Identification of a uniquely southern African clade of coastal pipefishes Syngnathus spp

The taxonomic status of two southern African coastal pipefish species, Syngnathus temminckii and Syngnathus watermeyeri, was investigated using a combination of morphological and genetic data. Morphological data showed that S. temminckii is distinct from the broadly distributed European pipefish Syngnathus acus, and a molecular phylogeny reconstructed using mitochondrial DNA recovered S. temminckii and S. watermeyeri as sister taxa. The southern African species share an evolutionary origin with north‐eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea species, including S. acus. These data support the existence of a distinct southern African clade of Syngnathus pipefishes that has diverged in situ to form the two species present in the region today.     

西藏雅鲁藏布大峡谷国家级自然保护区金猫的色型类别与活动节律

2013-2018年间采用红外相机技术对西藏雅鲁藏布大峡谷国家级自然保护区的金猫(Catopuma temminckii)进行长期监测, 累计布设70个点位, 14,071个相机工作日。共收集金猫独立照片101张, 其中60张可识别色型, 占金猫独立照片总数的59.40%。共记录到4种不同色型的金猫个体, 拍摄频次比例为麻褐色型:红棕色型:黑色型:灰色型 = 46:7:4:3; 其中灰色型为我国野生金猫实体首次记录。不同色型的个体可同域分布, 而以雅鲁藏布大峡谷自然保护区为代表的藏东南地区是我国金猫色型变异最丰富的地区。基于红外相机照片对金猫的共性形态特征和不同色型的独特形态特征进行了详细的图文描述, 以期为该物种的深入研究提供详实的基础资料。活动节律的分析结果显示, 研究区内金猫以昼行性活动为主, 10:00-12:00为其最强的活动高峰。不同月份的日活动差异指数(daily-discrepancy index) α和昼行性指数(diurnal-nocturnal index) β均存在显著差异, 且活动强度具有明显的季节性变化, 不同季节的活动峰型存在显著差异。本研究为东喜马拉雅生物多样性热点区动物多样性本底的完善积累了基础资料, 也为后续的猫科动物色型多样性的形成机制研究提供了基础信息与参考。     

New insights on molecular systematics of opsariichthines based on cytochrome b sequencing

Species or sub-species including Parazacco spilurus fasciatus , Candidia barbatus , Zacco temminckii , Zacco sieboldii , Zacco platypus , Zacco macrolepis , Zacco pachycephalus , some undetermined Zacco taxa formerly misidentified as Chinese Z. platypus and Opsariichthys uncirostris were sampled, and their mitochondrial cytochrome b genes were sequenced. In the phylogenetic analysis, the genus Parazacco forms the basal taxon for the remaining members of the opsariichthine fishes, which can be divided into two major groups. The first group includes species with one longitudinal stripe on the flanks and contains Z. temminckii , Z. sieboldii and C. barbatus with sequence divergences of 12·7–16·5%. The second group has species with 10 cross bars on the body and includes O. uncirostris , Z. macrolepis , Z. platypus , Z. pachycephalus and five undetermined Zacco spp. (A–E) lineages. The estimated divergence times of mtDNA lineages within the nominal species of Z. pachycephalus and C. barbatus are >2 million years ago. According to geological evidence, this predates the earliest possible time for their arrival in Taiwan Island and indicates that the population differentiations might have been taken place in mainland China before their subsequent dispersal to Taiwan.     

Clonorchis sinensis metacercarial infection in the pond smelt Hypomesus olidus and the minnow Zacco platypus collected from the Soyang and Daechung Lakes

The pond smelt Hypomesus olidus and minnow Zacco platypus were collected from the Soyang and Daechung Lakes in January 2003, and their metacercarial infections was examined by the muscle compression and artificial digestion techniques. In the Soyang Lake, 161 metacercariae of Clonorchis sinensis (0.35 per fish) were harvested from 459 pond smelts examined. Also, 13 metacercariae of C. sinensis (0.43 per fish), 1 of Metagonimus sp., 4 of Echinostoma sp., 148 of Centrocestus armatus and 44 unidentified species were collected from 30 minnows. In the Daechung Lake, 369 metacercariae of C. sinensis (3.69 per fish) and 51 unidentified species were recovered from 100 pond smelts. The metacercariae of C. sinensis were fed to experimental rats, in which the adult flukes were identified. The pond smelts and minnows collected from the Soyang and Daechung Lakes were verified to be the second intermediate hosts and the sources of human C. sinensis infection.     

