Comparative morphological characteristics of Palaearctic leaf beetles of the subtribe Entomoscelina (Coleoptera,Chrysomelidae): I. Mouthparts

A comparative morphological characteristic of the mouthparts of representatives of five Palaearctic genera of the subtribe Entomoscelidina is given.     

Tissue Hemoglobins of Gastropoda (Mollusca)

The distribution and content of tissue hemoglobins in the radular muscle, subradular cartilages, myocardium, and nerve tissue of gastropods are analyzed.     

Tree ring imprints of long-term changes in climate in western Himalaya,India

Tree-ring analyses from semi-arid to arid regions in western Himalaya show immense potential for developing millennia long climate records. Millennium and longer ring-width chronologies of Himalayan pencil juniper (Juniperus polycarpos), Himalayan pencil cedar (Cedrus deodara) and Chilgoza pine (Pinus gerardiana) have been developed from different sites in western Himalaya. Studies conducted so far on various conifer species indicate strong precipitation signatures in ring-width measurement series. The paucity of weather records from stations close to tree-ring sampling sites poses difficulty in calibrating tree-ring data against climate data especially precipitation for its strong spatial variability in mountain regions. However, for the existence of strong coherence in temperature, even in data from distant stations, more robust temperature reconstructions representing regional and hemispheric signatures have been developed. Tree-ring records from the region indicate multi-century warm and cool anomalies consistent with the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age anomalies. Significant relationships noted between mean premonsoon temperature over the western Himalaya and ENSO features endorse utility of climate records from western Himalayan region in understanding long-term climate variability and attribution of anthropogenic impact.     

On feeding and nutrition in Fungiacava eilatensis (Bivalvia, Mytilidae), a commensal living in fungiid corals

The enlarged inhalant siphon of Fungiacava eilatensis opens into the coelenteron of species of fungiid corals with which it lives in commensal association. Material consisting of mucus, zooxanthellae, nematocysts, plankton and inorganic matter, is taken exclusively from the coelenteron. The very mobile foot possibly assists in food collection and in the removal of pseudofaeces; but, with large ctenidia, the bivalve is a typical ciliary feeder. Experiments with labelled zooxanthellae reveal that these are taken into the gut of Fungiacava with subsequent metabolic incorporation of products derived from them. The other prime source of food must be phytoplankton carried in with the feeding currents of the coral, itself carnivorous so that there is no competition for food between commensal and host. The Fungia zooxanthella– Fungiacava association operates as a "Troika" the productivity of which is autoregulated in proportion to the number of bivalves present. The inorganic wastes of the bivalve (as well as those of the coral) are utilized by the zooxanthellae, resultant increase in the algal component becoming available as food to the bivalve. Losses in the cycle are balanced by intake of exogenous food.