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We reply to the comments made by Benvenuti et al. (2022) about our paper on the Italian natural history museums and scientific collections and the need of a centralized hub and repository. While agreeing that digitization is a useful tool to valorize each museum and collection, we still believe that the suggestion of a centralized hub is valid and necessary. This would largely help in boosting coordination among museums, sharing personnel and resources, and in providing a place to deposit scientific collections that do not fit the scope of smaller museums.

In Italy, differently from other countries, a national museum of natural history is not present. This absence is due, among other reasons, to its historical political fragmentation up to 1870, which led to the establishment of medium-sized museums, mostly managed by local administrations or universities. Moreover, a change of paradigm in biological research, at the beginning of the 20th century, contributed to privilege experimental studies in universities and facilitated the dismissal of descriptive and exploratory biology, which formed the basis of the taxonomic research carried out by natural history museums. Consequently, only a few museums have a provision of curatorial staff, space and material resources adequate to maintain their original mission of discovering the natural world, by conducting a regular research activity accompanied by field campaigns. The creation of a national research centre for the study of biodiversity, facilitating interconnections among the existing natural history museums could be a solution and is here supported, together with a centralised biorepository to host collections and vouchers, to the benefit of current and future taxonomic research and environmental conservation. Such an institution should find place and realisation within the recently proposed National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC) planned within the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience (PNRR). Pending upon the creation of this new national centre, a network among the existing museums should coordinate their activities.

The marine biodiversity of the Tricase coastal area (Ionian Sea, Italy) was investigated at the MARE Outpost (Avamposto MARE) between 2016 and 2017, with the help of citizen scientists and trained taxonomists. Among the most interesting groups encountered, heterobranch molluscs deserve a special mention. Altogether, 268 specimens were ascribed to this group and referred to 49 taxa. Notwithstanding the extensive literature on Mediterranean heterobranchs, two species proved to be new to the Italian coasts, the records of eight species represented their easternmost sightings in the Mediterranean Sea, and 13 taxa represented new records for the Ionian Sea. In addition, several feeding habits and phenological events were new to science. Although the European Union’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive lists “Biodiversity is maintained” as the first descriptor in achieving “Good Environmental Status”, our results highlighted the presence of conspicuous gaps in the knowledge of species distribution, taxonomy and ecology of heterobranch molluscs, indicating the necessity of even small-scale species checklists to understand biodiversity changes in worldwide biota.

During his scientific career, largely from 1910–1970, the Danish cnidarian specialist P.L. Kramp authored 94 scientific papers, and more than 30 other kinds of publications, such as reports and popular articles. Kramp was affiliated with the marine department of the Zoological Museum of the University of Copenhagen (now: The Natural History Museum of Denmark, NHMD), an institution intensely involved at the time in expeditions, in the assembling and maintenance of collections, and in the revision of a wide range of animal groups. Kramp took part in several expeditions in different parts of the world. He had opportunities to receive training in sampling and preservation techniques, to perform observations on living or at least freshly preserved material, and to collect specimens. Kramp dedicated most of his long career to studying the taxonomy of medusae, with some attention also to their polyp stages, describing 101 nominal hydrozoan taxa, including one order, four families and fifteen genera. Sixty-five of these taxa (one order, three families, twelve genera, 48 species and one subspecies) are still accepted in the original nominal form. Kramp raised the international reputation of his museum and his scientific results are still appreciated today.

GenBank (Benson et al. 2013) is a database that contains genetic sequences of species. Godfray (2007) proposed that metagenomics can replace taxonomy in identifying specimens. Indeed, giving names to specimens is not the primary role of taxonomy, the discipline being devoted to the description of new species and to reconstruction of phylogenies, focusing on both genotypes and phenotypes. So, the use of metagenomics for routinary species identification is a welcome technological aid to the study of biodiversity, freeing taxonomists from the burden of sorting and identifying biological material.

