Plectranthias maekawa,a new species of perchlet from the Tokara Islands,Kagoshima, Japan,with a review of Japanese records of P. wheeleri (Serranidae: Anthiadinae)

Ichthyological Research - A new species of perchlet, Plectranthias maekawa, is described on the basis of three specimens (58.2–65.1 mm standard length: SL) from the Tokara Islands,...     

Mesopristes iravi, a new terapontid fish (Perciformes: Terapontidae) from rivers of Iriomote Island, the Ryukyu Islands

 A new terapontid fish, Mesopristes iravi, is described based on 13 specimens collected on Iriomote Island, the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. This species closely resembles M. argenteus (Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1829) in having dark stripes on the body, but differs from that species in retaining the stripes even in adults (vs. stripes disappearing ontogenetically in the latter species), having the median stripe passing through the eye interrupted on the postorbital region (vs. continuous when the stripe present), a shorter fifth (longest) dorsal spine (14.6–19.7% SL vs. 18.0–22.2% SL), and a longer postorbital length (40.0–43.0% HL vs. 37.8–40.7% HL). Mesopristes iravi has been confused with M. argenteus in previous reports, and on the basis of the literature it may extend from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, southward to Borneo, Indonesia, and New Guinea. Received: August 6, 2001 / Revised: February 24, 2002 / Accepted: March 7, 2002     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Enneapterygius velatus</Emphasis>, a new deepwater triplefin (Perciformes: Tripterygiidae) from the Ryukyu Islands,southern Japan

A new deepwater species, Enneapterygius velatus sp. nov. (Perciformes: Tripterygiidae), is described from two male specimens from Ryukyu Island, southern Japan, the holotype having been collected at a depth of 55 m and an underwater photograph taken between 30 and 41 m depth. The new species is characterized by an extremely long first dorsal-fin spine (length 31.6–34.0 % of SL), the first dorsal-fin spine bases close together, first dorsal-fin base length less than half the distance between the base of the third spine of the first dorsal-fin and origin of second dorsal-fin, first dorsal-fin spine base with developed inclinator muscles, long pelvic fins (tip of second ray extending beyond anal-fin origin), large body scales (8 circumpeduncular scales), the supratemporal sensory canals deeply U-shaped in dorsal view, snout profile weakly rounded, abdomen from between pelvic-fin bases to anal-fin origin covered by cycloid scales, body lacking significant blackish blotches and caudal-fin base with scattered melanophores in preserved specimens.     

Morphological features of an endangered Japanese strain of Cyprinus carpio: reconstruction based on seven SNP markers

Morphological analyses of 183 specimens of Japanese common carp Cyprinus carpio (171 from Lake Biwa and 12 from nursery ponds) using genetic hybrid indices demonstrated that the typical native Japanese strain of C. carpio has a more elongate body, more branched dorsal‐fin rays, fewer and shorter gill rakers, more developed pneumatic bulb, more coiled pneumatic duct, longer posterior swimbladder and shorter intestine than the typical introduced C. carpio. These results provide a basis for a better understanding of the ecological characteristics and taxonomic status of the endangered Japanese strain of C. carpio.     

Plectranthias ryukyuensis,a new species of perchlet from the Ryukyu Islands,Japan, with a key to the Japanese species of Plectranthias (Serranidae: Anthiadinae)

