Parentage determination of mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi) based on microsatellite DNA markers

In this study, ten microsatellite loci were chosen to estimate the parentage of 260 progeny in five mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi) full-sib families. Simulation based on allele frequency date demonstrated the combined exclusion power would be over 97% if the number of loci was up to nine. Based on the information from these nine loci, 98% of progeny were unambiguously allocated to their putative parental pairs in the parentage analysis. The assignment success rate by the real data set was lower than that predicted by the simulations, with 94% of progeny assigned correctly. The discrepancies might be caused by a scoring error or allelic dropout caused by poor quality genomic DNA. Moreover, 69 progeny were selected randomly for the double-blind test, the result indicated that 95% of the progeny can be correctly assigned to their families. This study provided a microsatellite-based approach for parentage assignment in S. chuatsi, and that will be useful for investigation of genetic background and molecular marker-assisted selective breeding in this species.     

Effects of turbidity and light intensity on foraging success of juvenile mandarin fish Siniperca chuatsi (Basilewsky)

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of turbidity and light intensity on foraging success of juvenile mandarin fish Siniperca chuatsi. Predation on crucian carp Carassius auratus by juvenile mandarin fish was tested at five levels of turbidity combined with two light intensities, imitating daylight and night in two turbidity types. Foraging success was significantly lower in clay-induced turbidity than in algal-induced turbidity. In clay-induced turbidity trials, there was a slight but insignificant increase in foraging success of mandarin fish with increasing turbidity under lighted conditions. In algal-induced turbidity trials, there were no significant differences in foraging success of mandarin fish among turbidity levels at both light and dark levels, but at 80 NTU turbidity level, foraging success was lower than in all the other turbidity levels. There was no significant difference in foraging success at different turbidities under darkness. These results suggest that piscivory of mandarin fish is influenced by different turbidity types but is not significantly influenced by increased turbidity combined with decreased light intensity.     

Resting metabolism and heat increment of feeding in mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi) and Chinese snakehead (Channa argus)

Resting metabolism was measured in immature mandarin fish Siniperca chuatsi weighing 42.1-510.2 g and Chinese snakehead Channa argus weighing 41.5-510.3 g at 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 degrees C. Heat increment of feeding was measured in mandarin fish weighing 202.0 (+/-14.0) g and snakehead weighing 200.8 (+/-19.3) g fed swamp loach Misgurnus anguillicaudatus at 1% body weight per day at 28 degrees C. In both species, weight exponent in the power relationship between resting metabolism and body weight was not affected by temperature. The relationship between resting metabolism and temperature could be described by a power function. The temperature exponent was 1.39 in mandarin fish and 2.10 in snakehead (P<0.05), indicating that resting metabolism in snakehead increased with temperature at a faster rate than in mandarin fish. Multiple regression models were used to describe the effects of body weight (W, g) and temperature (T, degrees C) on the resting metabolism (R(s), mg O(2)/h): lnR(s)=-5.343+0.772 lnW+1.387 lnT for the mandarin fish and lnR(s)=-7.863+0.801 lnW+2.104 lnT for the Chinese snakehead. The proportion of food energy channelled to heat increment was 8.7% in mandarin fish and 6.8% in snakehead.     

鳜鱼头肾的组织发生及成鱼头肾B淋巴细胞的分布

通过整体连续切片,研究了鳜鱼不同发育时期的头肾结构,并利用原位PCR方法检测了B淋巴细胞在鳜鱼头肾中的分布。在孵化后第1d观察到了肾组织,主要由肾小管组成。尔后头肾的发育经历了三个结构和功能的转变。第一个阶段为孵化后第1d到第7d,头肾作为滤过性器官存在,由肾小管及少量淋巴细胞组成。第二个阶段从第8d到第36d,是一个功能混合型阶段,头肾中既有肾小管,又有造血组织;随时间推移,肾小管数量减少,淋巴细胞数量剧增。紧接着进入第三个阶段：肾小管完全消失,头肾中开始出现大量的嗜铬细胞,头肾作为淋巴-肾上腺组织而存在。肾上腺首先出现在头肾前端,随发育成熟,集中分布于头肾门静脉周围。IgM在鳜头肾中大量表达,IgM分泌细胞分布于整个头肾组织,在血管周围有集中趋势[动物学报51(3)：440—446,20051。     

