scholarly journals Otolith phenotypic analysis for the endemic Anatolian fish species, Caucasian bleak Alburnus escherichii Steindachner, 1897 (Teleostei, Leuciscidae), from Selevir Reservoir, Akarçay Basin, Turkey

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 430-440
Author(s):  
Melek Ozpicak ◽  
Semra Saygin ◽  
Savas Yilmaz ◽  
Nazmi Polat
Keyword(s):  
Function Analysis ◽  
Phenotypic Variability ◽  
Digital Camera ◽  
Dorsal Surface ◽  
Shape Variation ◽  
Phenotypic Analysis ◽  
Otolith Shape ◽  
Total Length ◽  
Power Models ◽  
First Time

Abstract Otolith phenotypic variability was analyzed in the Caucasian bleak (Alburnus escherichii) from the Selevir Reservoir in Turkey. Utricular (lapillus) and lagenar (asteriscus) otoliths were removed, while distinguishing between left and right otoliths. All otoliths were photographed on the distal (for asterisci) and dorsal surface (for lapilli) using a Leica DF295 digital camera. Otolith morphometrics were measured to the nearest 0.001 mm using Leica Imaging Software. Linear and nonlinear (power) models were applied to determine the relationships between otolith measurements and total length of fish individuals. Two length classes (Class I: 6.7–10.9 cm Lt ; Class II: 11.0–15.0 cm Lt ) were established to analyze the shape of otoliths. The Form Factor, Circularity, Roundness, Rectangularity, Aspect Ratio and Ellipticity were used to analyze the shape of otoliths. A standardized model was used to remove the effect of size on otolith measurements. Multivariate analysis was performed to detect differences in otolith shape variation. The results of discriminant function analysis showed that 79.9% of A. escherichii specimens were correctly classified by length classes. In this study, intraspecific variation of asteriscus and lapillus otoliths in A. escherichii is reported for the first time. The results of this study provide the first comprehensive data on otolith shape analysis and the relationship between otolith morphometrics and total length in the Caucasian bleak.

scholarly journals Ecological Observations on Hybrid Populations of European Plethodontid Salamanders, Genus Speleomantes

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 285
Author(s):  
Enrico Lunghi ◽  
Fabio Cianferoni ◽  
Stefano Merilli ◽  
Yahui Zhao ◽  
Raoul Manenti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Condition ◽  
Parental Species ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Trophic Niche ◽  
Natural Hybrid ◽  
Ecological Information ◽  
Total Length ◽  
Plethodontid Salamanders ◽  
The Future ◽  
First Time

Speleomantes are the only plethodontid salamanders present in Europe. Multiple studies have been performed to investigate the trophic niche of the eight Speleomantes species, but none of these studies included hybrid populations. For the first time, we studied the trophic niche of five Speleomantes hybrid populations. Each population was surveyed twice in 2020, and stomach flushing was performed on each captured salamander; stomach flushing is a harmless technique that allows stomach contents to be inspected. We also assessed the potential divergence in size and body condition between natural and introduced hybrids, and their parental species. Previously collected data on Speleomantes were included to increase the robustness of these analyses. In only 33 out of 134 sampled hybrid Speleomantes we recognized 81 items belonging to 11 prey categories. The frequency of empty stomachs was higher in females and individuals from natural hybrid populations, whereas the largest number of prey was consumed by males. We compared the total length and body condition of 685 adult salamanders belonging to three types of hybrids and three parental (sub)species. Three group of salamanders (one hybrid and two parental species) showed significantly larger size, whereas no difference in body condition was observed. This study provided novel ecological information on Speleomantes hybrid populations. We also provided insights into the potential divergence between hybrids and parental species in terms of size and body condition. We discuss our findings, and formulate several hypotheses that should be tested in the future.

scholarly journals ­Geometric morphometric analysis of snout shape in extant ruminants (Ungulata, Artiodactyla)

