Five New Records of Raphignathoid Mites (Acari: Raphignathoidea) from Poland/ Pięć Nowych Gatunków Roztoczy Z Nadrodziny Raphignathoidea (Acari) Stwierdzonych W Faunie Polski

Five raphignathoid (Acari: Raphignathoidea) mite species, including three of family Stigmaeidae, Eustigmaeus rhodomela (KOCH), Mediolata obtecta DÖNEL and DOĞAN, Stigmaeus glabrisetus SUMMERS, one of Cryptognathidae, Favognathus cucurbita (BERLESE), and one of Barbutiidae, Barbutia anguineus (BERLESE), are recorded as new for the Polish fauna. This is the first report of the family Barbutiidae from Poland.

Aquaculture and Fish Welfare: Are the Rights of Fish Compromised?/ Akwakultura I Dobrostan Ryb: Czy Prawa Ryb Są Szanowane?

Fish need adequate welfare in culture even more than when they are in the wild. This is because they are held in captivity against their ‘will’. The welfare of farmed fish should start from production to consumption. Several factors have been identified as compromising the rights and welfare of fish in aquaculture. These include the aquacultural holding devices, stocking density, water quality, food and feeding regimes, diseases and parasite infestation, treatment of the diseases and parasites, handling, netting and removal before and during slaughter, methods of slaughter, fasting/ food withdrawal, unnatural dark/light photoperiods, selection for fast growth, selective and induced breeding, genetic manipulations, exposure to predators, polyculture, tagging, crowding, grading, transport and harvesting, fish attractors and accidental or deliberate introduction of genetically modified farmed fish. The best way to achieve good welfare and health of fish in aquaculture is to respect, maintain and improve the rights of fish, otherwise known as the “five freedoms.” Lack, deficiency or difficulty in having or providing any one of the five freedoms in aquaculture is an indicator of poor welfare for the fish which could be observed through physical, physiological, morphological, behavioural or environmental indicators in the fish. The best strategy for a reliable assessment of fish welfare/suffering and their impact on product quality is a multidisciplinary approach using several assessment parameters and comparing the deviations from the normal biological state with those from the wild which live in their natural, unperturbed environment. Some of the ways to achieve good welfare and safeguard the rights of the farmed fish in reducing the welfare problems were highlighted. Welfare of farmed fish should be considered in terms of ethics, productivity, economic viability and consumer’s acceptability of the final product. Consumers are becoming aware of the quality of farmed fish arising from poor welfare of the fish during culture. Improvement in fish welfare will increase profits, productivity and acceptability of the farmed fish because fish that are less stressedand humanely slaugh tered are healthier, grow better and have better meat quality. There is the need to develop common standard welfare indices for fish in culture in order to detect, correct and improve any deviation from the normal state of the fish in their aquacultural holding devices (AHD). It should be known that whatever is good in terms of welfare to humans should also be good to the fish in captivity.

Dorsal Surface of the Tongue of the Hazel Dormouse Muscardinus Avellanarius: Scanning Electron and Light Microscopic Studies/ Grzbietowa Powierzchnia Języka Orzesznicy Muscardinus Avellanarius: Badania Z Wykorzystaniem Mikroskopu Skaningowego I Świetlnego

The dorsal surface of a hazel dormouse tongue was examined by scanning electron and light microscopy. The tongue of the hazel dormouse is elongated and widened in the proximal part. On the proximal one-third of the tongue a clear median groove is observed. The dorsal lingual surface was covered with five types of papillae: filiform, conical, fungiform, vallate and foliate. The arrangement, shape, size and direction of the filiform papillae vary depending on the region of the tongue. On the proximal part of the tongue, the filiform papillae are saw-like and tilted medioposteriorly, while on the distal part they have a fork-like shape and form a radial pattern with their processes oriented towards the center of the tongue. Fungiform papillae with single taste buds are evenly scattered on the anterior and middle part of the tongue body. On the root of the tongue, three star-like shaped vallate papillae are arranged in the form of a triangle and surrounded by conical papillae. A pair of foliate papillae are found on both edges of the posterior area of the tongue, forming three parallel folds separated by deep grooves. The dorsal surfaces of the vallate and foliate papillae are covered with hard-cornified epithelium, while the lateral surfaces have noncornified epithelium with numerous taste buds. The results of our studies show that the tongue structure of the hazel dormouse is more primitive in comparison with other rodents which is related to their phylogeny and feeding habits.

Can the Spatial Point Patterns of Animal Distributions Be Detected Using Sparse Samples? A Case Study of Four Soricomorpha (Mammalia) Species in Poland / Czy Przestrzenny Wzorzec Rozkładu Punktów W Dystrybucji Zwierząt Może Zostać Określony Na Podstawie Rzadkiego Próbkowania? Studium Przypadku Na Czterech Gatunkach Soricomorpha (Mammalia) Występujących W Polsce.

