Abundance, Distribution, and Diversity of Tuna Larvae (Family Scombridae) in the Philippine waters

The Philippines is a significant producer of tunas globally but has experienced a decline in tuna production in recent years. Thus, efforts to explore and assess new fishing grounds were conducted by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) through M/V DA-BFAR. Assessment of the spawning and nursery grounds of tunas in the country’s EEZ was also undertaken to properly manage and conserve tuna stocks. The said assessment commenced in 2006 and is continuing up to the present. All the data from 2006-2018 were compiled, including the data from collaborative studies with the University of the Philippines-Marine Science Institute and Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center to create an overall profile of Scombridae’s abundance and distribution larvae in Philippine waters. The study results showed that family Scombridae is most abundant in the Philippine waters along Batanes-Polillo and areas off Eastern Luzon. Species diversity in Philippine waters was considerably high, with about six to eight dominant species. The most dominant species was Thunnus albacares., followed by Thunnus obesus, Auxis spp., Katsuwonus pelamis, unidentified Scombrid larvae, Rastrelliger spp., Thunnus alalunga, and Thunnus tonggol. The Scombridae species are diverse in the West Philippine Sea and Batanes-Polillo waters but not in Davao Oriental-Surigao waters.

Complete Genome Sequence of a Novel Strain of Cyanobacterium, Anabaena sp. 4-3

We report the complete nucleotide sequence of Anabaena sp. 4-3, an efficient producer of sucrose. It was isolated from salt flats near the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas, Texas. The genome may provide insight into the utilization of cyanobacteria as a source for biofuels.

Joseph Arthur Colin Nicol. 5 December 1915 — 20 December 2004

Colin Nicol was a Canadian citizen but spent most of his working life based in the UK, at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth, and in the USA, at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute at Port Aransas. His most important work was on the physiology of marine organisms, in particular their relationship to light, both natural and biologically produced. He was the first to show that bioluminescence is under nervous control and he made an extensive study of the tapetum lucidum, the reflective layer at the back of the eye of a wide range of animals, particularly those living in dim light. Many other subjects caught his interest and resulted in some 145 publications spanning 50 years.

Suppression of long‐delay multiple reflections by predictive deconvolution

Multiple coverage seismograms acquired in the western Gulf of Mexico during 1975 by the University of Texas Marine Science Institute contain prominent, long‐delay multiple reflections, which obscure primary reflections from deep within the earth’s crust. Predictive deconvolution operators, containing gaps of zeros with a duration of 4 to 5 sec, proved effective in suppressing the long‐delay multiple reflections in these seismograms. There is a correspondence between the complexity of the long‐delay multiple reflection and the length of the optimal prediction filter, with the more complex multiple reflection requiring the longer prediction filter. Overall, the deconvolved reflection profiles provide an extremely detailed picture of the reflector characteristics producing both the sedimentary and deep crustal reflections. The top of oceanic layer 3, at a two‐way reflection travel of 10.1 sec in the area of this study, exhibits minor localized structure in three of the four profiles that were deconvolved. A possible Moho reflection was identified in one profile at a two‐way reflection traveltime of 11.6 sec, showing little apparent dip across the entire seismic section.