The introduced red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) has successfully established in Norwegian waters since its release to the Barents Sea in the 1960’s. It has become an important commercial resource contributing to the local coastal society in the eastern region of Finnmark. The fishery consists of one quota regulated area east of 26° (North Cape) and an open fishery west of 26°E. During the ...

Migrating reindeer and caribou tend to return to traditional calving locations every spring with specific environmental conditions and protection of calving grounds is a central part of Rangifer conservation. In contrast, the non-migratory Svalbard reindeer inhabit an environment free of predators during calving season making them ideal as a reference population. Little is known about habitat ...

The eye represents an immune privileged organ where parasites can escape host reactions. This study provides the first systematic evidence of the pathology associated with <i>Diplostomum</i> sp. infection in the eye retina of fish (i.e. Arctic charr). Histological sections showed that the trematodes caused mechanical disengagement between the retinal pigmentary epithelium and the neurosensory retina, ...

Kelps are ecosystem engineers and thus enhance biodiversity and subsidize food webs in nearshore areas. Numerous studies describing diversity and abundance of biota associated with kelp have focused on sub-tropical and temperate waters while kelp forests at high latitudes, where kelp is predicted to expand in distribution, remain mostly unexplored. Kelp forests contribute significantly to regional ...

<p>1. Climate change is impacting different species at different rates, leading to alterations in biological interactions with ramifications for wider ecosystem functioning. Understanding these alterations can help improve predictive capacity and inform management efforts designed to mitigate against negative impacts.</p> <p>2. We investigated how the movement and space use patterns of polar bears ...

Terrestrial symbiotic cyanobacteria of the genus <i>Nostoc</i> exhibit a large potential for the production of bioactive natural products of the nonribosomal peptide, polyketide, and ribosomal peptide classes, and yet most of the biosynthetic gene clusters are silent under conventional cultivation conditions. In the present study, we utilized a high-density cultivation approach recently developed ...

Parasites play a key role in the biodiversity and dynamics of an ecosystem, either by affecting host mortality and/or host reproduction. Spawning comes with a great cost in time and energy, and in times of poor conditions this time and energy is better directed into growth and survival to increase future success. The phenomenon of skipped spawning, where sexually mature fish skip a reproductive ...

Background<br> Infectious keratoconjunctivitis (IKC) is one of the most common ocular diseases in ruminants worldwide. In addition to keratitis and conjunctivitis, animals with IKC can develop uveitis, corneal ulcer, and in severe cases, blindness. The bacteria Moraxella spp. has been described as the primary causative agent of infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK) in cattle (Bos taurus), ...

Eastern Fram Strait and the shelf slope region north of Svalbard is dominated by the advection of warm, salty and nutrient-rich Atlantic Water (AW). This oceanic heat contributes to keeping the area relatively free of ice. The last years have seen a dramatic decrease in regional sea ice extent, which is expected to drive large increases in pelagic primary production and thereby changes in marine ...

Knowledge on the seasonal timing and composition of pelagic larvae of many benthic invertebrates, referred to as meroplankton, is limited for high-latitude fjords and coastal areas. We investigated the seasonal dynamics of meroplankton in the sub-Arctic Porsangerfjord (70°N), Norway, by examining their seasonal changes in relation to temperature, chlorophyll a and salinity. Samples were collected ...