Molecular analyses have led to an increased knowledge of the number and distribution of morphologically cryptic species in the world's oceans and, concomitantly, to the identification of non-indigenous species (NIS). Traditional taxonomy and accurate delimitation of species' life histories and autecology lag far behind, however, even for the most widely distributed taxa, such as the moon jellyfish Aurelia (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) species complex. Here we analysed mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and nuclear 28S ribosomal RNA (28S) gene sequences to assign polyps, ephyrae, and medusae collected in the Mediterranean Sea to different phylogenetic species. We find evidence for three Aurelia species, none of which are referable to the type species of the genus, Aurelia aurita (Linnaeus, 1758), and describe the anatomical, morphometric, and developmental variation within and between them. We identify Aurelia coerulea von Lendenfeld, 1884 and Aurelia solida Browne, 1905 as established non-indigenous species in the Mediterranean Sea. We describe Aurelia relicta sp. nov., an endemic species currently unique to a population in the marine lake of Mljet (Croatia). These results demonstrate the usefulness of integrative approaches in resolving taxonomic uncertainty surrounding cryptic species complexes, identifying patterns of marine biodiversity, and recognizing non-indigenous species in marine ecosystems.

In spite of considerable research effort on the “immortal jellyfish” Turritopsis dohrnii (Weismann, 1883), a comprehensive account including the ontogenetic stages throughout its normal life cycle is still missing. Here, we report the development of the medusa morph, with description of four consecutive stages distinguished by the morphology of the umbrellar apex and the number of marginal tentacles. Medusae reared at two different temperatures (14 and 25°C) showed identical morphological features, but with shorter developmental time at higher temperature. Additional information on the morphology of the polyp stage is also provided. The implications for an easy morphological identification of T. dohrnii medusae from other congeneric species are discussed.

The present note reports a new record of Rosalinda incrustans (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) since its last reliable record in the Mediterranean Sea in 1958. Several colonies were recorded on the spider crab Anamathia rissoana off the Balearic Islands. The taxonomic history of R. incrustans, considered a putatively extinct species in a recent paper, is reviewed.

The genus Gastroblasta was proposed by Keller in 1883 for a campanulariid medusa from the Red Sea, G. timida, with round umbrella, multiple radial canals and multiple manubria. A second species, G. raffaelei, with elliptic umbrella, multiple manubria and radial canals, and a great tendency to fission, was subsequently described from the Mediterranean Sea by Lang in 1886. A third species with multiple manubria was described by Mayer in 1900 from Tortugas: Multioralis ovalis (currently ascribed to Gastroblasta). The complete life cycle of a species of Gastroblasta, whose polyp stage was collected inside sponges from the Ligurian Sea and the Ionian and Adriatic Seas, is described. The first stage of medusa development is a typical Clytia with four radial canals and four tentacles, then the medusa becomes similar to G. ovale, to subsequently acquire the typical morphology of G. raffaelei. The species G. timida and G. raffaelei are considered as valid representatives of the genus, sharing the characters of multiple manubria and radial canals. The medusa of G. ovale has a diagonal canal system, instead of multiple radial canals, sharing with Gastroblasta the presence of multiple manubria only: it is proposed to resurrect the genus Multioralis to accommodate it.

Cnidarians display most of the characters considered as milestones of metazoan evolution. Whereas a tissue-level organization was probably already present in the multicellular common ancestor of all animals, the Urmetazoa, the emergence of important animal features such as bilateral symmetry, triploblasty, a polarized nervous system, sense organs (eyes, statocysts), and a (chitinous or calcium-based) continuous skeleton can be traced back before the divergence between cnidarians and bilaterians. Modularity and metamery might be also regarded as two faces of the same medal, likely involving conserved molecular mechanisms ruling animal body architectures through regional specification of iterated units. Available evidence indicates that the common ancestor of cnidarians and bilaterians, the UrEumetazoa, was a surprisingly complex animal with nerve cell differentiation. We suggest that paedomorphic events in descendants of this ancestor led to the array of diversity seen in the main extant animal phyla. The use of molecular analyses and identifying the genetic determinants of anatomical organizations can provide an integrative test of hypotheses of homologies and independent evidence of the evolutionary relationships among extant taxa.

