PeerJ – Aquatic Biology section

5 September 2018

Lysmata arvoredensis nov. sp. a new species of shrimp from the south coast of Brazil with a key to species of Lysmata (Caridea: Lysmatidae) recorded in the southwestern Atlantic

Bruno W. Giraldes, Thais P. Macedo, Manoela C. Brandão, J. Antonio Baeza, Andrea S. Freire

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Antonina Dos Santos –– As I say in the decision letter, it is important for any ecological studies in the region s.l. and also for taxonomy studies around the world. It has the quality of describing a new species using integrative taxonomy.

31 August 2018

Effectiveness of five personal shark-bite deterrents for surfers

Editor rating: 8 / 10

James Reimer –– Scientific work examining the efficacy of shark deterrents - this work is sure to catch the attention of a wide range of people both in marine biology and the general public.

15 August 2018

Summer diatom blooms in the eastern North Pacific gyre investigated with a long-endurance autonomous surface vehicle

Editor rating: 7 / 10

John Berges –– This is an important demonstration that we can reconcile synoptic measurements (e.g. satellite measurements of ocean color) with local and microscale measurements of individual phytoplankton species (an autonomous vehicles and digital holography).

14 August 2018

Spatio–temporal variation in stable isotope signatures (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) of sponges on the Saba Bank

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Joseph Pawlik –– The ecosystem role of sponges is only now being recognized, particularly on Caribbean reefs. This paper is a useful contribution to this area of research.

17 July 2018

Metabolism in a deep hypertrophic aquatic ecosystem with high water-level fluctuations: a decade of records confirms sustained net heterotrophy

Editor rating: 8 / 10

Salvador Sánchez-Carrillo –– There are too few studies on long-term aquatic metabolism in subtropical environments.

16 July 2018

Biases during DNA extraction affect characterization of the microbiota associated with larvae of the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Mohammad Shamsur Rahman –– DNA extraction is always crucial for the subsequent analyses; so this work will help the researchers' to work with shrimp microbiota.

6 July 2018

Stream acidification and reduced aquatic prey availability are associated with dietary shifts in an obligate riparian Neotropical migratory songbird

Section Editor rating: 7 / 10

James Reimer –– As stated by a reviewer and the editor - a nice piece of science examining changes in the diet of a bird species when their food source(s) are compromised by negative anthropogenic impacts, in this case stream acidification.

4 July 2018

Phylogeny and divergence times of suckers (Cypriniformes: Catostomidae) inferred from Bayesian total-evidence analyses of molecules, morphology, and fossils

Section Editor rating: 7 / 10

Robert Toonen –– The editor is more qualified than I am and I defer to his evaluation on this one.

4 July 2018

Speciation among sympatric lineages in the genus Palythoa (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Zoantharia) revealed by morphological comparison, phylogenetic analyses and investigation of spawning period

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Xavier Pochon –– This interesting study employed a variety of approaches (morphology, phylogenetics, and spawning observations) to clarify taxonomic affiliations within the genus Palythoa, a complex group of Zoantharia.

2 July 2018

Responses of an oyster host (Crassostrea virginica) and its protozoan parasite (Perkinsus marinus) to increasing air temperature

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Martina Doblin –– The prevalence of disease in marine environments is rising. This study provides insight on the mechanistic links between warming and oyster mortality, and will be of interest to a diverse readership.

Aquatic Biology

Article commentary

Articles

Aquatic Biology