Plocamopherus ocellatus, a conspicuous but very rare Erythraean nudibranch, was first collected in the Mediterranean Sea off the Israeli coast in 1977, but no additional observations from Israeli waters were recorded in the scientific literature. Biodiversity assessment surveys of the hard bottom biota off the Mediterranean coast of Israel and sightings by recreational divers/underwater photographers in the past dozen years seem to support the presence of a local self-sustaining population off the Israeli coast.

Mola mola is distributed from temperate to tropical oceans. The scarce reports on the occurrence of the species in the Uruguayan coast were based on incomplete morphological studies on collected specimens that could not properly discard the congeneric Mola ramsayi. This work constitutes confirmation of the occurrence of Mola mola in the coastal area of Uruguay, based on morphological characters of a specimen collected in April 2013. The fish occurred 100 m offshore in the Río de la Plata estuary (at a depth of 5 m), in an area with a water temperature between 19 and 19.5°C. Morphometric data is provided. The specimen is preserved in the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Montevideo (Uruguay).

The present report provides the first account of the shallow water hydroids of St. Helena, which comprises 17 species, and adds nine new records to the hydrozoan fauna of the Tristan da Cunha group of islands, raising their number to 34. A total of 34 species, belonging to five families of Anthoathecata and eight families of Thecata, are discussed herein. Although distributional data are given for each species, brief diagnoses are provided for the lesser known or unidentifiable species, and the common taxa are occasionally accompanied by succinct remarks. Illustrations are provided for nearly all species in order to justify their identification and to facilitate identification by others. Fiordlandia protecta and Filellum bouvetensis, both from Gough Island, represent the second world records and extend their known area of distribution.

Ten alien species were recorded in a first-time survey of the benthic biodiversity of the upper sublittoral at Sigri Bay (Lesvos Island, north-eastern Aegean Sea). The record of the mollusc Syrnola fasciata is the first in Hellenic territorial waters. The records of the brown alga Stypopodium schimperi, the bivalve Septifer cumingii, the gastropods Syrnola fasciata and Smaragdia souverbiana and the bony fish Siganus luridus constitute evidence for a further northwards extension of their geographic ranges in the Aegean Sea. The record of Cerithium scabridum is the first in Lesvos Island and partially fills the gap in the distribution of the species in the eastern Aegean Sea. We also recorded the green alga Caulerpa cylindracea, the angiosperm Halophila stipulacea and the bivalve Pinctada imbricata radiata, which are widely distributed in the eastern Mediterranean. The polychaete Marphysa adenensis, which was also found at Sigri Bay, has recently been reported for the first time from the Mediterranean as a cryptogenic species.

Two chaenopsid fishes, Neoclinus chihiroe and Neoclinus lacunicola, were collected from Sadogashima Island, the Sea of Japan. The collected specimens represent the northernmost records of the two species and the first voucher specimens from the Sea of Japan. Morphological information and colour photographs, including underwater photos, of these specimens were provided. Additional photographic evidence from Tobi-shima Island, ~100 km north-north-east of Sadogashima Island, further extended the northernmost record of Neoclinus lacunicola.

The present contribution reports on the capture of two adult male specimens of the Asian/Japanese shore crab, Hemigrapsus sanguineus (de Haan, 1835) from Glamorgan, south Wales and Kent, southern England. These represent the first records of this species from mainland Great Britain.

We report 37 species of heterobranch sea slugs from the National Park Alacranes reef, located in the Campeche Bank, at the south-eastern Gulf of Mexico, of which 18 species are reported for the first time in this reef. With this contribution, the species richness in this national park increases to up to 67. The species Nakamigawaia felis, Petalifera sp., Elysia flava, Elysia pratensis and Bulbaeolidia sp. are reported in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time. The geographical distribution ranges for Oxynoe azuropunctata, Elysia ornata, Placida kingstoni, Aphelodoris antillensis and Tritonia hamnerorum are extended westward. Those for Elysia flava, Pleurobranchus areolatus and Felimare ruthae are extended both northward and westward.

Vertebral deformity and fusion are reported in four Pampus species, Pampus cinereus, Pampus echinogaster, Pampus liuorum and Pampus punctatissimus (family: Stromateidae) collected from Guangdong, China and from the Kii Peninsula, Honshu Island, Japan. All abnormalities were found in the caudal region of the vertebral column of the four specimens of Pampus examined, which included cases of missing vertebrae, lordosis and deformed centra. In addition, minor anomalies were also noticed in the abnormal specimen of Pampus liuorum. Possible causes such as genetic and epigenetic factors may be implicated in this anomaly.

Little is known about elasmobranchs along the northern coast of South America. During five boat surveys in Suriname offshore waters we visually documented the presence and behaviour of the free-ranging whale shark Rhincodon typus and two mobulid rays: the giant manta ray Manta birostris and the Chilean devil ray Mobula tarapacana. Three sightings were made of R. typus at the surface in shallow coastal waters where the water depth measured 46–67 m. One of these sightings was confirmed by photographs. Manta birostris was positively identified on five occasions while at the surface, all in shallow waters of less than 57 m deep. Four additional sightings, not accompanied by photographs, were identified as Manta spp. One devil ray, photographed and identified as Mobula tarapacana, was recorded at the surface in deep waters (2491 m) in July 2012. These records of R. typus, Manta birostris and Mobula tarapacana are the first for Suriname and therefore add to the documented information of these species within the Wider Caribbean Region and contribute to the knowledge of the pelagic distribution of these species.

