Marine Biology News

April 17, 2025

Top Headlines

Microorganisms Employ a Secret Weapon During Metabolism

Apr. 16, 2025 — In the global carbon cycle microorganisms have evolved a variety of methods for fixing carbon. Researchers have investigated the methods that are utilized at extremely hot, acidic and sulfur-rich hydrothermal vents in shallow waters off the island ...

Studying How Seals Adapt to Extreme Environments Could Lead to Benefits in Human Reproductive Health

Apr. 15, 2025 — Wild animals that have acquired adaptions to maximize their reproductive output in some of the world's most extreme conditions may provide answers to some of the most pressing problems in the field ...

Transplanting Posidonia Oceanica: Conservation of Seagrass Meadows

Apr. 10, 2025 — Transplanting seagrass meadows? Yes, it's possible -- and it works! The proof is in Monaco, with the successful transplantation of 384 m of Posidonia oceanica. Posidonia oceanica is an essential underwater plant for marine biodiversity: it produces ...

Fishing for Cephalopod DNA Allows for Efficient Marine Surveying

Apr. 14, 2025 — New DNA probes allow for efficient surveying of the hidden lives of squids and octopuses in the deep sea. This development provides an effective tool for marine ecological research and conservation ...

Latest Headlines

updated 2:15pm EDT

Restoration Programs Won’t Save Coral Reefs

Apr. 8, 2025 — As coral bleaching and deaths become more widespread globally, experts show that over a third of restoration projects fail and might never be scalable enough to have positive effects on reef ...

Flex Appeal: 'Trade-Off' Between Armor and Efficiency in Sea Turtle Shells

Apr. 8, 2025 — A sea turtle's shell is a masterpiece. A study reveals that marine turtle shells combine flexibility and strength to protect against predators like sharks and stress while optimizing movement. This ...

Coral Reefs Exude Myriad Chemicals, Fueling Dynamic Microbial Recycling of Nutrients

Apr. 9, 2025 — New research revealed the remarkable chemical diversity of substances exuded by coral reefs and demonstrated that thousands of different chemicals ...

Mapping Mercury Contamination in Penguins of the Southern Ocean

Apr. 9, 2025 — In 1962, when environmentalist and author Rachel Carson penned 'Silent Spring,' alerting the world to the dangers of the pesticide DDT, it was the reproductive threat to birds -- the bald eagle in ...

Drug Pollution Alters Salmon Migration

Apr. 10, 2025 — Study reveals commonly detected environmental levels of clobazam -- a medication often prescribed for sleep disorders -- increased the river-to-sea migration success of juvenile salmon in the wild. ...

With New Database Researchers May Be Able to Predict Rare Milky Seas Bioluminescent, Glowing Event

Apr. 9, 2025 — Milky seas are a rare bioluminescent phenomenon where vast areas of the ocean glow at night, sometimes for months. This glow, likely caused by Vibrio ...

Dinosaurs' Apparent Decline Prior to Asteroid May Be Due to Poor Fossil Record

Apr. 8, 2025 — The idea that dinosaurs were already in decline before an asteroid wiped most of them out 66 million years ago may be explained by a worsening fossil ...

Life Recovered Rapidly at Site of Dino-Killing Asteroid: A Hydrothermal System May Have Helped

Apr. 8, 2025 — About 66 million years ago, an asteroid slammed into the planet, wiping out all non-avian dinosaurs and about 70% of all marine species. But the ...

Saturn's Moon Titan Could Harbor Life, but Only a Tiny Amount, Study Finds

Apr. 7, 2025 — Despite its uniquely rich inventory of organic molecules, Saturn's largest moon, Titan, may be able to support only a minuscule amount of biomass, if life exists on the moon, according to a study ...

Best Methods for Growing Atlantic Sea Scallops

Apr. 4, 2025 — A new study compares two scallop farming methods, ear-hanging and lantern net culture, over a complete grow-out cycle to determine which approach yields the best results for commercial growers. The ...

One-Third of Australia's Coastal Terrestrial Aquaculture at Risk from Sea Level Rise by 2100

Apr. 7, 2025 — New research has highlighted more than 43% of Queensland, Australia's current productive aquaculture sites are expected to be impacted by sea level rise. Of the projected inundation caused by ...

An Answer to Green Energy in Hydrogen-Generating Marine Microbes

Apr. 3, 2025 — A genomic study of hydrogen-producing bacteria has revealed entirely new gene clusters capable of producing large volumes of ...

