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Scientific surveys employing remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) provide valuable imagery for identifying Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs). However, there is presently no established framework for distinguishing VMEs from these images. While existing guidelines effectively address certain habitat types, such as scleractinian reefs, dense octocoral gardens, and chemosynthetic ecosystems, achieving consensus becomes more challenging for other habitats. Our investigation centered on two key localized rocky outcrops on the Uruguayan shelf, conducting ROV dives to explore these environments. This study aims to evaluate initial global consensus guidelines for VME identification from imagery and discuss the suitability of these criteria, and report the existence of Hard Bottom Soft Coral Gardens and Sponge associations in the inner Uruguayan shelf. Recognizing these habitats is of utmost importance for the Uruguayan government, which has expressed the intent to safeguard ecologically representative and well-connected systems crucial for marine biodiversity., Las investigaciones científicas que utilizan vehículos operados de forma remota (ROVs) proporcionan imágenes valiosas para identificar Ecosistemas Marinos Vulnerables (EMV). Sin embargo, actualmente no existe un marco establecido para distinguir los EMV a partir de estas imágenes. Si bien las directrices existentes abordan de manera efectiva ciertos tipos de hábitats, como arrecifes escleractinios, densos jardines de octocorales y ecosistemas quimiosintéticos, lograr consenso se vuelve más desafiante para otros hábitats. Nuestra investigación se centró en dos afloramientos rocosos localizados en la plataforma uruguaya, realizando inmersiones con ROV para explorar estos entornos. Este estudio tiene como objetivo evaluar las directrices iniciales de consenso global para la identificación de EMV a partir de imágenes, discutir la idoneidad de estos criterios e informar sobre la existencia de Jardines de Corales Blandos en Fondos Duros y asociaciones de Esponjas en la plataforma interna uruguaya. Reconocer estos hábitats es de suma importancia para el gobierno uruguayo, que ha expresado la intención de proteger sistemas ecológicamente representativos y bien conectados, fundamentales para la biodiversidad marina.

The Central and South Atlantic represents a vast ocean area and is home to a diverse range of ecosystems and species. Nevertheless, and similar to the rest of the global south, the area is comparatively understudied yet exposed to increasing levels of multisectoral pressures. To counteract this, the level of scientific exploration in the Central and South Atlantic has increased in recent years and will likely continue to do so within the context of the United Nations (UN) Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Here, we compile the literature to investigate the distribution of previous scientific exploration of offshore (30 m+) ecosystems in the Central and South Atlantic, both within and beyond national jurisdiction, allowing us to synthesise overall patterns of biodiversity. Furthermore, through the lens of sustainable management, we have reviewed the existing anthropogenic activities and associated management measures relevant to the region. Through this exercise, we have identified key knowledge gaps and undersampled regions that represent priority areas for future research and commented on how these may be best incorporated into, or enhanced through, future management measures such as those in discussion at the UN Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction negotiations. This review represents a comprehensive summary for scientists and managers alike looking to understand the key topographical, biological, and legislative features of the Central and South Atlantic.

Climate change impacts on fishery resources have been widely reported worldwide. Nevertheless, a knowledge gap remains for the warm-temperate Southwest Atlantic Ocean—a global warming hotspot that sustains important industrial and small-scale fisheries. By combining a trait-based framework and long-term landing records, we assessed species’ sensitivity to climate change and potential changes in the distribution of important fishery resources (n = 28; i.e., bony fishes, chondrichthyans, crustaceans, and mollusks) in Southern Brazil, Uruguay, and the northern shelf of Argentina. Most species showed moderate or high sensitivity, with mollusks (e.g., sedentary bivalves and snails) being the group with the highest sensitivity, followed by chondrichthyans. Bony fishes showed low and moderate sensitivities, while crustacean sensitivities were species-specific. The stock and/or conservation status overall contributed the most to higher sensitivity. Between 1989 and 2019, species with low and moderate sensitivity dominated regional landings, regardless of the jurisdiction analyzed. A considerable fraction of these landings consisted of species scoring high or very high on an indicator for potential to change their current distribution. These results suggest that although the bulk of past landings were from relatively climate-resilient species, future catches and even entire benthic fisheries may be jeopardized because (1) some exploited species showed high or very high sensitivities and (2) the increase in the relative representation of landings in species whose distribution may change. This paper provides novel results and insights relevant for fisheries management from a region where the effects of climate change have been overlooked, and which lacks a coordinated governance system for climate-resilient fisheries

