Introduction: Reconsidering Agency—Feminist Anthropologies in Asia

The five articles in this Special Issue are introduced by contextualising them broadly within feminist poststructuralist, postcolonial and anthropological approaches. After a brief exploration of methodologies that link ethnography with poetics and historical analysis, a general theoretical critique of modern Western forms of agency, especially liberal notions of autonomous rational choice, is offered. Western philosophy and theory, argues the author, have implications well beyond social formations in the West and she outlines their impacts on the agency of women in Asian societies. While cautioning against the pitfalls of both under and overvaluing agency, the author then offers a reconsideration of its analytical utility. Agency needs to address the gaps between everyday reflection and practices and hegemonic discourses or symbolic structures. In this gap, where women who fall outside the parameters of dominant notions of womanhood are considered ‘unstable’, both resistance and constraint are possible. Dominant discourses certainly have durable effects but their tools and symbols have been reinscribed to produce agency in hybrid forms. Agency is thus thought to arise from within existing societal discourses and symbolic structures rather than in opposition to them. In this process multiple positionings for women, all of which are performative, are created. These reconsiderations of agency are mirrored in the articles which follow. Agency in its modern forms is deemed inadequate by these authors to explain the agency of women in Asia. Rather than proposing a hierarchy of agency in its significant and insignificant forms, the authors in this Issue provide much needed accounts of socially and culturally situated agency, significant in both their breadth and depth.     

Synonymy of two species of the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Platycephalus</Emphasis> and validity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Platycephalus westraliae</Emphasis> (Teleostei: Platycephalidae)

The type specimens of platycephalid Platycephalus endrachtensis Quoy and Gaimard 1825 are regarded as being conspecific with Platycephalus arenarius Ramsay and Ogilby 1886, so the latter becomes a junior synonym. This species is characterized as having a caudal fin with four or more longitudinal dark bands and lacking a yellow blotch. It is also found that Platycephalus westraliae (Whitley 1938), which had been considered to be a junior synonym of Platycephalus bassensis Cuvier 1829, is a valid species. Specimens that recently had been mistakenly identified as “P. endrachtensis,” having the caudal fin with three or four longitudinal dark bands and a yellow blotch on the upper lobe, should be referred to P. westraliae.     

Competing with oneself: introducing self-interaction in a model of competitive learning

A competitive learning model was introduced in Mehta and Luck (Phys Rev E 60, 5:5218–5230, 1999), in which the learning is outcome-related. Every individual chooses between a pair of existing strategies or types, guided by a combination of two factors: tendency to conform to the local majority, and a preference for the type with higher perceived success among its neighbors, based on their relative outcomes. Here, an extension of the interfacial model of Mehta and Luck (Phys Rev E 60, 5:5218–5230, 1999) is proposed, in which individuals additionally take into account their own outcomes in arriving at their outcome-based choices. Three possible update rules for handling bulk sites are considered. The corresponding phase diagrams, obtained at coexistence, show systematic departures from the original interfacial model. Possible relationships of these variants with the cooperative model of Mehta and Luck (Phys Rev E 60, 5:5218–5230, 1999) are also touched upon.     

Further characterization of an aversive learning task in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila melanogaster</Emphasis>: intensity of the stimulus,relearning, and use of <Emphasis Type="Italic">rutabaga</Emphasis> mutants

Various learning tasks have been described in Drosophila melanogaster, flies being either tested in groups or at the individual level. Le Bourg and Buecher (Anim Learn Behav 33:330–341, 2002) have designed a task at the individual level: photopositive flies crossing a T-maze learn to prefer the dark exit when the lighted one is associated with the presence of aversive stimuli (humidity and quinine). Previous studies have reported various results (e.g. no effect of age) and the present article further characterizes this task by studying the possible effects of: (1) the intensity of the stimuli (quantity of water or concentration of quinine), (2) various delays between two learning sessions on the learning score at the second session, (3) the rutabaga learning mutation on the learning score. More concentrated quinine solutions increased learning scores but the quantity of water had no effect. Learning scores at the second session were higher with shorter delays between the two learning sessions and retrograde amnesia could decrease this memory score. rutabaga mutants showed learning deficits as in experiments testing groups of flies. This learning task could particularly be used to verify whether learning mutants isolated after experiments testing flies in groups display similar deficits when tested at the individual level.     