Changes in fish assemblage structure with variability of flow in two different channel types

Despite the fact that flow and channel morphology are two critical factors that need to be taken into account when considering the conservation or restoration of river environments, there are no reports on the response of fish assemblages to changes involving both variables in combination. This study examined the response of fish assemblages to artificially induced changes in flow discharge in an experimental stream that had simple (a glide reach) and complex (pool–riffle reach) morphologies. When the flow of the glide reach was increased, the fish assemblage structure changed from one dominated by the demersal species Misgurnus anguillicaudatus and Cobitis sp. to one dominated by the water-column species Zacco platypus and Gnathopogon elongatus. In the pool–riffle reach, the fish assemblage structure changed from one dominated by Cobitis sp. and Z. platypus to one dominated by Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis. When the flow discharge was low, the fish assemblages of both reach types resembled each other in being dominated largely by demersal species, but when flow was increased these similarities faded and distinct assemblages emerged. In the glide reach, increasing the flow volume caused a linear increase in both water depth and velocity and a gradual increase in the diversity of water-column species, their relative abundance, and size. The number of Z. platypus increased fivefold whereas the number of M. anguillicaudatus decreased to less than a quarter of their original number. In the pool–riffle reach, the number of P. altivelis altivelis grew conspicuously although increased flow produced no clear increase in depth or velocity. Calculation of the availability of physical habitat environments suitable for Z. platypus and P. altivelis altivelis in each reach type indicated that preferable habitat for both species was more available in the glide reach. The lower abundance of P. altivelis altivelis in the glide reach was attributed to the relatively low availability of algal food resource due to the sand-predominated substrate whereas pebbles predominated in the pool–riffle reach providing good conditions for algal growth. Our findings suggest the need for a framework for considering environmental flow that takes into account variables such as channel morphology and food resource conditions.     

A landscape genetics approach for quantifying the relative influence of historic and contemporary habitat heterogeneity on the genetic connectivity of a rainforest bird

Landscape genetics is an important framework for investigating the influence of spatial pattern on ecological process. Nevertheless, the standard analytic frameworks in landscape genetics have difficulty evaluating hypotheses about spatial processes in dynamic landscapes. We use a predictive hypothesis-driven approach to quantify the relative contribution of historic and contemporary processes to genetic connectivity. By confronting genetic data with models of historic and contemporary landscapes, we identify dispersal processes operating in naturally heterogeneous and human-altered systems. We demonstrate the approach using a case study of microsatellite polymorphism and indirect estimates of gene flow for a rainforest bird, the logrunner ( Orthonyx temminckii ). Of particular interest was how much information in the genetic data was attributable to processes occurring in the reconstructed historic landscape and contemporary human-modified landscape. A linear mixed model was used to estimate appropriate sampling variance from nonindependent data and information-theoretic model selection provided strength of evidence for alternative hypotheses. The contemporary landscape explained slightly more information in the genetic differentiation data than the historic landscape, and there was considerable evidence for a temporal shift in dispersal pattern. In contrast, migration rates estimated from genealogical information were primarily influenced by contemporary landscape change. We discovered that landscape heterogeneity facilitated gene flow before European settlement, but contemporary deforestation is rapidly becoming the most important barrier to logrunner dispersal.     

