Fish evolution accelerated after adapting to eat off hard surfaces
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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 12-Jun-2026 10:15 ET (12-Jun-2026 14:15 GMT/UTC)
28 April 2026 / Kiel. How much of the essential trace element iron remains available for marine life in the ocean depends critically on the diversity of organic molecules in seawater. This is shown by new research published in Nature Communications by an international team led by Dr Martha Gledhill from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. The study demonstrates for the first time that the formation of iron minerals and the distribution of dissolved and particulate iron in the South Pacific can be realistically predicted when the chemical complexity of organic matter is taken into account. These findings provide an important basis for understanding how marine life may respond to a warmer and more acidic future ocean.
A new paper in Genome Biology and Evolution discovers that the endangered Mediterranean fin whale is not completely isolated from Atlantic groups. Both Atlantic and Mediterranean populations have declined for the past 200,000 years. Considering more recent threats to the whales, this finding has important implications for conservation, particularly considering increasing anthropogenic pressures.
The first study to measure the full economic value of bottom trawling in Europe’s waters calculates that the destructive fishing practice imposes up to €16 billion annually in net costs to society. Pooling data from more than 4,900 European-flagged bottom trawlers — together spending more than 5.5 million hours fishing on average each year in the waters of the European Union, the UK, Norway and Iceland — the research demonstrates that atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from disturbed seafloor sediments are a major contributor to these costs. The study concludes that the net costs of bottom trawling to society are 90 times greater than the €180 million in profits raked in by the fishing industry each year.
24 April 2026 / Kiel. An international research team led by the CRC 1182 and GEOMAR has discovered for the first time that sea urchins can pass on certain components of eukaryotic plastids across generations to improve their fitness and geographic distribution. The study was published yesterday in the scientific journal PLoS Biology.
Biodegradable plastics hold potential for reducing marine plastic pollution, but degrade too quickly, limiting their practical use. Researchers from Gunma University now show that crab shell by-products can reduce the breakdown rate of biodegradable plastics in seawater by altering the microbial communities that colonize their surfaces, known as the plastisphere. These findings could help design plastics that stay durable during use and then degrade at an appropriate time once in the ocean.
From butterflies to peacocks, bold circular "eyespots" are among nature's most eye-catching patterns. But why do they appear in some animals and not others? A new study of skates and rays finally provides an answer – and it lies in the full range of defences an animal has at its disposal.