A revision of the Haploporinae Nicoll, 1914 (Digenea: Haploporidae) from mullets (Mugilidae): <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccocoelium</Emphasis> Looss, 1902

Saccocoelium Looss, 1902 is revised and a key to its recognised species is presented. S. obesum Looss, 1902 (type-species) and S. tensum Looss, 1902 are redescribed based on material from Liza spp. (Pisces: Mugilidae) in Spanish Mediterranean and, in the case of the former, Bulgarian Black Sea waters. Two new species, S. cephali n. sp. and S. currani n. sp., are described from Mugil cephalus L. in Spanish Mediterranean waters. S. gohari Ramadan, Saoud, Ashour & Mansour, 1989b is recognised and commented upon. Lecithobotrys helmymohamedi Ramadan, Saoud, Ashour & Mansour, 1989a, S. portsaidensis El-Shahawi, El-Gindy, Imam & Al-Bassel, 1992, S. saoudi El-Shahawi, El-Gindy, Imam & Al-Bassel, 1992, Neosaccocoelium aegyptiacus El-Shahawi, El-Gindy, Imam & Al-Bassel, 1992 are considered to be synonyms of S. tensum and Neosaccocoelium El-Shahawi, El-Gindy, Imam & Al-Bassel, 1992 a synonym of Saccocoelium. S. obesum, S. tensum and the two new species are compared morphometrically and distinguished by univariate and multivariate analyses. Lecithobotrys mugilis Rekharani & Madhavi, 1985 is transferred to Unisaccus Martin, 1973 as U. mugilis (Rekharani & Madhavi, 1985) n. comb., and Lecithobotrys sprenti Martin, 1973 [=  Saccocoelium sprenti (Martin, 1973) Overstreet & Curran, 2005] is transferred to Unisaccus as U. sprenti (Martin, 1973) n. comb. S. megasacculum Liu, Wang, Peng, Yu & Yang, 2004 is transferred to Elliptobursa Wu, Lu & Zhu, 1996 as E. megasacculum (Liu, Wang, Peng, Yu & Yang, 2004) n. comb. S. tripathi Dutta, 1995 (syn. Saccocoelium tripathi Datta & Manna, 1998) is considered to be a species inquirenda.

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Validity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Scorpaena jacksoniensis</Emphasis> and a redescription of <Emphasis Type="Italic">S. cardinalis</Emphasis>, a senior synonym of <Emphasis Type="Italic">S. cookii</Emphasis> (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae)

The Scorpaena cardinalis complex, including S. cardinalis, S. jacksoniensis and S. orgila, is defined. The genus Ruboralga (type species: S. jacksoniensis) is regarded as a junior synonym of Scorpaena. Scorpaena jacksoniensis Steindachner 1866, previously treated as a junior synonym of Scorpaena cardinalis Solander and Richardson 1842, is regarded here as a valid species. Scorpaena cookii Günther 1874, previously treated as a valid species, is regarded here as a junior synonym of S. cardinalis. Thus, recent recognition of the two Australasian scorpionfishes, i.e., S. cardinalis and S. cookii, are re-identified in this study as S. jacksoniensis and S. cardinalis, respectively. Scorpaena plebeia Solander 1842 is regarded as a junior synonym of S. cardinalis. Scorpaena jacksoniensis is distributed along the east coast of Australia from southern Queensland to eastern Victoria, whereas S. cardinalis occurs around northern New Zealand, the Kermadec Islands and offshore islands of the Tasman Sea. A neotype is designated for S. cardinalis. Morphological changes with growth in the two species are described in detail.     

