A taxonomic study of Japanese Scytosiphon (Scytosiphonales, Phaeophyceae), including two new species

Morphological and culture studies were carried out on the genus Scytosiphon (Scytosiphonales, Phaeophyceae) growing in Japan. Morphologies of plurilocular zo-idangia and sporophytic thalli were found to be useful as taxonomic characters. Two types of plurilocular zo-idangial sori were recognized: (i) loosely coherent plurilocular zoidangia without a cuticular layer (loose type); (ii) tightly coherent plurilocular zoidangia with a cuticular layer (coherent type). The sporophytic thallus morphology was different among species in general appearance (tufted or discoid), degree of cohesion of erect filaments, and presence or absence of paraphyses. Two new species are described, Scytosiphon gracilis sp. nov. and Scytosiphon tenellus sp. nov, Scytosiphon gracilis is distinguished from other species by a thin medullary layer, coherent plurilocular zoidangia, no ascocysts associated with plurilocular zoidangia, and Compsonema-like sporophytic thalli. Scytosiphon tenellus is characterized by a thin medullary layer, coherent plurilocular zoidangia, ascocysts among plurilocular zoidangial sori, and Stragularia-like sporophytic thalli. Scytosiphon lo-mentaria (Lyngbye) Link is characterized by a constricted gametophytic thallus, loose plurilocular zoidangia, the presence of ascocysts, and sporophytic thaili identified with Microspongium gelatlnosum Reinke.     

DIFFERENTIAL LIFE HISTORY PHASE EXPRESSION IN TWO COEXISTING SPECIES OF SCYTOSIPHON (PHAEOPHYCEAE) IN NORTHERN CHILE1

The identity of two phaeophycean taxa that monopolized the middle‐lower rocky intertidal zone of a coastal area chronically exposed to copper mine wastes in northern Chile was unraveled. One of them was preliminarily identified as the gametophytic stage of Scytosiphon lomentaria (Lyngbye) Link. The other, a dark crust, resembled the alternate stage of some Scytosiphon species. Comparative analysis of morphology, life history, and DNA sequences strongly suggests that crusts corresponded to sporophytic S. tenellus Kogame and confirm that erect thalli belonged to S. lomentaria. A clear segregation of erect and crustose thalli was found using internal transcribed spacer region 1 and RUBISCO spacer sequences. Furthermore, whereas crusts always grouped with S. tenellus, erect thalli always grouped with S. lomentaria. Life history studies failed to connect the two entities. First, field‐collected S. tenellus produced progeny that either recycled the crust, which reproduced by unilocular zoidangia, or developed into erect thalli. The latter, unlike typical gametophytic S. lomentaria, developed patchy sori of plurilocular zoidangia. Second, S. lomentaria displayed a direct‐type life cycle, in which progeny from erect individuals only developed into erect thalli and produced only plurilocular zoidangia. This constitutes the first experimental study on Scytosiphon from the Pacific coast of South America and the first report of S. tenellus on this coast. It is also the first report of the crustose stage of Scytosiphon appearing as a perennial and dominant algal species in a temperate rocky intertidal system.     

Distribution and dietary relationships of the Japanese temperate bass Lateolabrax japonicus juveniles with two contrasting copepod assemblages in estuarine nursery grounds in the Ariake Sea, Japan

Early juvenile Japanese temperate bass Lateolabrax japonicus samples were collected during four cruises to study the spatial and temporal patterns of distribution and feeding habits of the fish in Chikugo estuary, Ariake Sea, Japan. Gut contents were studied by separating, identifying and counting the prey organisms. Plankton samples were collected during each cruise to study the numerical abundance of copepods in the water. Copepod dry biomass and gut content dry mass were estimated. Juveniles were distributed over wide estuarine areas in salinities ranging from as low as 0·37 to as high as 28·81. Considerable spatial and temporal variations were observed in the copepod distribution in the environment and in the food habits of the fish. Two distinctly different copepod assemblages were identified along the estuary: one in the upper river, dominated by a single species Sinocalanus sinensis, and the other a multi‐specific assemblage in the lower estuary dominated by common coastal copepods such as Acartia omorii, Oithona davisae, Paracalanus parvus and Calanus sinicus. The gut content composition corresponded strongly with the copepod composition in the environment, i.e. a single species (S. sinensis) dietary habit at the upper river and a multi‐specific dietary habit dominated by the common coastal copepods in the lower estuary. Ivlev's electivity index showed that the fish strongly preferred larger copepods and avoided smaller ones. Higher dry biomass of copepods in the water as well as higher dry masses of the gut contents were recorded in the low‐to‐medium saline upper river areas, indicating that these areas are of particular importance as nursery grounds for the juvenile Japanese temperate bass. It was speculated that ascending to the upstream nursery areas to utilize S. sinensis, which is the single dominant copepod in these areas, is one of the most important survival strategies of the Japanese temperate bass juveniles in the Chikugo estuary.     