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan P. Tennant ◽  
Norman MacLeod
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Strategy ◽  
Functional Ecology ◽  
Intake Rate ◽  
Ecological Groups ◽  
Shape Variation ◽  
Geometric Morphometric ◽  
Ruminant Species ◽  
Under Sampling ◽  
Geometric Morphometric Analysis ◽  
First Time

Snout shape is a prominent aspect of herbivore feeding ecology, controlling both forage selectivity and intake rate. Many previous investigations have suggested that ruminant feeding classes can be discriminated via snout shape, with grazing and browsing species attributed ‘blunt’ and ‘pointed’ snouts respectively, with an intermediate sub-grouping. This aspect of functional ecology is analysed for the first time using a statistically rigorous geometry-based framework to compare the two-dimensional profiles of the premaxilla in ventral aspect for a large sample of ruminant species. Our results suggest that, when a sample of browsing and grazing ruminants are classified ecologically based on a range of independent indicators of their feeding strategy, they cannot be fully discriminated on the basis of their premaxilla profile shape. Instead, our sample forms a shape variation continuum with overlap between groupings, but with a 78 percent chance of successful categorisation. Moreover, previously used terminology such as ‘pointed’ and ‘blunt’ are largely inadequate for delimiting snout shape varieties, insofar as these terms lack the descriptive power to define the morphological disparity demonstrated. These results suggest that previous attempts to use snout shape as a proxy for feeding style in ruminants may have been biased due to under-sampling of this highly diverse group and to lack of geometric rigour in the assessment of shape data. Alternatively, conflicting or inadequate evidence in defining ‘browsers’ and ‘grazers’ could have caused incorrect assignment to ecological groups, distorting our analyses. The relation between snout shape and body mass are also documented.

scholarly journals The first data on the role of rhyncholites in the process of epibiota

2019 ◽  
pp. 5-9
Author(s):  
E. S. Gaponenko ◽  
M. A. Ulshin ◽  
V. N. Komarov
Keyword(s):  
Adult Worm ◽  
Dorsal Surface ◽  
Ventral Side ◽  
Ventral Surface ◽  
Clear Indication ◽  
Life Activity ◽  
Additional Food ◽  
Inner Surface ◽  
First Time

For the first time the role of rhyncholites in the process of epibiota has been figured out. Serpulidae inlay is detected in 39 rhyncholites of 979 specimens, representing 4% of the all studied material. This fact demonstrates that rhyncholites were used extremely rarely by encrusting species as a substrate. No other epibionts were found. Polychaetes were found in the genus Hadrocheilus (87%) and in the genus Akidocheilus. Size of the inlaid rhyncholites ranges from 7 to 23 mm. Serpulidae cover usually only the ventral side of rhyncholites, herewith, at 48,7% of the samples epibionts with different degrees of intensity are developed throughout the ventral surface, at 30,7% of the samples they are observed only on the ventral side of the hood and at 20,6% serpulidae are present only on the ventral surface of the arm. At four exemplars of the genus Hadrocheilus (10 % of the total amount) polychaetes are developed on the dorsal surface, but they are always and usually very wide developed on the ventral side of rhyncholites. No samples were found in which serpulidae were found only on the dorsal surface. Among the remains of polychaete worms, large and small tubes were identified and described. The presence of serpulidae on the handle of rhyncholites, that during the life of the cephalopod mollusk was located in a horny jaw, is a clear indication of the settlement’s epibionts on isolated skeletal structures of the already dead cephalopod. Cases when serpulidae are observed only on the ventral side of the hood in representatives of the genus Akidocheilus, suggest that planktonic trochophore – larvae of polychaetes can settle on the inner surface of the mandible of living ammonoids, where they turned into an adult worm. At the same time, polychaetes gained access not only to traditional prey, represented by various microscopic organisms, but also to additional food resources associated with the life activity of cephalopodas.

scholarly journals Calcite production by Coccolithophores in the South East Pacific Ocean: from desert to jungle