In the present study, Riley's K function and alternative spatial point process models are calculated and compared for the hybrid distributional records of four Soricomorpha species (Talpa europaea, Sorex araneus, Sorex minutus, and Neomys fodiens) in Poland over different sampling sizes. The following spatial point process models are fitted and compared: homogeneous Poisson process (HPP) and inhomogeneous Poisson process (IPP) models. For IPP models, the covariates explaining the trend are latitude and longitude. Spatial process models and true distributional aggregation status (using K function) of the four species are also calculated based on the full observed data set for the purpose to check how many grids are required to sample so as to reflect the true spatial distributional point patterns. When performind tha sampling, the sanpling size 5, 10, 30, 60 and 100 are considered. For each sampling size, 500 replicates are performed to keep consistence and reduce uncertainty. The results showed that, for the full observed data set over the whole territory of Poland, IPP models were much better than the null HPP model for explaining the distribution of Soricomorpha species. For every sample size, the true aggregation status and the associated spatial point process models of each species over the studied area can be perfectly identified when using the information derived from limiting samples only. Based on the results, it is found that around 20% of grid cells should be used as the minimum threshold for accurately detecting the true spatial point patterns

A Survey of Gill Histopathology of Thirteen Common Fish Species in the Sanyati Basin, Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe/ Badania Histopatologiczne Skrzeli Trzynastu Pospolitych Gatunków Ryb W Zlewni Sanyati, Jezioro Kariba, Zimbabwe

Following a study of gill pathology in African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) and Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) from the Sanyati Basin of Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe, a similar survey was carried out in thirteen other common fishes of Lake Kariba. Gill tissues were dissected from the fish, preserved and prepared for histology. The prepared tissue sections were observed under a light microscope. Six histopathological lesions were observed, namely epithelial lifting, hyperplasia, lamellae fusion, parasitic cysts, oedema, and aneurysm. Epithelial lifting was prevalent in all fish species whilst aneurysm was only observed in two fish species. Synodontis zambezensis had the highest prevalence of gill lesions whilst Marcusenius microlepidotus, Brycinus imberi and Micralestes acutidens had the least prevalence of lesions. Most of these histopathological lesions were mild to moderate, and this is suggestive of good health of the fish species investigated. Seventy seven percent of the fish species were infected with monogenean ectoparasites. More research on fish health in Lake Kariba is recommended and future studies should aim to quantify these histological changes in relation to environmental conditions of the lake. This will enable histopathology to be used as a biomarker or predictor of water quality.

BIOMETRIC STUDIES ON OLIGOMELIC INDIVIDUALS OF THE SPIDER TEGENARIA ATRICA (ARTHROPODA, ARACHNIDA) / BADANIA BIOMETRYCZNE OSOBNIKÓW OLIGOMELICZNYCH PAJĄKA TEGENARIA ATRICA (ARTHROPODA, ARACHNIDA)

Oligomely is a type of developmental anomaly occurring in embryos of the spider Tegenaria atrica C.L. Koch under the teratogenic influence of temperature. This anomaly is of metameric origin, as it results from a disorder of metamere formation on the germ band during embryogenesis, resulting in the absence of one half or the whole metamere. In such a case, one or more appendages are missing on one or both sides of the body in a spider leaving a chorion. This anomaly induces changes both in the anatomical structure and exoskeleton of a spider (deformation of carapace and sternum). Carapace length and sternum area were measured, as well as the duration of the subsequent nymph stages of oligomelic individuals with one of the walking appendages missing (always on the right side of the body) was recorded. The consecutive nymph stages of oligomelic individuals lasted for a much shorter time compared with control specimens. This acceleration of development is probably to offset losses incurred during embryogenesis. In the early postembryogenesis, oligomelic specimens exhibited shorter carapace length and smaller surface area of the sternum compared to control individuals, which resulted from the lack of half of the metamere corresponding to the missing leg. However, in older nymph stages, a strong tendency for the faster growth of both carapace and sternum was observed, which can be defined as a compensatory growth increase making up for the losses caused by the anomaly.

DO FISH HAVE RIGHTS IN ARTISANAL FISHERIES? / CZY POŁAWIANE RYBY MAJA PRAWA W RYBACTWIE TRADYCYJNYM (NIE-PRZEMYSŁOWYM)?

Artisanal fishers in the developing world are unaware that fish are capable of suffering or experience discomfort, though researches have shown that fish do feel pain. Five fish welfare domains have been identified which constitute their rights in their environment. The needs of wild fish are usually provided in their natural, undisturbed and unperturbed aquatic environment, of which the fish will prefer. However, various anthropogenic activities by humans (including artisanal fisheries themselves) and some natural perturbations in the watershed, riparian zone, water body of the fish habitat and on the fish tend to take away these needs thereby compromising the fish welfare. These activities include environmental degradation, boat/canoe building, use of motorized boats/canoes, use of active and passive fishing gear, obnoxious cultural, religious and social fishing practices, fish harvesting, handling and processing among others. One way to understand the welfare needs of an individual fish is to understand its biology. Poor welfare conditions can then be assessed by how far the individual fish has deviated from the normal conditions. Non-intrusive signs based on the health, behaviour, morphological anomalies, swimming, reduction in population and growth, outbreak of parasitic infections, injuries and loss of condition can be used to assess fish whose welfare has been compromised. Artisanal fishers should not only be concerned with catch, but, also the welfare of the fish being caught. This is because if the welfare of the fish is compromised, it is going to definitely affect the catch. As indispensable as fish are to humans, humans should not derive their pleasure at the expense of fish suffering. Human activities that impinge on the welfare of wild fish may not necessarily be stopped, but should at least minimized in order to have continued sustainable artisanal exploitation of the fisheries.