A new perchlet, Plectranthias ryukyuensis, is described on the basis of four specimens (41.2–61.6 mm standard length: SL) from the Okinawa Islands, Japan. Plectranthias ryukyuensis can be distinguished from all congeners by the following combination of characters: X, 15 or 16 dorsal-fin rays; 14 pectoral-fin rays, all unbranched; lateral line complete, with 29 or 30 pored scales; 3 scale rows above lateral line; 5 or 6 diagonal rows of large scales on cheek between eye and corner of preopercle; preopercle with two antrorse spines on ventral margin, 20–29 serrae on posterior margin; margins of subopercle and interopercle with a few serrae (weak in large individuals); minute flaps at tips of first to ninth dorsal-fin spines; caudal fin shallowly emarginate, with some ray branches distinctively elongated past fin margin; fourth dorsal-fin spine longest, its length 110.6–128.6% that of third spine; body pinkish-white with two longitudinal rows of irregular orange-red blotches on upper half of lateral surface when fresh (rows close together in smaller than ca. 50 mm SL), blotches interconnecting anteriorly on upper and lower rows, and posterior half of lower row; four faint orange-red vertical bands below lateral line on posterior half of body and two distinct yellow blotches on cheek in fresh specimens; body uniformly yellowish-brown with two longitudinal rows of irregular dark blotches on upper half of lateral surface in preserved specimens (faint in small specimens). A key to the Japanese species of Plectranthias is given.     

A record of the archerfish (Toxotes jaculator) from Iriomote Island,the Ryukyu Islands

A specimen ofToxotes jaculator (Pallas, 1767) (Pisces: Toxotidae) was collected from the mouth of Urauchi River (24°23′55″N, 123°46′48″E), Iriomote Island, Ryukyu Islands, Japan. This species was recorded for the first time from the Japanese Archipelago. Its occurrence in Japan is the northern-most record of this species.     

Inhibitory Effects of Trientine, a Copper-Chelating Agent, on Induction of DNA Strand Breaks in Kidney Cells of Long-Evans Cinnamon (LEC) Rats.

The effects of treatment with trientine, a specific copper-chelating agent, on the accumulation of copper and induction of DNA strand breaks were investigated in Long-Evans Cinnamon (LEC) rats, an animal model for human Wilson's disease. Copper accumulated in the kidneys of LEC rats in an age-dependent manner from 12 to 18 weeks of age. When LEC rats were treated with trientine from 10 weeks of age, renal copper contents did not increase and were maintained at the same levels as those in 4-week-old LEC rats. Estimation of the amounts of DNA single-strand breaks (SSBs) by comet assay showed that SSBs of DNA were induced in a substantial population of LEC rat renal cortex cells around 12 weeks of age and that the amounts of SSBs increased in an age-dependent manner from 12 to 18 weeks of age. When LEC rats were treated with trientine from 10 weeks of age, the observed number of cells with DNA damage decreased, suggesting that induction of SSBs of DNA was inhibited and/or SSBs were repaired during the period of treatment with trientine. The results show that SSBs of DNA in LEC rat kidney cells are induced prior to occurrence of clinical signs of hepatic injury and that treatment of LEC rats with trientine decreases the number of DNA strand breaks.     

Adaptive admixture in the West African bovine hybrid zone: insight from the Borgou population

Understanding the adaptive response to environmental fluctuations represents a central issue in evolutionary biology. Population admixture between divergent ancestries has often been considered as an efficient short‐term adaptation strategy. Cattle populations from the West African Bos taurus × Bos indicus hybrid zone represent a valuable resource to characterize the effect of such adaptive admixture at the genome level. We here provide a detailed assessment of the global and local genome ancestries of the Borgou breed, one of the most representative cattle of this hybrid zone. We analysed a large data set consisting of 38 100 SNPs genotyped on 203 Borgou and 591 individuals representative of all the different cattle ancestries. At the global genomic level, we show that Borgou is a stabilized admixed breed whose origin (c. 130 years ago) traces back to the great African rinderpest pandemic, several centuries after the last admixture events, the West African zebus originate from (c. 500 years ago). To identify footprints of adaptive admixture, we combined the identification of signatures of selection and the functional annotation of the underlying genes using systems biology tools. The detection of the SILV coat coloration gene likely under artificial selection may be viewed as a validation of our approach. Overall, our results suggest that the long‐term presence of pathogens and the intermediate environmental conditions are the main acting selective pressures. Our analytical framework can be extended to other model or nonmodel species to understand the process that shapes the patterns of genetic variability in hybrid zones.