Assessing the extinction risk in marine invertebrates poses serious challenges to conservation biology, due to the magnitude of marine biodiversity, the inaccessibility of most of the marine realm, and the lack of appropriate data on population dynamics and ecology for most species. However, simple life history traits have a huge potential for preliminary screening criteria for assessing large numbers of species whose status is harsh or impossible to evaluate. Body size and trophic position could be strong predictors of extinction risk providing a general framework for the assessment of species vulnerability. We analyzed the Body Size-Trophic Position (BS-TP) relationship along 1,067 genera representing 4,256 nominal species of western Atlantic benthic gastropods. We found that a carnivore diet characterizes 67% of the genera and that, supporting theoretical predictions, the probability of being carnivores as a function of size showed a unimodal trend. For species with adult body sizes larger than 5 cm, a negative association between trophic position and body size was detected. This result points to an energetic restriction for the viability of large species, implying that organisms placed near the BS-TP boundary are extremely vulnerable to environmental changes. With this result, 109 genera from 42 families of carnivore gastropods and 33 genera from 19 families of herbivore gastropods that may be more vulnerable from the analyzed perspective were identified and ranked. Supporting these results, while the most vulnerable genera are not represented in global IUCN assessments, all our ‘top 10’ vulnerable families are being considered in National or Regional Red Lists. Prior to conducting regional or global conservation assessments for invertebrate taxa, screening methods should be strongly considered., Evaluar el riesgo de extinción de los invertebrados marinos plantea serios desafíos para la biología de la conservación, debido a la magnitud de la biodiversidad marina, la inaccesibilidad de la mayor parte del ámbito marino y la falta de datos apropiados sobre la dinámica de población y la ecología de la mayoría de las especies. Sin embargo, los rasgos simples de la historia de vida tienen un gran potencial como criterios preliminares de selección para evaluar un gran número de especies cuyo estado es difícil o imposible de evaluar. El tamaño del cuerpo y la posición trófica podrían ser fuertes predictores del riesgo de extinción proporcionando un marco general para la evaluación de la vulnerabilidad de las especies. Analizamos la relación Tamaño Corporal-Posición Trófica (BS-TP) a lo largo de 1.067 géneros que representan 4.256 especies nominales de gasterópodos bentónicos del Atlántico Occidental. Encontramos que una dieta carnívora caracteriza al 67% de los géneros y que, apoyando las predicciones teóricas, la probabilidad de ser carnívoros en función del tamaño mostró una tendencia unimodal. Para especies con tamaños corporales adultos mayores de 5 cm, se detectó una asociación negativa entre la posición trófica y el tamaño corporal. Este resultado apunta a una restricción energética para la viabilidad de las especies grandes, lo que implica que los organismos ubicados cerca del límite BS-TP son extremadamente vulnerables a los cambios ambientales. Con este resultado, se identificaron y clasificaron 109 géneros de 42 familias de gasterópodos carnívoros y 33 géneros de 19 familias de gasterópodos herbívoros que pueden ser más vulnerables desde la perspectiva analizada. Respaldando estos resultados, mientras que los géneros más vulnerables no están representados en las evaluaciones globales de la UICN, todas nuestras “10 principales” familias vulnerables están siendo consideradas en las Listas Rojas Nacionales o Regionales. Antes de realizar evaluaciones de conse

