We report the first record of intersexuality in little tunny Euthynnus alletteratus caught in the Mediterranean Sea. The little tunny were sampled in traps from La Azohía (Murcia) south-eastern Spanish Mediterranean coast and Tarifa (Cádiz) between April and June, during 2003 to 2012. We found a low prevalence of intersexuality (two specimens out of a total of 449 little tunny). We show a detailed histological description.

Rocas is the only atoll in the south-western Atlantic and comprises a shallow platform area of about 360 km2, distant 230 km from the continent and 130 km from Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, in Brazil. Since the 1970s, its marine flora has received the attention of several authors, giving rise to considerable and well-established knowledge about its algal biodiversity, with a total of 143 seaweed species reported for the area. Previous efforts stressed the interesting absence of the green algae Halimeda, usually abundant in tropical reefs and one of the most important seaweed groups in the structure of the tropical benthic community. Herein, we report for the first time the presence of Halimeda opuntia at Rocas, collected during an expedition in January 2012. Based on phylogenetic analysis, was proposed that H. opuntia was originated in the Indo-Pacific Ocean and that its establishment in Brazil was independent from populations of the Caribbean as a whole and the Bahamas in particular. Another hypothesis is the current scenario of increased frequency and intensity of extreme events along the Brazilian coast, which could explain the transport of propagules from adjacent areas towards the atoll.

The suctorian ciliates, Thecacineta cothurnioides and Trematosoma rotunda, belonging to the families Thecacinetidae and Acinetidae, were recorded as prominent epibionts on the cuticle of a marine free-living nematode, Chromaspirina sp. (Desmodoridae) from shallow sediments of the continental shelf of the Bay of Bengal. The biometrics of these suctorians arecompared with literature data, and their species-specific association with nematodes is discussed.

This paper confirms the occurrence of the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, in a Portuguese estuary (Sado estuary), demonstrating a full south-western extension of the species distribution along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts bordering the European continent. The present record associated with current and previous anecdotal occurrence reports suggests that the blue crab has established a population in the Sado estuary but with low census size.

The recently described Escharoides bishopi and the non-native Fenestrulina delicia are recorded for the first time from British waters.

The Red pandora Pagellus bellottii was recorded for the first time in the south-eastern Mediterranean in Haifa Bay, Israel, on 20 January 2010. Apparently, this eastern Atlantic Ocean species has recently started to disperse into the eastern Mediterranean. After an initial record from Syria in 1992, this is the second record from the eastern Mediterranean, which indicates the possibility that small populations may have established themselves there.

Two new records of sponges are registered from Ilha Grande Bay (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), which is an important area in Angra dos Reis for its tourist, economic and environmental contributions. Two species are redescribed in order to elucidate their morphological variations in relation to the known Caribbean specimens: Iotrochota arenosa, a new record to Brazil; and Echinodictyum dendroides, which have now been recorded on the south-east coast of Brazil for the first time. Furthermore, the genus Echinodictyum is redefined.

The Midnight Snapper Macolor macularis, is reported for the first time from the Indian exclusive economic zone based on the two specimens collected from Cochin Fisheries Harbour, Kerala on the south-west coast of India on December 2012 and October 2013. Morphometric and meristic data of the specimens are presented and discussed.

On 19 April 2014, a female goblin shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, was captured in a commercial shrimp trawl in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The shark, estimated to be approximately 5 m in length, was captured at a depth of approximately 490 m and released alive shortly after capture. This specimen represents the second goblin shark ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico.

The alien mollusc Aplysia dactylomela is recorded for the first time from the Egadi Islands marine protected area (western Sicily). This species has been widely reported in the Mediterranean and has established populations in Sicily. The presence of a few specimens let us suppose that its occurrence in this area is a recent event and that soon new populations will be sighted in the whole Egadi Islands and on the western and southern coasts of Sicily.

We report the sighting of bonnethead shark Sphyrna tiburo juveniles <60 cm total length (L T ) after more than two decades of apparent absence in Todos os Santos Bay (Brazilian eastern coast). A total of 8 specimens were collected on the Paraguaçu estuary during a Long Term Fish Monitoring Programme. The L T , total body mass and stomach contents are reported. Relevance for nursery areas to this threatened species is also discussed.

This work presents records of two endobenthic species of sea cucumber (Holothuroidea: Echinodermata) not previously reported in Canadian waters. Thyone inermis (Dendrochirotida) and Labidoplax buskii (Apodida) were collected south-west of Nova Scotia (eastern Canada) in 2009 in Georges and Crowell Basins in the upper 2 cm of muddy seafloor at upper bathyal depths (240–370 m). Both species are of small size, 3.7–8 mm and 5–8 mm long, respectively.

Previous studies indicated that a tropical shad Tenualosa ilisha is found from northern Sumatra of Indonesia in the east to Kuwait in the west. In Malaysia two species, Tenualosa toil and Tenualosa macrura, have been recorded from Borneo. This is the first record of the occurrence of T. ilisha in Malaysian waters. The new record suggests the urgent need for studies of biology and population dynamics for this commercially important Malaysian species.

The Indian swellshark Cephaloscyllium silasi is a poorly known deep water scyliorhinid (Carcharhiniformes) shark described from the south-west coast of India (off Kollam). Since the original description, reports of this species are absent due to rarity of specimens. This paper presents the first report of its egg case and also provides detailed morphological data about C. silasi based on recently collected materials.

Specimens of the deep-water sipunculan worm Phascolosoma (Phascolosoma) turnerae were recently collected from the western part of the Mediterranean Sea. This species is characterized by hooks showing a peculiar anterior stout and long projection at their base. A key to all the Phascolosoma species found in the Mediterranean Sea is included.

A record of a healthy specimen of slender sunfish Ranzania laevis with an amputated anal fin and healed scars is described from the south-western Indian Ocean. This is the first evidence of nektonic pelagic fish survival in spite of the ablation of a major locomotory organ and the first indication of non-lethal predation on adult slender sunfish.

The diet of young Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in the Bay of Biscay foraging ground was assessed using stomach-content analysis (SCA) and stable-isotope analysis coupled with isotope mixing model. Whereas SCA showed that the young tuna fed mainly on horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus), the estimation of liver and muscle mixing model analyses indicated that northern krill (Meganyctiphanes norvegica) was the most important food resource. These contrasting observations are probably due to the different time scales spanned by the different methods. The present results suggest that young bluefin tuna prey at different trophic levels of the Bay of Biscay pelagic food web, thus behaving as an opportunist and generalist predator.

The presence of the sea slug Polybranchia orientalis (Sacoglossa: Caliphyllidae) is recorded for the first time from Vizhinjam, Kovalam and Thirumullavaram located along the south-west coast of India. The specimens were obtained from the green algal mats of Caulerpa peltata in December 2013.

This paper presents an inventory of the species of molluscs collected on the continental shelf and upper slopes (70–500 m depth) on the Pacific side of Colombia. In 2002, 39 trawl samples were taken on soft bottoms by the RV ARC ‘Malpelo’. Thirty-eight species of bivalves were collected, comprising living animals and dead collected shells. Information on abundance, Colombian distribution and depth range is provided. Thirty-four species represent the first records for the Colombian Pacific, significantly increasing the number of shelf and slope species known in the region.

The fasciolariid snail Granulifusus poppei was collected for the first time from the Kerala coast, India. The record of the specimen from the Arabian Sea shows the extended distribution of the species from Somalia to India in the western Indian Ocean.