scholarly journals Aristotle’s scientific contributions to the classification, nomenclature and distribution of marine organisms

2017 ◽  
pp. 468 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELENI VOULTSIADOU ◽  
VASILIS GEROVASILEIOU ◽  
LEEN VANDEPITTE ◽  
KOSTAS GANIAS ◽  
CHRISTOS ARVANITIDIS
Keyword(s):  
Aegean Sea ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Taxonomic Classification ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Marine Animal ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Marine Fauna ◽  
Class Rank ◽  
Animal Names

The biological works of the Greek philosopher Aristotle include a significant amount of information on marine animals. In the present study, an overview of his scientific contribution to the knowledge of marine biodiversity and specifically to taxonomic classification, nomenclature and distribution of marine species is attempted. Our results showed that Aristotle’s approach looks remarkably familiar to present day marine biologists since: (i) although not directly aiming at it, he gave a taxonomic classification of marine animals, which includes physical groups ranked on three levels at least; (ii) most of Aristotle’s marine “major groups” correspond to taxa of the order rank in Linnaeus’s classification and to taxa of the class rank in the current classification; (iii) a positive correlation was found between the number of taxa per group identified in Aristotle’s writings and those described by Linnaeus; (iv) his classification system exhibits similarities with the current one regarding the way taxa are distributed to higher categories. (v) a considerable number of Aristotle’s marine animal names have been used for the creation of the scientific names currently in use; (vi) he gave the first account of the Mediterranean marine fauna, focusing on the Aegean Sea and adjacent areas. Taking into account all the above, we suggest that the foundations of marine taxonomy as laid down by Aristotle are still echoing today.

scholarly journals Peruvian Children's Folk Taxonomy of Marine Animals

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 50-57
Author(s):  
José Pizarro-Neyra
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Marine Animal ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Coastal Habitat ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Generic Level ◽  
Marine Fauna ◽  
Folk Taxonomy ◽  
Mean Frequency ◽  
Coastal Species

Free listing was used to obtain names of marine animals from 234 Peruvian children with families involved in fishing activities. They live in the fishing towns of Vila-vila, Morro Sama and Ilo, located in Southern Peru. Fishes, birds and the category “other marine animal” were used for the classification of marine fauna by children. The group of 6-8 year-olds shows a mean frequency of 19.7 names per child, while the group of 9-11 year-olds shows a mean frequency of 25.7 names per child. Folk species of fish is the most frequently recorded category with a predominance of coastal species and with a mean frequency of 7.56 and 11.51 names per child for the groups of 6-8 year-olds and 9-11 year-olds, respectively. In contrast, bird names are less frequently recorded in the lists. Some bird and mollusc names have lexical under-differentiation at a generic level and apparently have lower cultural significance than fish. Children’s classification in different levels of organization is evidence of a folk biology. The folk taxonomy of marine animals could be influenced by the lesser cognitive development of younger children and the ecological salience of some species. Some species with coastal habitat exhibit a high dominance index of folk names. Cultural transmission of knowledge about birds could be failing due to the recent occupancy of the study sites by migratory people and the sexual division of work in the children’s families.

Changes in theoretical ecospace utilization in marine fossil assemblages between the mid-Paleozoic and late Cenozoic

Paleobiology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Bush ◽  
Richard K. Bambach ◽  
Gwen M. Daley
Keyword(s):  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Marine Animal ◽  
Ecological Classification ◽  
Late Cenozoic ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Fossil Assemblages ◽  
Biasing Effects ◽  
Modes Of Life