Chromosome numbers for three species of medicinal leeches (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Hirudo</Emphasis> spp.)

Karyological preparations were made from the testisacs of three medicinal leech species Hirudo medicinalis Linnaeus, 1758, H. verbana Carena, 1820 and H. orientalis Utevsky & Trontelj, 2005 . The samples originated from different populations in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The chromosome numbers were determined both from mitotic and meiotic stages of spermatogenesis using the propionic haematoxylin staining technique. All three species were found to have different haploid chromosome numbers: H. medicinalis 14, H. verbana 13 and H. orientalis 12, thus corroborating the validity of these taxa. The chromosomes can be classified as meta-, submetacentric and acrocentric. The chromosome numbers obtained are similar to that of the related species Haemopis sanguisuga (Linnaeus, 1758), which has 13 pairs.     

Three new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anthocephalum</Emphasis> Linton, 1890 (Cestoda: Tetraphyllidea) from dasyatid stingrays of the Gulf of California

Three new species of Anthocephalum Linton, 1890 are described from dasyatid stingrays collected in the Gulf of California. Anthocephalum michaeli n. sp. is described from Dasyatis longus (Garman). This species most closely resembles A. alicae Ruhnke, 1994, but differs from this species in proglottid number. A. lukei n. sp. is also described from D. longus. This new species is most similar to A. cairae Ruhnke, 1994, but differs from that species in marginal loculi number and number of proglottids. The third new species, A. currani n. sp., is described from D. brevis (Garman). This species is most similar to A. centrurum (Southwell, 1925) Ruhnke, 1994, but differs from that species in marginal loculi number, number of testes and ovarian length. Phyllobothrium kingae Schmidt, 1978 is also consistent in morphology with species of Anthocephalum and is transferred to this genus, forming the new combination Anthocephalum kingae n. comb. This species most closely resembles A. michaeli n. sp., but differs in testicular shape. This brings the total number of species of Anthocephalum to nine. The transfer of the species Phyllobothrium arctowskii Wojciechowska, 1991, P. georgiense Wojciechowska, 1991, P. rakusai Wojciechowska, 1991 and P. siedleckii Wojciechowska, 1991 to Anthocephalum is not warranted, as these four species lack a posteriorly recurved cirrus-sac and a sinuous vagina, and have vitelline follicles uninterrupted by the ovary. Of the nine known species, all are parasitic in batoid fishes, and six are found in species of Dasyatis Garman. The phylogenetic status of Anthocephalum species in relationship to Rhinebothroides Mayes, Brooks & Thorson, 1981, Pararhineothroides Zamparo, Brooks & Barriga, 1999 and other rhinebothriin taxa is discussed.     

The effect of carbon dioxide enrichment on apparent stem respiration from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus taeda</Emphasis> L. is confounded by high levels of soil carbon dioxide

Huey and Slatkin’s (Q Rev Biol 51:363–384, 1976) cost–benefit model of lizard thermoregulation predicts variation in thermoregulatory strategies (from active thermoregulation to thermoconformity) with respect to the costs and benefits of the thermoregulatory behaviour and the thermal quality of the environment. Although this framework has been widely employed in correlative field studies, experimental tests aiming to evaluate the model are scarce. We conducted laboratory experiments to see whether the common lizard Zootoca vivipara, an active and effective thermoregulator in the field, can alter its thermoregulatory behaviour in response to differences in perceived predation risk and food supply in a constant thermal environment. Predation risk and food supply were represented by chemical cues of a sympatric snake predator and the lizards’ food in the laboratory, respectively. We also compared males and postpartum females, which have different preferred or “target” body temperatures. Both sexes thermoregulated actively in all treatments. We detected sex-specific differences in the way lizards adjusted their accuracy of thermoregulation to the treatments: males were less accurate in the predation treatment, while no such effects were detected in females. Neither sex reacted to the food treatment. With regard to the two main types of thermoregulatory behaviour (activity and microhabitat selection), the treatments had no significant effects. However, postpartum females were more active than males in all treatments. Our results further stress that increasing physiological performance by active thermoregulation has high priority in lizard behaviour, but also shows that lizards can indeed shift their accuracy of thermoregulation in response to costs with possible immediate negative fitness effects (i.e. predation-caused mortality).     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Democricetodon</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Megacricetodon</Emphasis> (Mammalia,Cricetidae) from the Miocene of Sandelzhausen,Southern Germany

