The ontogeny of haematopoiesis in the marine teleost Leiostomus xanthurus and a comparison of the site of initial haematopoiesis with Opsanus tau

The ontogeny of haematopoiesis in the perciform fish, spot Leiostomus xanthurus, differed from that reported as the norm for fishes, as exemplified by the cypriniform zebrafish Danio rerio, and observed in the batrachoidiform oyster toadfish Opsanus tau. Erythropoiesis in spot was first evident in the head kidney of yolk-sac larvae 3 days after hatching (DAH). No embryonic intermediate cell mass (ICM) of primitive stem cells or blood islands on the yolk were apparent within embryos. Erythrocytes were first evident in circulation near the completion of yolk absorption, c. 5 DAH, when larvae were c. 20 mm notochord length (LN). Erythrocyte abundance increased rapidly with larval development for c. 14 to 16 DAH, then became highly variable following changes in cardiac chamber morphology and volume. Erythrocytic haemoglobin (Hb) was not detected within whole larvae until they were 12 DAH or c. 31 mm LN, well after yolk and oil-globule absorption. The Hb was not quantified until larvae were >47 DAH or >7 mm standard length. The delayed appearance of erythrocytes and Hb in spot was similar to that reported for other marine fishes with small embryos and larvae. In oyster toadfish, a marine teleost that exhibits large embryos and larvae, the ICM and Hb were first evident in two bilateral slips of erythropoietic tissue in the embryos, c. 5 days after fertilization. Soon thereafter, erythrocytes were evident in the heart, and peripheral and vitelline circulation. Initial haematopoiesis in oyster toadfish conformed with that described for zebrafish. While the genes that code for the development of haematopoiesis are conserved among vertebrates, gene expression lacks phylogenetic pattern among fishes and appears to conform more closely with phenotypic expression related to physiological and ecological influences of overall body size and environmental oxygen availability.

Multivariate climate reconstruction for the last 14,000 years in southernmost South America

Comparison between past changes in pollen assemblages and stable isotope ratios (deuterium and carbon) analyzed in the same peat core from Tierra del Fuego at latitude 55°S permitted identification of the relative contribution of precipitation versus temperature responsible for the respective change. Major steps in the sequence of paleoenvironmental changes, such as at 12700, 9000, 5000, and 4000 years ago are apparently related only to increase in precipitation, reflecting the latitudinal location and intensity of the westerly storm tracks. On the other hand, high paleoenvironmental variability, which is characteristic for the late-glacial and the latest Holocene, is related to temperature variability, which affects the relative moisture content. Comparison with other paleoenvironmental records suggests that the late-glacial temperature variability is probably related to variability in the extent of Antarctic sea-ice, which in turn appears to be related to the intensity of Atlantic deep-water circulation. Temperature variability during the latest Holocene, on the other hand, is probably related to the dynamics of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation.

Annual report 2001 - North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES). Tenth meeting, Victoria, B.C., Canada, October 5-13, 2001

Report of Opening Session (pdf 42 KB) Report of Governing Council Meeting (pdf 89 KB) Reports of Science Board and Committees: Science Board (pdf 88 KB) Study Group on North Pacific Ecosystem Status Report and Regional Analysis Center Biological Oceanography Committee (pdf 57 KB) Working Group 14: Effective sampling of micronekton Advisory Panel on Marine Birds and Mammals Fishery Science Committee (pdf 37 KB) Working Group 16: Climate change, shifts to fish production, and fisheries management Marine Environmental Quality Committee (pdf 62 KB) Working Group 15: Ecology of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in the North Pacific Physical Oceanography and Climate Committee (pdf 34 KB) Working Group 13: CO2 in the North Pacific Technical Committee on Data Exchange (pdf 24 KB) Implementation Panel on the CCCC Program (pdf 39 KB) BASS Task Team (pdf 32 KB) Advisory Panel on Iron Fertilization Experiment MODEL Task Team (pdf 22 KB) MONITOR Task Team (pdf 32 KB) Advisory Panel on Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey in the North Pacific REX Task Team (pdf 21 KB) Report of the Finance and Administration Committee (pdf 53 KB) List of Participants (pdf 67 KB) List of Acronyms (pdf 13 KB)