We present a new three-dimensional theoretical ecospace for the ecological classification of marine animals based on vertical tiering, motility level, and feeding mechanism. In this context, analyses of a database of level-bottom fossil assemblages with abundance counts demonstrate fundamental changes in marine animal ecosystems between the mid-Paleozoic (461–359 Ma) and late Cenozoic (23–0.01 Ma). The average local relative abundance of infaunal burrowers, facultatively motile animals, and predators increased, whereas surface dwellers and completely non-motile animals decreased in abundance. Considering tiering, motility, and feeding together, more modes of life had high to moderate average relative abundance in the Cenozoic than in the Paleozoic. These results are robust to the biasing effects of aragonite dissolution in Paleozoic sediments and to heterogeneities in the latitudinal and environmental distributions of collections. Theoretical ecospace provides a unified system for future analyses of the utilization of ecologic opportunities by marine metazoa.

scholarly journals The Red Sea Biodiversity Project: Collection, understanding and preservation of the marine fauna of Saudi Arabia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moritz Sonnewald ◽  
Ali M. Al-Aidaroos
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Research Collaboration ◽  
Saudi Arabian ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Marine Fauna ◽  
Reference Collection ◽  
Scientific Outputs ◽  
Taxonomic Methods

The Red Sea Biodiversity Project, a research collaboration of King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (KAU) and Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt, Germany (SRI), was founded in 2011. The main goal of this project is to assess and report on the marine biodiversity of the Saudi Arabian Red Sea. We collect, identify and preserve a broad variety of marine species from various animal groups of that area and describe new taxa with integrative taxonomic methods. We currently build up a large reference collection and develop a Museum in order to close knowledge gaps and to communicate our results not only to scientists but also to the public. In various expeditions, the marine fauna along the Saudi Arabian coastline was sampled at 356 locations. Animals are identified to species level and catalogued into two publicly accessible reference collection databases both for SRI and KAU. In sum, they currently contain around 5.300 series with 13.600 individuals of more than 1.000 different species. The project was documented in 45 peer-reviewed publications and other scientific outputs. Herein, 22 species and two genera were described as new to science, while another 29 species were recorded as new to the Red Sea.

scholarly journals Are marine biodiversity hotspots still blackspots for barcoding?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Mugnai ◽  
Emese Meglécz ◽  
Federica Costantini ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Marine Species ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Marine Animal ◽  
Biodiversity Hotspots ◽  
Global Challenge ◽  
Large Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Marine Realm

Marine biodiversity underpins ecosystem health and societal well-being. Preservation of biodiversity hotspots is a global challenge. Molecular tools, like DNA barcoding and metabarcoding, hold great potential for biodiversity monitoring, possibly outperforming more traditional taxonomic methods. However, metabarcoding-based biodiversity assessments are limited by the availability of sequences in barcoding reference databases; a lack thereof results in high percentages of unassigned sequences. In this study we (i) present the current status of known vs. barcoded marine species at a global scale based on online taxonomic and genetic databases; and (ii) compare the current status with data from ten years ago. Then we analyzed occurrence data of marine animal species from five Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) classified as biodiversity hotspots, to identify any consistent disparities in COI barcoding coverage between geographic regions and at phylum level. Barcoding coverage varied among LMEs (from 36.8% to 62.4% COI-barcoded species) and phyla (from 4.8% to 74.7% COI-barcoded species), with Porifera, Bryozoa and Platyhelminthes being highly underrepresented, compared to Chordata, Arthropoda and Mollusca. We demonstrate that although barcoded marine species increased from 9.5% to 14.2% since the last assessment in 2011, about 15,000 (corresponding to 7.8% increase) new species were described from 2011 to 2021. The next ten years will thus be crucial to enroll concrete collaborative measures and long term initiatives (e.g., Horizon 2030, Ocean Decade) to populate barcoding libraries for the marine realm.

scholarly journals Global warming is causing a more pronounced dip in marine species richness around the equator

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (15) ◽  
pp. e2015094118
Author(s):  
Chhaya Chaudhary ◽  
Anthony J. Richardson ◽  
David S. Schoeman ◽  
Mark J. Costello
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Latitudinal Gradient ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Marine Animal ◽  
Pelagic Species ◽  
The Tropics