1. Understanding whether Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can be considered as a suitable tool for restoring the structure and function of populations and assemblages is urgently needed to achieve an effective policy of mitigation of human impact in coastal management. However, to date, the role played by MPAs in enhancing ecosystems resilience has been more advocated than unambiguously documented. 2. This study was designed to test whether full protection in marine reserves facilitates recovery of benthos impacted by the date mussel Lithophaga lithophaga fishery, one of the most harmful human activities affecting subtidal rocky habitats in the Mediterranean Sea. 3. The effects of this destructive fishery were reproduced at one fully protected location (P) and at two unprotected control locations (Cs) in the SW Mediterranean Sea. At each location, three plots (4 m2) of rocky surface at 4-6 m depth were disturbed experimentally, while another three plots served as reference. In each plot, the species composition and relative cover of the sessile benthic assemblages were sampled photographically on each of five occasions during a period of 20 months. 4. Over and above variation in habitat features among locations, multivariate and univariate analyses revealed significant differences between P-vs.-Cs in patterns of assemblage recovery and showed that, at the fully protected location, recovery was faster than at the unprotected control locations. 5. Our results suggest that MPAs have the potential to change the trajectories of recovery of disturbed assemblages by accelerating the processes of recolonization and call for further investigation to identify the specific mechanisms underlying increased resilience.

The Italian natural history museums are facing a critical situation, due to the progressive loss of scientific relevance, decreasing economic investments, and scarcity of personnel. This is extremely alarming, especially for ensuring the long-term preservation of the precious collections they host. Moreover, a commitment in fieldwork to increase scientific collections and concurrent taxonomic research are rarely considered priorities, while most of the activities are addressed to public events with political payoffs, such as exhibits, didactic meetings, expositions, and talks. This is possibly due to the absence of a national museum that would have better steered research activities and overall concepts for collection management. We here propose that Italian natural history museums collaborate to instate a “metamuseum”, by establishing a reciprocal interaction network aimed at sharing budgetary and technical resources, which would assure better coordination of common long-term goals and scientific activities.

The genera Zanclea, Halocoryne and Zanclella are surveyed, with description of all known species. including eight new ones of Zanclea (Z. bomala, Z. divergens, Z. fanella, Z. giancarloi, Z. medusopolypata, Z. retractilis, Z. gilii, Z. birobitoi), two new species of Halocoryne (H. frasca, H. pirainoid), and two new ones of Zanclella (Z. diabolica, Z. glomboides). For most species, the description covers the whole life cycle. The hydroids of this group can be symbiotic with either bryozoans, bivalves, or corals and only few species are not substrate-specialist. Symbiotic relationships led to polymorphism and colony integration with the hosts. The morphologies of hydroid and medusa stages are often not consistent. so that species with very derived hydroids have non-derived medusae (e.g., Halocoryne pirainoid), or species with very derived medusae have non-derived hydroids (e.g., Zanclella diabolica). The architecture of the newly released medusae of Zanclella is exceptional due to a sharp compression of the exumbrella and of the presence of just two radial canals. A phylogenetic scenario is suggested, in spite of the inconsistencies in the rates of change in the two main stages of the cycle.

In many countries, on 12 February (Darwin’s birthday), the theory of evolution by natural selection is celebrated with the rites of Darwin Day. Scientists give conference presentations on evolution...

Codonorchis octaedrus is recorded for the first time since its discovery by Haeckel in 1879. A hydroid colony collected in a cave of the Apulian Coast (between the Ionian and the Adriatic Seas) produced several medusae which have been reared to maturity. This is the first complete description of the species, which was previously considered as doubtful, as was the genus Codonorchis. The diagnostic features for the genus are: hydroid small, naked, sessile, with a single row of few tentacles, gono‐phores on hydrorhiza, medusa with apical projection with apical process from the manubrium, perradial, interradial and adradial ocellate bulbs, two perradial tentacles, horseshoe‐shaped interradial gonads, small mesenteries. The list of Mediterranean hydroidomedusae is updated with the new (or overlooked) records since the last published list (1993). The increase in species number is great (about 10%), showing that the knowledge of biodiversity of even a well‐studied sea as the Mediterranean is far from be...