Flood of September 20-23, 1969 in the Gadsden County area, Florida

The center of low pressure of a tropical disturbance which moved northward in the Gulf of Mexico, reached land between Panama City and Port St. Joe, Florida, on September 20, 1969. This system was nearly stationary for 48 hours producing heavy rainfall in the Quincy-Havana area, 70-80 miles northeast of the center. Rainfall associated with the tropical disturbance exceeded 20 inches over a part of Gadsden County, Florida, during September 20 through 23, 1969, and the maximum rainfall of record occurred at Quincy with 10.87 inches during a 6-hour period on September 21. The 48-hour maximum of 17.71 inches exceeded the 1 in 100-year probability of 16 inches for a 7-day period. The previous maximum rainfall of record at Quincy (more than 12 inches) was on September 14-15, 1924. The characteristics of this historical storm were similar in path and effect to the September 1969 tropical disturbance. Peak runoff from a 1.4-square mile area near Midway, Florida, was 1,540 cfs (cubic feet per second) per square mile. A peak discharge of 45,600 cfs on September 22 at the gaging station on the Little River near Quincy exceeded the previous peak of 25,400 cfs which occurred on December 4, 1964. The peak discharge of 89,400 cfs at Ochlockonee River near Bloxham exceeded the April 1948 peak of 50,200 cfs, which was the previous maximum of record, by 1.8 times. Many flood-measurement sites had peak discharges in excess of that of a 50-year flood. Nearly $200,000 was spent on emergency repairs to roads. An additional $520,000 in contractual work was required to replace four bridges that were destroyed. Agricultural losses were estimated at $1,000,000. (44 page document)

Aquaculture Asia, Vol.14, No.1, pp.1-51, January-March 2009

Peter Edwards writes on rural aquaculture: Myanmar revisited. Harvesting, traditional preservation and marketing of fishes of Chalan Beel, Bangladesh, by Galib, S.M. and Samad, M.A. Role of community in production and supply of larger, quality fingerlings, by Radheyshyam, De, H.K. and Saha, G.S. Can rice-fish farming provide food security in Bangladesh? by Ahmed, N. and Luong-Van, J. Nutritional and food security for rural poor through multi-commodity production from a lake of eastern Uttar Pradesh, by Singh, S.K. Emerging boost in Sri Lankan reservoir fish production: a case of adoption of past research findings, by Amarasinghe, U.S., Weerakoon, D.E.M., Athukorala, D.A. Farming the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium malcolmsonii, by Radheyshyam Breeding and seed production of butter catfish, Ompok pabda (Siluridae) at Kalyani Centre of CIFA, India, by Chakrabarti, P.P., Chakrabarty, N.M. and Mondal, S.C. Asia-Pacific Marine Finfish Aquaculture Magazine Use of fish in animal feeds: a fresh perspective National strategies for aquatic animal health management, by Mohan, C.V. NACA Newsletter.

Aquaculture Asia, Vol.14, No.2, pp.1-40, April-June 2009

Sustainable aquaculture GLOBALG.A.P. standard in Thai shrimp farms: Mission (im)possible? p.4 Leepaisomboon, T., Chuchird, N., Limsuwan, C., Steenbruggen, E.R., and Mungkung, R. The Victorian trout industry & the bushfires p.6 Mosig, J. Small-scale aquaculture in the Ayeyarwady Delta, Myanmar p.10 Edwards, P. The history, status, and future prospects of monosex tilapia culture in Thailand p.18 Belton, B., Turongruang, D., Bhujel, R. and Little, D.C. Mangroves of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province in southern Thailand: Species diversity, community structure and current status p.20 By Amarasinghe, M.D., Dulyapurk, V., Taparhudee, W., Yoonpundh, R. and Jumnongsong, S. Research and farming techniques Induced breeding of pacu (Piaractus brachypomus) in captivity with pituitary extract p.23 Chattarjee, N.R. and Mazumdar, B. Aquatic animal health Fumonisins - mycotoxins of increasing importance in fish! p. 24 Griessler, K. and Encarnação, P. Genetics and biodiversity Microsatellite DNA markers, a fisheries perspective. Part 1: The nature of microsatellites p.27 Sekar, M., Suresh, E., Kumar, N.S., Nayak, S.K., Balakrishna, C. Asia-Pacific Marine Finfi sh Aquaculture Magazine Formulated feed for tiger grouper grow-out p.30 Rachmansyah, Usman, Palinggi, N.N. and Williams, K. NACA Newsletter 36