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 3267-3299 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Beaufort ◽  
M. Couapel ◽  
N. Buchet ◽  
H. Claustre
Keyword(s):  
Size Range ◽  
Digital Camera ◽  
Euphotic Zone ◽  
The South ◽  
Carbonate Ions ◽  
East Pacific ◽  
Standing Stocks ◽  
South Pacific Gyre ◽  
East Pacific Ocean ◽  
First Time

Abstract. BIOSOPE cruise achieved an oceanographic transect from the Marquise Islands to the Peru-Chili upwelling (PCU) via the centre of the South Pacific Gyre (SPG). Water samples from 6 depths in the euphotic zone were collected at 20 stations. The concentrations of suspended calcite particles, coccolithophores cells and detached coccoliths were estimated together with size and weight using an automatic polarizing microscope, a digital camera, and a collection of softwares performing morphometry and pattern recognition. Some of these softwares are new and described here for the first time. The coccolithophores standing stocks are usually low and reach maxima west of the PCU. The coccoliths of Emiliania huxleyi, Gephyrocapsa spp. and Crenalithus spp. (Order Isochrysidales) represent 50% of all the suspended calcite particles detected in the size range 0.1–46 μm (21% of PIC in term of the calcite weight). The latter species are found to grow preferentially in the Chlorophyll maximum zone. In the SPG their maximum concentrations was found to occur between 150 and 200 m, which is very deep for these taxa. The weight and size of coccoliths and coccospheres are correlated. Large and heavy coccoliths and coccospheres are found in the regions with relative higher fertility in the Marquises Island and in the PCU. Small and light coccoliths and coccospheres are found west of the PCU. This distribution may correspond to that of the concentration of calcium and carbonate ions.

Sex Estimation Using Geometric Morphometrics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valda Black
Keyword(s):  
Geometric Morphometrics ◽  
Classification Accuracy ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
Dorsal Surface ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Pubic Bone ◽  
Biological Anthropology ◽  
Sex Estimation ◽  
Linear Discriminant ◽  
Shape Changes

Creating and testing efficient techniques for the sex estimation of modern human skeletal remains has been a significant focus in biological anthropology. It is well established that the innominate, particularly the pubic bone, is a sexually dimorphic part of the human skeleton, but prone to fragmentation. Using modern pubic bones of known age and sex, this study aims to capture shape differences using geometric morphometrics (GMM) to test classification accuracy of segments of the pubic bone. The sample consists of 70 left adult pubic bones from the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection, with 35 males and 35 females of mixed age and population affinity. Landmarks were placed on the dorsal surface of the pubic body and ischiopubic ramus to capture their overall shape in two dimensions, so the study is easily replicable and applicable. The scans were separately run through a generalized Procrustes, principal components (PCA), and canonical linear discriminant function analysis (DFA). The DFA results show high classification accuracy for the pubic body (94% males, 100% females) and the ischiopubic ramus (100% females, 97% males), with the PCA DFA allowing a researcher to explore specific shape changes driving the differentiation between groups. GMM was able to quantify and successfully discriminant the shape changes between males and females for small elements of the pubis, which can be applied to fragmentary remains and future morphological methods.

scholarly journals From Differential Stains to Next Generation Physiology: Chemical Probes to Visualize Bacterial Cell Structure and Physiology

Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (21) ◽  
pp. 4949
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hira ◽  
Md. Jalal Uddin ◽  
Marius M. Haugland ◽  
Christian S. Lentz
Keyword(s):  
Cell Structure ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Metabolic Labeling ◽  
Bacterial Cells ◽  
Chemical Probes ◽  
Fluorogenic Substrates ◽  
Phenotypic Analysis ◽  
Modern Chemical ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
First Time