The patchy distribution pattern of benthic hydrozoans reflects high sensitivity of colonies to local and micro-scale environmental factors, which may affect the outcome of biodiversity inventories based on different sampling methodologies. We compared three quantitative sampling methods for benthic hydrozoans, differing for strategy (scraping standardized surfaces or picking visually located colonies) and tactics (extension of examined surface). Each of the three methods consisted of eight replicate samplings to compare relative and absolute method efficiencies, also in terms of minimum sampling area representative of the hydroid diversity in the study site. A single horizontal belt transect on a vertical rocky cliff was chosen at 15 m depth near Otranto (South Adriatic). A total of 37 species were identified by the three methods and their relative abundances were evaluated. The hydroid assemblage was dominated by generalist species with high polyp numbers able to colonize different substrata. We compared the outcomes of each of the three sampling methods, and by a cost-benefit analysis we identified the optimal sampling methods to be adopted according to the different targets of the investigations. On data standardized to the same total sampled areas, the three sampling methods did not originate significant differences in the number of polyps of each recorded species (PDA, Polyp Detection Ability), whereas the visually-oriented collection (VIS) and the scrapings over 20 × 20 cm standard surfaces (S20) were more effective in the detected number of species (SDA, Species Detection Ability) than over 10 × 10 cm squares (S10). For ecological purposes, samplings based on five S20 replicates can be considered an appropriate experimental design to get a statistically robust representation of the studied hydroid assemblage at Punta Palascia. However, variation in depth, exposure and geographical locations may require different sampling approaches, and pre-surveys should be always carried out before addressing taxonomical surveys of sessile organisms.

Fraseroscyphus, a newly proposed genus of the family Sertulariidae, is characterized by having gonothecae arising from hydrothecae. It is founded for the single species originally described as Sertularella sinuosa, a hydroid known from California. A previously undescribed specialised clinging organ allows this species to colonise coralline algae growing adjacent to colonised thalli.

A new genus and species of hydroid, Zanclella bryozoophila, symbiotic with bryozoans is described. The colony is polymorphic and highly integrated with its bryozoan host. The gastrozooids have one or, rarely, two tentacles; dactylozooids are without tentacles. The medusa stage is reduced to liberable eumedusoids produced on the hydrorhiza, and has exumbrellar nematocyst chambers. The cnidome of both stages consists of stenoteles and macrobasic euryteles. General morphology and cnidome structure place this newly described form in the Zancleidae. A new genus is recognized on the basis of polymorphism of the hydroid and reduction of the medusa stage. The association with the bryozoan is described as commensal. Hydranths appear to feed on particles gathered by ciliary action of the bryozoan lophophore, and the hydrorhiza is surrounded by the bryozoan skeleton. The advantage of this relationship to the bryozoan is believed to be protection, effected by the nematocysts of the hydroid.

The majority of Hydrozoa is represented by not readily noticeable, small species. In recent decades, however, taxonomic knowledge of the group has increased worldwide, with a significant number of investigations focused on the Mediterranean Sea. Over more than two decades, 115 species of hydrozoans were recorded from coastal waters along nearly 300 km of the Salento Peninsula (Apulia, Italy). For each species, records from different collections were merged into single sheets of a general database. For each species, the following information is reported: description, cnidome, biology, occurrence in Salento, worldwide distribution, and bibliography. Descriptions refer to the benthic hydroid stage and, when present, also to the planktonic medusa stage. The 115 species of Hydrozoa, recorded along the Salento coastline, represent 25% of the Mediterranean Hydrozoa fauna (totaling 461 species), and nearly 3% of 3,702 world's known species covered in a recent monograph. Four species are non-indigenous, three of them with invasive behavior (Clytia hummelincki, Clytia linearis, and Eudendrium carneum), and one species now very common (Eudendrium merulum) in Salento. The complete life cycle of Clytia paulensis (Vanhoffen, 1910) is described for the first time.