Spawning of Cassis tuberosa is recorded and described for the first time, based on observations carried out in the Tamandaré reefs, north-eastern Brazil. The specimen was laying over gravel substrate surrounded by macroalgae at a depth of 2 m. Cassis tuberosa uses an algal frond of the genus Padina to lay its eggs. The oothecae consists of approximately 200 vasiform capsules, orange in colour. The spawn of Cassis tuberosa is quite similar to that produced by its congener, Cassis madagascariensis; however, Cassis tuberosa spawns in the soft substrate provided by algal fronds while Cassis madagascariensis utilizes coarse, carbonate sand. Considering that Cassis tuberosa is the target of multiple commercial purposes, to expand our knowledge about its biology could contribute towards protecting the essential habitat of reproductively active individuals.

In this paper, we record the occurrence for the first time of two sea cucumber species from the Persian Gulf (Hormuz Island). Sea cucumber samples were collected in the sub-tidal zone of the island during low tide. Species identification was accomplished using morphological keys and a review of their ossicles. The collected specimens provide evidence that Holothuria bacilli and Holothuria insignis are present in the Persian Gulf waters.

We report the first record in the Mediterranean Sea of the minute Indo-Pacific venerid bivalve Costellipitar chordatum. The species has recently established a small population off the central coast of Israel. Numerous live specimens of Gouldiopa consternans, at several locations off the Israeli coast, confirm the presence of a fast growing population. This is the first record of the species from Israel, following a recent report from Turkey.

Two specimens of the penaeid shrimp Penaeus aztecus, a West Atlantic species, were collected off Castiglione della Pescaia, Tyrrhenian coast of Italy. The species identity was confirmed based on morphological characters and by sequencing 510 nucleotides of the mtDNA 16sRNA gene. This alien species has been previously recorded off Turkey, Greece and Montenegro.

The Red Sea record of the Ambon scorpionfish Pteroidichthys amboinensis is confirmed based on two specimens collected at Eilat, Israel in 1966 and in 1997. The species is widespread but very rare, known from scattered localities in the Indo-West Pacific, otherwise occurring from India and Indonesia east to Marquesas Islands.

Specimens of Bursatella leachii Blainville, 1817 were collected from Pulicat Lake along the east coast of India at depths of up to 1 m and the maximum number of this species were recorded at a depth of 20 cm (13°33′57″N 80°10′29″E) on a sandy soil bed. A thorough literature survey on the species revealed this study to be the first report of its occurrence from this region. The present investigation describes a review on the occurrence and morphological features of this specimen.

Nephroselmis pyriformis (N. Carter) Ettl is reported for the first time from the north-eastern Mediterranean Sea coast. The species was isolated from the samples collected on 21 September 2013. The morphology of live cells is described based on light microscopy. Photographic and video images of the species are also presented.

Morphological and molecular data on brittle stars from the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago, a very small isolated group of islets situated between South America and Africa, are hereby presented. We found no endemic ophiuroids. Instead, the five species, Amphipholis squamata, Ophiactis lymani, Ophiactis savignyi, Ophiocomella ophiactoides and Ophiothrix (Ophiothrix) angulata, are either cosmopolitan or derived from the equatorial western Atlantic region. Results indicated a western Atlantic colonization and highlighted the existence of cryptic species in the genus Ophiactis.

An adult male specimen of Uca rapax (Crustacea, Decapoda, Ocypodidae), containing bilaterally hypertrophied chelipeds, was found in the mangrove area of the Rio Grande do Norte state, north-eastern Brazil. The chelipeds are subequal in size and similar to the major cheliped of normal male specimens of Uca rapax. This paper is the first record of the aforementioned anomaly for the species from the Brazilian coastline.

The alien nudibranch Polycera hedgpethi Er. Marcus, 1964, has been found in the Gulf of Cádiz (El Portil, Huelva). The present record in the Gulf of Cadiz could be considered an opportunity to connect the isolated Eastern Atlantic records for this species with those from the Mediterranean, even taking into consideration the possible unreported presence of this species along the North African Mediterranean coast. The collected specimens exhibited reproductive behaviour, suggesting the possibility of future additional records for this locality.

This paper presents a review of the vagrant species recorded in different areas of the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Seven bird species were observed at Elephant Island, King George Island and Nelson Island. Elephant Island was the area with the largest number of species recorded (N = 5). Among all the species observed in Antarctica, White-rumped Sandpiper and Cattle Egrets were the species with the most observations. There are different hypotheses used to explain the presence of vagrant bird species in Antarctica: (I) storms, irregular ocean currents, climate change and navigator errors can suggest why the birds are registered out of their usual areas of distribution; (II) changes in ocean currents may influence resource distributions and, consequently, influence bird distribution patterns. It is important to gather more information on bird species that are using new areas, to understand the diversity of birds in Antarctic regions, to characterize changes in migratory routes and to observe the responses of species facing global climate change.