The freshwater snails (Gastropoda) of Iran, with descriptions of two new genera and eight new species

Using published records and original data from recent field work and revision of Iranian material of certain species deposited in the collections of the Natural History Museum Basel, the Zoological Museum Berlin, and Natural History Museum Vienna, a checklist of the freshwater gastropod fauna of Iran was compiled. This checklist contains 73 species from 34 genera and 14 families of freshwater snails; 27 of these species (37%) are endemic to Iran. Two new genera, Kaskakia and Sarkhia, and eight species, i.e., Bithynia forcarti, Bithynia starmuehlneri, Bithynia mazandaranensis, Pseudamnicola georgievi, Kaskakia khorrasanensis, Sarkhia sarabensis, Valvata nowsharensis and Acroloxus pseudolacustris are described as new to science; Ecrobia grimmi (Clessin & Dybowski, 1888), Heleobia dalmatica (Radoman, 1974) and Hippeutis complanatus (Linnaeus, 1758) are reported for the first time from Iran. Additional field work is highly desirable for a more appropriate evaluation of the extant freshwater snail biodiversity in Iran.     

中国淡水拟多甲藻属研究

拟多甲藻属Peridiniopsis Lemmermann是重要的淡水有壳甲藻,是形成淡水甲藻水华的主要类群之一。该属被定义为不具或仅有一块前间插板的多甲藻类群,其板片格式为3–5′,0–1a,6–7(8)″,5″′,2″″。迄今,全球范围内报道的拟多甲藻属约有20种。通过对所采集国内甲藻标本的整理和鉴定,描述了8种及1变种,并对其形态特征、板片排列、生境和分布进行了简述。其中有3个是中国新纪录,它们是柏林拟多甲藻P.berolinensis(Lemmermann)Bourrelly、波吉拟多甲藻P.borgei Lemmermann和柯维拟多甲藻P.kevei Grig-orszky et Vasas。     

Gut pH, redox conditions and oxygen levels in an aquatic caterpillar: potential effects on the fate of ingested tannins

Larvae of the freshwater moth Acentria ephemerella (Pyralidae, Lepidoptera) can fully develop on Myriophyllum spicatum, a submerged macrophyte containing 7-10% of its dry mass as tannins. We investigated the physicochemical gut parameters of larvae fed with M. spicatum or Potamogeton perfoliatus, a food plant lacking tannins, and the chemical fate of ingested polyphenols. Microelectrode studies revealed that larval midguts were slightly alkaline (pH 8) and had a positive redox potential. Whole guts were oxygen sinks owing to the oxygen demand of the gut contents. Oxygen penetrated the midgut up to 100 microm, but the centres of the foregut and midgut were always anoxic. The physicochemical parameters of the guts did not change with the food plant. The major tannin from M. spicatum, tellimagrandin II, was significantly depleted in the midgut and was not detected in faeces. In vitro studies indicated that tellimagrandin II is rapidly depleted mainly through oxidation, and hydrolysis might also occur. Our findings for A. ephemerella are compared with those for terrestrial Lepidoptera, and possible mechanisms for adaptations to tannin-rich food plants are discussed.     

Studies on a PMCA-like protein in the outer mantle epithelium of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anodonta cygnea</Emphasis>: insights on calcium transcellular dynamics

Early studies on the outer mantle epithelium (OME) cells of the freshwater bivalve Anodonta cygnea (Linnaeus, 1758) revealed high ionic calcium concentrations by electrophysiological methods and subsequently a high tendency to reach an intracellular toxic condition. This toxicity could be neutralized by specific mechanisms in the cytosol of OME cells of A. cygnea. The present immunocytochemistry studies of OME cells by light and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) clearly showed a positive reaction of an antibody directed against the human plasma membrane Ca²⁺-ATPase 1 (PMCA-1) in the cytoplasm of OME cells. Also, western blot analysis of different fractions of OME cells with anti human PMCA-1 and C28R2 antibodies confirmed the presence of a PMCA-like protein with an unusual topographical localization and a molecular weight of only 70–80 kDa. These results lead us to speculate that this PMCA-like protein is distributed either in the plasma membrane or in the entire cytosol, where it eventually regulates intracellular calcium levels. Interestingly, the antibody reactions showed seasonal variations, being highest in OME samples prepared during summer when A. cygnea live under natural acidosis and absent in samples taken in winter conditions, which is in accordance with the seasonal variation of shell calcification rates. During winter, PMCA-1 antibody reaction was also detected in OME cells of animals kept only under experimentally induced acidosis conditions. Therefore, we assume that a functional role for this PMCA-like protein in the intracellular calcium regulation of OME cells during the mineralization of the shells of A. cygnea can be speculated.     

