New Data on Rotifers of Peter the Great Bay,Sea of Japan

The first records of 11 species of rotifers from Peter the Great Bay (Sea of Japan) are reported. Of these, Synchaeta grimpei, Aspelta clydona, Encentrum algente, and E. graingeri are the first records for the Pacific Ocean. Synchaeta pacifica and S. posjetica described from Peter the Great Bay by Chaga (1984) are considered as nomen dubium.Original Russian Text Copyright ¢ 2005 by Biologiya Morya, Chernyshev.     

Effects of NaCl salinity on the population dynamics of freshwater zooplankton (rotifers and cladocerans)

Salinization of freshwater bodies due to anthropogenic activity is currently a very serious problem in Mexico. One of the consequences may be changes in the rotifer and cladoceran populations, both of which are generally abundant in freshwater bodies. Under laboratory conditions we evaluated the effect of different salt (sodium chloride) concentrations (0–4.5 g l⁻¹) on the population dynamics of ten freshwater zooplankton species (rotifers: Anuraeopsis fissa, Brachionus calyciflorus, B. havanaensis, B. patulus and B. rubens; cladocerans: Alona rectangula, Ceriodaphnia dubia, Daphnia pulex, Moina macrocopa and Simocephalus vetulus). All of the zooplankton species tested were adversely affected by 1.5–3.0 g l⁻¹ NaCl. In the range of salt concentrations tested, the population growth curves of B. patulus and B. rubens showed almost no lag phase and reached peak abundances within a week or two; A. fissa had a lag phase of about a week, while both B. calyciflorus and B. havanaensis started to increase in abundance immediately following the initiation of the experiments. Increased NaCl levels reduced the population abundances of A. fissa, B. calyciflorus and B. havanaensis at or beyond 1.5 g l⁻¹. NaCl at 1 g l⁻¹ had little effect on the population growth of cladocerans. M. macrocopa, which was more resistant to NaCl than the other cladoceran species, showed positive population growth even at 4.5 g l⁻¹. The rates of population increase (r, day⁻¹) were generally higher for rotifers than for cladocerans. Depending on the NaCl concentration, the r of rotifers ranged from +0.57 to −0.58 day⁻¹, while the r for cladocerans was lower (+0.34 to −0.22 day⁻¹).     

珠江广州河段轮虫的时空分布研究

2004年4月-2007年3月,对珠江广州河段轮虫群落结构的时空变化进行了三年的调查研究。调查期间,共发现轮虫56种。优势种为裂痕龟纹轮虫(Anuraeopsis fissa),微型多突轮虫(Proalides subtilis),西式三肢轮虫(Filinia novaezealandiae),角突臂尾轮虫(Brachionus angularis),尾突臂尾轮虫(Brachionus caudatus),暗小异尾轮虫(Trichocerca pusilla),蛭态目(Bdelloidea sp.)和萼花臂尾轮虫(Brachionus calyciflorus)。调查发现,珠江径流量对轮虫密度有重要影响。在丰水期,两个采样站点(分别为中大码头和黄埔码头)的轮虫密度变化不大,而在枯水期,位于下游的黄埔码头的轮虫密度显著低于上游的中大码头。轮虫的密度高峰出现在秋季(9月底至12月初)。中大码头轮虫的最高峰出现在2004年12月初,为5975ind./L;黄埔码头的轮虫高峰出现在2004年4月中旬,为5877ind.·L^-1。轮虫密度变化范围为4~5975 ind.·L^-1。中大码头轮虫密度的平均值为1627±233 ind.·L^-1;而黄埔码头的平均值为1051±147 ind.·L^-1。     

Ecology and conservation status of endemic freshwater crabs in Lake Tanganyika, Africa

