducted in six coastal habitats of a focal area (Buffoluto site). Of a total of 317 individuals of the long-snouted seahorse that were sighted, 148 were juveniles, 82 adult females and 87 adult males. Our results showed significant differences in the habitat use between adult and juvenile life stages of H. guttulatus. Adult individuals were mainly concentrated within Cladophora prolifera beds and the wood poles of a mussel farm at 2–4 m of depth, while juvenile individuals were mainly present in shallower water (0.4–1 m) on artificial hard substrates covered by a brown algae turf. Assessing and describing the habitat use within different life stages of H. guttulatus represent a useful tool to support species conservation by protecting the habitats it uses

Sponge assemblages associated with coralligenous outcrops were studied with the aim of describing and comparing their composition, morphological features and distribution at different depths (shallow vs. deep) along the Apulian coasts. In addition, image analysis enabled the description of the main features of coralligenous outcrops and the detection of structuring species. The paper provides a significant contribution in terms of supplying new taxa of sponges associated to coralligenous assemblages and emphasising the importance of invertebrates in realising calcareous constructions. Most of the new finding came from deep sites, thus underlining the need to improve taxonomic studies on coralligenous communities at greater depths. A total of 153 taxa of sponges were recorded: 4 Calcarea, 6 Homoscleromorpha and 143 Demospongiae. Two species, Clathria (Microciona) macrochela and Thoosa armata, are new records for the Italian sponge fauna, with C. (M.) macrochela representing a new record for the whole Mediterranean. New findings for the Ionian and Adriatic Seas totalled 25 and 8 species, respectively. Thirty-nine species are endemic for the Mediterranean. Data analyses clustered sites into two groups, separated according to the depth. Deep sites, characterised by animal dominance, exhibit a heterogeneous substrate texture richer in cavities than the shallow and homogeneous algal ones. Differences in sponge species composition also correspond to differences in the distribution of sponge growth forms, with the insinuating cryptic species more abundant in deeper communities. Ten of 15 sponge species included in national and international wildlife protection laws and policy have been detected in the present study

Aquaporins (AQPs) are a family of membrane channels facilitating diffusion of water and small solutes into and out of cells. Despite their biological relevance in osmoregulation and ubiquitous distribution throughout metazoans, the presence of AQPs in annelids has been poorly investigated. Here, we searched and annotated Aqp sequences in public genomes and transcriptomes of annelids, inferred their evolutionary relationships through phylogenetic analyses and discussed their putative physiological relevance. We identified a total of 401 Aqp sequences in 27 annelid species, including 367 sequences previously unrecognized as Aqps. Similar to vertebrates, phylogenetic tree reconstructions clustered these annelid Aqps in four clades: AQP1-like, AQP3-like, AQP8-like and AQP11-like. We found no clear indication of the existence of paralogs exclusive to annelids; however, several gene duplications seem to have occurred in the ancestors of some Sedentaria annelid families, mainly in the AQP1-like clade. Three of the six Aqps annotated in Alitta succinea, an estuarine annelid showing high salinity tolerance, were validated by RT-PCR sequencing, and their similarity to human AQPs was investigated at the level of “key” conserved residues and predicted three-dimensional structure. Our results suggest a diversification of the structures and functions of AQPs in Annelida comparable to that observed in other taxa.

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