Aquaculture Asia, Vol.14, No.3, pp.1-44, July-September 2009

Sustainable aquaculture Contrasting community management and revenue sharing practices of culture-based fisheries in Lao PDR Saphakdy, B., Phomsouvanh, A., Davy, B., Nguyen, T.T.T. and De Silva, S.S.; Floodplain aquaculture in Begumgonj: New horizon for rural livelihoods in Bangladesh Hossain, M. S.; Promoting small-scale inland aquaculture in Papua New Guinea Edwards, P.; Group approach to shrimp farming: The key to sustainability Kumaran, M.; Research and farming techniques Native catfish culture - a technology package for fish farmers Haniffa, M. A.; An assessment on the influence of salinity in the growth of black clam (Villorita cyprinoides) in cages in Cochin estuary with a special emphasis on the impact of Thennermukkom Salinity Barrier Arun, A. U.; Aquatic animal health EUS in Asia and Africa: Stimulus for regional initiatives!!! Mohan, C.V. Marine Finfish Aquaculture Network Offshore opportunities for artisanal aquaculture Stock, C.; Grouper aquaculture in Brazil Sanches, E.G. and Von Seckendorff, R.W. NACA Newsletter

Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Affects Environmental: presented at American Society of Civil Engineers National Water Resources Engineering Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona, 14 January 1971

The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal is a man-made waterway connecting the upper Chesapeake Bay with the Delaware Bay. It started in 1829 as a private barge canal with locks, two at the Delaware end, and one at the Chesapeake end. For the most part, natural tidal and non-tidal waterways were connected by short dredged sections to form the original canal. In 1927, the C and D Canal was converted to a sea-level canal, with a controlling depth of 14 feet, and a width of 150 feet. In 1938 the canal was deepened to 27 feet, with a channel width of 250 feet. Channel side slopes were dredged at 2.5:1, thus making the total width of the waterway at least 385 feet in those segments representing new cuts or having shore spoil area dykes rising above sea level. In 1954 Congress authorized a further enlargement of the Canal to a depth of 35 feet and a channel width of 450 feet. (pdf contains 27 pages)

Ratio of natural isotopes of nitrogen. I. Primary results: soils of Dombes [Translation from: Revue d'Ecologie et de Biologie du Sol 14, 279-287, 1977]

Utilization of the heavy isotope of nitrogen as a tracer has found numerous applications in soil biology. It allows better definition of different stages of the nitrogen cycle, in particular the immobilization-mineralization cycle. In this work, the authors report the results of calculations of natural isotope ratios of nitrogen in samples of water, soil and vegetation prevailing in Dombes and discuss the possibilities of errors and coefficients of fractionation.

Experimental research on the development of Ceratium hirundinella O.F.Muller [Translation from: Z.Bot. 14, 337-371, 1922]

The most important aim of this study lay in filling in the great gap in our knowledge of the processes of germination in the Ceratium cyst and the early developmental stages in the standing stock of Ceratium hirundinella. contained rich cysts, we now succeeded extraordinarily well in pursuing the consistent development of Ceratium from the cyst to the completed cell. A series of experiments were carried out on the cysts and the juvenile stages of Ceratium, which showed very interesting results. The author presents in a general descriptive part the normal processes of germination in Ceratium cysts and the development of the juvenile stages in order to show in an experimental part the changes in form of C. hirundinella under the influence of temperature, light and varying salinities.

Envisioning 2050: climate change, aquaculture and fisheries in West Africa. Dakar, Senegal 14-16 April 2010

This report presents the activities and results of the workshop Envisioning 2050: Climate Change, Aquaculture and Fisheries in West Africa. The objectives of the workshop were to discuss critical issues and uncertainties faced by the fisheries and aquaculture sector in Ghana, Senegal and Mauritania, build sectoral scenarios for 2050 and discuss the implication of these scenarios in the context of climate change for the countries and the region.

Vision 2050: changement climatique, pêche et aquaculture en Afrique de l’Ouest Du 14 au 16 avril 2010, Dakar, Sénégal

Ce rapport présente les activités et les résultats de l’atelier Vision 2050: Changement climatique, pêche et aquaculture en Afrique de l’Ouest. Les objectifs de l’atelier étaient de discuter les questions critiques et les incertitudes auxquelles est confronté le secteur de la pêche et de l’aquaculture au Ghana, au Sénégal et en Mauritanie, d’élaborer des scénarios sectoriels pour 2050 et de discuter de l’implication de ces scénarios dans le contexte du changement climatique pour ces pays et la région ouest africaine.

