scholarly journals How Did Seal Lice Turn into the Only Truly Marine Insects?

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
María Soledad Leonardi ◽  
José E. Crespo ◽  
Florencia Soto ◽  
Claudio R. Lazzari

Insects are the most evolutionarily and ecologically successful group of living animals, being present in almost all possible mainland habitats; however, they are virtually absent in the ocean, which constitutes more than 99% of the Earth’s biosphere. Only a few insect species can be found in the sea but they remain at the surface, in salt marshes, estuaries, or shallow waters. Remarkably, a group of 13 species manages to endure long immersion periods in the open sea, as well as deep dives, i.e., seal lice. Sucking lice (Phthiraptera: Anoplura) are ectoparasites of mammals, living while attached to the hosts’ skin, into their fur, or among their hairs. Among them, the family Echinophthiriidae is peculiar because it infests amphibious hosts, such as pinnipeds and otters, who make deep dives and spend from weeks to months in the open sea. During the evolutionary transition of pinnipeds from land to the ocean, echinophthiriid lice had to manage the gradual change to an amphibian lifestyle along with their hosts, some of which may spend more than 80% of the time submerged and performing extreme dives, some beyond 2000 m under the surface. These obligate and permanent ectoparasites have adapted to cope with hypoxia, high salinity, low temperature, and, in particular, conditions of huge hydrostatic pressures. We will discuss some of these adaptations allowing seal lice to cope with their hosts’ amphibious habits and how they can help us understand why insects are so rare in the ocean.

2001 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 185 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ajmal Khan ◽  
Bilquees Gul ◽  
Darrell J. Weber

Suaeda moquinii (Torrey) Greene (desert blite), a succulent shrub in the family Chenopodiaceae, is widely distributed in salt marshes of the western United States. Suaeda moquinii produces dimorphic seeds (soft brown and hard black). Both types of seeds were collected from a salt marsh in Faust, Utah. Experiments were conducted to determine the seed germination responses of the black and brown seeds to salinity and temperature. Brown seeds were found to be one of the most salt tolerant at the germination stage when compared to other halophytes. Brown seeds germinated (30%) at 1000 mM NaCl, but only a few black seeds germinated (8%) at 600 mM NaCl. Seed germination occurred in most saline treatments at the lowest thermoperiod (5–15˚C) tested. In some salinity treatments (600, 800, 1000 mM), further increases in temperature resulted in progressively decreased seed germination. Brown seeds germinated better and had a higher germination rate (germination velocity) than black seeds at all thermoperiods. The highest rate of germination of black seeds occurred at the lowest thermoperiod (5–15˚C). Recovery of germination for black seeds when transferred to distilled water after being in various salinity treatments for 20 days was nearly complete (82–100%) at the lowest thermoperiod (5–15˚C) but decreased with increase in the temperature. Brown seeds recovered substantially (59–97%) from salinity at all thermoperiods. Regression analyses indicated significant differences between the germination recovery of the black and brown seeds.


Liquidity ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-52
Author(s):  
M. Koesmawan ◽  
Darwin Erhandy ◽  
Dede Dahlan

In order to meet the needs of living which consists of primary as well as secondary needs, human can work in either a formal or an informal job. One of the informal jobs that is became the subject of this research was to become an ojek driver. Ojek is a ranting motorcycle.  Revenue of ojek drivers, accordingly, should be well managed following the concept of financial management. This research was conducted for the driver of the online motorcycle drivers as well as the regular motorcycle drivers they are called “The Ojek”. Ojek’s location is in Kecamatan (subdistrict) Duren Sawit, East Jakarta with 70 drivers of ojeks. The online ojeks earn an average of Rp 100,000 per day, can save Rp 11,000 to 21,000 per day, while, the regular ojek has an average income per day slightly lower amounted to Rp 78,500, this kind of ojeks generally have other businesses and always record the outflow of theirs money. Both the online and regular ojeks feel a tight competition in getting passengers, but their income can help the family finances and both ojeks want a cooperative especially savings and loans, especially to overcome the urgent financial difficulties. Almost all rivers, do not dare to borrow money. They are afraid of can not refund the money as scheduled.