Relationships of the temperate Australasian labrid fish tribe Odacini (Perciformes; Teleostei)

The labrid tribe Odacini comprises four genera and 12 species of fishes that inhabit shallow kelp forest and seagrass areas in temperate waters of Australia and New Zealand. Odacines are morphologically disparate, but share synapomorphies in fin structure and fusion of teeth into a beak-like oral jaw. A phylogenetic analysis of odacines was conducted to investigate their relationships to other labrid fishes, the relationships of species within the tribe, and the evolution of herbivory within the group. Fragments from two mitochondrial genes, 12S rDNA and 16S rDNA, and two nuclear genes, Tmo4C4 and RAG2, were sequenced for seven odacine species (representing all four genera), eight species representing the other major labrid lineages, and three outgroup species. Maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony analyses on the resulting 2338 bp of DNA sequence produced nearly identical topologies differing only in the placement of a clade containing the cheiline Cheilinus fasciatus and the scarine Cryptotomus roseus. The remaining clades received strong bootstrap support under maximum parsimony, and all clades in the maximum likelihood analysis received high bootstrap proportions and high posterior probabilities. The hypsigenyine labrid Choerodon anchorago formed the sister group to the odacines. Within the odacines, Odax cyanoallix+Odax pullus formed the sister to the remaining odacines, with Odax acroptilus, Odax cyanomelas, and Siphonognathus argyrophanes forming successively closer sister groups to the clade Haletta semifasciatus+Neoodax balteatus. Either herbivory evolved twice in the odacines, or herbivory evolved once with two reversions to carnivory. The latter hypothesis appears more likely in the light of odacine feeding biology.     

Fine structure of the developing frontal bones and scales of the cranial vault in the cichlid fish Hemichromis bimaculatus (Teleostei,Perciformes)

The development of the frontal bone and the formation of the first head scales are described during post-embryonic ontogeny of Hemichromis bimaculatus, using light and transmission electron microscopy. The frontal bone originates close to the cartilaginous taenia marginalis in a loose mesenchymal cell condensation (=primordium) lying 1 m from the epidermis with which it establishes no cell contacts. The anlage appears at 4.2 mm standard length (SL) in the form of the membranodermal component of the bone, and extends first over the brain and then over the eye; the neurodermal component forms later to surround the supraorbital canal. The first head scales appear at 10.0 mm SL in a dense cell condensation (papilla) adjoining the epidermal-dermal junction and, once formed, remain in this position. In both organs, the initial matrix is similarly composed of woven-fibred bone that soon mineralizes in a similar manner to other dermal elements. In some areas of the frontal bone, parallel-fibred bone is deposited unequally on both surfaces, whereas isopedine is deposited in scales on the deep surface only. Osteoblastic features confirm this eccentric growth. Differences in the shape, organization and localization of the mesenchymal condensations giving rise to the frontal bone and to the scale reflect the existence of two types of dermal cell condensations. Our data are compared with those available for the post-cranial dermal skeleton of fishes both from a developmental and structural viewpoint. Structural differences in the matrices of the frontal bone and scales are discussed in a phylogenetic perspective.     

Systematics of Tanganyikan cichlid fishes (Teleostei: Perciformes)

The relationships among 53 genera of Tanganyikan cichlid fishes were analyzed based on internal and external morphological features. Comparison of the morphological cladistic tree with a previously proposed classification showed 5 of 12 tribes to be nonmonophyletic. Sixteen tribes were recognized, the changes in classification being that Trematocarini was treated as a junior synonym of Bathybatini; 5 new tribes were established for each of the following genera, Benthochromis, Boulengerochromis, Ctenochromis benthicola, Cyphotilapia, and Greenwoodochromis; Ctenochromis horei was transferred from Haplochromini to Tropheini; and Gnathochromis pfefferi was transferred from Limnochromini to Tropheini. The revised classification was supported by previously proposed molecular trees.     

