Marine sponges have been intensively studied by organic chemists, biologists and pharmacologists during last 60 years, due to great biodiversity of their secondary metabolites. A couple of very promising bioactivities of these compounds have been reported. Indeed, some of these metabolites are considered as the leads for the future drugs targeting tumours, viral and bacterial diseases, malaria and inflammations. Herein we briefly report key bioactivities of avarol, the main secondary metabolite of the marine sponge Dysidea avara (Schmidt, 1862).

The species identification is a key problem throughout the life cycle of fishes: from eggs and larvae to adults in ecosystem and fisheries research and control, as well as processed fish products labelling in consumer protection. Here, we report a rapid blue biotechnological method applied for egg and fish species discrimination. The amplification of a region of the mitochondrial genome, the cytochrome b, by using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) permits seafood products species identification. The obtained PCR-products were cut with different restriction endonucleases resulting in species-specific Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLP), which allowed to discriminate, in one step, between different types of caviar substitute species. The following analysis of mitochondrial DNA to control the labelling between caviar substitute species of Cyclopterus lumpus, Mallotus villosus, Trisopterus minutus minutus and the caviar, Acipenser baerii and their monitoring and surveillance is suitable with only one restriction enzyme, MboII. This blue method, applied to a very significant number of samples, retrieved online, allowed a rapid and economic identification of the species, with high percentage of correct identification for fish caviar substitute.

This minireview focuses on current understanding of the blue technology with special emphasis on algae products utilization. These relationships are discussed based on their economic value. The emerging antioxidant role for human health is highlight and the approach used to identify the oceanic parameters that are most suitable for the macro algae cultivation in Bidong Island, Redang Island, Perhentian Island and Setiu Wetland (Malaysia water) is reported.

This review provides an overview of the Mediterranean diversity and conservation status of cetaceans, and the value associated with their conservation and non-consumptive use. Mediterranean Sea is one of the world′s diversity hotspots. Its biodiversity is increasingly under threat in the whole region and key species as cetaceans challenge for conservation. All the identified threats are interlinked and cumulatively contribute to the habitat degradation of the entire area as well as reduced health status of the cetaceans that live there. Whales and dolphins, defined as charismatic megafauna, flag species, apex predators and bio indicators of the marine environment health are demanding social substantial changes. Needs are for spatial prioritization within a comprehensive framework for regional conservation planning, the acquisition of additional information identifying critical habitats in data-poor areas and for data deficient species, and addressing the challenges of establishing transboundary governance and collaboration in socially, culturally and politically complex conditions. This paper examines research gaps, questions and issues (population abundance estimates, as well as the biological, ecological, physiological characteristics) surrounding cetacean species in the context of biodiversity conservation and highlights the need of targeted conservation management actions to reduce sources of disturb of key threatening processes in the Mediterranean Sea. The ‘precautionary principle’ must be adopted at all levels in attempts to mitigate impacts and thus provides scope for the translation of the principle into operational measures. As natural entities, cetaceans have their objective intrinsic value, not humanly conferred.

Cladoceran daphnids are among the most widely chosen aquatic invertebrates for ecotoxicology, since early 1900s. The use Daphnia bioassays in monitoring water quality is due a number of reasons, such as daphnid sensitivity to chemicals and their easy culturing, and because they are important members of aquatic food chains. The genome sequence accessibility of Daphnia pulex (first crustacean to have a sequenced genome) has expanded to explore broad-ranging biological disciplines, including host-parasite interactions, and evolution, physiology, microbiology, molecular biology, pathology, and genetics. Genetic screening allows identify genes underlying that function within a biological process and/or pathway of interest for humans. This review attempts to relate the use of Daphnia model in the prospect of human health effects. To date this research is still in its infancy but there are good approaches that could be satisfactory to find this relationship.

It is imperative to assess the maternal lineage in order to achieve a broad picture of evolution, phylogenetic and genetic biodiversity within and among different breeds of livestock. In recent past, there has been a considerable advancement in sequencing of complete mammalian mtDNA molecules and their analysis. Most of the studies have focused on the mitochondrial D-loop region, the most variable part of mtDNA due to increased substitution rate than in the rest of the mtDNA genome which serves as a better genetic marker to assess the diversity. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) possesses several favorable characteristics, including large quantity in the cell, small genome size, haploid, maternal inheritance with extremely low probability of paternal leakage, higher mutation rate than nuclear DNA, and amenable to change mainly through mutation rather than recombination. All these features make mtDNA a useful and one of the most frequently used markers in molecular systematic and has been widely employed to address questions of genetic diversity, population structure and population evolution of animals including equines. Many native breeds of horses as well as ponies were assessed for their genetic diversity and ancestry on the basis of studies on mitochondrial DNA to address the questions of evolution along with breed development and conservation.

The numbers of contact chemosensillum on ventral side of fifth foretarsal segments of Japanese Papilio butterflies were determined by scanning electron microscope observation. P. bianor, P. helenus, P. protenor and P. memnon exhibited geographical diversity for this character among mainland Japan, Amami Islands, Okinawa Islands and Yaeyama Islands populations. This characteristic was useful for reconfirming the geographical variations proposed by the wing color patterns and genetic characteristics of each these species. This characteristic also uncovered hidden geographical variations and phylogenetic structures of P. machaon, P. xuthus, P. maackii, P. macilentus and that of P. memnon on mainland Japan and that of P. protenor on Okinawa Islands. Also discussed are possible causes for the apparent phylogeny disparities between this report and other previous studies including DNA analyses.