Are there hot spots for Elliptio complanata in the shallow littoral zone of a large Canadian Shield lake?

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
pp. 2137-2147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie A Griffiths ◽  
Hélène Cyr

The variability in habitat conditions in large lake basins may provide areas favourable for unionid recruitment and growth. Here we test whether the distribution, body size, and growth rate of Elliptio complanata differ between upwind and downwind sites in a 5.8 km long lake basin. We measured density and morphological characteristics of E. complanata at nine upwind and nine downwind sites. We also measured growth rates and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) signatures at three upwind and three downwind sites. We found no difference in density or body size of E. complanata between upwind and downwind sites, despite clear differences in water temperature and food availability. Contrary to our expectations, the growth rate of E. complanata was higher (by 62%) at upwind sites. The reason for this difference is uncertain, but higher shell erosion and a negative relationship between δ13C and C/N ratio suggest that E. complanata may be more stressed at downwind sites. The δ15N of E. complanata did not differ systematically between upwind and downwind sites, but increased with increasing body size. It would therefore be prudent to standardize the size of E. complanata used to measure the baseline of lake food webs.

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Perez-Castaneda ◽  
Jesus Genaro Sanchez-Martinez ◽  
Maria de La Luzvazquez-Sauceda ◽  
Jaime Luis Rabago-Castro ◽  
Jorge Alberto Lpez-Rocha ◽  
...  

Growth rates of the brown shrimp Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891 and pink shrimp Penaeus duorarumBurkenroad, 1931 were estimated using length-frequency data in the hypersaline coastal lagoon, Laguna Madre of Tamaulipas, Mexico. The influence of environmental variables (salinity and temperature) and shrimp body size on the growth of both penaeid species were also evaluated. Shrimps were collected monthly from two fishing zones located at the central part of the lagoon throughout one year. A total of 4458 shrimps were analysed (69.3% P. aztecus and 30.7% P. duorarum) with total lengths (TL) ranging from 50.9 to 131.4 mm in P. aztecus and 59.7 to 134.5 mm in P. duorarum. Mean growth rate (±SD) of P. duorarum (3.10 ±1.78 mm TL per week) was slightly higher than that of P. aztecus (2.71 ±1.37 mm TL per week); however, the interspecific difference was not significant (p>0.05). Growth rates for both the penaeid shrimp species increased as water temperature increased. Additionally, a negative relationship between the growth rate and body length of shrimp was also detected suggesting that the positive effect of water temperature on the increase in shrimp length may be size-dependent.


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2053
Author(s):  
Junsong Shi ◽  
Baohua Tan ◽  
Lvhua Luo ◽  
Zicong Li ◽  
Linjun Hong ◽  
...  

How to maximize the use of the genetic merits of the high-ranking boars (also called superior ones) is a considerable question in the pig breeding industry, considering the money and time spent on selection. Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is one of the potential ways to answer the question, which can be applied to produce clones with genetic resources of superior boar for the production of commercial pigs. For practical application, it is essential to investigate whether the clones and their progeny keep behaving better than the “normal boars”, considering that in vitro culture and transfer manipulation would cause a series of harmful effects to the development of clones. In this study, 59,061 cloned embryos were transferred into 250 recipient sows to produce the clones of superior Pietrain boars. The growth performance of 12 clones and 36 non-clones and the semen quality of 19 clones and 28 non-clones were compared. The reproductive performance of 21 clones and 25 non-clones were also tested. Furthermore, we made a comparison in the growth performance between 466 progeny of the clones and 822 progeny of the non-clones. Our results showed that no significant difference in semen quality and reproductive performance was observed between the clones and the non-clones, although the clones grew slower and exhibited smaller body size than the non-clones. The F1 progeny of the clones showed a greater growth rate than the non-clones. Our results demonstrated through the large animal population showed that SCNT manipulation resulted in a low growth rate and small body size, but the clones could normally produce F1 progeny with excellent growth traits to bring more economic benefits. Therefore, SCNT could be effective in enlarging the merit genetics of the superior boars and increasing the economic benefits in pig reproduction and breeding.