The cricetid species Democricetodon gracilis (Fahlbusch, 1964), Democricetodon mutilus (Fahlbusch, 1964), Megacricetodon bavaricus (Fahlbusch, 1964), and Megacricetodon minor (Lartet, 1851) from Sandelzhausen (Early/Middle Miocene boundary, MN5, Southern Germany) are represented by more than 2,000 molars providing substantial data on the variability in sizes and on variation in morphologies. Temporal and spatial distributions of these species indicate that they are probably immigrants in SE Germany, originating from south-eastern or more southern areas. Except for M. minor, whose origin is not clear and could be regarded as an immigrant from more eastern areas. Using the length of the mesoloph in the second upper molars as an indicator of habitat, D. gracilis and M. minor had a preference for a humid habitat, D. mutilus and M. bavaricus a preference for drier habitats.      

The rat Ruby (<Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis>) locus is <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rab38</Emphasis>: identical mutations in Fawn-hooded and Tester-Moriyama rats derived from an ancestral Long Evans rat sub-strain

Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) is a group of rare, recessive disorders in which oculocutaneous albinism, progressive pulmonary fibrosis, bleeding diathesis, and other abnormalities result from defective biogenesis of multiple cytoplasmic organelles. Seven different HPS genes are known in humans; in mouse, at least 16 loci are associated with HPS-like mutant phenotypes. In the rat, only two HPS models are known, Fawn-hooded (FH) and Tester Moriyama (TM), non-complementing strains in which HPS-like hypopigmentation and platelet storage pool deficiency result from a mutation of the Ruby (red eyed dilution; R) locus on Chromosome (Chr) 1. We have identified the R locus as the Rab38 gene, establishing that rat R is homologous to mouse chocolate (cht). Further, we show that FH and TM rats have identical Rab38 Met1Ile mutations, occurring on an identical Chr 1 marker allele haplotype, indicating that these two strains derive from a common ancestor. This ancestor appears to have been a sub-strain of the outbred Long Evans (LE) strain, and several modern LE sub-strains carry the Rab38 Met1Ile R mutation on the same Chr 1 marker haplotype. These findings have significant implications for the many past and ongoing studies that involve the FH and LE-derivative rat strains. Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS; MIM 203300) is a group of autosomal recessive diseases in which oculocutaneous albinism (OCA), progressive and fatal pulmonary fibrosis, and bleeding diathesis due to platelet storage pool deficiency result from defects in the biogenesis of specific cytoplasmic organelles and granules: melanosomes, lysosomes, and platelet dense granules (reviewed in Spritz 1999, 2000; Spritz et al. 2003). In humans, seven different HPS genes are known (Oh et al. 1996; DellAngelica et al. 1999; Anikster et al. 2001; Suzuki et al. 2002; Li et al. 2003; Zhang et al. 2003). In the mouse, at least 16 loci associated with HPS-like mutant phenotypes are known, seven of which are homologous to the human HPS loci (Swank et al. 1998; Bennett and Lamoreux 2003). The nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper have been submitted to GenBank and have been assigned the accession number AY425759. (Naoki Oiso) Present address: Department of Dermatology, Saiseikai Tondabayashi Hospital, Tondabayashi, Osaka 584-0082, Japan.     

