Responses of gill mitochondria-rich cells in Mozambique tilapia exposed to acidic environments (pH 4.0) in combination with different salinities

On exposure to hyposmotic acidic water, teleost fish suffer from decreases in blood osmolality and pH, and consequently activate osmoregulatory and acid-base regulatory mechanisms to restore disturbed ion and acid-base balances. In Mozambique tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus exposed to acidic (pH 4.0) or neutral (pH 7.4-7.7) freshwater in combination with 0mM or 50mM NaCl, we examined functional and morphological changes in gill mitochondria-rich (MR) cells. We assessed gene expression of Na(+)/H(+) exchanger-3 (NHE3), Na(+)/Cl(-) cotransporter (NCC), vacuolar-type H(+)-ATPase (V-ATPase) and Na(+)/HCO(3)(-) cotransporter-1 (NBC1) in the gills. The mRNA expression of NHE3 and NCC in tilapia gills were higher in acidic freshwater than in that supplemented with 50mM NaCl, while there was no significant difference in mRNA levels of V-ATPase and NBC1. In addition, immunocytochemical observations showed that apical-NHE3 MR cells were enlarged, and frequently formed multicellular complexes with developed deep apical openings in acidic freshwater with 0mM and 50mM NaCl. These findings suggest that gill MR cells respond to external salinity and pH treatments, by parallel manipulation of osmoregulatory and acid-base regulatory mechanisms.     

Converting the Spirit Spouse: The Violent Transformation of the Pentecostal Female Body in Maputo,Mozambique

This article discusses the forceful transformation of the female body in Brazilian Pentecostalism in urban Mozambique and argues for an understanding of Pentecostal conversion as embodying spiritual warfare. Presenting the case of avenging spirits, such as the spirit spouse, it explores how spirits interfere in women's new socio-economic positions and intimate relationships. Pentecostal women learn to stay in control of their body under guidance of the Holy Spirit and a ‘violent’ war against the spirit spouse unfolds. The prevalence of ‘violence’ implies that we should critically question a perception of conversion as bringing healing and harmony.     

Ontogenic change in tissue osmolality and developmental sequence of mitochondria-rich cells in Mozambique tilapia developing in freshwater

We investigated a change in tissue fluid osmolality and developmental sequences of mitochondria-rich (MR) cells during embryonic and larval stages of Mozambique tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus, developing in freshwater. Tissue osmolality, representing body fluid osmolality, ranged from 300 to 370 mOsm/kg during embryonic and larval stages. This suggests that tilapia embryos and larvae are also able to regulate body fluid osmolality to some extent, although the levels are somewhat higher and fluctuate more greatly in embryos and larvae than in adults. Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase-immunoreactive MR cells were first detected in the yolk-sac membrane 3 days before hatching (day − 3), followed by their appearance in the body skin on day − 2. Subsequently, MR cells in both the yolk-sac membrane and body skin increased in number, and most densely observed on days − 1 and 0. Whereas yolk-sac and skin MR cells decreased after hatching, MR cells in turn started developing in the gills after hatching. Thus, the principal site for MR cell distribution shifted from the yolk-sac membrane and body skin during embryonic stages to the gills during larval stages, and tilapia could maintain continuously their ion balance through those MR cells during early life stages.     

Population Biology and Breeding Period of the Sand-Bubbler Crab <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dotilla Fenestrata</Emphasis> (Brachyura: Ocypodidae) from Southern Mozambique

The sand-bubbler crab Dotilla fenestrata (Hilgendorf, 1869) is the most common and abundant brachyuran in the intertidal area of many East African sandy shores. Monthly sampling surveys were performed from March 2001 to February 2002 at Praia do Triunfo, Southern Mozambique. At each sampling survey, 15 stations (0.25 m²) were sampled to a depth sediment of 30 cm. Crabs were identified, sexed, and measured for carapace width (mm). A total of 2456 crabs were collected of which 1247 were males (mean ± sd: 5.36 ± 0.04 mm), 938 non-ovigerous females (5.03 ± 0.03 mm) and 271 ovigerous females (5.15 ± 0.06 mm). The overall size frequency distribution showed a unimodal pattern suggesting a stable population with continuous recruitment. A clear sexual dimorphism was observed, with males being larger than ovigerous females, which in turn, were larger than non-ovigerous females. The overall sex ratio did not differ from 1:1. The annual reproductive cycle of Dotilla fenestrata was continuous and ovigerous females were recorded throughout the year, with peaks of occurrence during the warmer months (February–August). Despite of this continuous cycle, few juveniles were observed during the study period. These observations and the maximum size attained by adults supports the hypothesis that for this burrowing crab, recruitment may occur in different habitat than that occupied by adults. However, the studied area is favourable for growth, since the analysed population attains sexual maturity in smaller sizes than that from close areas.     

