scholarly journals LC–MS/MS Analysis of Ciguatoxins Revealing the Regional and Species Distinction of Fish in the Tropical Western Pacific

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomasa Oshiro ◽  
Takumi Tomikawa ◽  
Kyoko Kuniyoshi ◽  
Akira Ishikawa ◽  
Hajime Toyofuku ◽  
...  

Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is one of the most frequently reported seafood poisoning diseases. It is endemic to the tropical region and occurs most commonly in the regions around the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Caribbean Sea. The principal toxins causing CFP are ciguatoxins (CTXs). In the Pacific region, more than 20 analogs of CTXs have been identified to date. Based on their skeletal structures, they are classified into CTX1B-type and CTX3C-type toxins. We have previously reported species-specific and regional-specific toxin profiles. In this study, the levels and profiles of CTXs in fish present in the tropical western Pacific regions were analyzed using the liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) technique. Forty-two fish specimens, belonging to the categories of snappers, groupers, Spanish mackerel, and moray eel, were purchased from various places such as Fiji, the Philippines, Thailand, and Taiwan. Only the fish captured from Fijian coastal waters contained detectable amounts of CTXs. The toxin levels in the fish species found along the coastal regions of the Viti Levu Island, the main island in Fiji, and the toxin profiles were significantly different from those of the fish species present in other coastal regions. The toxin levels and profiles varied among the different fish samples collected from different coastal areas. Based on the toxin levels and toxin profiles, the coast was demarcated into three zones. In Zone-1, which covers the northern coast of the main island and the regions of the Malake Island and Korovau, CTXs in fish were below the detection level. In Zone-2, CTX3C-type toxins were present in low levels in the fish. CTX1B-type and CTX3C-type toxins co-occurred in the fish present in Zone-3. The toxin profiles may have reflected the variation in Gambierdiscus spp.

Zootaxa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2561 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANÇOISE MONNIOT

Numerous collections of ascidians have been made in the Pacific and Indian Oceans but the inventory is far from complete. Each sampling provides new species. Two new didemnids are described here from Palau and Vanuatu. New records are given for 22 additional species with complementary descriptions and underwater photographs. The tropical ascidian fauna is highly diverse and successive new collections show that many of the species are not only widely distributed from the central to western Pacific but also common to the Indian Ocean.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Yasuda ◽  
June Inoue ◽  
Michael R. Hall ◽  
Manoj R. Nair ◽  
Mehdi Adjeroud ◽  
...  

AbstractRecurring outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) severely damage healthy corals in the Western Pacific Ocean. To determine the source of outbreaking COTS larvae and their dispersal routes across the Western Pacific, complete mitochondrial genomes were sequenced from 243 individuals collected in 11 reef regions. Our results indicate that Pacific COTS comprise two major clades, an East-Central Pacific clade (ECP-C) and a Pan-Pacific clade (PP-C). The ECP-C consists of COTS from French Polynesia (FP), Fiji, Vanuatu and the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), and does not appear prone to outbreaks. In contrast, the PP-C, which repeatedly spawns outbreaks, is a large clade comprising COTS from FP, Fiji, Vanuatu, GBR, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands. Given the nature of Pacific Ocean currents, the vast area encompassing FP, Fiji, Vanuatu, and the GBR likely supplies larvae for repeated outbreaks, exacerbated by anthropogenic environmental changes, such as eutrophication.


Antiquity ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 87 (337) ◽  
pp. 840-853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott M. Fitzpatrick ◽  
Richard T. Callaghan

The colonisation of the Pacific islands represents one of the major achievements of early human societies and has attracted much attention from archaeologists and historical linguists. Determining the pattern and chronology of colonisation remains a challenge, as new discoveries continue to push back dates of earliest settlement. The length and direction of the colonising voyages has also led to lively debate seeking to trace languages and artefactual techniques and traditions to presumed places of origin. Seafaring simulation models provide one way of resolving these controversies. One of the most remote of these island groups, the Marianas, is shown here to have been settled not from Taiwan or the Philippines, as has been argued in Antiquity by Hung et al. (2011) and Winter et al. (2012), but from New Guinea or Island Southeast Asia to the south. It represents an incredible feat of early navigation over an ocean distance of some 2000km.