Crustaceana ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong Guk Kim ◽  
Jong Guk Kim ◽  
Tae Won Jung ◽  
Jong Guk Kim ◽  
Tae Won Jung ◽  
...  

Herein two new species of the genusSyngastesMonard, 1924 are described from South Korea, with detailed descriptions and illustrations. Both new copepods,Syngastesmulticavussp. nov. andS. pseudofoveatussp. nov., have two inner setae on the first exopodal segment of P2 and P3.Syngastesmulticavussp. nov. most closely resemblesS. gibbosusBartsch, 1999 reported from Australia, as they both have a five-segmented antennule in the female. However,Syngastesmulticavussp. nov. has a rounded body outline instead of the gibbose outline observed inS. gibbosus.Syngastespseudofoveatussp. nov. resemblesS. foveatusBartsch, 1994 in almost all aspects. However, they differ clearly in the number of setae on the first exopodal segment of P2 and P3. We also provide a key to species of the genusSyngastesworldwide. The present study is the first record of the family Tegastidae in Korean waters.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5051 (1) ◽  
pp. 346-386
Author(s):  
SÜPHAN KARAYTUĞ ◽  
SERDAR SAK ◽  
ALP ALPER ◽  
SERDAR SÖNMEZ

An attempt was made to test if Lourinia armata (Claus, 1866)—as it is currently diagnosed—represents a species complex. Detailed examination and comparisons of several specimens collected from different localities suggest that L. armata indeed represents a complex of four closely related morphospecies that can be differentiated from one another by only detailed observations. One of the four species is identified as Lourinia aff. armata and the other three species are described as new to science and named as Lourinia wellsi sp. nov., L. gocmeni sp. nov., and L. aldabraensis sp. nov. Detailed review of previous species records indicates that the genus Lourinia Wilson, 1924 is distributed worldwide. Ceyloniella nicobarica Sewell, 1940, originally described from Nicobar Island and previously considered a junior subjective synonym of L. armata is reinstated as Lourinia nicobarica (Sewell, 1940) comb. nov. on the basis of the unique paddle-shaped caudal ramus seta V. It is postulated that almost all of these records are unreliable in terms of representing true Lourinia aff. armata described herein. On the other hand, the comparative evaluation of the illustrations and descriptions in the published literature indicates the presence of several new species waiting to be discovered in the genus Lourinia.                 It has been determined that, according to updated modern keys, the recent inclusion of the monotypic genus Archeolourinia Corgosinho & Schizas, 2013 in the Louriniidae is not justified since Archeolourinia shermani Corgosinho & Schizas, 2013 does not belong to this family but should be assigned to the Canthocamptidae. On the other hand, it has been argued that the exact phylogenetic position of the Louriniidae still remains problematic since none of the diagnostic characters supports the monophyly of the family within the Oligoarthra. It has also been argued that the close relationship between Louriniidae and Canthocamptidae is supported since both families share the homologous sexual dimorphism (apophysis) on P3 endopod. The most important characteristic that can possibly be used to define Louriniidae is the reduction of maxilliped.  


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 526-526
Author(s):  
T. E. C.
Keyword(s):  