盐碱池塘细巧华哲水蚤对浮游植物的摄食生态研究

利用常规显微镜直接计数法和叶绿素 a法研究了盐碱池塘细巧华哲水蚤 ( Sinocalanustenellus)对浮游藻类的原位摄食率及其影响因素。测得该水蚤对水柱浮游植物的滤水率为 1 .73～ 1 5 5 .1 6μl/ ( ind.· h) ,摄食率为 92～ 2 5 38cell/( ind.· h)或 0 .7～ 2 7.7ng C/ ( ind.· h)。两种方法测定的滤水率和摄食率基本相符 ( p>0 .5 ,t检验 )。该水蚤可有选择地滤食诸如小色球藻、光甲藻、绿裸藻 ,单生卵囊藻和小环藻等 ,其选择性指数分别为 0 .81、0 .75、0 .72、0 .6 1和 0 .35。不同光处理下细巧华哲水蚤的滤食率多数情况是无光时摄食率高。在本实验的条件下该水蚤在饥饿后的滤水率和摄食率与正常情况相比均显著降低 ( P<0 .0 1 ,t检验 )。     

Parasitization of beet leafhopper eggs, Circulifer tenellus, in California

Parasitoids attacking eggs of beet leafhopper, Circulifer tenellus (Baker) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), were surveyed at eight sites in southern and central California for 2 years. One site was an insecticide‐free sugar beet field, and the remaining sites were all uncultivated and supported weedy vegetation. At each site, host plants of beet leafhopper were collected and stored until parasitoids emerged from the leafhopper eggs in the vegetation. Vegetation samples included both naturally occurring host plants and sugar beet outplants that were first infested with beet leafhopper eggs in the laboratory and then placed in the field for 2 days. Parasitism generally was highest in summer and lowest in winter. Beet leafhopper eggs were parasitized by the mymarids (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) Anagrus nigriventris Girault, Polynema eutettexi Girault, P. longipes (Ashmead), Polynema sp., Gonatocerus capitatus Gahan and two Gonatocerus spp. from the litoralis species group, and the trichogrammatids (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) Aphelinoidea zarehi Triapitsyn, Walker and Bayoun, A. turanica Trjapitzin, A. roja Triapitsyn, Walker and Bayoun, A. anatolica Nowicki and Paracentrobia sp. near P. subflava (Girault). The most dominant were A. nigriventris, A. zarehi and Paracentrobia sp. The intensity of parasitism varied greatly among the sites with peak levels ranging from 13% to 82%. Species composition also varied among sites, especially between the sugar beet field where A. nigriventris was by far the most dominant parasitoid and the uncultivated sites where A. zarehi and/or Paracentrobia sp. usually dominated. Within the uncultivated sites, parasitoid species composition also varied between the sugar beet outplants and the naturally occurring vegetation; A. nigriventris was much more common in the former than in the latter.     

The occurrence of Zanardinia prototypus on the South Coast of England

Studies were made to investigate the minimum time that should be allowed for settling of fixed, freshwater phytoplankton prior to enumeration. Results using a 16 cm vertical column at 20°C indicated that to obtain complete sedimentation the sample should be allowed to settle for a minimum period of 48 h (8 cm day^-1) when small diatoms are absent, and for at least 96 h (4 cm day^-1) when they are present and to be counted. Green algae settled faster than diatoms. Blue-green algae were absent from all samples in this study.     

