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## Meet the editor

Luis A. Soto, BS, Diploma FAO-VNIRO, MSc, PhD, is a biological oceanographer at the Institute of Marine Sciences and Limnology, UNAM, Mexico (2019). He was Dean of Graduate Students in the Marine Science Program (1983–1987) and was Head of the Benthic Ecology Laboratory. His research interest is focused on the functional ecology of benthic communities inhabiting shallow and deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacif-

ic Ocean. His scientific production includes 137 peer-reviewed articles, 15 book chapters, and two edited books, receiving over 1600 citations. He has led more than 40 ocean surveys supported by national and international research institutions, and has served as a consultant on environmental issues to UNESCO, OEA, Guggenheim, Fulbright, Chevron-Texaco, Smithsonian, Philadelphia Academy of Science, and the Natural Environmental Research Council, UK. New genera and species of marine invertebrates have been named after him to honor his scientific career. His disciples include three postdoc, 12 PhD, 14 MSc, and 12 BS degrees He is a regular member of the Mexican Academy of Science, Sigma-Xi Society, and holds the highest ranking in the National Research System in Mexico.

Contents

**Section 1**

*by Luis A. Soto*

*by Ana Maria S. Pires-Vanin*

*by Diego López-Veneroni*

under Ocean Acidification

*and Gianfranco D'Onghia*

**Section 2**

*and José Agüero*

Introductory Chapter: The Benthic Realm

Integrative Approach to Assess Benthic Ecosystem Functioning on the Southwest Brazilian Continental Shelf

Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes in Hydrocarbon and Nitrogenous Nutrient Assessment of S and E Gulf of Mexico Marine Environments: Four Isotope Stories

Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities as Indicators of the Environmental Health of the Cunas River in the High Andes, Peru

Skeletons of Calcareous Benthic Hydroids (Medusozoa, Hydrozoa)

*by María Custodio, Richard Peñaloza and Heidi De La Cruz*

*by María A. Mendoza-Becerril, Crisalejandra Rivera-Perez* 

Mesophotic and Deep-Sea Vulnerable Coral Habitats of the Mediterranean Sea: Overview and Conservation Perspectives

*by Giovanni Chimienti, Francesco Mastrototaro* 

**Preface III**

Marine and Limnetic Ecosystems **1**

**Chapter 1 3**

**Chapter 2 5**

**Chapter 3 23**

**Chapter 4 51**

Coral Reef Ecosystems **67**

**Chapter 5 69**

**Chapter 6 81**

## Contents


**Chapter 7 101** Mitochondrial Group I Introns in Hexacorals Are Regulatory Genetic Elements *by Steinar Daae Johansen and Åse Emblem*

Preface

The benthos zone constitutes that part of the marine ecosystem that has the maximum biodiversity and biomass of planet Earth. The benthic researcher's state of the art has received a tremendous impulse thanks to the use of cutting-edge technology such as remotely operated vehicles, autonomous submersibles, and sophisticated molecular techniques that have progressively unraveled the secrets of the marine benthic realm. We are now entering a new and more ambitious research era studying the processes that make possible the existence of life from the coastal zone down to the most inhospitable deep habitats (hydrothermal systems). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has strongly emphasized the need to assess the risks and vulnerabilities of coastal and deep-water systems. Predicted global atmospheric warming causes changes in the circulation pattern of major ocean currents, its surface thermal regime, and the average sea level. Our current knowledge of the adaptations of organisms exposed to the above disturbances remains limited as does the resilience capacity of the benthic system to global-scale

The chapters included in this book represent clear evidence of the interdisciplinary efforts focused on the assessment of the effects of global-scale environmental changes upon benthic communities. To accomplish the general objectives of our book, its content has been divided into two sections: I. Marine and Limnetic

The introductory chapter is followed by the first chapter in this section, which contains an excellent review of a long-term study of the benthic communities distributed along the southwestern Brazilian continental shelf. The author presents the reader with a thorough description of the hydrographic, geochemical, and biological processes governing the structure and functioning of complex benthic assemblages in the study area. The analysis is mainly focused on the infaunal polychaeta's component and other epifaunal species. The text is rich in valuable information dealing with the ecological response of a benthic system exposed to seasonal hydrographic processes, and how the dominant infaunal–epifaunal elements adapt themselves to take advantage of the quantity and quality of organic

This chapter is the product of a multidisciplinary research effort promoted by one of the most prestigious oceanographic institutions in Latin America. The outcome of such effort has been a series of outstanding scientific contributions dealing with several aspects of functional marine ecology that have significantly contributed to open new research fields like ecological chemistry and the health of marine

The second contribution in this section offers the reader an in-depth review of the vital importance of using stable isotopes in biogeochemical studies focused on elucidating the source and flow of carbon and nitrogen in contrasting marine

change phenomena.

ecosystems.

Ecosystems and II. Coral Reef Ecosystems.

matter supplied by oceanic and coastal sources.

*Marine and Limnetic Ecosystems*