Mitochondrial phylogeny reveals the artificial introduction of the pale chub Zacco platypus (Cyprinidae) in Taiwan

The presence of the pale chub Zacco platypus (Japanese name, Oikawa) in Taiwan has been suggested to be a result of its inadvertent introduction from Lake Biwa in Japan in the 1980s in conjunction with the Japanese Ayu, Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis, which was released several times into the Tamsui River to restock the extinct Ayu population of Taiwan. However, it is also possible that Z. platypus is native to Taiwan and has not been previously described for reasons of its narrow range. Knowledge of the colonizing history of Z. platypus is of considerable importance because it provides insight into the evolutionary process and, hence, impacts management decisions regarding this species in Taiwan. A portion of the mitochondrial D-loop was sequenced for 77 specimens from five populations of Z. platypus from Japan and Taiwan. A total of 22 haplotypes were identified, and nucleotide divergence among haplotypes ranged from 0.20% to 2.82%. Haplotype diversity was high in all populations examined, with a range from 0.718 in the Tagiri River population to 0.909 in the Lake Biwa population. Phylogenetic and statistical parsimony analyses of the molecular data revealed a close genetic relationship between Taiwanese and Japanese Z. platypus and supported the previous report that the Taiwanese Z. platypus originated in Lake Biwa in Japan.     

Influence of glaciation on divergence patterns of the endemic minnow, Zacco pachycephalus, in Taiwan

The genetic subdivision of the endemic minnow, Zacco pachycephalus, in 12 rivers of Taiwan was studied by allozyme electrophoresis. Among 26 loci surveyed, six were significantly differentiated among sites. Allozyme genotype frequencies within samples accord with Hardy-Weinberg expectations. A highly divergent genetic structure among sites (FST = 0.497) with low genetic variability within samples (H = 0.006-0.062, mean = 0.03) suggests that local populations originated from a small number of founders. UPGMA and Fitch trees derived from Nei's genetic distance and hierarchical analysis of FST values reveal that samples of Z. pachycephalus can be divided into northern, middle, and southern subgroups and that most genetic variation (87%) is distributed among rather than within groups. It is proposed that there were two isolated refugia during the most recent glacial period, and that populations of the southern group (Group I) originated from a southern refugium in Taiwan below the boundary of the Kaoping River, and other groups (Group II), including northern and middle subgroups, originated from a refugium located on the extinct land-bridge between Taiwan and mainland China. The postglacial division between northern and middle subgroups may be due to hydrological differences between these two regions.     

生境不完全重叠的两种鲤科鱼类耐低氧及运动能力比较

以乌江流域亲缘关系近,但分布并不完全重叠的马口鱼(Opsariichthys bidens)和宽鳍鱲(Zacco platypus)作为实验对象,分别考察这两种实验鱼的低氧耐受及游泳运动能力。将野外采回的实验鱼置于(25±1)℃条件下,分别测定两种鱼的临界氧分压(Pcrit)、水面呼吸(ASR)、失去平衡点(LOE)以及在不同溶氧水平(8.0、4.0和2.0 mg/L)下的临界游泳速度(Ucrit)和活跃耗氧率(MO2active)。研究发现:马口鱼的Pcrit(2.44±0.20)mg/L显著高于宽鳍鱲(1.86±0.10)mg/L(P=0.031)。但马口鱼的50%ASR(1.23±0.16)mg/L显著低于宽鳍鱲(1.97±0.11)mg/L(P=0.023);马口鱼的50%LOE(0.84±0.01)mg/L同样显著低于宽鳍鱲(0.97±0.02)mg/L(P=0.004)。宽鳍鱲在8.0和4.0 mg/L下的游泳能力显著高于马口鱼,然而马口鱼和宽鳍鱲的Ucrit均随测定溶氧水平的下降而显著降低(P0.01);宽鳍鱲和马口鱼的运动耗氧率均随水流速度的增加而呈现指数增加,但随测定溶氧水平的降低运动耗氧曲线变得相对平缓,尤其是在溶氧为4.0 mg/L时马口鱼的运动耗氧曲线与宽鳍鱲相比越发平缓;两种实验鱼的MO2active随溶氧水平下降的变化趋势与Ucrit相似(P0.001)。结果表明:两种野外生存的实验鱼不仅在低氧耐受能力方面存在显著差异,而且两者的游泳运动能力也有不同表现,这很有可能与其遗传特征、生存环境及生态习性相关。