Are critically endangered fish back on the menu? Analysis of U.K. fisheries data suggest post-ban landings of prohibited skates in European waters

Skates (Rajidae) have been commercially exploited in Europe for hundreds of years with some species’ abundances declining dramatically during the twentieth century. In 2009 it became “prohibited for EU vessels to target, retain, tranship or land” certain species in some ICES areas, including the critically endangered common skate and the endangered white skate. To examine compliance with skate bans the official UK landings data for 2011–2014 were analysed. Surprisingly, it was found that after the ban prohibited species were still reported landed in UK ports, including 9.6 t of common skate during 2011–2014. The majority of reported landings of common and white skate were from northern UK waters and landed into northern UK ports. Although past landings could not be validated as being actual prohibited species, the landings’ patterns found reflect known abundance distributions that suggest actual landings were made, rather than sporadic occurrence across ports that would be evident if landings were solely due to systematic misidentification or data entry errors. Nevertheless, misreporting and data entry errors could not be discounted as factors contributing to the recorded landings of prohibited species. These findings raise questions about the efficacy of current systems to police skate landings to ensure prohibited species remain protected. By identifying UK ports with the highest apparent landings of prohibited species and those still landing species grouped as'skates and rays’, these results may aid authorities in allocating limited resources more effectively to reduce landings, misreporting and data errors of prohibited species, and increase species-specific landing compliance.

To breathe or fight? Siamese fighting fish differ when facing a real opponent or mirror image.

Displays are a feature of animal contest behaviour and have been interpreted as a means of gathering information on opponent fighting ability, as well as signalling aggressive motivation. In fish, contest displays often include frontal and lateral elements, which in the latter involves contestants showing their flanks to an opponent. Previous work in a range of fish species has demonstrated population-level lateralization of these displays, preferentially showing one side to their opponent. Mirrors are commonly used in place of a real opponent to study aggression in fish, yet they may disrupt the normal pattern of display behaviour. Here, using Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens, we compare the aggressive behaviour of males to a mirror image and real opponent behind a transparent barrier. As this species is a facultative air-breather, we also quantify surface breathing, providing insights into underlying fight motivation. Consistent with previous work, we found evidence of population-level
lateralization, with a bias to present the left side and use the left eye when facing a real opponent. Contrary to expectations, there were no differences in the aggressive displays to a mirror and real opponent, with positive correlations between the behaviour in the two scenarios. However, there were important differences in surface breathing, which was more frequent and of longer duration in the mirror treatment. The reasons for these differences are discussed in relation to the repertoire of contest behaviour and motivation when facing a real opponent.

Plasticity varies with boldness in a weakly-electric fish

The expression of animal personality is indicated by patterns of consistency in  individual behaviour. Often, the differences exhibited between individuals are consistent across situations. However, between some situations, this can be biased by variable levels of individual plasticity. The interaction between individual plasticity and animal personality can be illustrated by examining situation-sensitive personality traits such as boldness (i.e. risk-taking and exploration tendency). For the weakly electric fish Gnathonemus petersii, light condition is a major factor influencing behaviour. Adapted to navigate in low-light conditions, this species chooses to be more active in dark environments where risk from visual predators is lower. However, G. petersii also exhibit individual differences in their degree of behavioural change from light to dark. The present study, therefore, aims to  examine if an increase of motivation to explore in the safety of the dark, not only affects mean levels of boldness, but also the variation between individuals, as a result of differences  in individual plasticity.  Results: Boldness was consistent between a novel-object and a novel-environment situation in bright light. However, no consistency in boldness was noted between a bright (risky) and a  dark (safe) novel environment. Furthermore, there was a negative association between boldness and the degree of change across novel environments, with shier individuals  exhibiting greater behavioural plasticity.  Conclusions: This study highlights that individual plasticity can vary with personality. In  addition, the effect of light suggests that variation in boldness is situation specific. Finally,  there appears to be a trade-off between personality and individual plasticity with shy but  plastic individuals minimizing costs when perceiving risk and bold but stable individuals  consistently maximizing rewards, which can be maladaptive.