The recent setting of specific features of the Cnidaria into evolutionary and ecological frameworks suggests the centrality of this phylum in many fields of the life sciences. From an evolutionary point of view, the Cnidaria, with their diploblastic planulae, might represent the ancestral state of higher Metazoa in the light of a peramorphic origin of animal complexity from a simple, individual organism. Medusan development in the Hydroidomedusae via a medusaty nodule, furthermore, implies the formation of a third tissue layer (the muscle layer lining the subumbrellar cavity). Cnidarian polyps are diploblastic, whereas at least some of their medusae are triploblastic: the evolutionary enigma of the passage from a diplo- to a triploblastic organisation takes place every time hydrozoan polyps bud medusae! Cnidarian polyps have also the premises of the skeletal architecture of higher animals: their chitinous or carbonatic skeletons are similar to those of arthropods and vertebrates respectively. From an ecological point of view, the coelenterates probably play roles that are much more important than usually perceived. Both Cnidaria and Crenophora feed on the eggs and larvae of most benthic, planktonic and nektonic organisms and might be crucial (with a keystone role?) in maintaining biodiversity high, by feeding on potentially monopolising species. The efficiency of gelatinous predators becomes evident during periodic Outbreaks of their populations, with serious implications even on fisheries yields, demonstrating that their impact can be higher than ours!.

Science is often carried out with two apparently different approaches. Some scientists make experiments, whereas others make observations; the first ones manipulate the objects they scrutinize, whe...

A bloom of an unknown semaestome jellyfish species was recorded in the North Adriatic Sea from September 2013 to early 2014. Morphological analysis of several specimens showed distinct differences from other known semaestome species in the Mediterranean Sea and unquestionably identified them as belonging to a new pelagiid species within genus Pelagia. The new species is morphologically distinct from P. noctiluca, currently the only recognized valid species in the genus, and from other doubtful Pelagia species recorded from other areas of the world. Molecular analyses of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and nuclear 28S ribosomal DNA genes corroborate its specific distinction from P. noctiluca and other pelagiid taxa, supporting the monophyly of Pelagiidae. Thus, we describe Pelagia benovici sp. nov. Piraino, Aglieri, Scorrano & Boero.

Zoology and anthropology are usually considered as distinct disciplines, with different scientific communities, journals, scientific societies. The Italian Zoological Union (UZI) and its journal, t...

Proofs that climate change is a reality are increasingly evident: undeniably, the abiotic factors of today have changed much in respect to just a few decades ago. The bearing of these changes, howe...

Zoology is the basic form of human culture. The Bible (Genesis 1: 18) says: Now Jehovah God was forming from the ground every wild beast of the field and every flying creature of the heavens, and h...

Previously, the Italian Journal of Zoology was divided into sections, covering the manifold approaches of zoology. Sections, however, were often unbalanced, with rather few contributions based eith...

The production of free medusoids is considered to be a transition from the production of medusae to the abolition of this stage of the life cycle, within a generalized process of paedomorphosis occurring within hydromedusae, in which the hydroid stage is the larva and the medusa stage the adult. The discovery of a species of Haleciidae producing free medusoids allows the reconstruction of the phylogeny of this family according to the following sequence of genera: Campalecium (producing medusae); Hydrantbea producing free medusoids); Hydrodendron (with sporosacs and nematophores); Scoresbia (with sporosacs and nematothecae); Ophiodissa (with sporosacs and nematothecae, branched); Phylactotbeca (with sporosacs, differentiated nematothecae and hydrothecae, branched). The affinities of the medusa stages between Campalecium and Eucbeilota indicate that the Haleciidae originated by the evolution of hydroids of the family Campanulinidae s.l. The Haleciidae evolved further, giving rise to the Plumulariid...