The latitudinal gradient in species richness, with more species in the tropics and richness declining with latitude, is widely known and has been assumed to be stable over recent centuries. We analyzed data on 48,661 marine animal species since 1955, accounting for sampling variation, to assess whether the global latitudinal gradient in species richness is being impacted by climate change. We confirm recent studies that show a slight dip in species richness at the equator. Moreover, richness across latitudinal bands was sensitive to temperature, reaching a plateau or declining above a mean annual sea surface temperature of 20 °C for most taxa. In response, since the 1970s, species richness has declined at the equator relative to an increase at midlatitudes and has shifted north in the northern hemisphere, particularly among pelagic species. This pattern is consistent with the hypothesis that climate change is impacting the latitudinal gradient in marine biodiversity at a global scale. The intensification of the dip in species richness at the equator, especially for pelagic species, suggests that it is already too warm there for some species to survive.

scholarly journals Over Ninety Endangered Fish and Invertebrates are Caught in Industrial Fisheries

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Roberson ◽  
Reg Watson ◽  
Carissa Klein
Keyword(s):  
Threatened Species ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Species At Risk ◽  
Threatened Fish ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Endangered Fish ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Monitoring Technologies

Substantial resources are invested in conservation of marine biodiversity globally. Fishing is the primary threat to many marine species and is one we can manage. However, threatened marine species are legally caught in industrial fisheries. To determine the magnitude and extent of this problem, we analysed global fisheries catch and import data and found reported catch records of 91 globally threatened species, thirteen of which are traded internationally. Seventy-three species targeted in industrial fisheries account for 99% of threatened species catch volume and value. Our results are a conservative estimate of threatened species catch and trade because we only consider species-level data, excluding group records; for example, we omit ‘sharks and rays,’ which represents over 200 threatened species. Although most fishing countries are involved in catch or trade of threatened species, it is driven largely by European nations. On land and for charismatic marine animals (e.g., whales), industrial-scale harvest of species at risk of extinction is controversial and usually highly regulated. In contrast, fishing for endangered fish and invertebrates is widespread but poorly documented. Given the development of new fisheries monitoring technologies and the current push for stronger international mechanisms for biodiversity management, industrial fishing of threatened fish and invertebrates should no longer be neglected in conservation and sustainability commitments.

scholarly journals The Red Sea Biodiversity Project: Collection, understanding and preservation of the marine fauna of Saudi Arabia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moritz Sonnewald ◽  
Ali M. Al-Aidaroos
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Research Collaboration ◽  
Saudi Arabian ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Marine Fauna ◽  
Reference Collection ◽  
Scientific Outputs ◽  
Taxonomic Methods

The Red Sea Biodiversity Project, a research collaboration of King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (KAU) and Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt, Germany (SRI), was founded in 2011. The main goal of this project is to assess and report on the marine biodiversity of the Saudi Arabian Red Sea. We collect, identify and preserve a broad variety of marine species from various animal groups of that area and describe new taxa with integrative taxonomic methods. We currently build up a large reference collection and develop a Museum in order to close knowledge gaps and to communicate our results not only to scientists but also to the public. In various expeditions, the marine fauna along the Saudi Arabian coastline was sampled at 356 locations. Animals are identified to species level and catalogued into two publicly accessible reference collection databases both for SRI and KAU. In sum, they currently contain around 5.300 series with 13.600 individuals of more than 1.000 different species. The project was documented in 45 peer-reviewed publications and other scientific outputs. Herein, 22 species and two genera were described as new to science, while another 29 species were recorded as new to the Red Sea.

Genetic characteristics and taxonomic classification of Fimic Anthrosols in China

Geoderma ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 115 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 31-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Zhang ◽  
Li Ma ◽  
Wenqing Li ◽  
Baocheng Chen ◽  
Jiwen Jia
Keyword(s):  
Taxonomic Classification ◽  
Genetic Characteristics
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document