ISOLATION, IDENTIFICATION AND ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE OF AEROMONAS SPP. AND SALMONELLA SPP. FROM THE FRESH WATER LOACH, LEPIDOCEPHALICHTHYS GUNTEA AND WATER OF TERAI RIVER LOTCHKA, WEST BENGAL, INDIA

An investigation was conducted to identify the bacterial isolates and to study the antibiotic resistance patterns of Aeromonas spp. and Salmonella spp. from the skin, gills, and gut of the fresh water loach, Lepidocephalichthys guntea (HAMILTON BUCHANAN) and water sampled from four different sites along the River Lotchka in Darjeeling District, West Bengal, India. Isolated bacteria were identified by different biochemical procedures, and Polymerase Chain Reaction was performed using genus specific 16S rDNA primers for confirmation of identification of Aeromonas spp. and Salmonella spp. Antibiotic susceptibility test of bacterial isolates was also done by Disc Diffusion method. A total of 49 Aeromonas spp. and 24 Salmonella spp. were isolated from tested samples. Maximum resistance was exhibited for Penicillin-G, Ampicillin, and Cephalothin (>75% resistant Aeromonas spp. and >60% Salmonella spp. in the four different sites of river and body parts of fish). Ciprofloxacin and Tetracycline resistance was almost nil. The results indicated that the river water and resident fish were contaminated with multi-antibiotic resistant enteric pathogenic bacteria. This study, thus, provides valuable information for making policy decisions aimed at reducing microbial contamination of fish and the indiscriminate use of antibiotics.

All things considered? Alternative reasons for hamster extinction

In 2002 a pest biologist (LEIRS 2002) calculated the survival chances of the European hamster (Cricetus cricetus) according to data provided by participants of the meeting of the International Hamster Workgroup in Tongeren. His model was based predominantly on demographic data as birth rates and predicted that the European hamster will be extinct in Western Europe within the next 50 years. Since then, the mean number of litters females raise in a year has diminished from 2-3 to 1-2. It is thus to be feared that the remaining time is only half as long as predicted and extinction might occur around 2030. However, since then hamster protection measures have improved considerably and two major milestones have been reached: (1) we are able to breed captive hamsters in a sufficient number and (2) most released hamsters survive long enough to reproduce once. Thus, at the present state we can claim that the hamster won.t go extinct as long as such breeding and releasing programs are in place. However, we haven.t achieved a state yet at which it is clear that the hamster will survive with its own means when such programs are stopped. To work on this will be the task of the coming years. This review might be a starting point for that. It reflects on which other factors possibly impair the survival of European hamster populations besides some aspects of modern agriculture, thus it searches for parameters which are not yet considered in conservation programs. Historical data as well as observations and research data from other species are reviewed. Additionally, new insights from the subterranean life of European hamsters in outdoor terrariums are presented, which suggest that the soil as habitat might need more attention in conservation. However, this conjecture can provide only new ideas, which still have to be confirmed by research. The intention is to spark a lively discussion on such potential alternative reasons for the decline of European hamsters, whether some of them are worth being investigated and whether we overlooked something. There is not much time left.

The common hamster as a synurbist: a history of settlement in european cities

Following the expansion of agriculture in the Neolithic period, the common hamster has spread throughout Europe, and occurred abundantly until the recent past. However, in the last 45 years, populations declined markedly, partly attributable to urbanization and to major changes in agricultural practices. As a result, the species has been considered endangered at international levels as well as in most European countries. At the same time, the species has established populations in large Central and Eastern-European cities such as Vienna (Austria), Simferopol (Ukraine) and Nalchik (Russia), where it inhabits green spaces such as parks, gardens, embankments and buffer strips. In an attempt to reveal factors enabling hamsters to cope with urban environments, we reviewed historical data and habitat conditions of several urban hamster populations. We suggest that supplemental food resources and reduced predation pressure were the main factors promoting urban occurrence of common hamsters in the last 30 years. Its notable adaptability may be associated with higher stress resilience, ecological opportunism, polyphagy and higher fertility compared to species relying on non-urban habitats. The phenomenon of synurbization implies coexistence of wildlife and our urban civilization, but at the same time conflicting interests in conservation and urban development. Thus, the common hamster might serve as a model species for efficient mitigation and compensation concepts in urbanism and spatial planning.