Sedimentation resulting from riparian deforestation has a wide range of detrimental effects on aquatic biodiversity, but predicting the full consequences of such disturbances requires an understanding of the ecosystem’s key functional components. We investigated the ecology and response to sedimentation of the diverse, endemic freshwater crabs of Lake Tanganyika, which may occupy important positions in littoral foodwebs. Our surveys revealed crab distribution patterns to be patchy, and that crabs can be locally abundant (0–28 individuals m⁻²). Crab densities decreased with depth and the dry mass of crab assemblages ranged from 0.0 to 117.7 g m⁻². Comparisons among sites revealed significant effects of sedimentation on crab assemblage evenness, but provided no evidence that sedimentation has altered densities, incidence or species richness. The resilience of crabs to sedimentation might be related to their intraspecific dietary breadth. Stable isotope data (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) from crabs and their potential food resources indicated differences in trophic roles among endemic crab species. Overall, crabs occupy higher trophic positions than most other invertebrates, and they draw upon both benthic and planktonic energy pathways. The high biomass and top-predator status of some crab species suggests the potential for cascading effects on organisms lower in the food web.     

Contrasting contributions to inorganic nutrient recycling by the co-occurring jellyfishes, Catostylus mosaicus and Phyllorhiza punctata (Scyphozoa, Rhizostomeae)

The rhizostome jellyfishes, Catostylus mosaicus and Phyllorhiza punctata abound in estuaries in New South Wales, Australia. P. punctata contains symbiotic zooxanthellae but C. mosaicus contains few or no zooxanthellae. Our experiment measured the rates at which NH₃, PO₄ and NO_x were taken up or excreted by each species and in two controls: a “water only” control and a “mucus” control. Rates of uptake or excretion were measured as changes in the nutrient concentration of the water in the containers housing the animals over periods of 6 h. Experiments were repeated twice during the day and twice at night, under both ambient and enriched nutrient conditions. Under ambient nutrient conditions, the flux of NH₃ in the P. punctata treatment did not differ from the controls but under enriched conditions P. punctata excreted NH₃ during the night (49 μg kg⁻¹ WW (wet weight) h⁻¹) and took up NH₃ during the day (123 μg kg⁻¹ WW h⁻¹). In contrast, C. mosaicus excreted NH₃ at a rate of 1555 μg kg⁻¹ WW h⁻¹ during the day and 1004 μg kg⁻¹ WW h⁻¹ during the night under both enriched and ambient nutrient conditions. P. punctata neither took up nor excreted PO₄ but C. mosaicus excreted PO₄ at a faster rate during the day than night (173 μg kg⁻¹ WW h⁻¹ cf. 104 μg kg⁻¹ WW h⁻¹). Both C. mosaicus and P. punctata excreted NO_x and, although the rate of excretion for P. punctata varied between the two experiments conducted during the day, the rate of excretion was consistently greater than for C. mosaicus (52 and 80 μg kg⁻¹ WW h⁻¹ cf. 26 μg kg⁻¹ WW h⁻¹⁾. Tubs containing P. punctata had a much greater concentration of dissolved oxygen at the end of the experiments conducted during the day (152% saturation) than night (60% saturation) but tubs containing C. mosaicus had a greater dissolved oxygen concentration during the night (47% saturation) than day (39%). Overall, C. mosaicus appears to recycle more inorganic nutrients to estuaries than P. punctata. Calculations of the importance of inorganic nitrogen excreted by this species during times of peak biomass in Lake Illawarra suggest that it can meet about 8% of the phytoplankton primary production requirements of N and that its inorganic N excretion rate is about 11% of measured inorganic ammonia fluxes from sediments in that system. Since the biomass of C. mosaicus often exceeds several thousand tonnes, the contribution of inorganic nutrients by this species is substantial.     