The content of organic matter in some waters in the Moscow region [Translation from: C.R. Acad. Soc. URSS, 61, 293-296, 1948]

There is at the moment no direct method of determining the organic matter content of natural waters. In 1940/41 8 different water bodies in central Russia were studied and their organic matter identified. The author concludes that there is currently no easy method to determine organic matter in water. A number methods need to be applied.

Change in Pacific Northwest coastal ecosystems. Proceedings of the Pacific Northwest Coastal Ecosystems Regional Study Workshop, August 73-14, 1996, Troutdale, Oregon

Over the past one hundred and fifty years, the landscape and ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest coastal region, already subject to many variable natural forces, have been profoundly affected by human activities. In virtually every coastal watershed from the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Cape Mendocino, settlement, exploitation and development of resou?-ces have altered natural ecosystems. Vast, complex forests that once covered the region have been largely replaced by tree plantations or converted to non-forest conditions. Narrow coastal valleys, once filled with wetlands and braided streams that tempered storm runoff and provided salmon habitat, were drained, filled, or have otherwise been altered to create land for agriculture and other uses. Tideflats and saltmarshes in both large and small estuaries were filled for industrial, commercial, and other urban uses. Many estuaries, including that of the Columbia River, have been channeled, deepened, and jettied to provide for safe, reliable navigation. The prodigious rainfall in the region, once buffered by dense vegetation and complex river and stream habitat, now surges down sirfiplified stream channels laden with increased burdens of sediment and debris. Although these and many other changes have occurred incrementally over time and in widely separated areas, their sum can now be seen to have significantly affected the natural productivity of the region and, as a consequence, changed the economic structure of its human communities. This activity has taken place in a region already shaped by many interacting and dynamic natural forces. Large-scale ocean circulation patterns, which vary over long time periods, determine the strength and location of currents along the coast, and thus affect conditions in the nearshore ocean and estuaries throughout the region. Periodic seasonal differences in the weather and ocean act on shorter time scales; winters are typically wet with storms from the southwest while summers tend to be dry with winds from the northwest. Some phenomena are episodic, such as El Nifio events, which alter weather, marine habitats, and the distribution and survival of marine organisms. Other oceanic and atmospheric changes operate more slowly; over time scales of decades, centuries, and longer. Episodic geologic events also punctuate the region, such as volcanic eruptions that discharge widespread blankets of ash, frequent minor earthquakes, and major subduction zone earthquakes each 300 to 500 years that release accumulated tectonic strain, dropping stretches of ocean shoreline, inundating estuaries and coastal valleys, and triggering landslides that reshape stream profiles. While these many natural processes have altered, sometimes dramatically, the Pacific Northwest coastal region, these same processes have formed productive marine and coastal ecosystems, and many of the species in these systems have adapted to the variable environmental conditions of the region to ensure their long-term survival.

Southern California's megaflood event of ca. 1605 AD linked to large-scale atmospheric forcing

A distinct, 1- to 2-cm-thick flood deposit found in Santa Barbara Basin with a varve-date of 1605 AD ± 5 years testifies to an intensity of precipitation that remains unmatched for later periods when historical or instrumental records can be compared against the varve record. The 1605 AD ± 5 event correlates well with Enzel's (1992) finding of a Silver Lake playa perennial lake at the terminus of the Mojave River (carbon-14-dated 1560 AD ± 90 years), in relative proximity to the rainfall catchment area draining into Santa Barbara Basin. According to Enzel, such a persistent flooding of the Silver Lake playa occurred only once during the last 3,500 years and required a sequence of floods, each comparable in magnitude to the largest floods in the modern record. To gain confidence in dating of the 1605 AD ± 5 event, we compare Southern California's sedimentary evidence against historical reports and multi-proxy time-series that indicate unusual climatic events or are sensitive to changes in large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns. The emerging pattern supports previous suggestions that the first decade of the 17th century was marked by a rapid cooling of the Northern Hemisphere, with some indications for global coverage. A burst of volcanism and the occurrence of El Nino seem to have contributed to the severity of the events. The synopsis of the 1605 AD ± 5 years flood deposit in Santa Barbara Basin, the substantial freshwater body at Silver Lake playa, and much additional paleoclimatic, global evidence testifies for an equatorward shift of global wind patterns as the world experienced an interval of rapid, intense, and widespread cooling.