Coral reefs are typically widespread in shallow waters from tropical seas, while in the Mediterranean Sea they currently have a very reduced extension. Only recently, a true coral reef has been identified on mesophotic bottoms along the coasts of southeastern Italy. The reef was mainly built by the non-symbiotic Caryophylliidae Phyllangia americana mouchezii and Polycyathus muellerae . Investigating the reproductive cycle of a...

Mucomics is the study of mucus and its biochemical properties. This discipline has gained increasing attention due to the critical roles mucus plays in protection, adhesion, and communication across species. Ethical restrictions on vertebrate research have driven the interest in invertebrate models such as mollusks. Mollusks produce large amounts of mucus which has several functions, including immune defense, digestion, and en...

The glycopatterns of the glycans secreted by the mucosa of stomach and duodenal ampulla of the striped dolphin, Stenella coeruleoalba were studied by histochemical (Periodic acid‐Schiff, Alcian Blue pH 2.5, High Iron Diamine) and lectin‐binding (SBA, DBA, PNA, WGA, MAA‐II, SNA, ConA, UEA‐I, AAA, LTA) techniques. The stomach can be divided into four compartments: main stomach, two connecting chambers and pylorus. The pylorus is...

The localization of intestinal glycoconjugates of the blunthead pufferfish Sphoeroides pachygaster and the grey triggerfish Balistes capriscus from the north‐western Ionian Sea was analysed by histochemical methods (PAS, AB pH 2.5, HID) and lectin binding experiments (WGA, LFA, SBA, sialidase‐SBA, PNA, sialidase‐PNA, ConA, AAA, UEA‐I, LTA) to assess how evolutionary loss of a functional stomach in S. pachygaster affects intest...