湖北四湖泊营养类型与轮虫群落的关系

对湖北梁子湖水系不同营养类型(中营养型、富营养型)4个湖泊中轮虫的群落结构和物种多样性进行了周年研究,分析比较了不同营养类型湖泊的轮虫种类组成、分布、优势种组成、密度、生物量和多样性指数。结果表明：轮虫的种类数、物种多样性与营养水平呈负相关关系,轮虫密度大体上随营养水平提高而增大,富营养化引起轮虫空间异质性降低,受污染湖泊与非污染湖泊轮虫种类数、寡污性种类数及分布差异尤为明显。用多样性指数评价湖泊营养状态与TLIc方法一致。     

Temporal variations and pond age effect on plankton communities in semi-intensive freshwater marron (Cherax cainii,Austin and Ryan, 2002) earthen aquaculture ponds in Western Australia

The abundance and diversity of the plankton community represents the health of the aquatic ecosystem, and plays an important role in the growth of cultured animals under aquaculture conditions. The temporal variations of plankton abundance, taxonomic composition, diversity, evenness and species richness were studied in three old and three new semi-intensive marron (Cherax cainii, Austin and Ryan, 2002) ponds. Water parameters such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, TAN, nitrite, nitrate and reactive phosphate were recorded, and plankton samples were collected every two months, for one year of juvenile production cycle. A total of twenty-six phytoplankton and seven zooplankton genera were recorded. Chlorophyceae was the dominant class of phytoplankton throughout the year, followed by Trebouxiophyceae. Rotifera comprised 49.8% of the total zooplankton community (individuals L^?1), the largest proportion of any group. Temporal variations impacted the plankton abundance and community structure, and plankton abundance were more abundant during summer. The pond age did not influence the phytoplankton abundance, whereas zooplankton abundance was higher in older ponds.     

Contributions to the knowledge of African rotifers: Rotifers from Mauritania (W.-Africa)

The number of Rotifer taxa known from Mauritania, is raised from 8 to 90. 61% of these are cosmopolitan, 1 is temperate — boreal, 18% are thermophilic and 20% are tropicopolitan. Most of them are widely distributed in Africa, but some species have limited distributions. The presence of Keratella testudo and Wolga spinifera is remarkable and is probably related to the unusual climatic conditions in the SW Sahara. One phenotype or forma is new to science.     

A comparison of the trophic transfer of fatty acids in freshwater plankton by cladocerans and calanoid copepods

1. Analyses of zooplankton fatty acid (FA) composition in laboratory experiments and samples collected from lakes in New Zealand spanning a wide gradient of productivity were used to assess the extent to which FAs might infer their diet. We used the cladocerans, Daphnia and Ceriodaphnia, and the calanoid copepod, Boeckella, as test organisms, and monocultures of cryptophytes, chlorophytes and cyanobacteria as food. Based on reproductive success, cryptophytes were the highest food quality, chlorophytes were intermediate and cyanobacteria the poorest. 2. Several FA groups were highly correlated between zooplankton and their diets. They were monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), and ω3 and ω6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for cladocerans, and saturated fatty acids (SAFAs) and ω3 PUFAs for copepods. Several FAs varied significantly less in the zooplankton than in their monoculture diets, e.g. MUFAs in Daphnia, and ω3 and ω6 PUFAs in Ceriodaphnia, despite clear dietary dependency for these FAs. 3. Zooplankton collected from lakes in New Zealand had more eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (Daphnia), more highly unsaturated ω3 and ω6 FAs (C₂₀, C₂₂; Daphnia, Ceriodaphnia, Boeckella) and less ω3 C₁₈ PUFAs (Daphnia, Ceriodaphnia, Boeckella) and ω6 C₁₈ PUFAs (Daphnia, Ceriodaphnia) than measured in the same species reared on phytoplankton in the laboratory. 4. Analyses of FA composition of seston and freshwater zooplankton globally showed that, in general, zooplankton had a significantly higher proportion of arachidonic acid and EPA than seston, and copepods also had a higher percentage of docosahexaenoic acid than seston. 5. These results suggest that zooplankton selectively incorporate the most physiologically important FAs. This could be a consequence of preferential assimilation, selective feeding on more nutritious cells or locating and feeding within higher food quality food patches.     

