Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology最新文献

{"title":"Macroalgae and conspecifics serve as critical attachment substrates for juvenile green-lipped mussels (Perna canaliculus) during different stages of development","authors":"Katherine A. Burnham ,&nbsp;Jenny R. Hillman ,&nbsp;Andrew G. Jeffs","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152108","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152108","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In recent decades, there has been a global push to restore shellfish reefs and the array of ecosystem services they provide, but these efforts are met with many challenges, the most common of which are substrate limitation due to habitat degradation and a lack of larval recruitment due to population declines. The restoration of green-lipped mussel (<em>Perna canaliculus</em>) reefs in New Zealand is similarly impeded by a lack of natural recruitment into populations of cultured adults that have been transplanted to the seafloor. To obtain a more complete understanding of the substrates needed to support the attachment of <em>P. canaliculus</em> juveniles throughout their development on mussel reefs, this study characterised the presence of different size classes of juvenile mussels on various substrate types within different microhabitats and intertidal zones on a remnant, intertidal mussel reef in the Hauraki Gulf. Across the reef, early juvenile <em>P. canaliculus</em> &lt;5 mm in shell length (SL) were present on conspecifics (37 %) and macroalgae (33 %) with similar frequency, but juveniles 5 – &lt;10 mm SL were present on conspecifics (64 %) almost twice as often as on macroalgae (34 %). Meanwhile, juveniles in all larger size classes ≥10 mm SL were present less often on macroalgae (average 4 %) and most often on conspecifics (average 27 %), followed by bare rock and shell for juveniles ≥20 mm SL (average 11 %). These findings indicate that macroalgae serves as a critical attachment substrate for juvenile <em>P. canaliculus</em> during early development, while conspecific substrate supports the establishment of juveniles throughout later development, alongside rock and shell in a lesser capacity. Additionally, for early juveniles &lt;5 mm SL in emergent rock microhabitats, their presence was 31 % higher on macroalgae than on conspecifics in the upper intertidal but 28 % higher on conspecifics compared to macroalgae in the lower intertidal, indicating that juvenile substrate associations vary between locations within the reef that experience different levels of hydrodynamic force, intraspecific competition, and predation. This study offers valuable insights into the early life history of <em>P. canaliculus</em> that can inform mussel reef restoration practitioners of the types of substrates that; 1) may be limited at restoration sites, 2) are likely to be most effective for facilitating recruitment at restoration sites if applied in close proximity to allow juveniles to transition between substrates during ontogeny, and 3) can be used as a selection criteria for future sites, alongside a set of environmental parameters.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"588 ","pages":"Article 152108"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144072708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Parasite aggregations: Females attract conspecific males to the hosts in the ectoparasitic isopod Onisocryptus ovalis","authors":"Fumi Matsubara ,&nbsp;Fumio Takeshita ,&nbsp;Yasuhisa Henmi","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152106","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152106","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>For symbionts of marine invertebrates, migration between hosts for mate-searching entails various ecological difficulties. Aggregation in hosts is a behavioral feature sometimes employed by symbionts to overcome such challenges. This can increase mating opportunities, depending on the mating and sexual systems. In this study, we investigated seasonal bias in the ectoparasitic isopod <em>Onisocryptus ovalis,</em> a protandrous hermaphrodite, toward the host ostracod <em>Vargula hilgendorfii</em> using a two-year field survey. We additionally demonstrated the host preference of male isopods through laboratory experiments. Parasitic isopods aggregated on larger and female ostracod hosts in the field during spring, early summer, and sometimes autumn. In laboratory experiments, male parasites, which can move between hosts, consistently showed a preference for host ostracods parasitized by conspecific females compared to hosts without conspecifics. Male parasitic isopods likely select larger female hosts, which can mainly serve more eggs as reproductive resources for female parasitic isopods. Male parasites, in addition, prefer hosts parasitized by female conspecifics. Such preferences and the sexual system of protandrous hermaphrodites may increase the reproductive success of parasitic isopods under limited opportunities to encounter mates. Therefore, these traits of parasitic isopods would produce seasonal aggregation while being influenced by the life history of the hosts associated with overwintering, recruiting, and reproduction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"588 ","pages":"Article 152106"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143929376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Temperature affects growth rates while dietary lipid influences condition metrics in juvenile Tanner crab (Chionoecetes bairdi)","authors":"Louise A. Copeman ,&nbsp;Samantha M. Mundorff ,&nbsp;Michele L. Ottmar ,&nbsp;Michelle A. Stowell ,&nbsp;Mara L. Spencer","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152105","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152105","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Tanner crab (<em>Chionoecetes bairdi</em>) populations in Alaska have declined since the 1980s. Increasing ocean temperatures have been hypothesized to be a driver of regional crab declines, both via direct thermal effects on their metabolic