Correcting Misperceptions about the History of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Castanea</Emphasis> Stands in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Satoyama</Emphasis> in Japan

Correcting Misperceptions about the History of Castanea Stands in Satoyama in Japan. Mistaken ideas about the naturalness of past and present landscapes are widespread in diverse cultures and in the scientific literature, and many of these ideas are only now being seriously challenged by current research (e.g., Erickson 2006; Fairhead and Leach 1996; Hall 1998; Ramankutty and Foley 1999; Willis et al. 2004). For example, the chestnut, Castanea crenata, has long been an important tree in Japanese culture, which has been cultivated, among other things, for its much loved edible nut and its valuable timber. Today, the widely-held view in Japan, which also appears in the scholarly and popular literature, is that in the past Castanea stands covered a large area throughout Japan, and these stands only disappeared because of economic development, especially in association with railway construction. Otaru, Hokkaido, is one of the places where people believe Castanea stands covered a large area and were deforested only recently. Local people in Otaru believe that the stand in Temiya Park has existed since the Jomon Period. For a more accurate historical perspective on Japanese forestation, we have performed pollen analysis to clarify the timing of the introduction of the Castanea tree into Otaru region and to reveal the history of this specific Castanea stand in Temiya Park. The results indicate that Castanea was first found in Otaru region 7100 B.P., but that it was not cultivated extensively until recently. Based on our study, and on data from this area dating to the late 19th century, we concluded instead that the Castanea stand we studied in Temiya Park, Otaru, was established after the mid-20th century. We believe the results of this study are applicable to Castanea stands in other parts of Japan as well.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Neolebouria blatta</Emphasis> n. sp. (Digenea: Opecoelidae) from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pristipomoides argyrogrammicus</Emphasis> (Valenciennes) and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Etelis carbunculus</Emphasis> Cuvier (Perciformes: Lutjanidae) off New Caledonia

Neolebouria blatta n. sp. is described from Pristipomoides argyrogrammicus (Valenciennes) and Etelis carbunculus Cuvier in waters off New Caledonia. It differs from all other species of Neolebouria Gibson, 1976 but one, N. georgenascimentoi Bray, 2002, in the extension of the cirrus-sac to the ovary or nearly so. It differs from N. georgenascimentoi in its continuous, rather than interrupted, vitelline distribution. N. blatta belongs to a small group of similar Neolebouria species reported in deep-water lutjanids, which includes N. longisacculus (Yamaguti, 1970) n. comb., N. rooseveltiae (Yamaguti, 1970) n. comb. and N. ulaula (Yamaguti, 1970).     

Validity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Scolecenchelys aoki</Emphasis>, with a redescription of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Scolecenchelys gymnota</Emphasis> (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae)

The myrophine ophichthid fishes (worm eels) Muraenichthys aoki Jordan and Snyder 1901 and Muraenichthys gymnotus Bleeker 1857 are redescribed as valid species of Scolecenchelys based on the types and non-type specimens collected from the Indo-Pacific. Because both species are similar to each other in having acute snouts, the posterior margin of the eye before the rictus, and their dorsal-fin origins located slightly posterior to a vertical line through the anus, Scolecenchelys aoki has usually been regarded as a junior synonym of Scolecenchelys gymnota. However, S. aoki is clearly distinguishable from S. gymnota by having a median groove on the ventral side of snout (absent in S. gymnota), uniserial maxillary teeth in smaller specimens (<200 mm TL; vs. biserial), three infraorbital sensory pores at postorbital area (vs. two), and more numerous vertebrae (56–65 in predorsal vs. 51–57; 53–58 in preanal vs. 47–52). Scolecenchelys aoki is restricted to Japanese waters and regarded as a senior synonym of Muraenichthys borealis Machida and Shiogaki 1990. Scolecenchelys gymnota is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific, from South Africa and the Red Sea to Samoa, north to Okinawa, Japan. Sphagebranchus huysmani Weber 1913 and Muraenichthys fowleri Schultz 1943 are synonymized under S. gymnota.     

