Today, Gabriel did a great job presenting part of his PhD research on plastics as dispersal vectors for invasive species at the GEOMARE Speeches 2025 event. @lacaixa.bsky.social #inphinit

🌊 Exciting news! Meet Lena, our new technician on the HOLOCHANGE project at @icmcsic.bsky.social 🪸🦠 She’s an environmental specialist with experience at @ceabcsic.bsky.social and @ipe-csic.bsky.social, bringing strong skills in research, education & project management. Welcome aboard, Lena! 👏

Seven new bryozoan species are described from various habitats across the Mediterranean. Find out more about them here: doi.org/10.3897/zook... #biodiversity #bryozoans #newspecies @bfiguerola.bsky.social

🌊We’re hiring postdocs! 🐚Join the MedAcidWarm project with @bfiguerola.bsky.social to study how marine invertebrates & microbiomes respond to climate change with MicroCT, metabolomics & transcriptomics! 📧Apply by 20/10 🔗https://icm.csic.es/ca/oferta-treball/call-postdoctoral-fellowship-candidates

🌊🔬 We’re hiring predocs! 🐚 Join the MedAcidWarm project with @bfiguerola.bsky.social to study how marine invertebrates & microbiomes respond to climate change with metabolomics & transcriptomics! 📧 Apply by 20/10 🔗 https://icm.csic.es/ca/oferta-treball/call-predoctoral-fellowship-candidates

Ready to take the next step in your research career at @icmcsic.bsky.social?We’re seeking enthusiastic candidates to join our team + apply for prestigious pre/postdoc fellowships. Learn more👇 🔗 icm.csic.es/ca/oferta-tr... 🔗 icm.csic.es/ca/oferta-tr... @em-oyster.bsky.social @bryozoology.bsky.social

New publication on diversity of the cheilostome bryozoan genus Fenestrulina in the Mediterranean zookeys.pensoft.net/article/1579...

Happy to collaborate on this great work led by Antonietta Rosso, revising the bryozoan genus Fenestrulina with 77 species and describing seven new ones from the Mediterranean! @zookeys.pensoft.net 🔗 zookeys.pensoft.net/article/1579...

Lab meeting today at @icmcsic.bsky.social. Feeling so lucky to be surrounded by amazing people and researchers, both growing in their own paths:one finishing the PhD and another starting the 2nd year! @marinecalcifiers.bsky.social #SeveroOchoa @cienciagob.bsky.social #INPhINIT @lacaixa.bsky.social

#ArticleIRBio 🌊Microbiome Composition in a Common Mediterranean Bryozoan Following an Unprecedented Marine Heatwave🪸 Authors: Figuerola, B ; Linares, C ( #IRBio ) et al. Journal: ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY REPORTS doi.org/10.1111/1758... @medrecover.bsky.social @cristinalinares.bsky.social

Marine heatwaves are intensifying in the Mediterranean,driving mass die-offs in marine life.Our new study reveals how the bryozoan Myriapora truncata & its microbes are coping🧵 t.co/X6sQsdzOar @fonamental.bsky.social @cristinalinares.bsky.social @claudiaaparicio.bsky.social @medrecover.bsky.social

Today, @bfiguerola.bsky.social presented at the International Bryozoology Association conference in Tokyo on how an extreme marine heatwave reshaped the microbiome composition of a Mediterranean bryozoan. 🪸🦠 Stay tuned, the full study will be published soon! #Bryozoa

🌊 Ocean warming and acidification hit bryozoans hard A new study found that warming and acidification together weaken bryozoan skeletons, shift their microbiomes, and reduce their cover, threatening benthic ecosystems. 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s42... #SciComm 🧪 #MarineBiology

Ocean architects at risk from impact of combined acidification and ocean warming ->EurekAlert | #OceanWarming | More info from EcoSearch

Bryozoans, key habitat-forming marine invertebrates, face structural and microbiome changes under combined ocean acidification and warming, with potential long-term impacts on Mediterranean ecosystems. doi.org/g9wt3g

🪸What are bryozoans? Tiny, reef-building animals that filter water & store carbon — small but essential! Our new study shows how warming & acidification threaten them. Sneak peek below — full animation coming soon! www.nature.com/articles/s42... #MedCalRes @cookedillustrations.com

🎥 Animation teaser by @cookedillustrations.com! Our new study explores how bryozoans respond to ocean acidification and warming — showing changes in skeletons, microbiomes, and population decline. Sneak peek below — full animation coming soon! www.nature.com/articles/s42... #MedCalRes

Ocean acidification and warming threaten bryozoan populations by altering skeletal properties, disrupting key microbial communities, and increasing mortality, with consequences for the benthic ecosystems they support. doi.org/10.1038/s420...

