Effects of diet, stocking density, and environmental factors on growth, survival, and metamorphosis of Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum larvae

A series of experiments was conducted to evaluate the effects of diet, stocking density, and environmental factors on growth, survival, and metamorphosis of Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum larvae. These experiments examined the following factors: diet (Isochrysts spp., Chlorella spp., and a mixture of Isochrysis spp. and Chlorella spp. [ 1: 1 w/w]), stocking density (5, 10, 15, and 20 larvae ml(-1)), light intensity (un-shaded, partially shaded, and fully shaded), water filtration (unfiltered and sand-filtered), water exchange (50% and 100% once every other day, 25%, 50%, and 100% once daily; 50% and 100% twice daily), and the use of substrate (with and without sand as the substrate). Results indicated that Chlorella spp. could replace 50% of Isochrysis spp. as a food source for the Manila clam larvae without affecting growth, survival, and metamorphosis. Larval growth decreased significantly with increasing stocking density. A density of 5-10 larvae ml(-1) appeared to be optimal for normal growth of Manila clam larvae. Neither diet nor stocking density used in the study had a significant effect on larval survival. Under partially shaded (light intensity = 1000-5000 lx) and fully shaded (light intensity <500 lx) conditions, larval growth was significantly faster than under direct sunlight (un-shaded). A water exchange rate of 50% twice daily provided optimum larval growth. Larvae grew significantly faster in the unfiltered water than in the sand-filtered water. Using sand as the substrate in the culture system significantly depressed the metamorphosis rate. The type and particle size of sand used as the substrate did not significantly affect growth and metamorphosis rates of the larvae. (C) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.

A Quantitative Analysis of Growth and Size Regulation in Manduca sexta: The Physiological Basis of Variation in Size and Age at Metamorphosis.

Body size and development time are important life history traits because they are often highly correlated with fitness. Although the developmental mechanisms that control growth have been well studied, the mechanisms that control how a species-characteristic body size is achieved remain poorly understood. In insects adult body size is determined by the number of larval molts, the size increment at each molt, and the mechanism that determines during which instar larval growth will stop. Adult insects do not grow, so the size at which a larva stops growing determines adult body size. Here we develop a quantitative understanding of the kinetics of growth throughout larval life of Manduca sexta, under different conditions of nutrition and temperature, and for genetic strains with different adult body sizes. We show that the generally accepted view that the size increment at each molt is constant (Dyar's Rule) is systematically violated: there is actually a progressive increase in the size increment from instar to instar that is independent of temperature. In addition, the mass-specific growth rate declines throughout the growth phase in a temperature-dependent manner. We show that growth within an instar follows a truncated Gompertz trajectory. The critical weight, which determines when in an instar a molt will occur, and the threshold size, which determines which instar is the last, are different in genetic strains with different adult body sizes. Under nutrient and temperature stress Manduca has a variable number of larval instars and we show that this is due to the fact that more molts at smaller increments are taken before threshold size is reached. We test whether the new insight into the kinetics of growth and size determination are sufficient to explain body size and development time through a mathematical model that incorporates our quantitative findings.

'The Adorning of My Native Tongue: Linguistic Metamorphosis in Milton'

This chapter, in a prize-winnng volume, examines Milton's bilingual practices in relation to his translation of Horace, Odes 1, 5 and the 1645 volume as a whole. Drawing upon seventeenth-century pedagogical practice and methodology it examines the potential importance of his schooling and university exercises to the methodology of Paradise Lost.