• Energy Research

The amphipod crustaceans are an essential taxonomic group in the marine biodiversity assessment and response to environmental pollution or climate change. They play an important role in benthic food webs due to their high biomass, abundance and highly variable modes of feeding. However, our knowledge of the amphipod fauna is somehow incomplete and literature shows shortcomings regarding misidentification or lack of identification to species-level. A case of misidentification is herein reported and solved. The present paper aims at allocating Cheiriphotis geniculata K.H. Barnard, 1916 to the correct taxon Photis. The observations herein presented demonstrate that Cheiriphotis geniculata does fit the genus Photis and its nomenclature should be revised in future checklists and updated in the World Amphipoda Database. Photis geniculata is characterized by a gnathopod 2 with three processes on the palm of propodus and a geniculated dactylus. The present paper recommends Cheiriphotis geniculata is considered a nomen nudum and changed to the valid name Photis geniculata Barnard, 1935.

As has been shown for other ecosystems, the ecological and socio-economic impacts of climate change on Mediterranean intertidal habitats are highly variable in space and time. We conducted field and laboratory measurements of cellular, ecophysiological and behavioural responses of selected intertidal invertebrates (mussels, gastropods and sponges) and completed a literature review to determine what is known of socioeconomic consequences of these biological changes. Results suggest significant gaps in our knowledge that may impede a complete understanding of likely impacts (physical, biological, and socioeconomic) and that sufficient data for such an analysis is available only for mussels. Application of ecological models for native mussels Mytilaster minimus and invasive Brachidontes pharaonis bivalves indicates that the current distribution of these species is linked to the availability of food and local temperature. Choosing Israel as a case study, the study focused on the identification of ecosystem services and goods provided by the Mediterranean rocky intertidal and on the assessment of conservation approaches. Intertidal systems were poorly represented in the socio-economic literature and there was low awareness of the value of these ecosystems among stakeholders. Subsequently, conservation efforts for intertidal communities were minimal. While climate change will very likely continue to impact these systems, our predictive capacity for the extent and locations of such impacts, and of any derived socio-economic consequences, remains limited.