scholarly journals Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon-DNA Adducts in Gulf of Mexico Sperm Whale Skin Biopsies Collected in 2012

Author(s):  
Miriam C Poirier ◽  
Letizia Marsili ◽  
Maria Cristina Fossi ◽  
Céline A J Godard-Codding ◽  
Elena E Hernandez-Ramon ◽  
...  

Abstract The northern Gulf of Mexico has a long history of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination from anthropogenic activities, natural oil seepages, and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. The continental shelf of the same area is a known breeding ground for sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus). To evaluate PAH-DNA damage, a biomarker for potential cancer risk, we compared skin biopsies collected from Gulf of Mexico sperm whales in 2012 with skin biopsies collected from sperm whales in areas of the Pacific Ocean in 1999-2001. All samples were obtained by cross-bow and comprised both epidermis and subcutaneous blubber. To evaluate exposure, 7 carcinogenic PAHs were analyzed in lipids extracted from Pacific Ocean sperm whale blubber, pooled by sex and location. To evaluate PAH-DNA damage, portions of all tissue samples were formalin fixed, paraffin embedded, sectioned, and examined for PAH-DNA adducts by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using an antiserum elicited against benzo[a]pyrene-modified DNA, which cross-reacts with several high molecular weight (HMW) carcinogenic PAHs bound to DNA. The IHC showed widespread epidermal nuclear localization of PAH-DNA adducts in the Gulf of Mexico whales (n = 15) but not in the Pacific Ocean whales (n = 4). A standard semi-quantitative scoring system revealed significantly higher PAH-DNA adducts in the Gulf of Mexico whales compared to the whales from the Pacific Ocean study (p=0.0002).

1985 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Rabek ◽  
Michael T. Ledbetter ◽  
Douglas F. Williams

Tephra in 31 piston cores from the western Gulf of Mexico and 7 piston cores from the equatorial Pacific were analyzed by electron microprobe. Six ash layers in the western Gulf of Mexico were easily distinguished by TiO2, FeO, and CaO contents and correlated by geochemistry in order to determine the distribution pattern for each ash layer. Correlation by geochemistry is an easier, more accurate method than biostratigraphic correlation; some of the tephras were miscorrelated by biostratigraphy. The six tephras were dated by geochemical identification in a piston core with oxygen-isotope stratigraphy and the ages are Y5 (30,000 yr B.P.), Y6 (65,000 yr B.P.), Y8 (84,000 yr B.P.), X2 (110,000 yr B.P.), W1 (136,000 yr B.P.), and W2 (185,000 yr B.P.). Data from this study corroborated correlations of the Y8 tephra in the western Gulf of Mexico with the D layer in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. None of the other five layers in the Gulf of Mexico, however, were found in the Pacific Ocean. The limited distribution of the Y5, Y6, X2, and W2 ash layers close to Mexico indicates possible sources in Mexico. Tephra from the late Pleistocene La Primavera pumice in Mexico, however, does not correlate with the marine tephra.


1895 ◽  
Vol 2 (7) ◽  
pp. 306-308
Author(s):  
J. W. Spencer

Having recently returned from another season's work in the West Indies and Mexico, where I was collecting additional data bearing upon the stupendous changes of level of land and sea which have lately affected the American continent, I find the review of the “Reconstruction of the Antillean Continent” by Mr. Jukes-Browne in the Geological Magazine, April 1895, p. 173, a few points of which may be further explained at the same time that I furnish some advance notes concerning recently observed phenomena which greatly strengthen the theory of stupendous changes of level in the Pleistocene period. Many months must elapse before I shall be able to complete the studies for publication, so that my papers on Cuba, Jamaica, and Mexico shall be published.


Zootaxa ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 194 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
LOURDES SEGURA-PUERTAS ◽  
EDUARDO SUÁREZ-MORALES ◽  
LAURA CELIS

A list of 169 medusae species in 45 families recorded in Mexican waters is presented for the first time. 86 species (50.8%) were found in the Pacific Ocean, 75 species (44.3%) in the Gulf of Mexico, and 88 (52%) in the Mexican Caribbean Sea. Only 17 species (10%) were common to the three regions. The superclass Hydrozoa, the most diverse one, is represented by 151 species (89%), the Scyphozoa by 16 species (9.5%) and the Cubozoa by 3 (1.8%). Among the Hydrozoa, up to 6 new species have been described from Mexican waters. It is expected that the number of species will grow as surveys that include the hydroid stages and their laboratory-released medusae, as well as benthic and deep-living medusofauna are undertaken in both the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts of Mexico.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra González-Acosta ◽  
Fabián Correa-Morales ◽  
Israel Canche-Aguilar ◽  
Rufino Silva-Domínguez ◽  
Ma. Concepción Salgado-Alonzo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT In 1988, Aedes albopictus was first described in Mexico. Since then, it has been recorded in most of the coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico, 3 states in Central Mexico and 2 states on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. This is the first report documenting the presence of this invasive species in Guerrero, a state with coastlines on the Pacific Ocean. This evidence suggests that the distribution of Ae. albopictus is expanding throughout Mexico. It remains unknown the extent to which Ae. albopictus contributes to vector-borne disease transmission in this country; however, the risk should not be neglected