Chemical probes have been instrumental in microbiology since its birth as a discipline in the 19th century when chemical dyes were used to visualize structural features of bacterial cells for the first time. In this review article we will illustrate the evolving design of chemical probes in modern chemical biology and their diverse applications in bacterial imaging and phenotypic analysis. We will introduce and discuss a variety of different probe types including fluorogenic substrates and activity-based probes that visualize metabolic and specific enzyme activities, metabolic labeling strategies to visualize structural features of bacterial cells, antibiotic-based probes as well as fluorescent conjugates to probe biomolecular uptake pathways.

scholarly journals The genus Lanocira Hansen, 1890 (Corallanidae: Isopoda: Crustacea) in tropical Australian waters

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2793 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
NIEL L. BRUCE ◽  
CONNI SIDABALOK
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Dorsal Surface ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Australian Species ◽  
Timor Sea ◽  
First Time

The genus Lanocira Hansen, 1890 is recorded from the southwestern Pacific for the first time. Lanocira grebarree sp. nov. from the Great Barrier Reef is described, and Lanocira gardineri Stebbing, 1904 and Lanocira sp. cf. anasicula Jones, 1982 are recorded from the Great Barrier Reef and Hibernia Reef, in the Timor Sea off Western Australia, respectively. Lanocira grebarree sp. nov. can be identified by the anteriorly rounded, upturned and short rostral process in males in combination with the lack of stiff setae on the dorsal surface of the pleotelson. The similar L. gardineri Stebbing, 1904 is distinguished from L. grebarree sp. nov. by the presence of stiff hyaline setae on the dorsal surface of the pleotelson. A key is provided to the Australian species of Lanocira.

scholarly journals A new genus of Neotropical Chrysopini (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3351 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANCISCO SOSA ◽  
SERGIO DE FREITAS
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Dorsal Surface ◽  
External Morphology ◽  
Female Genitalia ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
First Time

Titanochrysa Sosa & Freitas is a new genus of Neotropical Chrysopini (Chrysopidae: Chrysopinae) recorded from Costa Rica,Venezuela and Brazil. Titanochrysa gen. nov. shares several external and genitalic characters with Ceraeochrysa Adams, 1982;Chrysopodes Navás, 1913; Cryptochrysa Freitas & Penny, 2000; Parachrysopiella Brooks & Barnard, 1990 and Ungla Navás1914. It may be distinguished from those genera by its very long sternite 8+9, sternites 2–8 usually with microtholi, male geni-talia with the dorsal surface of the arcessus striated, gonosaccus well-developed, bearing elongate gonosetae and microsetae,and a spoon-like gonapsis. Herein, Titanochrysa circumfusa (Burmeister, 1939) [= Chrysopodes circumfusa (Burmeister)]comb. nov. and Titanochrysa pseudovaricosa (Penny) [= Ceraeochrysa pseudovaricosa Penny, 1998] comb. nov. were identi-fied; Titanochrysa ferreirai Sosa & Freitas sp. nov. and Titanochrysa trespuntensis Sosa & Freitas sp. nov. were described.The external morphology, and male and female genitalia of all these species are described. Titanochrysa circumfusa (Burmeister, 1939) comb. nov. is recorded for the first time from Venezuela.

Remarkable new species of epedanid from Vietnam (Arachnida: Opiliones: Laniatores: Epedanidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4858 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-437
Author(s):  
ALEKSEY N. TCHEMERIS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Dorsal Surface ◽  
Distal Segment ◽  
Southern Vietnam ◽  
The Family ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
First Time ◽  
Latin Letter

The genus Euepedanus of the family Epedanidae is recorded from Vietnam for the first time. Euepedanus vietnamicus sp. nov. (males and females) is diagnosed, figured and described. The main characteristics that distinguish this species from other species Euepedanus are quite large body sizes, structure of the distal segment of the chelicerae, armament of palps and on the dorsal surface of body with a pattern resembling the Latin letter X. The only known locality of the new E. vietnamicus sp. nov. in southern Vietnam, is mapped. 

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