The previously unknown life cycles of Octotiara russelli and Stomotoca atra are described. Both species present differentiated hydroids and medusae. From the morphology of the newly liberated medusae both species are referred to the Pandeidae and, from the presence of a manubrial peduncle, to the subfamily Stomotocinae, together with Timoides. Some aspects of feeding and gonad growth are described and discussed. © 1989., SCOPUS: ar.j, FLWNA, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Spatio‐temporal variability in the abundance of the parrotfish, Sparisoma cretense, was investigated along the SE Apulian rocky coast (SE Italy, Mediterranean Sea). Underwater visual census surveys were carried out in three different times (August 2000, March 2001 and May‐June 2001) at four locations between Otranto (Lower Adriatic) and S.M. di Leuca (Ionian Sea), at three sites at each location, and at four depth levels from the surface down to about 30 m. The species was never observed near the surface nor in the deepest zones, while it was more abundant at 12–15 m (mean ± SE: 0.69 ± 0.05 individuals 100 m‐2) than at 5–7 m depth (0.27 ± 0.04 ind. 100 m‐2). This general pattern was observed during all three sampling times and at each location surveyed. Significant differences in the abundance of S. cretense were detected among depths, locations and, to a lesser extent, among times, while no differences were observed among sites within locations. This study provides evidence that, besides a given...

The hydromedusan subumbrellar muscle tissues originate from a mass of endo- and ectoderm derived cells proliferating inwardly. This mass of cells, called entocodon, is separated by the ecto- and endoderm through a layer of extracellular matrix, thus forming a locally triploblastic arrangement of tissues. By cavitation and differentiation, the entocodon gives rise to the striated and smooth muscle layers of the subumbrella. The structure of the striated muscle is histologically identical to that described for triploblasts, where striated muscle is mainly mesodermic. Together with the mode of development, this suggests that not all Cnidaria are diploblastic and that the subumbrellar cavity is a coelom-like structure. The subumbrellar cavity is formed late in ontogeny, whereas the coelom in higher animals is normally formed during embryonic development. Instead of remaining closed, the subumbrella becomes open, with the muscular mesothelium in contact with the environment. This view of cnidarian structures can be pushed further while considering the regulation of modularity and metamery. The occurrence of homeotic genes in cnidarians and other 'lower' animals shows that the specification of body architecture has a common molecular ground throughout the animal kingdom. It is suggested that the expression of homeotic genes while specifying a given architecture might be regulated by iteration of their activity, leading to 'low' modular organisms and to 'higher' metameric ones. Replicated parts as modules and metameres might be analogous, but the affinity in their molecular specification (and possibly regulation) might indicate homology. The number of resemblances between cnidarians and 'higher' metazoa suggests that this phylum might be a centre of metazoan radiation, having structures which represent the living premises of the main steps of animal evolution.

Fish assemblages associated with ‘coralligenous formations’ in SE Apulia (Lower Adriatic and Ionian Seas, SE Italy) were studied by visual census to test for differences through time and over dif ferent spatial scales (i.e., among locations 3–4 km from each oth er, and among sites within locations 200–400 metres apart from each other). Thirty‐two fish species were recorded, with sparids (eight species), labrids (seven) and serranids (five) being the fam ilies with most species. Fish assemblages were numerically domi nated by Chromis chromis, Boops boops, and Coris julis. Multivari‐ate analyses indicated significant differences in the structure of fish assemblages among times and locations (with C. chromis and C. julis mostly contributing to the observed dissimilarities), while sites within locations did not differ significantly. Temporal pat terns of species richness differed both among locations and among sites within locations. Total fish abundance displayed dif ferent temporal trends at the sm...

The previously unknown life cycle of the parasitic hydroid Hydrichthys mirus is described. The adult medusa has 5-6 tentacles and could be referred to Leuckartiara. Another species of Hydrichthys has previously been shown to have a Stomotoca-like medusa, characterized by the possession of two tentacles. It is proposed that Hydrichthys originated from the Leuckartiara lineage and that, through paedomorphosis in at least one species, the medusa retained the two-tentacle state of the newly-released medusa of all pandeids, thus becoming referable to Stomotoca. It is suggested that Stomotoca has hitherto constituted a polyphyletic taxon, embracing parallel lineages of pandeids, each retaining juvenile features. An additional genus, Larsonia, is introduced to accommodate species with Stomotoca-like medusae and Hydrichthys-like hydroids. © 1991., SCOPUS: re.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published