The African brown snapper Lutjanus dentatus is a fish native of the West African coastal zone of the Atlantic Ocean. Here we document the first recorded capture of this species in the Canary Islands, an archipelago close to Africa, in August 2013.

Porpita porpita widely occurs in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea. In spite of its presence in the north-western Indian Ocean with records from the eastern Arabian Sea (Indian coast), its distribution in the North Arabian Sea, at the Pakistan coast has been found lacking in the literature. The present report deals with the occurrence of P. porpita at the Karachi coast of Pakistan and confirms its presence in the region.

Two species of Eriocheir have been recorded from the Middle East. The Chinese mitten crab, E. sinensis H. Milne Edwards, 1853, has been reported from the Anzali Marshland, northern Iran and recently, the Hepu mitten crab E. hepuensis Dai, 1991, from Iraqi waters. The present record of E. hepuensis from the Bahmanshir River, Abadan, southern Iran, documents the presence of the species in the Karun River system, confirms the occurrence of the species in the Persian Gulf and establishes a possible range extension in the region.

Mytilopsis leucophaeata naturally occurs in oligo- to mesohaline estuaries along the Atlantic coast of the USA and Mexico. In Brazil, M. leucophaeata was first recorded in 2004 in estuaries adjacent to the Port of Recife (Pernambuco State, north-eastern Brazil). Here, we present the second record of the species in Brazil, and the first for the south-eastern region, in the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon (Rio de Janeiro State). This lagoon, located within a major urbanized area of Rio de Janeiro City, is highly affected by coastal development, but used for various nautical sports. The imminence of the Olympic Games, to be held in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, requires specific attention to the importance of monitoring and controlling this new invasive species. Action has to be taken to prevent its dispersal to other estuarine and lagoon ecosystems of Rio de Janeiro State due to movement of boats and sport equipment.

The caprellid amphipod, Caprella mutica, is a well-known invasive species, originating in the Sea of Japan, which has been rapidly expanding along the coasts of North America, Europe and Oceania for the last forty years. Caprella mutica is frequently associated with man-made structures, especially those dedicated to aquaculture activities, where it can reach high densities of up to 300,000 ind./m2. A well-established population of C. mutica was recently found by SCUBA-divers in Galician waters (north-west Spain) at 6 different man-made floating structures along Ría de Arousa. The record of this species in this location implies a new southernmost limit of distribution, extending the known distribution range in Atlantic European waters and confirming the continuity of the colonization southwards.

The presence of the offshore rockfish, Pontinus kuhlii (Scorpaeniformes, Scorpaenidae), is reported for the first time in Maltese waters (Strait of Sicily). One specimen was caught offshore Gozo (Maltese archipelago) in October 2013 by bottom longline. The eastward range expansion within the Mediterranean of this Atlantic species is discussed.

This paper reports the first record of the narrowmouth catshark Schroederichthys bivius from the coast of Paraná State, southern Brazil, increasing its distribution along the Brazilian coast.

Lissoclinum midui was collected from Lyudao (Green Island), Taiwan. This is the first record outside of the type locality, Kumejima Island (Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan), of this species. The colonies in Lyudao were found on non-geniculate coraline algae covering the coral limestones in the reef crest (0.5–1 m deep). They were not rare at the collection sites, and it is uncertain why this species has only been recorded in the two sites in Taiwan–Ryukyus. It may be that the shallow, wave-exposed reef crest is a poorly investigated habitat for small benthic invertebrates.

Two species of Champsodon (Champsodontidae)—C. vorax and C. nudivittis were collected for the first time from the northern Arabian Sea at a depth of 282–393 m. This finding significantly expands the known distribution of the two species and supports the suggestion that the recent finding of both species in the eastern Mediterranean is due to their migration through the Suez Canal.

The occurrence of Monodactylus kottelati is reported for the first time from the Chilika Lagoon extending the range of the species to the east coast of India and providing the first substantiated report of the species from Indian waters. The 79 mm standard length specimen from Chilika Lagoon is described in the present paper. Its affinity and distribution is also discussed.

This paper provides an account of twelve intertidal species of hydroids reported from the State of Gujarat, north-west India. Six of them constitute new records for the coast of Gujarat, and four are reported for the first time from waters of India. Also reported for the first time from Indian waters are the genera Zyzzyzus and Nemalecium.