Zootaxa ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 1744 (1) ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
KAREN SANAMYAN ◽  
KAREN HISSMANN

A new species of a stalked ascidian (genus Polycarpa, family Styelidae) is described from living and preserved material. Living specimens of the new and some sympatric species were observed and photographed in situ and specimens of the former were collected by the manned submersible "JAGO" at depths between 200 and 277 m off Sangihe Island between Sulawesi (Indonesia) and the Philippines. Specimens display a number of adaptations known previously from a range of ascidian taxa recorded from deeper waters, including a stalk from the anterior end of the body, the loss of ciliated pharyngeal perforations and wide atrial apertures exposing extensive areas of the branchial sac.


Consumers all over the world are increasingly becoming aware of the health and nutrition status of fish and fishery products. There have develop some preference for fish species and even their processing methods. This study aims to investigate the effects of two drying methods (smoking and oven drying) on the biochemical components and organoleptic properties of two less preferred food fishes abundant in the study area. The fish samples Mormyrus rume and Labeo coubie were purchased from fresh landings of fishermen at Ahaha beach. The biochemical assay of the moisture, protein, fat, carbohydrate, ash, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P), iron (Fe), sodium (Na) and potassium (K) were conducted in the labouratory using standard methods. The proximate composition of raw M. rume was determined as moisture 70.38%, protein 17.43%, carbohydrate 1.13%, fat 5.93% and ash 2.77% while oven dried were 18.78, 63.85, 3.37, 8.73 and 7.58% respectively. All the proximate parameters and gross energy level investigated were higher (p < 0.05) in M. rume except the moisture content of dried samples of L. coubie. The mineral content were in the order Ca < Mg < Fe < Na < P and < K in both species and were higher in M. rume except Na. The drying methods showed increase in the proximate and mineral compositions in the order raw < smoking and < oven drying except moisture content that decreased respectively is both species. Organoleptic properties revealed that dried samples (smoked and oven) were not significantly different (p < 0.05) in taste, flavour, texture and overall acceptance, however while oven dried had better colour (4.33), smoked dried taste (4.63) better. The drying methods shows concentration of the required nutrients in human diets and were also found to be most palatable by the panellist. To improve fish nutrient quality smoke and oven drying should be encourage.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 849
Author(s):  
Hyun-Ju Lee ◽  
Emilia-Kyung Jin

The global impact of the tropical Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific (IOWP) is expected to increase in the future because this area has been continuously warming due to global warming; however, the impact of the IOWP forcing on West Antarctica has not been clearly revealed. Recently, ice loss in West Antarctica has been accelerated due to the basal melting of ice shelves. This study examines the characteristics and formation mechanisms of the teleconnection between the IOWP and West Antarctica for each season using the Rossby wave theory. To explicitly understand the role of the background flow in the teleconnection process, we conduct linear baroclinic model (LBM) simulations in which the background flow is initialized differently depending on the season. During JJA/SON, the barotropic Rossby wave generated by the IOWP forcing propagates into the Southern Hemisphere through the climatological northerly wind and arrives in West Antarctica; meanwhile, during DJF/MAM, the wave can hardly penetrate the tropical region. This indicates that during the Austral winter and spring, the IOWP forcing and IOWP-region variabilities such as the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and Indian Ocean Basin (IOB) modes should paid more attention to in order to investigate the ice change in West Antarctica.


2016 ◽  
Vol 121 (12) ◽  
pp. 7461-7488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie M. Nicely ◽  
Daniel C. Anderson ◽  
Timothy P. Canty ◽  
Ross J. Salawitch ◽  
Glenn M. Wolfe ◽  
...  

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