The story below depicts a favorite subject of those who wrote for children in the early days of our country. The inebriated father leading his family inexorably into destitution by his intemperance is counterbalanced by a son who holds the family together. During the last century many children cried over this and similar stories. The Patient Boy There was a journeyman bricklayer in this town, a good workman, but a very drunken idle fellow; he spent at the dram shop almost all he earned, and left his wife and children to take care of themselves; to get food and clothes as they could. They might all have starved, but for the eldest son, whom his father had brought up to help him at his work; and who was so industrious and attentive, that being now at the age of thirteen or fourteen, he was able to earn pretty good wages, every penny of which that he could keep out of his father's hands, he brought to his mother. When the brute of a father came home drunk, cursing and swearing, and in such an ill humour that his mother, and the rest of the children, durst not come near him for fear of a beating, this good lad (Tom was his name) kept close to him, to pacify him, and get him quietly to bed. His mother looked upon Tom as the support of the family, and loved him dearly. It happened one day, Tom in climbing up a high ladder, with a load of mortar on his head, missed his hold, and fell down to the bottom, on a heap of bricks and rubbish.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabilene Gomes Paim ◽  
Maria Cecília Guerrazzi ◽  
Michela Borges

In this study, we present descriptions, illustrations, comments, and bathymetric and geographic distributions of the brittle star species related to the estuary region of Camamu Bay, located in the State of Bahia, Brazil. The brittle star fauna lives on biological substrates, sand bottoms, mud and rubble in the Camamu Bay and comprises 12 species divided into five families. Almost all of them are common in the tropical and subtropical fauna of the regions of shallow water.Ophiophragmus filograneusis reported for the first time in Bahia, and nine other species are recorded for the first time in Camamu Bay:Amphipholis januarii, Amphipholis squamata, Ophiophragmus filograneus, Ophiostigma isocanthum,Ophioderma cinerea, Ophioderma januarii, Ophiactis lymani, Ophiactis savignyi andOphiocoma echinata.The results suggest that the ophiuroid assemblages are strongly affected by marine currents as well as by different kinds of bottom substrate.


2006 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-119
Author(s):  
Lyndel V. Prott

Vincent Noce, La Collection Egoiste (The Selfish Collector) pp. 328. J. C. Lattès, Paris, 2005. ISBN 2-7096-241-9.Few people who follow cases relating to the illicit trade can have missed the celebrated case of Stéfane Breitwieser, the Alsatian misfit who stole, over a period of 8 or so years, hundreds of objects from museums and churches to squirrel away in his attic rooms, or that of his mother Mireille Stengel, who destroyed almost all of it by disposal in the family garbage bin or by throwing it into a canal. This book, however, shows just how much a dedicated investigative journalist can add to the record, details that are not only useful in trying to understand the mentality of Breitwieser (by no means an isolated case as this account shows) and even more useful in showing the loopholes in the investigations, the lack of coordination between countries, and the sheer ineptitude of many institutions in securing their collections. Noce, editor of the cultural section of the French newspaper Libération, has joined the select company of Karl Meyer (articles in the New York Times) and Peter Watson who have added greatly to our knowledge of how the illicit trade works. French journalists, too, are greatly helping expose the unsavory details of these activities (see Noce's previous book Descente aux Enchères and that of Emmanuel de Roux and Roland-Pierre Paringaud, Razzia sur L'art).


2007 ◽  
Vol 135 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 659-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ljiljana Bogdanovic ◽  
Slobodan Savic ◽  
Gordana Basta-Jovanovic