酸性水对淡水螺类存活,生长与繁殖的影响

研究了酸性水对椭圆萝卜螺和铜锈环棱螺等淡水螺类存活、生长及繁殖的影响。结果表明,椭圆萝卜螺对低pH值的耐受能力,96小时LC_(50)值为pH3.96。pH值低于5.0时,淡水肺螺类产的卵袋数量较少,卵孵化时间较长,幼螺生长较缓慢。铜锈环棱螺仔螺在低pH(对照组)下生长到第35和45天时,其体长生长率分别为1.21和1.07％,而pH5.0组则仅有0.18和0.29％。pH5.5对淡水肺螺类无明显影响,pH3.0则不能生存。     

Early responses of plankton and turbidity to biomanipulation in a shallow prairie lake

We evaluated the effect of a fish removal from a shallow, turbid, eutrophic lake. By late May (following an October fish removal), the cladoceran community shifted from small-bodiedBosmina andChydorus (less than 100 l⁻¹) to largerDaphnia (over 100 l⁻¹). During the periods of peak daphnid abundance (late May–June) chlorophyll-a concentrations and edible diatoms were reduced and water transparency improved dramatically. Total phosphorus was not significantly lowered during this period. Although this clear-water phase was short-lived (May, June and early July), it corresponded to the critical period of plant growth and allowed dramatic increases in submergent macrophytes.     

Satellite tracking of the World's largest bony fish, the ocean sunfish (Mola mola L.) in the North East Atlantic

Satellite-linked archival transmitters were used to record the movements of three ocean sunfish (Mola mola) in the North East Atlantic. Patterns of depth use and temperature experienced by individual fish were integrated into 4-hour intervals throughout the tracking period and relayed via the Argos system. Data were recorded for 42, 90 and 54 days respectively from the three fish. The first two were tagged off southern Portugal at the end of February 2007 and travelled principally northward, while the third fish was tagged off west Ireland in August 2007 and travelled southward. These patterns are consistent with seasonal migration of ocean sunfish to high latitudes and their subsequent return south. Maximum depths recorded by the three fish were 432 m, 472 m and 320 m respectively. All three individuals showed a diel pattern in depth use, occurring deeper during the day and shallower at night, a pattern consistent with sunfish tracking normally vertically migrating prey. Sunfish sometimes remained continuously at deeper (> 200 m) depths during the day, but at other times they showed extensive movement through the water column typically travelling between their maximum depth and the surface within each 4-h period. The overall pattern to emerge was that ocean sunfish travel extensively in both horizontal and vertical dimensions, presumably in search of their patchily-distributed jellyfish prey.     

Limnological characteristics of the freshwater ecosystems of Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, in maritime Antarctica

A limnological survey of 15 lakes and 6 streams was carried out on Byers Peninsula (Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) during austral summer 2001–2002. Most of the surface waters had low conductivities (20–105 μS cm⁻¹) and nutrients (total phosphorus 0.01–0.24 μM), but some coastal lakes were enriched by nutrient inputs from seal colonies and marine inputs. Plankton communities in the lakes contained picocyanobacteria (10²–10⁴ cells ml⁻¹), diatoms, chrysophytes and chlorophytes, and a large fraction of the total biomass was bacterioplankton. Zooplankton communities were dominated by Boeckella poppei and Branchinecta gainii; the benthic cladoceran Macrothrix ciliata was also recorded, for the first time in Antarctica. The chironomids Belgica antarctica and Parochlus steinenii, and the oligochaete Lumbricillus sp., occurred in stream and lake benthos. The phytobenthos included cyanobacterial mats, epilithic diatoms and the aquatic moss Drepanocladus longifolius. These observations underscore the limnological richness of this seasonally ice-free region in maritime Antarctica and its value as a long-term reference site for monitoring environmental change.     