rates and through indirect effects on predatory-prey interactions and available food quality. Lower juvenile crab energy storage and higher metabolic rates may make early life stages more vulnerable to warming-induced starvation than adults. To characterize the potential synergistic influence of temperature and diet quality (% lipid) on juvenile Tanner crab survival, growth, lipid composition and condition metrics, we collected age-0 crab from nursery grounds in Kodiak, Alaska, during the summer of 2022. We performed an 11-month growth experiment in which crab were reared in individual cells under three temperatures (2, 5, and 9 °C) and on two dietary lipid levels (low and high). Morphometric data were collected within one week of molting and whole-body lipid samples were taken at mid-molt following the second full molt cycle, or at the end of 11 months of culture. Results show that temperature significantly impacted growth and survival, with shorter intermolt periods and high mortality observed at 9 °C. Morphometric-based condition was highly variable and not significantly differ between treatments. In contrast, lipid-based condition metrics revealed that crab fed high dietary lipids had elevated triacylglycerols and total lipids per weight relative to crab fed low-lipid diets. Crab reared in elevated temperatures had higher proportions of sterols and saturated fatty acids than crab at low culture temperatures. Our findings in this fully crossed experiment suggest that increasing temperatures in Alaska waters have the potential to impact juvenile crab populations both directly through accelerated growth and indirectly via declining lipid content available in the benthic food web.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"588 ","pages":"Article 152105"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143908191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Negative impacts of pumice drifting on reef-building corals","authors":"Zongyan Shi ,&nbsp;Xiangyu Yin ,&nbsp;Takashi Nakamura","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152104","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152104","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A submarine volcano erupted near “Fukutoku-Oka-no-Ba” in the Ogasawara region of Japan in August 2021. In November 2021, substantial pumice deposition was observed in the coral reef areas around Okinawa Island. <em>Re</em>-suspended pumice afloat from May to June 2022, coinciding with coral spawning, was observed. The effects of pumice on corals are largely unexplored, prompting this study to assess the potential effects of pumice on the various life histories of corals through field surveys and laboratory experiments. Pumice deposition, particle composition, and direct injuries to the surface of corals were examined in the field between November 2021 and May 2022. The effects of varying amounts of pumice were tested on the embryos and larvae of <em>Acropora digitifera</em>, a dominant shallow-water corymbose coral species. Our results, based on larval morphology and survival, indicate that high levels of pumice can lead to an increased abnormal development of embryos with higher mortality rates. This study provides the first evidence of the direct impact of pumice on the early life stages of <em>A. digitifera</em> and offers crucial insights into the potential consequences of pumice on coral reef ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"588 ","pages":"Article 152104"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143882533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fine-scale spatial and temporal dynamics of subtidal reef fish assemblages and implications for monitoring","authors":"Stijn Bruneel ,&nbsp;José Ponton-Cevallos ,&nbsp;Lenin Riascos ,&nbsp;Wout Van Echelpoel ,&nbsp;Long Ho ,&nbsp;Andrea Mishell Rosado-Moncayo ,&nbsp;Rebeca Parra ,&nbsp;Rafael Bermudez ,&nbsp;Peter Goethals","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152102","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152102","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fine-scale spatial (i.e. less than one hectare) and temporal (i.e. less than one week) dynamics of reef fish assemblages are often not properly accounted for in sampling designs, impeding the proper assessment of the effects of broad-scale processes such as climate change and anthropogenic pollution. The aim of this study is to identify and quantify the fine-scale spatial and temporal drivers of variability of subtidal reef fish assemblage structure. On the island of Santa Cruz (Galapagos, Ecuador), video transects were used to assess daily, diel and spatial trends in the structure of the observed fish assemblages and environmental measurements were taken to evaluate the effect of water conditions and physical habitat characteristics. Biological variability was explained by physical habitat characteristics, spatial auto-correlation, daily variability and water conditions. There was no significant diel variability although most water conditions showed clear diel rather than daily trends, suggesting that the prevailing water conditions were not important at the studied scale. Fine-scale spatial variability in combination with daily fluctuations of the structure of reef fish assemblages are likely linked to food availability and fish movement. Studies aiming to understand broad-scale processes, while accounting for fine-scale variability, typically rely on labor intensive power and sample size estimations to guide the distribution of sampling effort. However, we show that fine-scale variability can be attributed up to 42 % to spatial, temporal and environmental drivers, thereby indicating that ecological knowledge can be used to select the most appropriate sampling design. Accounting for habitat characteristics and sampling variability, through multiple transects and repetitions respectively, proved most important in the study of reef fish assemblages of the Galapagos.