To breathe or fight? Siamese fighting fish differ when facing a real opponent or mirror image

Displays are a feature of animal contest behaviour and have been interpreted as a means of gathering information on opponent fighting ability, as well as signalling aggressive motivation. In fish, contest displays often include frontal and lateral elements, which in the latter involves contestants showing their flanks to an opponent. Previous work in a range of fish species has demonstrated population-level lateralization of these displays, preferentially showing one side to their opponent. Mirrors are commonly used in place of a real opponent to study aggression in fish, yet they may disrupt the normal pattern of display behaviour. Here, using Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens, we compare the aggressive behaviour of males to a mirror image and real opponent behind a transparent barrier. As this species is a facultative air-breather, we also quantify surface breathing, providing insights into underlying fight motivation. Consistent with previous work, we found evidence of population-level lateralization, with a bias to present the left side and use the left eye when facing a real opponent. Contrary to expectations, there were no differences in the aggressive displays to a mirror and real opponent, with positive correlations between the behaviour in the two scenarios. However, there were important differences in surface breathing, which was more frequent and of longer duration in the mirror treatment. The reasons for these differences are discussed in relation to the repertoire of contest behaviour and motivation when facing a real opponent.

Ecological effects of flow and temperature regimes on fish communities in temperate rivers

Les organismes aquatiques sont adaptés à une grande variabilité hydrique et thermique des rivières. Malgré ceci, la régulation des eaux suscite des changements aux débits qui peuvent provoquer des impacts négatifs sur la biodiversité et les processus écologiques en rivière. Celle-ci peut aussi causer des modifications au niveau des régimes thermiques et des caractéristiques de l’habitat du poisson. Des données environnementales et biologiques décrivant l’habitat du poisson existent, mais elles sont incomplètes pour plusieurs rivières au Canada et de faible qualité, limitant les relations quantitatives débit-température-poissons à un petit nombre de rivières ou à une région étudiée. La recherche menée dans le cadre de mon doctorat concerne les impacts de la génération d'hydroélectricité sur les rivières; soit les changements aux régimes hydriques et thermiques reliés à la régulation des eaux sur la variation des communautés ichtyologiques qui habitent les rivières régulées et naturelles au Canada. Suite à une comparaison d’échantillonnage de pêche, une méthode constante pour obtenir des bons estimés de poisson (richesse, densité et biomasse des espèces) a été établie pour évaluer la structure de la communauté de poissons pour l’ensemble des rivières ciblées par l’étude. Afin de mieux comprendre ces changements environnementaux, les principales composantes décrivant ces régimes ont été identifiées et l’altération des régimes hydriques pour certaines rivières régulées a été quantifiée. Ces résultats ont servi à établir la relation significative entre le degré de changement biotique et le degré de changement hydrique pour illustrer les différences entre les régimes de régulation. Pour faire un complément aux indices biotiques déjà calculés pour l’ensemble des communautés de poissons (diversité, densité et biomasse des espèces par rivière), les différences au niveau des guildes de poissons ont été quantifiées pour expliquer les divers effets écologiques dus aux changements de régimes hydriques et thermiques provenant de la gestion des barrages. Ces derniers résultats servent à prédire pour quels traits écologiques ou groupes d’espèces de poissons les composantes hydriques et thermiques sont importantes. De plus, ces derniers résultats ont servi à mettre en valeur les variables décrivant les régimes thermiques qui ne sont pas toujours inclues dans les études hydro-écologiques. L’ensemble des résultats de cette thèse ont des retombées importantes sur la gestion des rivières en évaluant, de façon cohérente, l’impact de la régulation des rivières sur les communautés de poissons et en développant des outils de prévision pour la restauration des écosystèmes riverains.