Concordance of Species Composition Patterns among Microcrustaceans,Rotifers and Testate Amoebae in a Shallow Pond

In this study, spatial concordance among microcrustaceans, rotifers and testate amoebae was examined in a small pond in Central Brazil. The main goal was to test how consistently different taxonomic groups ordinate 9 sites distributed along the pond's main axis. Microcrustaceans were more abundant during the dry season, characterized by waters with high transparency and dissolved oxygen concentration. An increase in species richness and densities of rotifers and testate amoebae was detected during rainy season, with low values of Secchi disk and concentrations of dissolved oxygen. However, the ordination patterns generated by these groups were different. Concordant patterns across sites were found only between cladocerans and copepods. These results suggest that great care should be taken when ordination patterns based on some taxonomic groups are extrapolated to other groups for detecting environmental changes. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Latitudinal, habitat and substrate distribution patterns of freshwater ascomycetes in the Florida Peninsula

Freshwater ascomycetes are important decomposers of dead woody and herbaceous debris in aquatic habitats. Despite evidence of their ecological importance, latitudinal, habitat and substrate distributional patterns of freshwater ascomycetes are poorly understood. In this study, we examined the latitudinal and habitat distributional patterns, and substrate recurrences of freshwater ascomycetes by collecting dead submerged woody and herbaceous debris in lentic and lotic habitats at five selected sites along a north-central-south, temperate–subtropical latitudinal ecotone in Florida. One hundred and thirty-two fungal taxa were collected during the study. Seventy-four were meiosporic and 56 were mitosporic ascomycetes, while two species were basidiomycetes. Canonical analyses of principal coordinates (CAP) and Sørenson’s similarity index of species based on presence/absence data revealed a high turnover in species composition between the northern and southern sites, indicating a change in species composition along the temperate–subtropical latitudinal ecotone of the Florida Peninsula. Results from the ordination analysis indicated that freshwater ascomycete community composition is not significantly different between lentic and lotic habitats in Florida. The geographically broadly distributed species and species commonly found in Florida occurred in both habitats, whereas a number of new or rare species occurred in either lentic or lotic habitats, but not both. The same freshwater ascomycete species did not necessarily occur on both woody and herbaceous debris; of the 132 taxa collected, 100 were reported only on woody debris; 14 species occurred exclusively on herbaceous debris; and 18 species were found on both woody and herbaceous debris in lentic or lotic habitats. Implications of data from this study to the conservation and knowledge of biodiversity for freshwater ascomycetes is discussed.     

Dynamics of a subtropical plankton community,with emphasis on the copepod Mesocyclops edax

The zooplankton community of a subtropical, eutrophic lake was studied over an annual cycle. Mesocyclops edax, the numerically dominant crustacean, exhibited a stationary age distribution for most of the year (July–March). Per capita growth rates (r) of M. edax approximated zero throughout most of the study, indicating a close correspondence between birth and death rates. High death rates in the spring and summer probably were due to intense predation, since physiological mortality was low and predators were abundant. Multiple regression analyses indicated that much of the variation in M. edax birth rates could be explained by abundance of their animal prey. Other plankton in this lake exhibited considerable seasonality, but not to the marked degree characteristic of temperate populations. The number of zooplankton species was low and cladocerans were scarce, as is characteristic of many eutrophic Florida Lakes.     

Seasonal patterns of mercury species in water and plankton from softwater lakes in Northeastern Minnesota

Twelve softwater lakes in NE Minnesota were sampled in spring, summer, and fall of 1992 and 1993 for labile (unextracted) methyl-Hg, total (extracted) methyl-Hg, and total Hg in lake water and net plankton (300 µm). The lakes are small (5.6–56 ha), low productivity, headwater drainage or seepage lakes. They are acid-sensitive (ANC 200 µeq/L) but not low pH lakes (average pH 6.6). The lakes ranged in color from 8.5 to 70 PCU. Statistical analysis of the water chemistry variables and mercury species support the conclusion that these were a homogeneous set of lakes; therefore, seasonality of mercury forms was analyzed on combined (mean) data from the 12 lakes. Methyl-Hg in water declined throughout the growing season. Hg_T also declined sharply from spring to summer but increased again in the fall. In contrast to the methyl-Hg and Hg in water, concentrations in plankton were at the lowest levels in spring and rose to higher levels in summer. The mass of mercury in plankton increased from spring to fall, as did the methyl-Hg fraction, which increased from 20% of Hg_T in spring to 52% in autumn. Bioaccumulation factors (BAF) for methyl-Hg in net plankton increased over the growing season. Overall, log BAF for Hg_T in net plankton (wet wt.) was 4.45. Log BAF for methyl-Hg in plankton was 4.90 to 5.43 depending on the analytical form of methyl-Hg in water (labile or total). Seasonal patterns of methyl-Hg and Hg_T did not covary in water, but did covary in plankton. These results support the conclusion that measurement of Hg in water is not adequate in itself to determine the amount of bioavailable Hg (i.e., methyl-Hg) in a lake. Labile (unextracted) methyl-Hg could be a useful measurement of bioavailable Hg. Labile methyl-Hg exhibits the same seasonal patterns as total methyl-Hg, but does not require the extraction steps necessary for measuring total methyl-Hg.     