Press release of our recent study: "Ocean architects at risk from the combined impact of ocean acidification and warming" www.icm.csic.es/en/news/ocea... #bryozoans #microbiome @fonamental.bsky.social @elpiratavell.bsky.social @polcapdevila.bsky.social @bfiguerola.bsky.social @icmcsic.bsky.social

Such crucial research. If marine biomes break down at this fundamental level through CO₂-induced ocean acidification, the knock-on consequences for other species (and fisheries) will be catastrophic. Some good news (acclimation), some bad news (decreased biodiversity).

This is a great way to put an end to this academic year and start my vacation 😬 Thanks, Blanca, for leading this effort! 💪 We are having a lot of fun working together, so more #bryozoan #microbiome collabs will be happening soon 😊

New podcast of the @OuestFrance! Sébastien Motreuil shares insights from our scientific diving expedition in the remote Kerguelen & Amsterdam Islands. @polarobs.bsky.social #benthos #globalchange www.ouest-france.fr/monde/antarc...

We are very excited our new paper is out today! Do you want to know more? Check this thread! 👇🪸🦠 #bryozoans #microbiome #oceanwarming #oceanalcidification www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Published today and freely accessible. our paper on Quaternary cyclostome bryozoans from a Japanese submarine cave. doi.org/10.26879/1546

10/ Huge thanks to this amazing team! @fonamental.bsky.social @polcapdevila.bsky.social @elpiratavell.bsky.social @medrecover.bsky.social over.bsky.social @icmcsic.bsky.social @szndohrn.bsky.social @ub.edu @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social #MedCalRes @ageinves.bsky.social @cienciagob.bsky.social

9/ Bryozoans are key habitat-formers, yet often overlooked in climate research. Our work shows they’re at risk under future ocean conditions. 🌊 We need more long-term, multi-stressor studies in natural settings. Stay tuned for the ongoing HOLOCHANGE and MedAcidWarm projects!

8/ This is the first study to document long-term microbiome and skeletal responses to combined ocean acidification & warming in bryozoans in the wild. We reveal: ✅ Complex, species-specific strategies ⚠️ Signs of vulnerability under future ocean conditions

7/ What about long-term effects? We monitored Pentapora populations over 5 years: 📉 Bryozoan cover declined ☠️ Necrosis increased 🌡️ Warming & acidification together accelerated mortality

6/ But not all are good news... We also observed: 📉 Loss of key microbial genera ☠️Rise of opportunists & anaerobes These microbial shifts may signal early dysbiosis — an early warning of declining host health.

5/ 🦠 Microbial communities: We found species-specific core microbiomes, conserved across both pH conditions. This stability suggests potential acclimatization capacity in both species despite environmental stress.

4/ 🧱 Mineral & skeletal structure: The two species showed opposing strategies to low pH. 🦪 P. ottomuelleriana reduced Mg-calcite & zooid volume 🪸 M. truncata thickened its skeleton → Different energy trade-offs to maintain calcification under stress

3/ We focused on two species: 🦪 Pentapora ottomuelleriana (fast-growing, encrusting) 🪸 Myriapora truncata (slow-growing, erect) They naturally occur inside & outside a Mediterranean CO₂ vent. 🌋 We also used 3D micro-CT scans to visualize how their skeletons change.

2/ Why bryozoans? 🪸 They build reef-like structures 🌍 They're widespread + ecologically important 🦠 But largely understudied—especially their microbiomes! We studied them at a volcanic CO₂ vent & a control site in Ischia Island, a "time machine" for future oceans.