Morphological and molecular analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ornithonyssus</Emphasis> spp. (Acari: Macronyssidae) from small terrestrial mammals in Brazil

Based on chaetotaxy of the dorsal shield, the taxonomic status of many species of Ornithonyssus has been considered invalid, resulting in the synonymy of all Brazilian Ornithonyssus from small terrestrial wild mammals into one of the following four species: Ornithonyssus bacoti (Hirst, 1913), Ornithonyssus matogrosso (Fonseca, 1954), Ornithonyssus pereirai (Fonseca, 1935) or Ornithonyssus wernecki (Fonseca, 1935). Despite the revision of this genus in 1980, including all known species worldwide, the knowledge of Ornithonyssus in Brazil has not progressed for more than 40 years. Considering the potential importance of these haematophagous mites in transmitting rickettsial disease agents to animals and humans, we have revised Ornithonyssus species collected from small mammals in Brazil by means of morphological and molecular studies. Types and other material deposited in the Acari Collection of the Instituto Butantan (IBSP) were examined in addition to recently collected specimens. Morphological and genetic analysis of the 16S rDNA mitochondrial gene revealed that small terrestrial mammals in Brazil are parasitized by six species of Ornithonyssus mites: Ornithonyssus brasiliensis (Fonseca, 1939), O. matogrosso, O. monteiroi (Fonseca, 1941), O. pereirai, O. vitzthumi (Fonseca, 1941), and O. wernecki. An illustrated key to females of the valid Brazilian species of Ornithonyssus is included, based on optical and scanning electron microscopy.     

Mapping of <Emphasis Type="Italic">taiep</Emphasis> rat phenotype to rat Chromosome 9

The taiep mutant rat was first described in a colony of Sprague-Dawley rats at the University of Puebla in 1989, with an autosomal recessive inherited pattern. taiep is an acronym for the progressive neurologic deficits that the rat develops, i.e., t = trembling (3–4 weeks), a = ataxia (at 4 months), i = immobility (5–6 months), e = epilepsy (5–6 months), and p = paresis (7 months onwards). Thus, mutant rats are first identified by a tremor at 3–4 weeks of age that is followed by a progressive neurological worsening (Holmgren et al. 1989; Lunn et al. 1997). The cause of the neurological symptoms is an early failure of normal myelination of the central nervous system (CNS) followed by progressive demyelination of certain CNS tracts (Lunn et al. 1997). We have been exploring the underlying pathophysiology of the mutant and have determined that the myelin defect results from the progressive accumulation of microtubules in oligodendrocytes, the myelin-producing cells of the CNS (Song et al. 1999). Microtubules are the major component of the cytoskeleton of this and many other cells of the body, and microtubule-based transport of protein and mRNA is essential for normal cell function. There is no direct human counterpart of the taiep rat. Nonetheless, providing an understanding of the control of microtubule dynamics in the oligodendrocyte will be highly relevant to our knowledge of the cell biology of the myelinating cell of the CNS. This information is of great relevance to the function of the cell in human myelin disorders and in experimental remyelination. As the taiep rat apparently has a primary disorder in the oligodendrocyte cytoskeleton, it is an ideal model in which to study this process. This information may also be a key to the complete understanding of the mechanism of microtubule assembly/disassembly in many cell types.     

Last days in the old radiation laboratory (ORL), Berkeley,California, 1954

Govindjee, the founding editor of the Historical Corner of Photosynthesis Research, invited me 3 years ago to tell the story of why I left Melvin Calvin’s laboratory in the mid 1950s long before the 1961 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Calvin for the path of carbon in photosynthesis. I have already written my scientific perspective on this topic (see Benson (Photosynth Res 73:29–49, 2002); also see Bassham (Photosynth Res 76:35–52, 2003) as he was also a major player in this research). Here, I present my recollections of my last days in the old radiation laboratory (ORL) at Berkeley, California. References have been added by Govindjee for the benefit of the readers.