Environmental drivers affect the entanglements of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in the gill-nets of the Gold Coast Shark Control Program. Entanglements primarily occurred during calm sea state conditions, with M. novaeangliae entanglements highest in September and D. delphis highest in June. Other significant variables influencing entanglements also include rainfall, spring tides and the East Australian Current.

In this study, the krill assemblages off the north-west marine bioregion were investigated and related to the physical, biological and biogeochemical properties of the water column. Twenty-five krill species were identified, including new records for Australian waters. Assemblages were primarily structured by depth, but mean seawater density, dissolved oxygen, fluorescence and mesozooplankton abundance also significantly explained some of the variation in krill assemblages.

Communities living underground in cave streams are entirely dependent on movement of energy and nutrients from the surface. As a result, changes to the surface environments will alter the underground communities. We examined the differences between stream communities under agricultural and forested catchments to determine what effect agricultural activities have on underground communities in New Zealand.

Otolith-based body size back-calculation with young Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) from the north-western Pacific was used to test the hypothesis of growth-dependent survival and to identify critical developmental stages for survival. The results suggest that only the larvae with fast, steady growth successfully become juveniles and, hence, that growth-dependent survival in the larval stage is critical for recruitment.

The reproductive biology of the blue shark (Prionace glauca) in the western North Pacific Ocean was investigated to contribute to future stock assessments. Results suggested that the North Pacific blue sharks has a higher productivity than previously thought, on the basis of larger fecundity and annual reproductive cycle.

Benthic trophic status of Uruguayan estuaries was evaluated by the biochemical composition of sedimentary organic matter (SOM). Morphological and hydrodynamic differences between habitats explained site-to-site variation in eutrophic conditions in the open or closed estuaries and meso-oligotrophic conditions in open estuaries. In autumn, the dominance of aged and more degraded SOM (low nutritional value) was evident, whereas in spring fresh and more labile SOM (high nutritional value) prevailed.

The effect of regrowth riparian vegetation on soil nutrients and river channels was investigated in south-east Queensland, Australia. River sections with regrowth vegetation had greater channel width complexity. In addition, degraded river sections, without regrowth vegetation, had higher soil nutrient concentrations. This study indicates that the restoration of regrowth riparian vegetation may require ongoing management to maximise nutrient retention potential.

We evaluated the contribution of insects to the diet of Amazonian stream fish in Pará, Brazil. The fish and insect fauna of 10 streams were sampled in the Tapajós National Forest. The fish consumed a diversity range of nutrients, confirming that most are generalists. The results of this study reinforce the importance of riparian forest in the feeding ecology of stream fish.

Waterfalls have unique physical characteristics and harbour specialised macroinvertebrate communities, but have been the subject of few ecological studies. The present study investigated the trophic structure of waterfall assemblages. Methods included stable-isotope analysis (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N of leaf litter and periphyton) and gut-content analysis of the most abundant macroinvertebrates. Data indicated that despite scouring velocities, waterfalls support animals with a range of diets, based on grazing or scraping, filter feeding and predation.

This study investigated the feasibility of using an artificial neural network (ANN) as a tool to accurately forecast cyanobacteria counts and microcystin concentrations in the Dau Tieng Reservoir through environmental parameters. The sensitivity analyses conducted with the ANNs identified critical variables (i.e. total nitrogen and temperature) that have the most positive and negative effects respectively affecting cyanobacteria counts and microcystin concentrations.

This study examined the mortality rate of silvers eels passing through a small hydropower station in a river from the southern Baltic area using acoustic telemetry. During the experiment, no direct mortality occurred as a result of passage through the turbine; however, a few individuals exhibited migration delay as a result of injuries or passage trauma.

Tissue metal concentrations are used as indicators of metal contamination. In some marine snails, high background copper concentrations can mask small but biologically significant copper uptake. The present study used isotopically enriched copper to measure copper uptake in a marine snail. Biomarkers were used to measure the copper-induced stress response. Measuring isotopically enriched copper allowed links to be established among exposure, uptake and response.

The present study investigated benthic mollusc assemblages from Antarctica. Evidence was found of different trophic assemblages (most probably linked to the sedimentary matrix where these communities settle), as well as differences between bivalves and gastropods with regard to limiting factors: bivalves appear to be more sensitive to temperature, but gastropods are more sensitive to depth. This should be taken into account when considering effects on benthic fauna associated with climatic change and global warming.

The present study investigated the effects of exposure to high CO₂ levels on the early development of three commercially important fish species. The results reveal reduced hatching rates under high CO₂ levels, but suggest species-specific responses and different ways of coping with this stressor during early development. Future studies will investigate the long-term effects of high CO₂ throughout the life cycle.

We employed a partitioning framework to investigate the contribution of turnover and nestedness to β diversity patterns in non-arboreal amphibians from southern Pantanal ecoregion. In the grasslands, β diversity is driven essentially by turnover. In the savannas, both turnover and nestedness contributed similarly to β diversity. Species turnover was associated with altitude and factors that induce spatial patterns.

In all, 976 fish from 133 species, collected in Moreton Bay, Queensland, were examined for the presence of larval trypanorhynch cestodes. Nine species of cestodes were found, providing new host and geographical records. Comparison of the cestode fauna with that of coral reef fish indicated that the fauna in Moreton Bay was less diverse but was dominated by similar species.

The seagrass Zostera muelleri is abundant in estuaries in Australia and is under pressure from coastal developments. We studied sulfide intrusion in the seagrass along a gradient of anthropogenic impact in Wallis Lake estuary and found high sulfide intrusion when inputs of organic matter from phytoplankton were high. The seagrass was, however, efficient in oxidizing the sediments, which may explain lack of negative effect of sulfide intrusion.

Field surveys revealed that newly recruited giant sea anemones grew rapidly, then slowed their growth and shrank near the end of their lifespans, at rates that depended on their fish symbionts. Populations were highly dynamic, with estimated turnover times of only 3–5 years. These anemones appeared to be short lived relative to their fish symbionts, leading to species-specific implications for their conservation management.

We analysed the taxonomic and trophic diversities of Mayfly in ponds and streams of floodplains in the Cerrado and Amazon–Cerrado transition. The largest diversities occurred in the transition between biomes, which can be related to the ecotone tension. There was no significant difference between the two types of ecosystems, probably because of the high water connectivity during the rainy season.

Mobile acoustic camera transects were used to determine the distribution of fish within a small estuary. Fish distribution was found to be linked to water depth for two size classes. This study demonstrates the usefulness of conducting mobile acoustic camera transects in shallow estuaries to determine distribution and relative abundance of fishes.

The blind side of the brill (Colistium guntheri) is usually white without any coloured patterns. The discovered specimen from Manukau harbour, Auckland, was unusual and showed broad melanic patches running mainly at the base of the dorsal and anal fins on its blind side. Such a case has not been reported from any of the flatfish species collected from New Zealand before and, therefore, it is an interesting and important record for fisheries sector in general.

A wild lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) was observed to expel an ingested foreign object through its body wall, over a minimum period of 435 days. We observed this lemon shark at a recreational diving feeding site off the coast of Jupiter (FL, USA) on 12 occasions between 6 December 2014 and 14 December 2016. Following expulsion, we observed this lemon shark recovered and in apparent healthy condition.