Metagenomic analysis of viral community in the Yangtze River expands known eukaryotic and prokaryotic virus diversity in freshwater

Viruses in aquatic ecosystems are characterized by extraordinary abundance and diversity. Thus far, there have been limited studies focused on viral communities in river water systems. Here, we investigated the virome of the Yangtze River Delta using viral metagenomic analysis. The compositions of viral communities from six sampling sites were analyzed and compared. By using library construction and next generation sequencing, contigs and singlet reads similar to viral sequences were classified into 17 viral families, including nine dsDNA viral families, four ssDNA viral families and four RNA viral families. Statistical analysis using Friedman test suggested that there was no significant difference among the six sampling sites (P > 0.05). The viromes in this study were all dominated by the order Caudovirales, and a group of Freshwater phage uvFW species were particularly prevalent among all the samples. The virome from Nanjing presented a unique pattern of viral community composition with a relatively high abundance of family Parvoviridae. Phylogenetic analyses based on virus hallmark genes showed that the Caudovirales order and CRESS-DNA viruses presented high genetic diversity, while viruses in the Microviridae and Parvoviridae families and the Riboviria realm were relatively conservative. Our study provides the first insight into viral community composition in large river ecosystem, revealing the diversity and stability of river water virome, contributing to the proper utilization of freshwater resource.     

Rotifers from a humic coastal lagoon of Rio de Janeiro State,Brazil

Abstract

A four-year study of species composition of the zooplankton community was conducted at Lagoa Comprida, a Brazilian coastal lagoon. Forty-two species of rotifers were recorded and illustrated. All rotifer species, except Lecane boettgeri Koste, 1986 and Macrochaetus kostei, José de Paggi, Branco &; Kozlowsky-Suzuki, 2000 José de Paggi, S, Branco, C WC and Kozlowsky-Suzuki, B. 2000. A new species of Macrochaetus (Rotifera, Trichotriidae) in a coastal lagoon of Rio de Janeiro State (Brazil). Stud Neotrop Fauna &; Environm, 35: 157–160. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], have already been found in other areas of Brazil. Some factors, which probably favored the dominant richness and density of rotifers in the zooplankton community, are discussed.     

The effect of different fish communities on the cladoceran plankton assemblages of the Kis-Balaton Reservoir,Hungary

In 1995 the authors studied the effect of differentfish communities on the structure of the cladoceranplankton in a shallow hypertrophic lake. After a fishkill of 1991, different fish communities developedin the Kazetta and the outer area of the Kis-Balatonreservoir. In the outer area of the reservoir, thedensities of plankton feeding fish species wereconsiderably higher than in the Kazetta. Thesedifferences induced changes in the structure anddynamics of the cladoceran plankton. The biomass ofsmall-bodied cladocerans (mainly Bosmina longispina)was higher and the biomass of the large-bodiedcladocerans (D. hyalina, D. magna) was lower in thewestern and eastern part of Kis-Balaton reservoir thanin the Kazetta. A peak in cladoceran biomass in theKis-Balaton reservoir was observed during the summer,close or during a bloom of filamentous cyanobacteria,whereas in the Kazetta a peak was observed during thespring, before the bloom of cyanobacteria. The adultfemales of D. hyalina were larger and produced moreeggs in the Kazetta than in the outer area of thereservoir.