The presence of the fish species Iniistius pavo is confirmed in the Sea of Oman. One adult specimen (420 mm total length) was caught from the waters around the City of Muscat, Sea of Oman, giving a new ichthyofaunal record for the area and new maximum length for the species.

Metamysidopsis macaensis is reported for the first time in the south of Brazil, and a comparative analysis of morphological characteristics between the original description of the species and a female described here is made. The occurrence of the species in the south of Brazil and exclusively in the Brazilian shelf suggests this species has a wide distribution along the Brazilian shelf. The morphological differences between the holotype and the female described here are significant and suggest that the original description was probably made based on an immature female.

The sea cucumber Holothuria (Theelothuria) notabilis for the first time is reported from the Beibu Gulf, South China Sea. A morphological description of this new record with colour figures and scanning electron microcopy images of its ossicles are provided. This finding widens the geographical range of H. (T.) notabilis and indicates that this species may expand northwards in the South China Sea. With our new record, the subgenus theelothuria is now represented by three species in China.

Two specimens of Stegastes fasciolatus of total length 110.1 mm and 112.2 mm were collected from gillnet at Visakhapatnam fishing harbour, north-east coast of India on 5 January 2013. The morphometric and meristic characters of the recorded specimens are described and discussed.

A specimen of the Slimy head Hoplostethus mento was collected at a depth of 650–700 m from off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. This specimen constitutes the first record of the species in Costa Rican waters and a north-west range extension of about 600 km on known distribution. A brief description of the specimen as well as comparative morphometric data and distributional information are provided.

The presence of the fish species Monocentris japonica is reported from the Iraqi waters of the Arabian Gulf. One adult specimen (125 mm total length) was caught from the waters around the Khor Abdullah within the Iraqi marine territory, giving a new ichthyofaunal record for the area.

An effective tagging technique represents a challenge for long-term studies in sea cucumbers. These studies require accurate identification, high tag retention and no adverse effects on vital rates or performance of the tagged individuals. We tested the retention rate of one external and one internal tag in the sea cucumber Holothuria mexicana. The passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag was inserted into the coelomic cavity and the T-bar (external tag) was attached in the upper surface of the body wall. Retention rate was lower, for both kinds of invasive tags, than required in long-term studies. Stress elicited by the tagging procedure caused evisceration of 40% of PIT-tagged individuals versus a 57% of T-bars during or no more than five minutes after tagging. No differences in evisceration between both tags were detected; nor any correlation between evisceration and length. To conclude, the tagging procedure harmed the animals and both PIT-tags and T-bars showed similar low retention rates after ten weeks. Both marks were not effective for long-term studies in Holothuria mexicana.

Forty-six individuals of Carcharodon carcharias were either recorded or sighted in Turkey's waters during a period from February 1881 to 28 September 2011. Total lengths (TLs) of the recorded great white sharks ranged from 85 cm TL to ~800 cm TL, and mass ranged between 12 kg and ~4500 kg. Three non-fatal shark attacks on boats of tuna hand-liners were also recorded. A North Aegean Sea specimen (85 cm TL; sp No. 45; Table 1) caught by a coastal trammel netter in Edremit Bay on July 6, 2011, is possibly the smallest neonate white shark from Mediterranean waters to date. Due to intensification of tuna fishing and the resulting decline or extinction of tuna stocks, C. carcharias is now apparently extinct from marmaric and bosphoric waters. Capture of 6 neonate great white sharks between 2008 and 2011, in the same period of the year (from late June to early July), in the waters of Edremit Bay (northern Aegean Sea, Turkey) suggests the possibility of a breeding ground in the region. The growing tuna farm industry offers a new possibility for encounters between humans and great white sharks off the Turkish coast.

The specimens of Paralepas maculata on a sea urchin, Prionocidaris sp. were collected in Okinawa, southern Japan. This species has not been reported since its original description. This represents the first observation of this species from Okinawa and the first instance found on this sea urchin species. In this paper, the morphology of the new P. maculata specimens is reported, and compared with the type series of this species. Small individuals were found on the holotype. The probable androdioecious sexual system of the species, which includes dwarf-male like individuals and hermaphrodites, is discussed. This study was facilitated by the collaboration of scientists and aquarium staff, suggesting the potential of such collaborations in biodiversity studies.