MONICEPH - Monitoring cephalopods during whale watching activity in the Azores

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 182 records.

1 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Suciu S, Azevedo J M (2025). MONICEPH - Monitoring cephalopods during whale watching activity in the Azores. Version 1.5. Universidade dos Açores. Occurrence dataset. http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=moniceph&v=1.5

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Universidade dos Açores. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: c268bcb5-2d16-4796-b47b-7ea01a7a06b7.  Universidade dos Açores publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Portugal.

Keywords

cephalopoda; deep-ocean; cetaceans; citizen science; azores

Contacts

Geographic Coverage

Archipelago of the Azores

Taxonomic Coverage

oceanic cephalopods

Temporal Coverage

Project Data

MONICEPH project stores and analyses samples of cephalopods collected at the sea surface of the Azores, mostly during touristic activities. Remains of cephalopods are believed to be brought to the surface by cetaceans. The data collected helps increase understanding of oceanic cephalopod ecology and cetacean diets. Started in 2019, the dataset was compiled in collaboration with whale-watching companies on the islands of São Miguel, Faial, Pico and Terceira, and received additional samples from other sources. Project coordination by Stéphanie R.A. Suciu and José M.N. Azevedo.

The personnel involved in the project:

Sampling Methods

A total of 14 whale watching companies participated. Each company received a boxed sampling kit, and the staff got trained in sampling and observations as described in Suciu et al, 2021. Every time cephalopod remains were observed, a sample was taken and preserved in 96% ethanol in supplied jars. Additionally, the collectors recorded, as a minimum, the time and geographic position, and information about the species of cetaceans in the area and their behavior. When possible, photographs of the remains were also taken. Upon return to the land base, the samples were stored at 4°C in the fridge. The samples were collected under the following permits: AMP/2020/014 from the Direção Regional dos Assuntos do Mar (DRAM) in in 2020-21; AMP/2022/007 from the DRAM and 20/2022/DRCTD from the Direção Regional da Ciência e Transição Digital (DRCT) in 2022; in LMAS-DRPM/2023/ 07 from the DIREÇÃO REGIONAL DE POLÍTICAS MARÍTIMAS (DRPM) and CCIR-RAA/2023/36 from the Direção Regional da Ciência, Inovação e Desenvolvimento (DRCT) in 2023; and LMAS-DRPM/2024/10 from the DRPM and CCIR-RAA/2024/45 from the DRCT in 2024.

Method step description:

1. DNA extraction, PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing The DNA extraction was performed with the E.Z.N.A.® Mollusc DNA Kit (Omega Bio-tek, Georgia, USA) according to manufacturer’s protocol. The two primers HCO2198 and LCO1490 were used to PCR amplify a partial 710-bp fragment from the mitochondrial COI gene using the conditions in Folmer et al, 1994. The amplicons generated were individually Sanger sequenced with BigdyeTerminator 3.1, then run on ABI 3730XL (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA), using the forward PCR primer. Forward sequences were cleaned using Geneious (v. 2024.0.7, Biomatters, Auckland, NZ), then were compared to the NCBI nucleotide database using the BLAST algorithm for taxonomic assignment. Morphological Determination When possible, on-site observations or collected images were analysed to determine species based on morphological characteristics using the Cephalopod identification keys from Gomes-Pereira et al., 2016.

Collection Data

Bibliographic Citations

1. Gomes-Pereira, J & Gonçalves, João & Clarke, M & Gomes-Pereira, Jose. (2016). Cephalopod identification keys to Histioteuthidae, Cranchiidae and Octopodiformes of the Azores, with an updated check-list.
2. Suciu, S.R.A., J. Zereba, L. Fiori and J.M.N. Azevedo 2021. Whale-watching contributions for the study of cetacean-cephalopod interactions. Arquipelago. Life and Marine Sciences 38: 1 – 6. https://doi.org/10.25752/arq.26535
3. Folmer O, Black M, Hoeh W, et al. 1994. DNA primers for amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I from diverse metazoan invertebrates. Molecular Marine Biology and Biotechnology 3: 294–370 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013102

Additional Metadata