Phylogeography of the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ulva</Emphasis> (Ulvophyceae,Chlorophyta), with special reference to the Japanese freshwater and brackish taxa

The nuclear-encoded ITS and associated 5.8S rDNA regions were sequenced for 72 specimens of Ulva collected from 44 rivers across Japan, including U. prolifera Müller from the Shimanto River, Kochi Prefecture, as well as 26 samples originally identified as U. linza L. from 20 coastal marine areas. Sequence data revealed that the samples fall into six distinct clades: the U. flexuosa Wulfen clade (2 samples), the Ulva linza-procera-prolifera (LPP) complex clade (75 samples), Ulva sp. 1 clade (3 samples), Ulva sp. 2 clade (7 samples), Ulva sp. 3 clade (4 samples) and Ulva sp. 4 clade (7 samples). The LPP complex contained a mixture of 26 samples collected from seashores and 49 samples obtained from rivers, including U. prolifera from the Shimanto River, and GenBank data for U. linza and U. procera Ahlner. The samples of the LPP complex differed by only 0–7 substitutions (0–1.149%). Subsequent phylogeographic analyses of the LPP complex based on the 5S rDNA spacer region revealed the presence of two further groupings: a group including 22 strictly marine littoral U. linza samples and a U. prolifera group composed of a mixture of 4 marine samples and all 49 river samples. The monophyly of all river samples indicates that adaptation to low salinity might have occurred only once in the evolutionary history of the LPP complex.     

Influence of soft rush (Juncus effusus) on phosphorus flux in grazed seasonal wetlands

Livestock significantly affect wetland soils and vegetation but their impacts on wetland nutrient dynamics are poorly understood. We set up a full factorial laboratory experiment to assess the effects of Juncus effusus, grazing exclusion, and flooding on P flux from intact cores collected from seasonal wetlands in cattle pastures in south Florida. We collected intact cores from Juncus tussocks and plant interspaces inside and outside 4-year grazing exclosures in five replicate wetlands. We incubated the cores for 50 days under continuous flooding or weekly 1-day flooding cycles and measured P concentrations in surface and pore water. Grazing exclosures had less Juncus (17%) and bare ground (2%) than adjacent grazed areas (Juncus, 48%; bare ground, 12%), but did not affect P fluxes. Initial fluxes of soluble reactive P (SRP) were much higher in cores with Juncus (242 ± 153 mg P m⁻² day⁻¹) than without Juncus (14 ± 20 mg P m⁻² day⁻¹). In weekly flooded cores P fluxes fell to 19.7 ± 13.4 mg P m⁻² day⁻¹ in cores with and 2.7 ± 2.6 in cores without Juncus. The strong effect of Juncus on P flux was an indirect effect of cattle grazing, but 4 years of grazing exclusion did not have a significant effect on P fluxes.     

太湖现生介形虫

分别于1989年和2004年两次共采集了43个太湖表层沉积物样品,检查发现其中的34个样品中含有现生介形虫,共计12属15种,其中Dolerocypria taalensis,Fabae formiscandona cf.fabaeformis,Physocypria kraepelini和Darwinula stevensoni等4个种最为常见和数量最多,构成了太湖现生介形虫群中的优势成分。长期以来,国内有学者将水体矿化度180mg／l作为介形虫生存的低极限值,由此认为矿化度低于此值的太湖等水体中不存在介形虫(杨留法,1986,1992)。本次调查和国外的相关资料证明,淡水介形虫可以在矿化度低于180mg／l的水体中生存。     

利用RAPD标记研究几种淡水腹足类的亲缘关系

以软体动物腹足纲、中腹足目的光滑狭口螺、长角涵螺、纹沼螺、赤豆螺、大沼螺几个形态分类的近缘种及梨形环棱螺(对照)作为研究对象,用随机扩增多态DNA技术对上述动物进行了20个引物的扩增,共获得117条扩增谱带,单个引物扩增的RAPD标记在3-12个之间,片段长度在30—3000bp之间。试验结果显示：淡水螺类的RAPD标记具有明显的多态性,而且种间的扩增标记及差异程度可以反映出物种间系统演化过程的亲缘关系。通过数值聚类制图后得到：长角涵螺、纹沼螺、大沼螺、赤豆螺之间的亲缘关系较近,而光滑狭口螺、梨形环棱螺与上述4个种的亲缘关系较远,其结果与新修订的淡水中腹足目科级分类方案相当吻合。     

海口地区集贸市场淡水鱼华枝睾吸虫囊蚴感染调查

用直接压片法和人工消化法检查了海口集贸市场上5种淡水色(鲫色、罗非鱼、鲤鱼、土鲮色、白鲳)感染华枝睾吸虫囊蚴情况。结果表明：5种淡水色的总感染率为53．66％。其中,鲤鱼、土鲮色、鲫鱼、罗非鱼、白鲳的感染率分别为68．75％、58．82％、58．06％、48．57％和36．67％;平均每克鱼肉含囊蚴数最高的是鲫鱼(9．47个／g),平均每尾阳性鱼含囊蚴数最高的是土鲮鱼(43个／尾)。     

钱塘江流域的淡水贝类

报告了对钱塘江流域进行淡水贝类调查的结果。标本经鉴定计有67种,隶属于腹足纲有9科18属42种,瓣鳃纲有4科11属25种,内有29种属浙江省新记录。分析了该流域淡水贝类与栖息环境的关系及该流域的常见种和偶见种,并探讨了该流域淡水贝类的分布区划。