Migration and Residence Patterns of Salmonids in Puget Sound, Washington

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

An assessment to pathogenicity of Streptococcus iniae obtained from rainbow trout fish in Fars Province

In order to evaluating Streptoccocus iniae pathogenicity recovered from trout in Fars province a total number of 400 healthy (15-20g) fingerling fish specimens which were kept in 1000 liters ponds and after spending compatibility (adaptation) period in new environment and desired condition as aspect of temperature, pH, food and density relative to accomplish disease experiments in interamusclar injection method with 3 × 10 3 , 3 × 10 4, 3 × 10 5, 3 × 10 6 ,3 × 10 7 bacterium cell dilutions per each fish, interaperitonal method with 2 × 10 3 , 2 × 10 4, 2 × 10 5, 2 × 10 6 ,2 × 10 7 dilutions of bacterium cell and in water bath method with 2 × 10 3 , 2 × 10 4, 2 × 10 5, 2 × 10 6 2 × 107 dilutions in 20 degree centigrade temperature were used. Control groups according to above (mentioned) method with 0.1cc sterile physiological serum per each fish were injected. Clinical and autopsy signs that observed in injected groups were includes: body darkness, swelling of abdomen, exophthalmy sometime with eye ocular haemorrhagy, anal (rectal) prolaps, blood congestion and petechia in muscles and congestion and haemorrhagy in intestines. Infectious results in interamusclar injection shown that, mortality 22 hours after injection begans and in 3 × 107 cells dilution per each fish 30 hours pass the injection was reached above 50 percent, so that the amount of LD50/ 30h in 3 × 10 7 cells per each fish was estimated. In interaperitonal injection method was shown those 20 hours after injection mortality begins and up to maximum 80 hours after continued and 32 hours after injection in 2 × 10 7 cells dilution mortality was reached above 50 percent, so that LD50 /32 hour in 2 × 10 7 cell dilution per each fish estimated. In water bath method even after sparing 15 days mortality had been too low which indicating long process of disease. By microscopic study of tissues, dilatation of bowman capsule, shrinkage of glomerols, increasing of melano macrophage centers, degeneration, necrosis of urine tubules in kidney tissue, dilatation of sinusoids, congestion of hepatic vessels, increasing of melanoma macrophages and hepatocite vacuolization in liver tissue, spleen congestion, heart pericardit, ocular haemorrhagy, congestion, edema and separating of basement membrane from gill secondary lamellae can be referred.

Cognitive and structural aspects of addiction: Relation between iris patterns, time perception, eyeblink rate, impulsivity and cigarette addiction

Objectif : Le but de ce travail est d'étudier les corrélations existantes entre les patterns de l'iris, la perception du temps et la fréquence de clignement des paupières (eye blink rate) et ceci en relation avec l'addiction à la cigarette. Méthodologie: Revue de la littérature existante. Expériences sur une cohorte d'au moins trente sujets fumeurs/non-fumeurs. Analyses statistiques. Résultats: Nos résultats confirment qu'il existe des relations entre l'impulsivité, les patterns d'iris, l'eye blink rate spontané et la perception du temps. Nous observons également que l'addiction à la cigarette et son niveau de dépendance ont une influence sur ces différentes mesures. En effet, les sujets fumeurs tendent à avoir une personnalité plus impulsive par rapport aux sujets contrôles. On remarque également une nette diminution de l'eye blink rate dans le groupe des fumeurs et une tendance à la sur-estimation du temps qui passe. Conclusion : Ce travail nous permet de mieux comprendre les différentes corrélations qui existent entre les différentes variables que nous avons mesurées (patterns d'iris, score d'impulsivité et eye blink rate) ainsi que leur relation à l'addiction à la cigarette. Dès lors qu'il est avéré que les fumeurs peuvent avoir une perception du temps altérée par rapport au groupe contrôle, il serait intéressant d'en étudier l'évolution sur le long terme (aggravation avec la durée du tabagisme actif) ainsi que les conséquences qui en découlent écologiquement au moyen d'études longitudinales et de terrain.