2013 ◽  
Vol 142 (5) ◽  
pp. 1406-1414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian A. Tattam ◽  
James R. Ruzycki ◽  
Hiram W. Li ◽  
Guillermo R. Giannico
Keyword(s):  

2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (10) ◽  
pp. 1207-1221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Lacroix ◽  
Bernard Jeune ◽  
Denis Barabé

Recent advances in molecular genetics are prompting developmental plant morphologists to refine the theoretical context of their field. For example, at the level of the action of certain developmental genes, the distinction between recognized structural categories (i.e., stem and leaf) are not obvious. This issue has also been analyzed by morphologists from qualitative and quantitative perspectives and has lead to similar conclusions. Consequently, the classical approach to morphology with a typological view of organ categories is no longer sufficient to explain the set of all possible forms. However, within the context of a dynamic morphology, where processes of development such as growth rate, duration, and distribution are considered, a more encompassing view of the generation of form can be achieved. We therefore propose that classical morphology is a subset of dynamic morphology. The main goal of this paper is to show how new concepts and methods of viewing plant morphology allow us to build a conceptual theoretical framework that may have a predictive value with respect to morphological characteristics as well as molecular properties of organs. The main premise of this commentary, within the context of dynamic morphology, is that the plant consists of an encasement of structures or a nesting of partially similar units. Common developmental processes are in operation at each structural level and variations in the modalities of these processes lead to the development of specific structures. Repeating polymorphic sets (RPS) represent an extension of this perspective on plant development and have the potential to predict the existence of new, perhaps unknown forms. The idea of repeating polymorphic sets can also be extended to outline the activity of specific developmental genes to explain how a wide variety of those genes are interrelated during development to specify form.


Hydrobiologia ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 600 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Lorke ◽  
Arnd Weber ◽  
Hilmar Hofmann ◽  
Frank Peeters

2004 ◽  
Vol 313 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Chomsky ◽  
Y. Kamenir ◽  
M. Hyams ◽  
Z. Dubinsky ◽  
N.E. Chadwick-Furman

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 790
Author(s):  
Rafał Bernard ◽  
Magdalena Felska ◽  
Joanna Mąkol

A survey of odonate fauna in Zambia (Central Province, Luano District) resulted in discovery of ectoparasitic larvae of Leptus (L.) chingombensis sp. nov. (Trombidiformes: Parasitengona, Erythraeidae) on four species of dragonflies (Odonata) representing four different families assigned to Zygoptera and Anisoptera. The morphological characteristics of the new species is supported with DNA barcode sequence. Despite some intra-group variation related to relatively large sample, the morphological and genetic consistence confirm the common specific identity of the material. A brief comparison of Leptus spp. hitherto known from the Afrotropic as larvae is given. Supplementary data to the descriptions of Leptus (L.) bicristatus Fain et Elsen, 1987, Leptus (L.) aldonae Haitlinger, 1987 and Leptus (L.) soddagus Haitlinger, 1990, based on examination of type material, are provided. In the case of L. (L.) chingombensis sp. nov., the parasite load reached high, previously not recorded for Odonata–terrestrial Parasitengona association values, attaining at 44 and 49 larvae. Clear topic preferences towards the ventral side of the host’s body were recorded, with an additional tendency to distal parts of synthorax and the ventral depression of the abdomen. We hypothesize that the infestation did not take place synchronously at dragonflies emergence, but consisted in repeated infestation events during the recurrent appearance of dragonflies in the contact microhabitat occupied by Leptus. The very local character of the finding along with the regular appearance of larvae parasitizing dragonflies, obviously favoured by specific habitat conditions, no doubts confirms the non-accidental nature of the phenomenon.


Herpetozoa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 39-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio M. Guarino ◽  
Angelica Crottini ◽  
Marcello Mezzasalma ◽  
Jasmin E. Randrianirina ◽  
Franco Andreone

We characterized the body size (as snout-vent length), age, sexual size dimorphism, and growth rate in a population of one of the larger riparian frog from Madagascar (Mantidactylusgrandidieri) from a rainforest patch close to Vevembe, SE Madagascar. We identified a significant female-biased sexual size dimorphism. Age was estimated using phalangeal skeletochronology and was significantly higher in females than in males. Modal age class turned out to be 4 years in both sexes but a large percentage of adult females (75%) fell in the 5–6 years-old classes, while no male exceeded 4 years. We here report M.grandidieri as a medium-long-lived anuran species. Von Bertalanffy’s model showed similar growth trajectories between the sexes although the growth coefficient in females (k = 0.335) was slightly but not significantly higher than in males (k = 0.329).


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