Vertical distribution patterns and relative abundance of mesopelagic fish species and other major taxonomic groups were investigated through vertically stratified trawl sampling and hydroacoustic analyses along the subtropical convergence zone from 52° W to 70° W in the oligotrophic Sargasso Sea. Persistent stationary layers and several migrating components of different scattering characteristics were detected. The results rev...

Summary Alphaproteobacteria are typically characterized by a multipartite genome organization with a chromosome, stable chromids and accessory plasmids. Extrachromosomal elements determine the lifestyle of roseobacters and their horizontal transfer was previously correlated with rapid adaptations to novel ecological niches. We characterized the distribution and biology of a novel Rhodobacteraceae ‐specific plasmid type that wa...

In this study, the phylogenetic trees of jacks and pompanos (Carangidae), an ecologically and morphologically diverse, globally distributed fish family, are inferred from a complete, concatenated data set of two mitochondrial (cytochrome c oxidase I, cytochrome b) loci and one nuclear (myosin heavy chain 6) locus. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inferences are largely congruent and show a clear separation of Carangidae into th...