The Central and South Atlantic represents a vast ocean area and is home to a diverse range of ecosystems and species. Nevertheless, and similar to the rest of the global south, the area is comparatively understudied yet exposed to increasing levels of multisectoral pressures. To counteract this, the level of scientific exploration in the Central and South Atlantic has increased in recent years and will likely continue to do so within the context of the United Nations (UN) Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Here, we compile the literature to investigate the distribution of previous scientific exploration of offshore (30 m+) ecosystems in the Central and South Atlantic, both within and beyond national jurisdiction, allowing us to synthesise overall patterns of biodiversity. Furthermore, through the lens of sustainable management, we have reviewed the existing anthropogenic activities and associated management measures relevant to the region. Through this exercise, we have identified key knowledge gaps and undersampled regions that represent priority areas for future research and commented on how these may be best incorporated into, or enhanced through, future management measures such as those in discussion at the UN Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction negotiations. This review represents a comprehensive summary for scientists and managers alike looking to understand the key topographical, biological, and legislative features of the Central and South Atlantic.

Digitally accessible Primary Biodiversity Data (PBD) are currently available through a number of web-based platforms. This information is allowing for a growing number of ecological, biodiversity informatics or conservation projects. Most of this information comes from Natural History Collections (NHC) worldwide. Despite well-known limitations, NHC data are particularly useful as a source of data on invertebrates, which comprise about 99% of animal life. However, a presumably very high amount of PBD is still not digitally accessible. Even the most important scientific collections in developed countries are not fully inventoried or digitally accessible. Furthermore, species determination rates remain alarmingly low for some collections, and most existing determinations probably should be retested. This is particularly true of expensive, difficult-to-obtain deep-sea benthic samples. This paper reviews the database on material collected by the German RV ‘Walther Herwig I and II’ during 1966-1978 research cruises to the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean (SAO), stored in the invertebrate collection (invertebrates except Mollusca, Arthropoda and Annelida) of the Zoological Museum of Hamburg. We found that out of 3,305 records, at least 204 species were identified, 72% are still undetermined at species level and 65% at genus level. While sampling of more remote geographic areas and the use of a wider variety of sampling methods are still necessary, supporting the training of an army of taxonomists will be of paramount importance to overcome the daunting task of analyzing the huge number of samples. stored in museum collections. A community-wide effort is urgently needed to address this issue, and international cooperation must play a key role in this endeavor., Actualmente, los datos primarios de biodiversidad (DPB) accesibles digitalmente están disponibles a través de una serie de plataformas basadas en la web. Esta información ha posibilitado la generación de un número creciente de proyectos ecológicos, de informática de la biodiversidad o de conservación. La mayor parte de esta información proviene de las Colecciones de Historia Natural (CHN) de todo el mundo. A pesar de sus conocidas limitaciones, los datos de las CHN son particularmente útiles como fuente de datos sobre invertebrados, que comprenden alrededor del 99% de la vida animal. Sin embargo una cantidad presuntamente muy alta de DPB todavía no es accesible digitalmente. Incluso las colecciones científicas más importantes de los países desarrollados no se encuentran completamente inventariadas ni son accesibles digitalmente. Además, las tasas de determinación de especies siguen siendo alarmantemente bajas para algunas colecciones, y probablemente la mayoría de las determinaciones existentes deberían volver a analizarse. Esto resulta particularmente cierto con respecto a las muestras bentónicas de aguas profundas, caras y difíciles de obtener. Aquí revisamos la base de datos sobre el material recolectado por el BI alemán “Walther Herwig I y II” durante los cruceros de investigación entre 1966-1978 al Océano Atlántico Sudoccidental (SAO), almacenado en la colección de invertebrados (invertebrados excepto Mollusca, Arthropoda y Annelida) del Museo Zoológico de Hamburgo. Encontramos que de 3.305 registros, donde al menos 204 especies fueron identificadas, el 72% todavía se encuentra sin determinar a nivel de especie y el 65% a nivel de género. Si bien el muestreo de áreas geográficas más remotas y el uso de una mayor variedad de métodos de muestreo aún son necesarios, el apoyo a la capacitación de un ejército de taxónomos será de suma importancia para superar la abrumadora tarea de analizar la enorme cantidad de muestras almacenadas en las colecciones de los museos.