Marine biology: Ageing a ‘living fossil’

В Тихоокеанском океанологическом институте (ТОИ) ДВО РАН с 2012 г. ведутся разработки и исследования возможностей технологий стационарного подводного видеонаблюдения. Развернуты три подводныхкомплекса: два в бухте Алексеева (о-в Попова) и один в бухте Витязь (зал. Посьета). К настоящему времени накоплены значительные объемы информации в виде моментальных снимков и видеозаписей подводныхсцен. Разработаны интерфейсы для предоставления этой информации пользователям по каналам сети Интернет. Разработаны технологии поддержки работы территориально разнесенных экспертов, составляющихбиологические описания видеоматериалов, подобных тем, которые разрабатываются в ведущих зарубежныхорганизациях по морской биологии. Разработаны и апробированы методики оценивания по видеоинформации параметров жизнедеятельности некоторых видов морских гидробионтов. Благодаря непрерывностинаблюдения зафиксировано нескольких редких случаев, представляющих интерес для морских биологов. Разработаны и апробированы методики оценивания гидрологических характеристик среды на основе анализавидеотрансляций с подводных камер. Эти результаты представляются важными в контексте сопровождениянаблюдений за жизнедеятельностью морской биоты данными о внешних условиях, в которых она происходит. Продемонстрирована возможность использования звукового канала камер для регистрации и анализаакустических шумов от морских судов. Продемонстрирована возможность применения подводных видеокомплексов для организации экспериментов по изучению реакции морских гидробионтов на воздействие целенаправленных физических сигналов.Since 2012, the Pacific Oceanological Institute of FarEastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Science has beendeveloping and studying the capabilities of technologies ofstationary underwater video surveillance. Three of the underwatercomplexes have been deployed in different waterareas: two in the Alekseev Bay (Popova Island) and one inVityaz Bay (Posyet Gulf). At this point, complexes have accumulateda significant amount of data in the form of snapshotsand video recordings of underwater scenes, which canbe accessed through designed Internet-based interfaces. Allthe surveillance systems contain technologies as a support ofthe work of geographically dispersed experts involved in thebiological description of video materials, similar to ones developedin leading worldwide marine biology organizations.Besides, the estimation of vital parameters of some marinelife species by the video recordings can be performed usingdeveloped and tested methods. Thanks to continuous observation,the designed systems have already recorded severalrare cases of interest for marine biologists. Hydrologicalcharacteristics of surrounding media can be studied usingdeveloped and tested methods of analysis of video streamingfrom underwater cameras. These results are especially crucialfor accompanying observations of the vital activity ofmarine organisms with data on external conditions in whichthey occur. Cameras built-in audio channels can be used forrecording and analyzing noises of marine vessels. Designedunderwater video complexes provide an opportunity forconducting experiments on studying the reaction of marineorganisms to dedicated physical signals.

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H. Barnes (Herausgeber), Oceanography and Marine Biology. An annual Review. Vol. I 478 S., 24 Abb., 26 Tab.; Vol. II. 548 S., 55 Abb., 46 Tab., London 1963 u. 1964, Allen and Unwin Ltd., je sh. 75.-

Zeitschrift für allgemeine Mikrobiologie ◽

10.1002/jobm.3630050312 ◽

1965 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 253-253

Author(s):

W. Schwartz

Keyword(s):

Marine Biology ◽

Annual Review

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The living fossil concept: reply to Turner

Biology & Philosophy ◽

10.1007/s10539-021-09789-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Scott Lidgard ◽

Alan C. Love

Keyword(s):

