A re-evaluation of North American Tephroseris and Sinosenecio (Asteraceae: Senecioneae) based on molecular and micromorphological data

The recent transfer of the Queen Charlotte island endemic, Senecio newcombei Greene (Senecioneae: Asteraceae), to the Asiatic genus Sinosenecio extends the biogeographic range of Sinosenecio to North America and introduces a large amphi-Beringian gap in the distribution of the genus. However, the closely related genus Tephroseris includes a number of North American species with distributions in the vicinity of S. newcombei. We provide molecular sequence data from the ITS region of nuclear ribosomal DNA and micromorphological data from anther endothecial cells that indicate S. newcombei is closely related to North American Tephroseris species. However, the overall relationship between Sinosenecio and Tephroseris remains unresolved, so that transfer of S. newcombei to Tephroseris is not proposed.Key words: Tephroseris, Sinosenecio, phylogeny, ITS, anther endothecial cells.

Influence of parental stock and incubation temperature on the early development of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in British Columbia

Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) stocks in British Columbia spawning from October to April were surveyed for variation in developmental characteristics at incubation temperatures from 1.5 to 15 °C. There were no trends in embryo or alevin survival rates associated with spawning time or spawning temperature. The highest embryo and alevin survival rates occurred at 4 or 5 °C and complete mortality generally occurred at 14 or 15 °C. Vancouver and Queen Charlotte Island stocks had lower survival rates at 1.5 and 2 °C than did mainland stocks. Time to 50% hatching and 50% emergence varied inversely with incubation temperature. Alevin hatching time for the Pallant Creek stock on the Queen Charlotte Islands was later than for all other stocks. Stocks had different trends in alevin and fry length and weight with respect to incubation temperature. Northern stocks tended to be more efficient than southern stocks at converting yolk to body tissue at 1.5 and 2 °C, as were mainland stocks compared with island stocks.

The Curculionidae of the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia (Insecta; Coleoptera)

Nineteen species of weevils are reported from the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Nine species are found throughout the coastal forest region from California north to Alaska or British Columbia. Three species are widespread throughout western North American forests. Four species are found on sand beaches from California north to British Columbia. One species is found in alpine areas from southern British Columbia north to Alaska and the Aleutian and Pribilof islands. Two species are introduced into North America from the Palearctic Region. Three additional species are reported from the islands but their occurrence was not confirmed and they are left as questionable records. Adult individuals of all known species from populations on the Queen Charlotte Islands do not appear structurally differentiated from individuals examined from representative localities elsewhere. Postglacial recolonization of the islands from a southern source area by all native lowland to montane species and from a northern source area by the sole alpine species appears to be the most parsimonious account for the origin of the weevil fauna. There is no evidence to suggest survival of any species in a Late Wisconsinan refugium as has been proposed elsewhere for a number of other animals and plants endemic to the Queen Charlotte Island archipelago.