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 3088 (1) ◽  
pp. 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
MIRZA P. ORTEGA-OLIVARES ◽  
DAVID I. HERNÁNDEZ-MENA ◽  
GERARDO PÉREZ-PONCE DE LEÓN ◽  
MARTÍN GARCÍA-VARELA

Eight species of helminths are reported from the intestine of 52 white ibis [(Eudocimus albus (Linneaeus)] collected in 14 localities along the Mexican coasts of the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean. Three trematodes, Parastrigea cincta Brandes, 1888; Parastrigea diovadena Dubois & Macko, 1972, and Patagifer lamothei Dronen & Blend, 2008, one cestode Cyclustera ibisae Schmidt & Bush, 1972 and four acanthocephalan species Hexaglandula corynosoma Travassos, 1915, Arhythmorhynchus frassoni Molin, 1858, Southwellina hispida Van Cleave, 1925, Ibirhynchus dimorpha GarcíaVarela, Pérez-Ponce de León, Aznar & Nadler, 2011, were found. Four of these species were recorded for the first time in the white ibis, raising the number of helminth species that parasitize this bird to 57 along its distributional range. Additionally, 4 of the helminth species are recorded in Mexico for the first time.


2002 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 697-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Kozuch

Beads made from Gulf of California dwarf olive shells (Olivella dama) have recently been identified from the Spiro site in eastern Oklahoma. This is the first evidence from Spiro of culture contact to the west. The beads, previously identified as Olivella nivea, are important because O. dama originates in the Gulf of California while O. nivea is from the Gulf of Mexico. An overview of Olivella beads from Plains sites reveals a mixture of shell beads originating from the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of California. The presence of western Olivella beads at Spiro and other Plains sites supports an intensification of trade between Puebloan and Plains peoples during Late Prehistoric times at about A.D. 1400 or slightly earlier, but there is no evidence for strong cultural ties to the west. Olivella beads occur at sites east of the Mississippi River, and these need to be identified to determine coast of origin.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 397 (2) ◽  
pp. 129 ◽  
Author(s):  
IVETH ESTRADA SÁNCHEZ ◽  
JAVIER GARCÍA-CRUZ ◽  
ADOLFO ESPEJO-SERNA ◽  
GERARDO LÓPEZ- ORTEGA

To identify areas of endemism (AEs) in the Mexican cloud forests based on the distribution of endemic epiphytic bromeliads and orchids species and to propose a hypothesis about the current biogeographical relationship of the Mexican cloud forests. The AEs were identified using 1007 records corresponding to 205 species and the endemicity analysis as is implemented in the ndm/vndm programs. To obtain the consensus areas a strict consensus analysis was carried out considering 60% of shared species as the lower limit; those that presented an Endemicity Index ≥ 3.0 were recognized as AEs. A parsimony analysis of endemicity was performed with winclada/nona programs to infer their biogeographical relationships. Five AEs were recognized: 1) Western Mexico (supported by six species), 2) Southern Mexico (eight species), 3) Northern Gulf of Mexico, and 4) Central Gulf of Mexico (with nine species each), and 5) Northern Oaxaca (four species). The spatial homology hypothesis suggests that the areas of endemism from the Pacific Ocean Slope and from the Gulf of Mexico Slope has a different evolutionary history. Each AEs has a different species composition; the greatest species diversity is presented in the Gulf of Mexico slope AEs, while the greatest diversity of exclusive species is presented in the Pacific Ocean slope AEs. There is no a spatial homology hypothesis between the AEs of the Gulf of Mexico and the AEs of the Pacific Ocean, therefore, our results do not support the hypothesis of a cloud forest with continuous distribution in the past. The divergence times of the bromeliads and orchids and ecological succession theory could explain our results.


ZooKeys ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1012 ◽  
pp. 55-69
Author(s):  
María de Lourdes Jiménez-Badillo ◽  
César Meiners-Mandujano ◽  
Gabriela Galindo-Cortes ◽  
Piedad S. Morillo-Velarde ◽  
Roberto González-Gómez ◽  
...  

Knowledge on species taxonomic identity is essential to understand biological and biogeographical processes and for studies on biodiversity. Species the genus Tremoctopus have been confused in the past and are inconsistently identified. To clarify of the taxonomic diagnosis Tremoctopus violaceus Delle Chiaje, 1830, an evaluation of morphological and meristic characters, as well as morphometric indices and genetic analyses, was undertaken. The analyzed octopod was an opportunistically collected mature female of 640 mm in total length, with a mantle length of 135 mm and a total weight of 1.02 kg. Evidence of autotomy as a defensive mechanism for protecting the egg mass is presented. The 16S haplotype sequenced from this specimen represents the first one publicly available for this species from the Gulf of Mexico. The genetic divergence between this haplotype and those reported from the Pacific Ocean is representative of interspecific variation in other taxa, which suggests that “T. violaceus” in the Pacific Ocean (KY649286, MN435565, and AJ252767) should be addressed as T. gracilis instead. Genetic evidence to separate T. violaceus and T. gracilis is presented. The studied specimen from the Gulf of Mexico represents the westernmost known occurrence of T. violaceus and the first record from the southwestern Gulf of Mexico.


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