1/ Our new paper is out today in @commsbio.nature.com @natureportfolio.nature.com 🚨 🔗https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-08524-8 We studied how two Mediterranean bryozoan species respond to ocean acidification & warming using a natural underwater CO₂ vent as a climate change lab. 🌊🧫 🧵⬇️

Very excited about being part of such a great team dedicated to the assessment of #climatechange #seaacidification using our little #calcifying friends 🪸💜 the #bryozoans

🚨 Exciting news! Our national project MedAcidWarm has been funded by @AgEInves @CienciaGob 🎉 It's the next chapter after #MedCalRes, diving deeper into ocean warming, acidification & marine calcifiers. Stay tuned for updates! #microbiome #metabolomics #transcriptomics

La setmana que ve la @janiresv.bsky.social i la @bfiguerola.bsky.social participen en un taller d'acidificació oceànica al Casal "Científiques marines" de #planctondiving en el marc del projecte #HOLOCHANGE. @medrecover.bsky.social @ageinves.bsky.social @cienciagob.bsky.social #educacióambiental

This week Blanca took part in the Ant-ICON #SCAR workshop to present the new @soosocean.bsky.social @goa-on.bsky.social #Acidification hub. It was an interesting experience and a great opportunity to reconnect with past collaborators and meet new colleagues! #ScienceForPolicy #Antarctica

🧊 WEBINAR | Becas SCAR/COMNAP/IAATO 2025 📅 03 de julio | 🕚 11:00–12:30 (GMT) 📍 Google Meet (acceso abierto): gr.me-gr.com/PezoEoM3 David Velázquez, Blanca Figuerola, Luis R. Pertierra, Cristina Casero ℹ️ + Info convocatoria: scar.org/fellowships-... #Antártida #SCAR #Ciencia

La Conexión @PolarCSIC inicia su nueva andadura para impulsar la #investigaciónpolar. 📹al kick off meeting: shorturl.at/vvTP5 #PolarCSIC #ConexionesCSIC #colaboración #polar

Este jueves participamos en el Kick-off Conexión #PolarCSIC que se celebrará en la @minasenergiaupm. Se presentará la nueva Conexión, sus objetivos y líneas de trabajo, así como se debatirán los retos de la investigación polar actual.

Yesterday Blanca met with Emanuela, one of our collaborators, in Catania. Exciting new studies and publications are on the way. Stay tuned! And see you soon in Japan. 🪸 #bryozoans

We finished the sampling in Panarea for the #HOLOCHANGE project👌🪸 It was thanks to the great team 🙌 #Consolidacióninvestigadora @ageinves.bsky.social @cienciagob.bsky.social @medrecover.bsky.social

We were sampling bryozoans along a pH gradient in Posidonia and Cystoseira meadows in Panarea. We were very lucky with the weather although in some sites there were strong currents. #HOLOCHANGE @ageinves.bsky.social @cienciagob.bsky.social @medrecover.bsky.social

These days we were collecting samples in a pH gradient. On Monday we were diving in Bottaro crater in Panarea. The pH there is about 7.7. Amazing place. #HOLOCHANGE @ageinves.bsky.social @cienciagob.bsky.social @medrecover.bsky.social

Allà estarem!

Avui hem participat en un taller sobre els projectes Holochange i Cabalga dins el Congrés de Petits Oceanògrafs a l'ICM. Jovent molt atent i ben informat sobre la vida marina i els efectes de l’activitat humana en els oceans. @cienciagob.bsky.social @fbiodiversidad.bsky.social @ageinves.bsky.social

We have a logo for the Holochange project! Holochange explores how ocean warming & acidification affect invertebrate holobionts, especially bryozoans, via experiments in CO₂ vents & aquaria. Do you like the new design? Funded by @ageinves.bsky.social #consolidacióninvestigadora #ICMCSIC

First Leadership Team for the SO-OA Hub! The recently founded Southern Ocean - Ocean Acidification Hub (SO-OA Hub) welcomes their inaugrual leadership team: @pablotrucco.bsky.social , Andrés S. Rigual Hernández, Elizabeth Jones , & @bfiguerola.bsky.social Read more: buff.ly/9bFti4L