We have concentrated on the polychaete selleck chemical families Spionidae, Sabellidae and Serpulidae and we are heavily indebted to overseas experts who helped in the development of the guide Kupriyanova et al. (2013).

This guide was beta tested during a two day workshop held prior to the 11th International Polychaete Conference, Sydney, August 2013 and then updated and released in December 2013 (http://www.polychaetes.australianmuseum.net.au). It is now available for sale. We hope to be able to update this guide over time and perhaps even to expand it to include other marine groups. “
“The Macondo 252 petroleum oil spill was unprecedented, and is considered the largest environmental disaster in the United States. Approximately 4.9 million barrels (200 million US gallons) of crude oil were released into the Gulf

(Graham et al., 2011 and Harzl and Pickl, 2012). Coastal shorelines in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida were oiled. A large underwater plume of oil was identified in the deep waters of the Gulf, and it had essentially the same signature as the oil from the Macondo well (Camilli et al., 2010, Mitra et al., 2012 and White Crizotinib manufacturer et al., 2012). Water polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) levels at four sampling sites along the Gulf coast were significantly elevated during the spill (Allan et al., 2012). The Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) occurred in March, 1989, and 262 barrels or 11 million US gallons of crude oil were released around Prince William Sound, Alaska. Oil exposure resulted in significant mortality and physical and genetic abnormalities in Pacific herring (Marty et al., 1999). Many environmental pollutants cause immunosuppression in fish, leading to increased disease susceptibility, and PAHs are immunosuppressant (reviewed in Carlson and Zelikoff, 2008). In Puget Sound, WA, increased disease occurrence was associated with PAH exposure in flatfish and immuno-suppression of anadromous fish (reviewed in Johnson et al., 2008). Laboratory next studies demonstrated

that oil exposure resulted in decreased inflammatory cells, leading to immunosuppression (Carls et al., 1998 and Thorne and Thomas, 2008). PAHs are a component of crude oil and are carcinogenic, mutagenic, and negatively impact the marine environment. When dispersants are applied to the crude oil, the PAH bioconcentration is significantly higher resulting in higher fish mortality (Milinkovitch et al., 2011 and Allan et al., 2012). Genomic assessment of Gulf killifish tissues revealed that oil exposure caused significant changes in the biology of that fish (Whitehead et al., 2011). In general, embryos, larva and juvenile fish are more affected than other marine animals (Marchini et al., 1992 and George-Ares and Clark, 2000).