Diurnal temporal patterns of the diversity and the abundance of reef fishes in a branching coral patch in New Caledonia

Small-scale spatial and temporal variability in animal abundance is an intrinsic characteristic of marine ecosystems but remains largely unknown for most animals, including coral reef fishes. In this study, we used a remote autonomous unbaited video system and recorded reef fish assemblages during daylight hours, 10 times a day for 34 consecutive days in a branching coral patch of the lagoon of New Caledonia. In total, 50 031 fish observations belonging to 114 taxa, 66 genera and 31 families were recorded in 256 recorded videos. Carnivores and herbivore-detritus feeders dominated the trophic structure. We found significant variations in the composition of fish assemblages between times of day. Taxa richness and fish abundance were greater in the early morning and in the late afternoon than during the day. Fourteen taxa displayed well-defined temporal patterns in abundance with one taxon influenced by time of day, six influenced by tidal state and seven influenced by both time of day and tidal state. None of these 14 taxa were piscivores, 10 were herbivore-detritus feeders, three were carnivores and one was plankton feeder. Our results suggest a diel migration from feeding grounds to shelter areas and highlight the importance of taking into account small-scale temporal variability in animal diversity and abundance when studying connectivity between habitats and monitoring communities.

Effects of efficient fronto-temporal circuitry on lexical ambiguity resolution: converging evidence from cross-age comparisons in eye-tracking and ERP data

Eye-tracking was used to examine how younger and older adults use syntactic and semantic information to disambiguate noun/verb (NV) homographs (e.g., park). We find that young adults exhibit inflated first fixations to NV-homographs when only syntactic cues are available for disambiguation (i.e., in syntactic prose). This effect is eliminated with the addition of disambiguating semantic information. Older adults (60+) as a group fail to show the first fixation effect in syntactic prose; they instead reread NV homographs longer. This pattern mirrors that in prior event-related potential work (Lee & Federmeier, 2009, 2011), which reported a sustained frontal negativity to NV-homographs in syntactic prose for young adults, which was eliminated by semantic constraints. The frontal negativity was not observed in older adults as a group, although older adults with high verbal fluency showed the young-like pattern. Analyses of individual differences in eye-tracking patterns revealed a similar effect of verbal fluency in both young and older adults: high verbal fluency groups of both ages show larger first fixation effects, while low verbal fluency groups show larger downstream costs (rereading and/or refixating NV homographs). Jointly, the eye-tracking and ERP data suggest that effortful meaning selection recruits frontal brain areas important for suppressing contextually inappropriate meanings, which also slows eye movements. Efficacy of fronto-temporal circuitry, as captured by verbal fluency, predicts the success of engaging these mechanisms in both young and older adults. Failure to recruit these processes requires compensatory rereading or leads to comprehension failures (Lee & Federmeier, in press).

Fish nodavirus lytic cycle and semipermissive expression in mammalian and fish cell cultures

In this study, Dicentrarchus labrax encephalitis virus (DIEV), which causes sea bass encephalitis, was propagated in cell culture, thus allowing study of its lytic cycle, DIEV infection of mammalian and fish cells induced different patterns of expression of capsid proteins, which were assembled as virus-like particles, accumulating in the cytoplasm either as diffuse masses or in vesicles, as shown by electron microscopy, These particles correspond to virions, as shown by their ability to induce Secondary infection, Fish cells proved to be more permissive for DIEV than mammalian cells, although virus yield remained low, RNA analysis of infected sea bass cells revealed DIEV RNA3, in addition to genomic RNA1 and RNA2, and the presence of the RNA;! minus strand, thus demonstrating the replication of the DIEV genome, In addition, DIEV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase was associated with mature virions even after purification by a CsCl gradient, but it was dissociated when capsids were destabilized, In addition to providing more information about the relatedness of DIEV to the members of the family Nodaviridae, this study shows that fish nodaviruses may not be able to infect as wide a variety of cells as insect nodaviruses can.

Ecological effects of flow and temperature regimes on fish communities in temperate rivers