Complex Problem ◽

Morphological Stability ◽

Main Argument ◽

Geological Time ◽

Problem Space ◽

Living Fossil ◽

Living Fossils ◽

Tadpole Shrimps ◽

Evolutionary Stasis

AbstractDespite the iconic roles of coelacanths, cycads, tadpole shrimps, and tuataras as taxa that demonstrate a pattern of morphological stability over geological time, their status as living fossils is contested. We responded to these controversies with a recommendation to rethink the function of the living fossil concept (Lidgard and Love in Bioscience 68:760–770, 2018). Concepts in science do useful work beyond categorizing particular items and we argued that the diverse and sometimes conflicting criteria associated with categorizing items as living fossils represent a complex problem space associated with answering a range of questions related to prolonged evolutionary stasis. Turner (Biol Philos 34:23, 2019) defends the living concept against a variety of recent skeptics, but his criticism of our approach relies on a misreading of our main argument. This misreading is instructive because it brings into view the value of three central themes for rethinking the living fossil concept—the function of concepts in biology outside of categorization, the methodological importance of distinguishing parts and wholes in conceptualizing evolutionary phenomena, and articulating diverse explanatory goals associated with these phenomena.

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Correcting a 135-year error: Limulidae Leach, 1819 (Chelicerata, Xiphosura) is the proper authority, not Limulidae Zittel, 1885

Journal of Paleontology ◽

10.1017/jpa.2021.23 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-2

Author(s):

Philip M. Novack-Gottshall ◽

Roy E. Plotnick

Keyword(s):

Horseshoe Crab ◽

Marine Species ◽

Limulus Polyphemus ◽

Junior Synonym ◽

Living Fossil ◽

New Family ◽

The Family ◽

The World ◽

Modern Genus

The horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus (Linnaeus, 1758) is a famous species, renowned as a ‘living fossil’ (Owen, 1873; Barthel, 1974; Kin and Błażejowski, 2014) for its apparently little-changed morphology for many millions of years. The genus Limulus Müller, 1785 was used by Leach (1819, p. 536) as the basis of a new family Limulidae and synonymized it with Polyphemus Lamarck, 1801 (Lamarck's proposed but later unaccepted replacement for Limulus, as discussed by Van der Hoeven, 1838, p. 8) and Xyphotheca Gronovius, 1764 (later changed to Xiphosura Gronovius, 1764, another junior synonym of Limulus). He also included the valid modern genus Tachypleus Leach, 1819 in the family. The primary authority of Leach (1819) is widely recognized in the neontological literature (e.g., Dunlop et al., 2012; Smith et al., 2017). It is also the authority recognized in the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS Editorial Board, 2021).

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The Complete DNA Sequence of the Mitochondrial Genome of a “Living Fossil,” the Coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae)

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/146.3.995 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 146 (3) ◽

pp. 995-1010 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rafael Zardoya ◽

Axel Meyer

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Genome ◽

Tandem Repeats ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Large Data ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Phylogenetic Position ◽

Data Set ◽

Living Fossil ◽

Latimeria Chalumnae ◽

Relationship Of

The complete nucleotide sequence of the 16,407-bp mitochondrial genome of the coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) was determined. The coelacanth mitochondrial genome order is identical to the consensus vertebrate gene order which is also found in all ray-finned fishes, the lungfish, and most tetrapods. Base composition and codon usage also conform to typical vertebrate patterns. The entire mitochondrial genome was PCR-amplified with 24 sets of primers that are expected to amplify homologous regions in other related vertebrate species. Analyses of the control region of the coelacanth mitochondrial genome revealed the existence of four 22-bp tandem repeats close to its 3′ end. The phylogenetic analyses of a large data set combining genes coding for rRNAs, tRNA, and proteins (16,140 characters) confirmed the phylogenetic position of the coelacanth as a lobe-finned fish; it is more closely related to tetrapods than to ray-finned fishes. However, different phylogenetic methods applied to this largest available molecular data set were unable to resolve unambiguously the relationship of the coelacanth to the two other groups of extant lobe-finned fishes, the lungfishes and the tetrapods. Maximum parsimony favored a lungfish/coelacanth or a lungfish/tetrapod sistergroup relationship depending on which transversion:transition weighting is assumed. Neighbor-joining and maximum likelihood supported a lungfish/tetrapod sistergroup relationship.

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