Coral Diseases and Water Quality Play a Key Role for Coral Restoration and Survival Efforts

Mar. 26, 2025 — Coral diseases, particularly in the Caribbean, have caused major declines in coral populations, especially affecting staghorn (Acropora cervicornis) and Elkhorn (A. palmata) corals, which play a ...

New Study Shines a Light on the Mechanics of Bioluminescence in the Rare Fish Vinciguerria Mabahiss

Mar. 26, 2025 — Evolving roughly 27 different times in the long history of fish, bioluminescence -- the biological production of light -- is one of the flashier survival tools used for luring prey, communication, ...

Ocean Eddies -- The Food Trucks of the Sea

Mar. 25, 2025 — How is organic matter transported from productive coastal areas to the open ocean? Researchers have now shown that eddies play a crucial role in this process. The swirling currents contain large ...

Artisanal Fishers Are Almost as Accurate as Satellites in Producing Environmental Data

Mar. 25, 2025 — For research, ten fishermen working around islands in the Aegean Sea were asked to pinpoint areas where they believed seagrass beds could be found along the coastlines of their respective islands. ...

Ecosystem Disrupted Following the Disappearance of Great White Sharks

Mar. 25, 2025 — A new study has uncovered evidence of far-reaching ecosystem consequences following the disappearance of Great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) from False Bay, South Africa. The research spans ...

Biologists Discover Ancient Neurohormone That Controls Appetite

Mar. 24, 2025 — Biologists have discovered that bombesin, a neurohormone controlling appetite in humans, also regulates feeding in starfish, revealing its ancient evolutionary origin dating back over 500 million ...

Introduced Pacific Oysters Provide Biodiversity Benefits in Port River

Mar. 24, 2025 — The introduction of exotic species can pose significant challenges in the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems, yet researchers have found that Pacific oysters introduced to the Port River in ...

Southeast Asia's Fisheries Benefit from Small-Scale, Multispecies Capture

Mar. 21, 2025 — Despite decades of warnings about overfishing, Southeast Asia's capture fisheries have proven remarkably ...

Aotearoa Once Home to Elephant Seals

Mar. 20, 2025 — Southern elephant seals are the 'canary in the coal mine' for the Southern Ocean, offering insight into how the ecosystem may react to future climate change and human impact, new research ...

Study Identifies Viruses in Red Tide Blooms for the First Time

Mar. 20, 2025 — Identifying viruses associated with red tide can help researchers forecast the development of blooms and better understand environmental factors that can cause blooms to terminate. The study marks an ...

Restored Stream Supports New Wild Salmon Run

Mar. 20, 2025 — A new study documents Putah Creek-origin salmon, meaning some salmon returning to the restored creek in the fall to spawn were actually born there. The study carries broader implications for other ...

Marine Animals Help Solve Ocean Issues

Mar. 19, 2025 — Sensors attached to animals gather valuable data to track and mitigate the human influence on marine life. The review paper emphasizes the importance of integrating data from various sources and ...

Sulfur Bacteria Team Up to Break Down Substances in the Seabed

Mar. 19, 2025 — Scientists have decoded the metabolic strategies of certain sulfur bacteria. A new study reports that the bacteria are found worldwide and have a complex metabolism with modular ...

Red Coral Colonies Survive a Decade After Being Transplanted in the Medes Islands

Mar. 18, 2025 — The red coral colonies that were transplanted a decade ago on the seabed of the Medes Islands have survived successfully. They are very similar to the original communities and have contributed to the ...

Coastal Guardians Pioneer a New Way to Protect the Florida Keys' Shorelines

Mar. 18, 2025 — Nature-based solutions like restoring mangroves, and hybrid solutions, protect vulnerable shorelines. However, they need careful planning to be effective. A new GIS-based tool, combined with varied ...

Iguanas Floated One-Fifth of the Way Around the World to Colonize Fiji

Mar. 17, 2025 — The only iguanas outside the Americas, Fiji iguanas are an enigma. A new genetic analysis shows that they are most closely related to the North American desert iguana, having separated about 34 ...

Brown Trout Proven to Successfully Navigate Beaver Dams

Mar. 13, 2025 — A groundbreaking study has revealed that brown trout can successfully navigate beaver dams -- obstacles which were previously thought to pose a significant barrier to their ...

'Surprising' Cause of Sargassum Blooms in Caribbean

Mar. 13, 2025 — Researchers identified a strong negative North Atlantic Oscillation in 2009--2010 as the tipping point that pushed sargassum into the tropical Atlantic, confirming vertical mixing, not rivers, as the ...