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"587 ","pages":"Article 152102"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143829517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A DNA-based investigation of endolithic community succession on shells of the limpet Patella depressa Pennant 1777","authors":"Adam J. Wyness ,&nbsp;Mauricio Oróstica ,&nbsp;Jonathan R. Monsinjon ,&nbsp;Christopher D. McQuaid","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152103","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152103","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biotic and abiotic calcium carbonate structures are used as a substrate by bioeroding organisms, or euendoliths, worldwide. Euendoliths can have serious ecological effects on living hosts, and with global increases in ocean acidification and warming, the efficiency of erosion by marine euendoliths is likely to increase. Here, we used growth curve data for the limpet <em>Patella depressa</em> and 16S rRNA sequencing to explore succession in the endolithic community on the shells of <em>P. depressa</em> throughout its range across Great Britain. Limpet age correlated well with the extent of erosion within sites, but differed among sites, with those at the centre of the host range showing greater erosion when corrected for age. Alpha-diversity and richness of cyanobacteria decreased with the extent of erosion, particularly during the earlier stages of erosion. A decrease in the accumulation rate of Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs) occurred at around 80 % of cumulative ASVs, at a shell age of between 1.4 and 2.7 years. Cyanobacterial community composition differed among the shells from the different sites, but despite these differences, there were no discernable patterns in the abundance of specific taxa that were associated with limpet age or the extent of erosion. The results revealed that, when examined at a high taxonomic resolution, cyanobacterial community succession is more complex than previously thought, and may be site-specific. However, the trends observed indicate that cyanobacterial community succession occurs on calcifying organisms <em>in vivo</em>, with a shift towards a climax community after 1.4–2.7 years for <em>P. depressa</em>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"587 ","pages":"Article 152103"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143816670","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Incubation duration and predicted hatchling sex ratios of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean (1988–2021)","authors":"Liliana P. Colman ,&nbsp;Cecília Baptistotte ,&nbsp;Brendan J. Godley ,&nbsp;João C.A. Thomé ,&nbsp;Ana C. Marcondes ,&nbsp;Jonathan R. Monsinjon ,&nbsp;Alexsandro Santos ,&nbsp;Ana Rita Caldas Patrício ,&nbsp;Gustavo Stahelin ,&nbsp;Annette C. Broderick","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152100","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152100","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Knowledge of sex ratios of species with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) is key to provide baseline information which can be used to inform management strategies and predictions of how climate change can affect populations. In marine turtles, increased incubation temperatures can lead to extreme biases in sex ratios and reduced hatching success. Here we present a long-term analysis (34 years) of incubation durations of leatherback turtles (<em>Dermochelys coriacea</em>) in Brazil, the only population of this species breeding in the Southwest Atlantic, and estimate offspring sex ratios. We deployed data loggers recording nest temperatures in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 (<em>n</em> = 28 clutches), to predict offspring sex ratios based on incubation temperatures during the thermosensitive period when sex is determined. The overall mean incubation duration for leatherback turtle clutches in Brazil (1988–2021) was 66.3 days (range 52–91, SD = 6.4, <em>n</em> = 867), decreasing by 4.4 days between the first and last 10 years of monitoring and varying latitudinally across the nesting range of the population. When modelled to the overall nesting season and accounting for nesting seasonality, we estimated the current (2012−2021) mean season-wide primary sex ratio to be 46.9 % female (range 32.7 % to 84.8 %). Hindcasting for the first ten years of monitoring (1988–1997) showed the average predicted offspring sex ratios would have been 34.6 % female (range 7.7 % to 68.1 %). This population has not shown a phenological shift in the timing of nesting over the period 1988–2021. These findings suggest that, although the primary sex ratio of this population has likely become more female-biased in recent decades, the spatial and temporal variation observed demonstrates some resilience to the effects of increasing temperatures under climate change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"586 ","pages":"Article 152100"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143705891","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Flexible foraging strategies of a tropical seabird in the western Atlantic Ocean","authors":"Júlia Jacoby ,&nbsp;Amédée Roy ,&nbsp;Sophie Lanco ,&nbsp;Christophe Barbraud ,&nbsp;Karine Delord ,&nbsp;Leandro Bugoni ,&nbsp;Guilherme T. Nunes","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152099","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152099","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Tropical oceans are typically oligotrophic but can feature productive environments, such as islands, which can promote high prey availability, influencing predators' foraging strategies in time and space. This study investigates interannual and sex-specific variations in the foraging ecology of the masked booby (<em>Sula dactylatra</em>) in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, western tropical Atlantic Ocean. During the 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022 breeding seasons, blood from birds and muscle samples from regurgitated prey were analyzed for stable isotopes of carbon (<em>δ</em>¹³C) and nitrogen (<em>δ</em>¹⁵N). Simultaneously, birds were tracked