Published! The calcifying interface in a stony coral primary polyp: An interplay between seawater and an extracellular calcifying space

Coral reefs are the most biodiverse marine ecosystems on the globe. In addition to breathtaking beauty, they have significant evolutionary and financial importance. Unfortunately, today, coral reefs face significant threats due to global climate change and other stressors of anthropogenic origin. Stony coral skeletons construct the structural foundation of the coral reef ecosystem. The biomineralization process (Mineral production by a live organism), by which stony coral build their skeleton, is…

Continue ReadingPublished! The calcifying interface in a stony coral primary polyp: An interplay between seawater and an extracellular calcifying space

Selection of mesophotic habitats by Oculina patagonica in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea following global warming

In the image: Verification of species identity of all colonies collected as Oculina patagonica, using both genomic (CO1 gene sequencing) and morphological features. The evolutionary history was inferred using the Neighbour-Joining method and evolutionary distances were computed using the Maximum Composite Likelihood method (units: number of base substitutions per site) using the software MEGA X. Images (A–C) are of shallow colonies and (D–F) deep colonies. CS Calyx spacing, CD Calyx…

Continue ReadingSelection of mesophotic habitats by Oculina patagonica in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea following global warming

X-ray Spectroscopic Quantification of Phosphorus Transformation in Saharan Dust during Trans-Atlantic Dust Transport

 AbstractSaharan dust is an important phosphorus (P) supply to remote and oligotrophic parts of the oceans and American lowland tropical rainforests. Phosphorus speciation in aeolian dust ultimately controls the release and bioavailability of P after dust deposition, but the speciation in Saharan dust and its change during the trans-Atlantic transport remains unclear. Using P K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy, we showed that with increasing dust traveling distance…

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ULVA, A MODEL FOR AN INNOVATIVE MARICULTURE

The COST Action SEAWHEAT is kicking off today in a virtual setting with the administrators in Brussels, and the Management Committee chose over the past few months. The network is titled:  TOMORROW’S ‘WHEAT OF THE SEA’: ULVA, A MODEL FOR AN INNOVATIVE MARICULTURE  The innovative network has come to fruition through a lot of hard work by Professor Muki Shpigel and Dr Leigh Livne of MKMRS - it can be best…

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In situ Estimation of Coral Recruitment Patterns From Shallow to Mesophotic Reefs Using an Optimized Fluorescence Imaging System

New article published! Coral recruitment represents a key element for coral reef persistence and resilience in the face of environmental disturbances. Studying coral recruitment patterns is fundamental for assessing reef health and implementing appropriate management strategies in an era of climate change. The FluorIS system has been developed to acquire high resolution, wide field-of-view (FOV) in situ images of coral recruits fluorescence and has proven successful in shallow reef environments. However, up…

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A new position and an exciting PhD opportunity has just opened!

Antibiotic resistance of bacterial pathogens in marine animals of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea: molecular characterization, antibiotic resistance, and virulent genes’ identification Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global issue that public health is facing nowadays, and its propagation has occurred due to the misuse of antimicrobial medicines for both humans and livestock. This has led to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant zoonotic pathogens through the acquisition of antibiotic- resistance genes (ARGs) that…

Continue ReadingA new position and an exciting PhD opportunity has just opened!

Congratulations to Prof. Muki Shpigel for being selected to chair a COST Action from this year until 2025!

Congratulations to Prof. Muki Shpigel for being selected to chair a COST Action from this year until 2025! The European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) organization runs an EU-funded program that enables scientists and innovators to link research initiatives, share innovative ideas across multiple science and technology fields and at the same time address social challenges across Europe and beyond. Prof. Shpigel, together with Dr. Leigh Livne and Dr. Amir Neori,…

Continue ReadingCongratulations to Prof. Muki Shpigel for being selected to chair a COST Action from this year until 2025!

Shark tagging season #6

The Apex Predator Lab begins it's 6th tagging season! This year, we will investigate the reproductive status of female sharks at the aggregation hotspot.  We are ready to employ new methods and technologies, including ultrasound probes, shark-borne cameras and new satellite transmitters and analyse the new types of data using advanced laboratory techniques. Stay tuned for updates!

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The rocky reef data base

The rocky reef habitat of the Israeli coastline is rich, diverse, and abundant in marine resources. It functions as a stable habitat for algae, invertebrates, and fish. We have been conducting Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) on these reefs since 2015. The surveys are conducted from Achziv to Ashkelon and at a depth range from 10 to 45 m. The first thing that we noticed was a greater variability with depth. In the shallow water, the turf algae are dominating the reefs (Sdot Yam 10 m, 99%) and as you go deeper, the algae assemblages (Sdot Yam 45 m, 86%) become more diverse and there are more invertebrates.

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