Introduction Suicide is a conscious and intentional destruction of one?s own life, which occurs as a result of mutual influence of a person?s disposition and motives (facts inspiring the commitment of suicide). It is well known that various diseases, including malignancies, could be important and in some cases the only motive for committing suicide. Objective The purpose of the study was to analyze in detail suicides of persons whose only motive was an established malignant disease. Method The analysis was performed using the autopsy material of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, during the period from 1990 to 2004. The reports on performed medico-legal autopsies were used, as well as history data obtained from the family members of suicidal persons, investigation reports and the available medical documents. Results In 1931 cases there was established suicidal nature of a violent death. Neoplasms were the suicidal motive in 37 persons (1.9%). The basic characteristics of the analyzed sample were predominance of males (26:11, ratio 2.4:1), the age of over 70 years and the highest incidence of malignant lung and breast tumors. Almost all cases were the persons who underwent treatment for malignant neoplasms over a longer period of time. During 19 autopsies (51.3% out of 37), a progressive phase of malignancy was established, i.e. metastases. The data on prior oral announcement of suicide intention were obtained for 70.3% (26 cases), and on previous suicidal attempts only for 13.5% (5) cases. In the majority of cases (78.4%) the place of committed suicide was the person?s home. In 16 cases (43.2%) the suicide was committed with a firearm. Hanging as a manner of destroying one?s own life was chosen by 12 persons (32.4%), while other ways were less frequently used. Conclusion Although malignancies were not present with high incidence as a suicidal motive in our analyzed sample, such cases require particular care of health workers in order to enable the application of adequate measures in the prevention of suicides in persons with malignant diseases. The suicide analyses performed so far indicated that a malignant disease was the motive. Doctors have to show maximal interest for the patient. Prevention is crucial, so the patient should be provided with such surroundings in which the person will not feel alone and abandoned.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Hooft van Huysduynen ◽  
Steven Janssens ◽  
Vincent Merckx ◽  
Rutger Vos ◽  
Luis Valente ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTAimInsular woodiness, referring to the evolutionary transition from herbaceousness towards woodiness on islands, has arisen at least 38 times on the Canary Islands. Distribution patterns and physiological experiments have suggested a link between insular woodiness and increased drought stress resistance in current-day species, but we do not know in which palaeoclimatic conditions these insular woody lineages originated. Therefore, we estimated the timing of colonisation events and origin of woodiness of multiple Canary Island lineages and reviewed the palaeoclimate based on literature.LocationCanary Islands (Spain).Taxon37 lineages, including 24 insular woody and 13 non-insular woody (i.e. herbaceous, ancestrally woody, and derived woody).MethodsTo enable a simultaneous dating analysis for all 37 lineages, two chloroplast markers (matK and rbcL) for 135 Canary Island species and 103 closely related continental relatives were sequenced and aligned to an existing matK-rbcL dataset including ca 24,000 species that was calibrated with 42 fossils from outside the Canaries. After constraining the species to the family level, 200 RAxML runs were performed and dated with TreePL.ResultsWoodiness in 80-90% of the insular woody lineages originated within the last 7 Myr, coinciding with the onset of major aridification events nearby the Canaries (start of north African desertification, followed by Messinian salinity crisis); in ca 55-65% of the insular woody lineages studied, woodiness developed within the last 3.2 Myr during which Mediterranean seasonality (yearly summer droughts) became established on the Canaries, followed by dry Pleistocene glacial fluctuations.Main conclusionsAlthough details of the initial colonisation and settlement of many island plant lineages remain elusive, our results are consistent with palaeodrought as a potential driver for woodiness in most of the insular woody Canary Island lineages studied.


2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan VONDRÁK ◽  
Alexander KHODOSOVTSEV ◽  
Jaroslav ŠOUN ◽  
Olga VONDRÁKOVÁ

AbstractThe Caloplaca holocarpa group contains members of the family Teloschistaceae with a strongly reduced thallus and conspicuous yellow, orange or red apothecia. In the absence of well-defined thallus characters, taxa of this group must be identified mainly by apothecial characters and are as a result often difficult to separate. The species of this group have been shown not to form a monophyletic entity, with representatives of other Teloschistaceae with more complex thalli intermixed among them. Caloplaca skii and C. syvashica are recognized here as two homogeneous clades with Caloplaca holocarpa-like phenotypes. Caloplaca skii, which is widespread in southern Europe, resembles C. cerinelloides but is distinguished by its smaller and narrower ascospores and by growing predominantly on xerophilous shrubs. Caloplaca syvashica is restricted to shrubs in salt marshes in the northern Black Sea region. It is similar to the British Caloplaca suaedae and Australian C. yarraensis, but differs from both, mainly in ascospore characters. Caloplaca yarraensis is closely related to the new C. syvashica but arguments against their conspecificity are emphasised. A key for epiphytic C. holocarpa-like Teloschistaceae from Europe is provided.


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