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The main fisheries of northern shrimp in Icelandic waters are located west and north of Iceland. These locations are studied in an annual survey to estimate stock size and distribution of northern shrimp. In July 2015, an additional survey was conducted to study the benthic community structure and function to describe the habitat where the northern shrimp fisheries take place. Underwater images were taken from 26 stations, grab samples were collected at 11 stations and in addition, by-catch was collected from the annual Icelandic shrimp survey in August 2015. The sampling sites, despite being distributed throughout a relatively large area north of Iceland, were rather uniform in relation to sediment type and fauna composition. The stations were similar in grain size and dominated by soft sediment of sand and silt/mud and soft sediment fauna. The infauna was mainly burrowing infauna with affinity to soft sediment and surface deposit feeding. The epifauna were free-living crawlers with affinity for predation feeding habit. No relationship with environment was observed for either the epifauna or the infauna. Species diversity and community composition did not vary with depth, probably because of the narrow depth range of the sites. This study provides the first data on benthic in- and epifauna in northern shrimp fishery locations north of Iceland, which can later be used to estimate possible changes and/or the effect of shrimp fishing within this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first documented complete mitogenomes of deep-sea Pennatulacea, representing nine genera and eight families. These include one species each of the deep-sea genera Funiculina, Halipteris, Protoptilum and Distichoptilum, four species each of Umbellula and Pennatula, three species of Kophobelemnon and two species of Anthoptilum, as well as one species of the epi- and mesobenthic genus Virgularia. Seventeen circular genomes ranged from 18,513 bp (Halipteris cf. finmarchica) to 19,171 bp (Distichoptilum gracile) and contained all genes standard to octocoral mitochondrial genomes (14 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes and one transfer RNA). We found at least three different gene orders in Pennatulacea: the ancestral gene order, the gene order found in bamboo corals (Family Isididae), and a novel gene order. The mitogenome of one species of Umbellula has a bipartite genome (∼13 kbp and ∼5 kbp), with good evidence that both parts are circular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kelps (Laminariales, Ochrophyta) are ecologically and commercially important habitat-forming brown macroalgae, found in coastal ecosystems worldwide. Their presence in the sublittoral fringe makes monitoring kelp forests problematic and consequently they remain relatively understudied. Remote sensing offers new avenues to monitor difficult-to-access biomes, particularly kelp habitats, but previous monitoring efforts have only been tested on an ad hoc basis and a standardized protocol for monitoring kelp requires development. In view of on-going and emerging threats to kelp, there is a need for monitoring to establish detailed baseline information. Wild harvesting of kelp is increasing, illustrated by growing numbers of seaweed and seaweed-containing products. Simultaneously, climate change is causing sea-surface temperatures to rise and influencing kelp distribution and abundance globally. This study reviews the potential for remote sensing in macroalgal studies, with an emphasis on kelp and provides a conceptual framework to support the development of standardized monitoring protocols. Satellite-born sensors and aerial photography have been effective, but these distant sensors cannot operate effectively in turbid temperate waters, and many image surveys do not account for changing tides. Advances are being made in acoustic monitoring, particularly multibeam sound navigation and ranging (SONAR). With some development, there is great potential for a standardized monitoring protocol for kelp, aiding management and conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first population genetics study of the calcifying coralline alga and ecosystem engineer Corallina officinalis. Eleven novel SNP markers were developed and tested using Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) genotyping to assess the population structure based on five sites around the NE Atlantic (Iceland, three UK sites and Spain), spanning a wide latitudinal range of the species’ distribution. We examined population genetic patterns over the region using discriminate analysis of principal components (DAPC). All populations showed significant genetic differentiation, with a marginally insignificant pattern of isolation by distance (IBD) identified. The Icelandic population was most isolated, but still had genotypes in common with the population in Spain. The SNP markers presented here provide useful tools to assess the population connectivity of C. officinalis. This study is amongst the first to use SNPs on macroalgae and represents a significant step towards understanding the population structure of a widespread, habitat-forming coralline alga in the NE Atlantic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent habitat suitability models used to predict the occurrence of vulnerable marine species, particularly framework building cold-water corals, have identified terrain attributes such as slope and bathymetric position index as important predictive parameters. Due to their scale-dependent nature, a realistic representation of terrain attributes is crucial for the development of reliable habitat suitability models. In this paper, three known coral areas and a noncoral control area off the west coast of Ireland were chosen to assess quantitative and distributional differences between terrain attributes derived from bathymetry grids of varying resolution and information content. Correlation analysis identified consistent changes of terrain attributes as grain size was altered. Response characteristics and dimensions depended on terrain attribute types and the dominant morphological length-scales within the study areas. The subsequent effect on habitat suitability maps was demonstrated by preliminary models generated at different grain sizes. This study demonstrates that high resolution habitat suitability models based on terrain parameters derived from multibeam generated bathymetry are required to detect many of the topographical features found in Irish waters that are associated with coral. This has implications for marine spatial planning in the deep sea. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Marine Geodesy to view the free supplemental file. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]