with GPS devices and their dives were recorded by pressure sensors and later predicted by deep learning tools to estimate foraging areas. Tracking data revealed foraging areas eastward of the archipelago in all years, potentially driven by the Island Mass Effect. The <em>δ</em>¹³C and <em>δ</em>¹⁵N values varied significantly across the four years, but isotopic niches overlapped, except in 2022. Mixing models estimated the fourwing flying fish <em>Hirundichthys affinis</em> as an important prey source from 2017 to 2019, shifting to false herring <em>Harengula clupeola</em> in 2022. Simultaneously, foraging areas were closer to the archipelago in 2022, with shorter foraging trip duration and length. Stable isotope differences between sexes were occasional, with overlapping niches and foraging areas consistent across years. These findings showcase potential predictability in foraging areas, and also their interannual variability, suggesting shifts in prey availability and distribution around the archipelago. Our results highlight the ecological plasticity of masked boobies in tropical environments and their potential as monitors of fish community dynamics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"586 ","pages":"Article 152099"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143680478","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Major and trace nutrient concentrations in sub-Antarctic forage fish around the Kerguelen Islands: All are not equal for nutrient recycling by top predators","authors":"Lola Gilbert ,&nbsp;Tiphaine Jeanniard-du-Dot ,&nbsp;Yves Cherel ,&nbsp;Jérôme Spitz","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152097","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152097","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While the nutrient content of forage species is crucial to study how marine top predators release nutrients in their waste (faeces and urine) and possibly facilitate nutrient recycling at lower trophic levels of the food webs, it is poorly documented in many ecosystems. Here, we analyse the concentrations of five major nutrients, eight essential trace nutrients, and four non-essential nutrients in 34 mesopelagic and demersal forage fish species from the Kerguelen Plateau area (Southern Indian Ocean). This biogeochemically singular region benefits from natural iron (Fe) fertilisation and is an oasis for marine life in the high nutrient low chlorophyll Southern Ocean. Its nutrient dynamics have been subject to intense research for decades, but the contribution of the biota remain unexplored. Local forage fish were found to be significantly heterogeneous in their absolute nutrient concentrations, and in their relative nutrient content. Using hierarchical clustering, we showed that some species were enriched in nutrients found in limited concentrations in Southern Ocean surface waters, such as Fe and manganese (Mn), whereas others were enriched in nutrients likely limiting primary productivity in terrestrial ecosystems, such as phosphorus (P) or calcium (Ca). These fish species could be major contributors to these nutrients' biological cycling in different ecosystems when consumed by predators. This functional typology further demonstrates that prey are not interchangeable. The consumption of one or another prey species modulates not only the ability of the predator to meet its requirements and exposure to contaminants, but also predator-mediated nutrient recycling. This work provides valuable baseline knowledge that can be used in studies of nutrition, nutrient dynamics, and contaminant transfer. It also paves the way for the inclusion of predator-prey relationships in local biogeochemical studies to help unravel the complex processes at work in this unique ecosystem.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"586 ","pages":"Article 152097"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143680479","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Automatic periphyton sampler (APS): A new technique for precise in-situ sampling of periphyton in aquatic environments","authors":"Yundong Wu ,&nbsp;Wenxuan Zou ,&nbsp;Panpan Zhou ,&nbsp;Chengrong Peng ,&nbsp;Dunhai Li ,&nbsp;Genbao Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152098","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152098","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Periphyton are important component indicators in ecosystems, the traditional method of sampling periphyton is not only time-consuming and laborious, but difficult to quantify accurately, which easily causes sample loss and distorts data. On the other hand, the traditional method also requires high proficiency of researchers for sampling. At the same time, when a large number of samples of periphyton need to be collected, the traditional method is inefficient in sampling, so a unified and highly efficient sampling tool is desperately required. Here we present a simple structure, easy operation and low-cost sampling device, Automatic Periphyton Sampler (APS), that can be used to collect periphyton fastly and precisely in a fixed areas of different types of natural substrates. Periphyton from three different natural substrates were collected at different sites using both APS and traditional method, based on the comparison of chlorophyll <em>a</em> content, ash-free dry mass, cell counts, and taxonomic composition. The results show that the APS is more suitable for the periphyton sampling. The study demonstrates that the APS is a portable, efficient, and automated tool that significantly enhances the efficiency of periphyton sampling in the field, and saving labor and time. The new technique can reduce the reliance on researchers and overcome the issue of collecting samples of periphyton on unpickable and stable substrates. Furthermore, modifications can be made to adapt the APS to various natural substrates and field environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"586 ","pages":"Article 152098"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143680476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}