Marine Microworlds

Melzer, Roland R.Dr Roland Meyer is an alumni of the Arthropoda varia workgroup at the Bavarian State collection of Zoology (SNSB-ZSM). He has been a dedicated marine naturalist for many years. His main research and taxonomic interest are Decapoda.Bastian, BrenzingerDr Bastian Brenzinger is a postdoc at Bavarian State collection of Zoology (SNSB-ZSM). His main research topic are interstitial gastropods in the sediment and related micromolluscs.Lehmann, TobiasDr Tobias Lehmann is a postdoc at the MPI for Neurobiology in Munich where he does research on sensory systems of invertebrates. In addition he is a pycnogonid taxonomist and long-time observer of nature in the Adriatic.Makovec, ThimoirM. Sc. Tihomir Makovec is head of the diving unit at the Marine Biological Station in Piran (NIB). He is doing field work on the biodiversity of the Adriatic, his taxonomic interest focuses on marine invertebrates and fishes.Mavric, BorutDr Borut Mavric is a scientific associate at the Marine Biological Station in Piran (NIB). His research focus is the biodiversity of the Adriatic, his main taxonomic interest are Decapoda and Opisthobranchia. He gives courses in marine Biology in Piran since 2011.Meyer, RolandDr Roland Meyer is an alumni of the Arthropoda varia workgroup at the Bavarian State collection of Zoology (SNSB-ZSM). He has been a dedicated marine naturalist for many years. His main research and taxonomic interest are Decapoda.Staggl, Manuel A.M. Sc. Manuel Staggl is a PhD student at the University of Vienna (univie). His main research and taxonomic interest focuses on Chondrichthyes.Heß, MartinProf. Dr Martin Heß works and teaches at the systematic zoology workgroup, University of Munich (LMU). His reserach interests are animal vision and imaging, his taxonomic interest focuses on marine groups. He gives courses in marine Biology in Rovinj, Sylt, Roscoff, Banjuls, Calvi and Giglio since 1991.

Underwater naturalists, in a holiday setting, are often perceived as a bit weird. "Look! Why is this person staring at the algae for so long?" or "Hey! Seen this? Somebody is taking pictures in the mud with a huge camera all the time!" It's a bit the same with the photos these people take "from the mud." In scientific books, the underwater photographers are often mentioned in small fontsize on the last pages, where they are difficult to find - they run kind of a poor second.In this book, it's different. Here, the naturalists and photographers speak up and show why they love nature watching so much and why they sometimes even direct their cameras into the not so attractive corners of the sea - to go after the secret stars, the hidden life invisible to the unexperienced eye - marine microworlds. By doing so, they follow a long tradition of watching marine life in the wild that dates back to the earliest diving biologists, e. g. Filippo Cavolini in the 18th century and Anton Dohrn in the 19th. First, this book is meant to celebrate the little masterpieces of nature found in the Adriatic, their magnificent diversity and their historico-cultural importance, be it as sex symbols, money or food. Second, we want you, dear reader, to fall in love with these miniature beauties of the seafloor. Consider this content advertisement for them, since they need protection. The man-made threats of life in the ocean are massive, and therefore this book is meant as a contribution to its defence, including not only the macroworlds, but also the microworlds of marine life.

The northern Adriatic is in turmoil. Harmful human impact has caused die-offs and drastic changes in the number of species and their structure, with many things changing from bad to worse. However, in marine protected areas and other localities that still are in an almost pristine state, one finds magnificent microworlds, animal communities of the seafloor, exhibiting a wealth of shapes, colours, and life habits - masterpieces of nature. To the human eye, these species' survival tricks range from decent to weird. They are small but excellent, difficult to find, and a revelation once they are on camera. The present book has been created to celebrate their beauty and tell their stories: How does "natural engineering" allow for their survival with the help of fans, filters, tentacles, pumps, and slime nets? How can some of them hide in plain sight while others bore into solid rock? What do they do to find mates? This book is meant as an advertisement for those little beauties and their diversity. In an ocean thrown out of balance by human activities, they are in limbo and deserve protection. Guardians wanted!The authors of this book, a group of dedicated naturalists, underwater photographers, and marine researchers who have watched the northern Adriatic benthic communities for decades, have thus reached deep into their photo collections and into their accumulated knowledge about marine organisms, and present their favourite photos, their favourite tales with the hope that the readers will fall in love with the splendid miniature communities at the bottom of the sea.

Into the black 6Into the blue 7Some basics about the microworlds of the sea floor 8How this book was created 11The sources: benthic algae and plankton 12Porifera - sponges 16Ctenophora - comb jelly fish 32Cnidaria - polyps, sea anemones, corals and jellyfish 34Plathelminthes - turbellarians or flatworms 62Mollusca - snails, slugs, cuttlefish and clams 70Polychaeta - marine ringed worms 138Pycnogonida - sea spiders 162Crustacea - mantis shrimps, decapods, mysids (opossum shrimps), isopods (marine woodlice) and others 164Echinodermata - sea stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, serpent stars and feather stars 226Bryozoa - moss animals 250Tunicata - sea squirts and synascidians 258Teleostei - fish 278Elasmobranchii - sharks and rays 312Epilogue, dedication and acknowledgements 316The photographers' suggestions for further reading 317Species list 318The underwater photographers 320