Spatial distribution and trophic ecology of dominant copepods associated with turbidity maximum along the salinity gradient in a highly embayed estuarine system in Ariake Sea, Japan

The present study aimed to investigate into the feeding ecology of the dominant copepods along a salinity gradient in Chikugo estuary. Copepod composition was studied from samples collected from stations positioned along the salinity gradient of the estuary. Copepod gut pigment concentrations were measured by fluorescence technique and hydrographical parameters such as temperature, salinity, transparency, suspended particulate matter (SPM); pigments such as chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), phaeopigment; and particulate nutrients such as particulate organic carbon (POC) and particulate organic nitrogen (PON) were measured. Two distinct zones in terms of nutrient and pigment concentrations as well as copepod distribution and feeding were identified along the estuary. We identified a zone of turbidity maximum (TM) in the low saline upper estuary which was characterized by having higher SPM, higher POC and PON but lower POC:PON ratios, higher pigment concentrations but lower Chl-a/SPM ratios and higher copepod dry biomass. Sinocalanus sinensis was the single dominant copepod in low saline upper estuary where significantly higher concentrations of nutrients and pigments were recorded and a multispecies copepod assemblage dominated by common coastal copepods such as Acartia omorii, Oithona davisae and Paracalanus parvus was observed in the lower estuary where nutrient and pigment concentrations were lower. Copepods in the estuary are predominantly herbivorous, feeding primarily on pigment bearing plants. However, completely contrasting trophic environments were found in the upper and the lower estuary. It was speculated from the Chl-a and phaeopigment values that copepods in the upper estuary receive energy from a detritus-based food web while in the lower estuary an algal-based food web supports copepod growth. Overall, the upper estuary was identified to provide a better trophic environment for copepod and is associated with higher SPM concentrations and elevated turbidity. The study demonstrates the role of estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) in habitat trophic richness for copepod feeding. The study points out the role of detritus-based food web as energy source for the endemic copepod S. sinensis in the upper estuary, which supports as nursery for many fish species.     

生态育苗池中的桡足类与河蟹苗产量的关系

探讨了辽宁盘锦辽河三角洲地区中华绒螯蟹(Eriocheir sinensis)生态育苗池中出现的近亲真宽水蚤(Eurytemor affinis)和细巧华哲水蚤(Sinocalanus tenellus)与中华绒螯蟹幼体的关系.结果表明：近亲真宽水蚤和细巧华哲水蚤都严重地影响Ⅰ期中华绒螯蟹溞状幼体的成活率,其密度越大,Ⅰ期溞状幼体的成活率就越低(P＜0.01); Ⅲ期中华绒螯蟹溞状幼体可捕食桡足类无节幼体,且捕食量随着无节幼体密度增加而变大(P＜0.01);Ⅴ期中华绒螯蟹溞状幼体和大眼幼体容易捕食到近亲真宽水蚤而很难捕食到细巧华哲水蚤;蟹苗池中大眼幼体的产量与育苗初期池塘中桡足类的数量呈负相关关系,且不同桡足类密度下大眼幼体收获量差异极显著(P＜0.01).提出了控制和利用蟹苗池中桡足类的措施.     

Effect of UVB radiation on the survival, feeding, and egg production of the brackish-water copepod, Sinocalanus tenellus, with notes on photoreactivation

We examined the effects of UVB radiation on hatching success of eggs, survival of various naupliar and copepodite stages, and feeding and egg production of adult females of the brackish-water copepod, Sinocalanus tenellus, by exposure to varying doses of UVB irradiance in the laboratory. Artificial UVB radiation resulted in an increased mortality of eggs, nauplii and copepodites with increasing UVB doses. UVB induced damage was stage-specific with eggs being most susceptible (LD₅₀= 4.1 kJ m^–2 ) and adult females being least susceptible (LD₅₀= 16.7 kJ m^–2). Effects on feeding and egg production of adult females were significantly evident at UVB doses higher than 11.0 kJ m^–2 and 7.0 kJ m^–2, respectively. We also examined the photorepair response of eggs and various developmental stages in simultaneous irradiation of UVB and enhanced PAR. With enhanced PAR there was a considerable recovery against UVB damage, being higher for younger animals than older ones. In nature, however, solar UVB radiation may rarely cause appreciable damage to S. tenellus population due to optically high attenuation properties of their habitat waters.