Les organismes aquatiques sont adaptés à une grande variabilité hydrique et thermique des rivières. Malgré ceci, la régulation des eaux suscite des changements aux débits qui peuvent provoquer des impacts négatifs sur la biodiversité et les processus écologiques en rivière. Celle-ci peut aussi causer des modifications au niveau des régimes thermiques et des caractéristiques de l’habitat du poisson. Des données environnementales et biologiques décrivant l’habitat du poisson existent, mais elles sont incomplètes pour plusieurs rivières au Canada et de faible qualité, limitant les relations quantitatives débit-température-poissons à un petit nombre de rivières ou à une région étudiée. La recherche menée dans le cadre de mon doctorat concerne les impacts de la génération d'hydroélectricité sur les rivières; soit les changements aux régimes hydriques et thermiques reliés à la régulation des eaux sur la variation des communautés ichtyologiques qui habitent les rivières régulées et naturelles au Canada. Suite à une comparaison d’échantillonnage de pêche, une méthode constante pour obtenir des bons estimés de poisson (richesse, densité et biomasse des espèces) a été établie pour évaluer la structure de la communauté de poissons pour l’ensemble des rivières ciblées par l’étude. Afin de mieux comprendre ces changements environnementaux, les principales composantes décrivant ces régimes ont été identifiées et l’altération des régimes hydriques pour certaines rivières régulées a été quantifiée. Ces résultats ont servi à établir la relation significative entre le degré de changement biotique et le degré de changement hydrique pour illustrer les différences entre les régimes de régulation. Pour faire un complément aux indices biotiques déjà calculés pour l’ensemble des communautés de poissons (diversité, densité et biomasse des espèces par rivière), les différences au niveau des guildes de poissons ont été quantifiées pour expliquer les divers effets écologiques dus aux changements de régimes hydriques et thermiques provenant de la gestion des barrages. Ces derniers résultats servent à prédire pour quels traits écologiques ou groupes d’espèces de poissons les composantes hydriques et thermiques sont importantes. De plus, ces derniers résultats ont servi à mettre en valeur les variables décrivant les régimes thermiques qui ne sont pas toujours inclues dans les études hydro-écologiques. L’ensemble des résultats de cette thèse ont des retombées importantes sur la gestion des rivières en évaluant, de façon cohérente, l’impact de la régulation des rivières sur les communautés de poissons et en développant des outils de prévision pour la restauration des écosystèmes riverains.

Spatial and Temporal Patterns in the Distribution, Behavior, and Activity of Fishes in Canals of the Everglades

Landscape characteristics, disturbances, and temporal variability influence predator-prey relationships, but are often overlooked in experimental studies. In the Everglades, seasonal disturbances force the spatial overlap of predators and prey, potentially increasing predation risk for prey. This study examined seasonal and diel patterns of fish use of canals and assessed predation risk for small fishes using an encounter rate model. I deployed an imaging sonar in Everglades canals to quantify density and swimming speeds of fishes, and detect anti-predator behaviors by small fishes. Generally, seasonal declines of marsh water-levels increased the density of large fishes in canals. Densities of small and large fishes were positively correlated and, as small-fish density increased, schooling frequency also increased. At night, schools disbanded and small fishes were observed congregating along the canal edge. The encounter rate model predicted highest predator-prey encounters during the day, but access to cover may reduce predation risk for small fishes.

Eye movements in children during reading : a review

L’analyse des mouvements des yeux a été très largement utilisée ces dernières années en psychologie de la lecture pour mieux rendre compte des traitements cognitifs sous-jacents. Cependant, cette technique a été jusqu’à présent peu utilisée dans une perspective développementale, pour mieux comprendre les processus d’apprentissage et de la lecture chez les enfants. Ce chapitre présente une brève revue des études qui ont comparé les mouvements des yeux chez les enfants à ceux des adultes. Nous y décrivons dans un premier temps ce qui distingue les patterns oculaires de ces deux populations, et présentons ensuite les résultats d’études tentant d’expliquer ces différences en terme de contraintes oculomotrices, visuelles et linguistiques.

Early reserve effects linked to small home ranges of a commercial fish, Diplodus sargus, Sparidae

Studies that combine both the ecological responses of marine species and protection measures with movement patterns and habitat use are of major importance in order to better understand the performance of marine protected areas (MPA) and how species respond to their implementation. However, few studies have assessed MPA performance by relating local individual movement patterns and the observed reserve effects. In this study, we combined acoustic telemetry with abundance estimates to study the early effects of a recently established small coastal MPA on the local populations of white seabream. The results show that even small, recently established coastal MPAs can increase the abundance and biomass of commercial fish species, provided that target species have small home ranges and exhibit high site fidelity.