Commodity Fetichismo The Holy Spirit,and the turn to Pentecostal and African Independent Churches in Central Mozambique

Pentecostal and African Independent Churches have rapidly spread throughout central Mozambique in the aftermath of war and in the midst of a recent structural adjustment program that has hastened commoditization of community life and intensified local inequalities. This extraordinary expansion signals a shift away from reliance on “traditional” healers to treat persistent afflictions believed to have spiritual causes. Survey data and illness narratives collected from recent church recruits and local residents during research in 2002 and 2003 in the city of Chimoio reveal that healers have increased fees and tailored treatments to clients searching for good fortune in ways that have alienated many other help seekers in this changing social environment. While traditional healing has been celebrated in the international health world, community attitudes are less generous; many healers are increasingly viewed with suspicion because of their engagement with malevolent occult forces to foment social conflict, competition, and confrontation for high fees. Church healing approaches offer free and less divisive spiritual protection reinforced by social support in a new collectivity. One vital source of church popularity derives from pastors' efforts to tap the already considerable community anxiety over rising healer fees and their socially divisive treatments in an insecure environment.     

Inventory of echinoderms in the Iles Eparses (Europa,Glorieuses, Juan de Nova), Mozambique Channel,France

The multidisciplinary programme BioReCIE (Biodiversity, Resources and Conservation of coral reefs at Eparses Is.) inventoried multiple marine animal groups in order to provide information on the coral reef health of the Iles Eparses. All five classes of echinoderms were observed by visual census, photographed and later identified. About 100 species are reported, including a few unidentified ones which require further studies. The Holothuroidea and Ophiuroidea are the most diverse. One new species, the asterinid Aquilonastra chantalae O'Loughlin and McKenzie (2013), was discovered in addition to several new records of echinoderms. The illegal fishery targeting holothurians, which are presently highly valuable resources in this zone, is discussed.     

Local variation in embryo development rate in annual fish

Extreme asynchrony in embryo development, a typical feature of annual killifish living in temporary pools, represents a bet‐hedging strategy to cope with unpredictable rainfall. African annual killifish are distributed across a large precipitation gradient, raising the potential for local adaptation in the degree of developmental asynchrony (e.g. higher in arid areas, lower in humid areas). Eight populations of two sister species, Nothobranchius furzeri and Nothobranchius kadleci, from sites along the rainfall gradient were tested and compared for asynchrony and duration of embryo development. Degree of asynchrony and mean duration of embryo development did not differ across the examined range. Despite generally high developmental variability, fish from more arid regions (where rain is more erratic) produced a significantly higher proportion of short‐developing embryos. Comparable developmental asynchrony, regardless of precipitation level, suggests that all populations tested need to cope with some level of rainfall stochasticity. By producing more short‐developing embryos, however, fish in more arid areas with relatively more erratic rains are better adapted to very short pool durations and are more likely to produce multiple offspring generations within a single rainy season.     

Phylogeography of the green turtle, Chelonia mydas, in the Southwest Indian Ocean

Patterns of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation were used to analyse the population genetic structure of southwestern Indian Ocean green turtle (Chelonia mydas) populations. Analysis of sequence variation over 396 bp of the mtDNA control region revealed seven haplotypes among 288 individuals from 10 nesting sites in the Southwest Indian Ocean. This is the first time that Atlantic Ocean haplotypes have been recorded among any Indo-Pacific nesting populations. Previous studies indicated that the Cape of Good Hope was a major biogeographical barrier between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans because evidence for gene flow in the last 1.5 million years has yet to emerge. This study, by sampling localities adjacent to this barrier, demonstrates that recent gene flow has occurred from the Atlantic Ocean into the Indian Ocean via the Cape of Good Hope. We also found compelling genetic evidence that green turtles nesting at the rookeries of the South Mozambique Channel (SMC) and those nesting in the North Mozambique Channel (NMC) belong to separate genetic stocks. Furthermore, the SMC could be subdivided in two different genetic stocks, one in Europa and the other one in Juan de Nova. We suggest that this particular genetic pattern along the Mozambique Channel is attributable to a recent colonization from the Atlantic Ocean and is maintained by oceanic conditions in the northern and southern Mozambique Channel that influence early stages in the green turtle life cycle.     

Effervescence and Ephemerality: Popular Urban Uprisings in Mozambique

This article analyses the large-scale popular urban uprisings that shook Mozambican cities on 1 and 2 September 2010, following the government's announcement of successive rises in the price of public transport fares and basic commodities. Using ethnographic material from the city of Chimoio and the capital Maputo, the following work highlights the organisational character of the ‘strikes’ (greves), as the popular uprisings were called, and explores them as a new form of organising political discontent. Comparing them to other historical and contemporary popular uprisings, this article argues that the strikes violently and rhizomically generated ephemeral and egalitarian forms of political authority and order that simultaneously confronted, replicated and undercut the aspects of Mozambican statehood. Deploying Durkheim's notion of effervescence, the work further argues that the creative fervour, multisemic aspects and festive character of the popular uprisings need to be recognised; thus, this analysis challenges the reductive labelling of these events as ‘riots’ or ‘food riots’.     

Hydnora abyssinica: Ethnobotanical evidence for its occurrence in southern Mozambique

Hydnora spp. are rarely collected root holoparasites due to the subterranean nature of the rhizomes and seasonal emergence of the flowers. Results from a recent study in South African traditional medicine markets positively identified Hydnora abyssinica A.Br. rhizomes in trade and indicated that there was a high probability of the species also occurring in southern Mozambique. An ethnobotanical study was thus conducted in two markets in Maputo, and the presence of H. abyssinica at the stalls of traditional medicine sellers is a new record for the species' occurrence in Mozambique. Most of the rhizomes were cited as being harvested in the districts of Boane and Manhica, and further research is required to verify the harvesters' accounts of its distribution.