Heat budget studies of the north Arabian Sea during summer and winter seasons, 1992

In this study heat budget components and momentum flux for August and January 1992 over the north Arabian Sea are computed. The marine meteorological data measured on board during the cruises of PAK-US joint project (NASEER) are used for the computation. Significant differences were found in the heat budget components as well as in the momentum flux during different monsoon periods over the north Arabian Sea. The latent heat flux was always positive and attributed to the large vapour pressure gradient. The computed moisture and latent heat fluxes in January were higher than August The highest value of latent heat flux 309 W/m2 at station 8 was evaluated. These higher latent heat fluxes were due to the large vapour pressure gradient, air-sea temperature difference, the wind speed, and the prevailing wind direction (from north and northeast). Negative values of sensible heat fluxes in both seasons indicate that the heat transfer was from the atmosphere to the ocean. The negative values of net heat gain indicate that the sea surface field became an energy sink: or the sea surface supplied more energy to the atmosphere than it received from it. Large variation in the momentum flux mainly attributed to the variation in the wind speed. Aerial averages of heat and momentum fluxes were also computed.

Phycochemical studies on sterols from three brown seaweeds of northern Arabian Sea

Three brown algae i.e. Dictyota hauckiana Nizamuddin, Levringia boergesenii Kylin and Spatoglossum variabile Figari et De Notaris, collected from the coastal areas of Karachi, have been investigated for their sterol composition. Four sterols with cholesta skeleton including a new one, 17α-hydroxy-24β-vinyl cholesterol have been isolated from them. Their structures were elucidated with the help of spectroscopic analysis. The new sterol has been named as hauckiosterol after its first source of isolation.

Description of stomatopod larvae from the Arabian Sea

The Northern Arabian Sea Ecological and Environmental Research (NASEER) Programme cruise I, January, 1992 and other collections from Manora Channel (Karachi) were examined. Six stages i.e. IV, VII, VIII, IX, X and XI of stomatopod larvae are recognized. Day samples talen in 1994 (January to December) from Manora Channel revealed the presence of only three specimens of stage IV. They all belong to the family Squillidae. Each stage is measured, described and illustrated. None of the stages could be correlated to their adults.

An illustrated key to Malacostraca (Crustacea) of the Northern Arabian Sea part-V: Isopoda

The northern Arabian Sea Isopod fauna is keyed out, excluding the gulfs fauna. Some terrestrial species are also included. Previous accounts and recent collections from Pakistan mainly at Karachi have turned up 7 suborders, 18 families, 76 genera and 12 1 species. There 5 are new records from Pakistan. For each species, there is an illustration and information of its reporter from the area and on its host, if parastic. The source of illustration is also given.

An illustrated key to the Malacostraca (Crustacea) of the northern Arabian Sea. Part 3: Euphausiacea

The key includes twenty-one species of euphausiids belonging to two families and six genera. The key was prepared following Brinton (1975). Since several authors attributed a fundamental importance to thelycum in systematics of euphausiids therefore the available figures of thelycum are also included.

The first antimicrobial peptide from sea amphibian

The crab-eating frog, Rana cancrivora, is one of only a handful of amphibians worldwide that tolerates saline waters. It typically inhabits brackish water of mangrove forests of Southeast Asia. A large amount of antimicrobial peptides belonging to different families have been identified from skins of amphibians inhabiting freshwater. No antimicrobial peptide from sea amphibians has been reported. In this paper, we firstly reported the antimicrobial peptide and its cDNA cloning from skin secretions of the crab-eating frog R. cancrivora. The antimicrobial peptide was named cancrin with an amino acid sequence of GSAQPYKQLHKVVNWDPYG. By BLAST search, cancrin had no significant similarity to any known peptides. The cDNA encoding cancrin was cloned from the cDNA library of the skin of R. cancrivora. The cancrin precursor is composed of 68 amino acid residues including a signal peptide, acidic spacer peptide, which are similar to other antimicrobial peptide precursors from Ranid amphibians and mature cancrin. The overall structure is similar to other amphibian antimicrobial peptide precursors although mature cancrin is different from known peptides. The current results reported a new family of amphibian antimicrobial peptide and the first antimicrobial peptide from sea amphibian. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Molecular and functional characterization of a c-type lysozyme from the Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis

Some lepidopteran lysozymes have been reported to display activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, in contrast to most lysozymes that are active only against Gram-positive bacteria. OstrinLysC, a c-type lysozyme, was purified from the As

Hydrography of fishing grounds of Arabian sea off Mangalore

Hydrographical parameters, namely temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and density of the fishing grounds off Mangalore extending over an area of ca 850 km² have been studied during March 1976 - March 1977. Twelve stations along three transects up to 50 m isobaths were located for sampling. The vertical distribution of temperature show three distinct phases, namely, a period of conspicuous variation, a short intermediary phase and a period of thermal stability. The dissolved oxygen of the bottom waters was drastically low during September. Salinity fluctuations were not considerable between months and depths. Dense waters existed over the shelf region, especially along the bottom during september and to a certain extent in october also. The distribution patterns of temperature, dissolved oxygen and density clearly indicate the movement of cold, dense, oxygen-poor- bottom waters from greater depths to the upper reaches of the shelf during September.

Structural features of geostrophic circulation in open region of the South China Sea

On the basis of observation data of water temperature and salinity the mean seasonal geostrophic circulation in open region of the South China Sea (SCS) was computed by the dynamic method relative to the 800 decibar reference surface. The results of computation let go to following notices: In both main monsoons (winter and summer) there are two main geostrophic eddies: the anticlockwise eddy in the northern and northwestern part, and the clockwise eddy in the southern part of the SCS with corresponding divergent and convergent zones. The main frontal zones go along the middle latitudes of the sea from the southern continental shelf of Vietnam to the area west of Luzon Island. The strength and stability of the current in winter are higher than in summer. The Kuroshio has an enough strong branch intruding into the SCS through Bashi Strait in winter creating in the sea the water structure similar to that of the Northwest Pacific subtropical and tropical regions. In summer the Kuroshio water can intrude directly only into the area southwest of Taiwan.

Studies on isolation of salmonella from sea foods 1. Comparison of enrichment and selective media for recovery of salmonellae from fish

Three enrichment broths and six plating media were compared for efficiency of detection Salmonella in the presence of numbers of Coliforms (10super(5)/ml) and proteus (10super(3)/ml) from artificially inoculated fish samples. Recovery experiments Salmonella anatum, S. typhimurium and S. enteritidis indicated that the two enrichment broths Dulcitol Selinite (DSE) and Selinite Cystine (SC) were equally efficient. Further, the viability of Salmonella, inoculated into fish muscle and kept at 4°C for 48 hours, was found to be not affected by the low temperature storage. Selective plating media like Xylose Lysine Deoxycholate agar (XLD), Brilliant Green Sulphadiazine agar (BGS) and Brilliant Green agar (BG) were found to be superior in performance to Salmonella-Shigella agar: (SS) and Bismuth Sui phite agar (BiS).

Modification to the bilge and sea water pumps fitted in 17.5 metre Jingha type trawlers

This paper brings out the difficulties encountered with the Bilge and sea water circulating pumps which are fitted and drawn in series along with a fresh water pump in the 17.5 m fishing trawlers.

Design of refrigerated sea water plant for preservation of fish

To study the feasibility of employing refrigerated sea water on board fishing vessels for the preservation of fish, a pilot model has been designed, the details of which are presented in this paper.

Problems associated with the over protection of fishing trawlers against sea water corrosion and fouling

Some presently used anti-fouling materials contain metals and other compounds, which are toxic in the environment. Coating products are not always stable, and there is a resulting pollution hazard. In particular if surfaces are poorly prepared and manufactures' instructions are not closely followed the application of anti-fouling substances becomes pointless and dangerous. In addition the salinity, constant biological activity and suspended particles make seawater a highly corrosive material in its own right.

Studies on preservation of fish in refrigerated sea-water

Storage characteristics of oil sardine (Sardinella longiceps), mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) and seer (Scomberomorus guttatus) in refrigerated sea-water (RSW) were studied in comparison with their storage in crushed ice. Oil sardine stored in RSW was found to be comparable to iced ones only during the initial stages (up to 2 days) of storage and on further storage the former was found to be inferior to the latter. RSW can be advantageously employed for preservation of mackerel and seer. Mackerel and seer could be stored in RSW in acceptable condition for 4 to 6 days and 12 to 14 days respectively.