Three species of Boccardia (B. polybranchia, B. pseudonatrix and B. proboscidea) were associated with mollusc shells on the south and south-east coasts of South Africa. Boccardia polybranchia was widely distributed along the coast and falls within the known distribution range of this species. Comparisons with material from other, international, locations showed that some specimens have been misidentified. No characters could be found to characterize distinct species for different regions within the range of B. polybranchia, as currently recognized. Boccardia pseudonatrix was found only at the most eastern site, increasing its known distribution range. Boccardia proboscidea, a non-indigenous species, was found only on abalone farms and was most abundant in the west.

In November 2012, a workshop was carried out on the taxonomy and systematics of the family Syllidae (Annelida: Phyllodocida) at the Dove Marine Laboratory, Cullercoats, Tynemouth, UK for the National Marine Biological Analytical Quality Control (NMBAQC) Scheme. Illustrated keys for subfamilies, genera and species found in British and Irish waters were provided for participants from the major national agencies and consultancies involved in benthic sample processing. After the workshop, we prepared updates to these keys, to include some additional species provided by participants, and some species reported from nearby areas. In this paper, we provide the revised keys to enable rapid identification of Syllidae from the seas around Britain and Ireland. One new combination, Palposyllis propeweismanni, is proposed.

This paper details the ¢rst recorded instance of the prawn Palaemon macrodactylus in Europe, at the Orwell estuary, Su¡olk. The species is native to north-east Asia, including Japan and Korea, and has previously been introduced to other areas outside its natural range. Records of the abundance of caridean species, obtained from routine benthic trawl samples in the Stour and Orwell estuaries, provide a summary of P. macrodactylus' habitat preference in reduced-salinity waters. Consistent catches and records of ovigerous females provide evidence for the stability of the Orwell population. A revised key to British Palaemonidae is also provided.

Single-author papers are the lowest relative contributors to the research output of international open access journals BioInvasions Records (BIR), Aquatic Invasions (AI) and Management of Biological Invasions (MBI), accounting for 5% or less of published papers. In contrast, papers by four or more authors are the highest contributors, accounting for over half of the research output for the three journals. Papers by two or three authors are intermediate between these extremes, accounting for 15-23% of research ouputs. The relative contributions of research papers by single-authors to the output of AI and MBI has also significantly declined over time, while concurrently those by four or more authors has significantly increased. Although not significant, a similar pattern is also evident in BIR. Considering invasion ecology research, factors such as increasing globalisation, the increasing use of transboundary data-sets for invasive species and the proliferation of collaborative multidisciplinary author teams with multiple skill-sets, may be driving single-author papers to extinction.

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