Synthesis, Characterization, Antioxidant Activity, and Toxicity Properties of Tripolyphosphate Crosslinked Chitosan

Chitosan is biopolymer obtained from chitin deacetylation reaction. Chitin is a constituent of shrimps’ outer shell. Chitosan modification using crosslinker agent could increase the active groups and stabilize the physical character. One of non-toxic crosslink agents was tripolyphosphate. This study aimed at synthesizing tripolyphosphate crosslinked chitosan (TPP-Cs) to test the antioxidant and toxicity. Synthesizing tripolyphosphate chitosan was conducted using ionic gelation method. The antioxidant activity test was studied from DPPH radicals scavenging and the ability to inhibit linoleic acid oxidation. The toxicity test was using BSLT (Brine Shrimp Lethality Test) method and Artemia salina leach nauplii. The study showed that TPP-Cs could be synthesized from pink shrimp and showed antioxidant activity. The activity was due to amino and hydroxyl groups. The BSLT method showed that TPP-Cs had the potential to be applied for antibacterial, antivirus, or anticancer products.

Population Genomics of the Commercially Important Gulf of Mexico Pink Shrimp Farfantepenaeus duorarum (Burkenroad, 1939) Support Models of Juvenile Transport Around the Florida Peninsula

The Gulf of Mexico pink shrimp, Farfantepenaeus duorarum, supports large fisheries in the United States and Mexico, with nearly 7,000 tons harvested from the region in 2016. Given the commercial importance of this species, management is critical: in 1997, the southern Gulf of Mexico pink shrimp fishery was declared collapsed and mitigation strategies went into effect, with recovery efforts lasting over a decade. Fisheries management can be informed and improved through a better understanding of how factors associated with early life history impact genetic diversity and population structure in the recruited population. Farfantepenaeus duorarum are short-lived, but highly fecund, and display high variability in recruitment patterns. To date, modeling the impacts of ecological, physical, and behavioral factors on juvenile settlement has focused on recruitment of larval individuals of F. duorarum to nursery grounds in Florida Bay. Here, we articulate testable hypotheses stemming from a recent model of larval transport and evaluate support for each with a population genomics approach, generating reduced representation library sequencing data for F. duorarum collected from seven regions around the Florida Peninsula. Our research represents the first and most molecular data-rich study of population structure in F. duorarum in the Gulf and reveals evidence of a differentiated population in the Dry Tortugas. Our approach largely validates a model of larval transport, allowing us to make management-informative inferences about the impacts of spawning location and recruitment patterns on intraspecific genetic diversity. Such inferences improve our understanding of the roles of non-genetic factors in generating and maintaining genetic diversity in a commercially important penaeid shrimp species.

Trace Metal Levels in Muscles and Exoskeleton of Pink Shrimp (Penaeus brasiliensis and paulensis) from a Subtropical Coastal Region, Laguna Estuarine System, Brazil

Contamination by heavy metals produced by either anthropogenic or natural activities represents a threat to man and marine life. The present paper aimed to carry out in situ monitoring of trace metals using shrimp species from an estuarine area as a bioindicator of environmental contamination. The shrimps were captured by fyke net during the rainy and dry periods, and the metal concentrations in the muscles and exoskeletons were determined. The results showed that the metal concentrations decrease in the following order Fe> Zn> Cu> Mn> Cr> As> Pb> Cd for both samples groups, muscles and exoskeletons, being the muscles presented lower concentrations. Metal concentrations were within the permissible limits allowed by the Brazilian legislation, except for Pb. Bioconcentration factor was below 1 for most of the metals, what it means that metals are not accumulating in the shrimp body.

An abnormal rostrum in a wild subadult shrimp Farfantepenaeus duorarum (Burkenroad, 1939) (Decapoda, Penaeidae) from the southern Gulf of Mexico

An abnormal bifid rostrum is reported for the first time for a wild-caught subadult female (carapace length = 22.5 mm) of the pink shrimp Farfantepenaeus duorarum (Burkenroad, 1939) from Celestun lagoon, Yucatan, southern Gulf of Mexico. A review of registers on morphological abnormalities in shrimps of the family Penaeidae is provided.

Spatial structure of the pink shrimp Penaeus (Farfantepenaeus) notialis (Pérez Farfante, 1967) (Decapoda, Penaeidae) in the Colombian Caribbean: implications for fisheries management

The objective of this study was to assess the patterns in the spatial distribution, size structure, morphometric relationships, and relationships of biomass and size to sampling depth and distance to the coast of Penaeus notialis in the Colombian Caribbean. The biological data were collected on board a shrimp trawler. The females were larger and heavier than the males, which indicated distinct sexual dimorphism in body size. The cephalothorax length at 50% maturity in females was 26.49 mm, and in males, it was 15.13 mm. Relatively high biomass values were found in the southern zone of the study area at depths between 25.6 and 49.3 m and between 3.94 and 7.80 nmi (= 7.29-14.45 km) from the coast. We found a clear spatial structure of biomass and size in relation to depth, so that the fishing effort can be directed to the locations of the adult population.

Sharks and batoids (Subclass Elasmobranchii) caught in the industrial fisheries off the Brazilian North coast

The Brazilian North coastline comprises a total area of approximately 223,000 km2, representing one of the world’s most essential fishing grounds. Availability of data on the diversity of fishes caught in the industrial fishery trawlers in the region are usually limited to the commercially important and targeted species. Knowledge gaps on the related marine fish fauna are eminent, which hamper both fisheries and conservation efforts of the local biodiversity. A comprehensive taxonomic list of elasmobranch species captured off the North coast from Brazil through industrial trawl fishery is provided. Trawling operations acting regionally included pink-shrimp and several fish (outrigger trawling) and piramutaba catfish (pair trawlers). Sixty-eigth elasmobranch species belonging to 20 families and nine orders were recorded for this region, according to fish collection, fishery observer and literature data. Thirty-two are by-catch species caught in the local trawl operations, including endemic and rare species as well as four new records and one possible undescribed species of electric ray.