Redefinition and phylogenetic relationships of the family Pinguipedidae (Teleostei: Perciformes)

The phylogenetic relationships of the family Pinguipedidae plus the genus Cheimarrichthys von Haast, 1874, were studied to redefine the family. Based on a phylogenetic analysis using derived characters belonging to 21 transformation series, accepting the monophyly of Pinguipedidae plus Cheimarrichthys provisionally for the operational procedure of the analysis, it was hypothesized that Cheimarrichthys is not closely related to Parapercis Bleeker, 1863, although these genera had been considered as having a close affinity. Although the Pinguipedidae and Cheimarrichthys share nine derived characters, it was determined that these characters are also found in other trachinoid families. In addition, several families, such as the Leptoscopidae, Uranoscopidae, and Trichodontidae, have many more derived characters in common with Cheimarrichthys than the pinguipedids have with that genus. The conclusion drawn here is that it is not parsimonious to recognize the monophyly of the Pinguipedidae and Cheimarrichthys based on these nine derived characters, and that these characters are not compelling enough to link these groups. The redefined Pinguipedidae is proposed to include the following five genera: Parapercis, Prolatilus Gill, 1865, Pinguipes Cuvier, 1829, Pseudopercis de Miranda-Ribeiro, 1903, and Kochichthys Kamohara, 1960. Cheimarrichthys, excluded from the Pinguipedidae, is put into its own family, Cheimarrichthyidae.     

Isolation and evaluation of 18 microsatellite markers in Siniperca chuatsi (Basilewsky)

Eighteen novel microsatellite markers were isolated in the Chinese perch Siniperca chuatsi (Basilewsky) using the FIASCO method, from (AC/TG)(n) , (AG/TC)(n) , (AT/TA)(n) , (GATA/CTAT)(n) and (GATT/CTAA)(n) repeat genomic libraries. The number of alleles per locus ranged from two to eight in a sample of 30 individuals from a wild population. Observed heterozygosity was between 0.100 and 0.737. Seven loci showed significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, null alleles were suggested at nine loci but no linkage disequilibrium between loci was detected. These loci could be useful in the population genetic study of S. chuatsi.     

Pseudanthias calloura (Teleostei: Perciformes), a new serranid fish from Palau, Central Pacific

A new anthine fish, Pseudanthias calloura, is described on the basis of three specimens from Palau. The new species differs from other congeners in having a complicated color pattern of the caudal fin and the following characters: moderately forked caudal fin; dorsal fin with 10 spines, the anterior ones being shorter than the rest, and with 16 soft rays; second anal spine shorter than the third; 19 pectoral rays; scales on lateral line 51 (holotype) to 53 (paratypes) in number; tongue without teeth; circumorbital rim with several fleshy projection on posterior part; a row of fine scales occurring asymmetrically behind alternate dorsal spines on both left and right sides; preopercle margin finely serrated; interopercle and subopercle margins smooth. Received: June 9, 1999 / Revised: September 23, 2000 / Accepted: February 23, 2001     

A new species of Platygobiopsis from Vietnam (Teleostei: Perciformes: Gobiidae)

Platygobiopsis dispar sp. nov. is described on the basis of four specimens from the South China Sea off central Vietnam. The species differs from the only previously described species, P. akihito, in the morphology of the cephalic laterosensory system; in the distribution of scales on top of the head; in the absence of scales at the base of the pectoral-fin; in having 11 branched rays in the second dorsal and anal fins; in the lower predorsal, transverse, and lateral scale counts; and in other minor details. The genus Platygobiopsis is recorded for the South China Sea for the first time. The text was submitted by the author in English.