Species delimitation in sharpnose sharks (genus Rhizoprionodon) in the western Atlantic Ocean using mitochondrial DNA

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Evolutionary Diversification of Banded Tube-Dwelling Anemones (Cnidaria; Ceriantharia; Isarachnanthus) in the Atlantic Ocean

The use of molecular data for species delimitation in Anthozoa is still a very delicate issue. This is probably due to the low genetic variation found among the molecular markers (primarily mitochondrial) commonly used for Anthozoa. Ceriantharia is an anthozoan group that has not been tested for genetic divergence at the species level. Recently, all three Atlantic species described for the genus Isarachnanthus of Atlantic Ocean, were deemed synonyms based on morphological simmilarities of only one species: Isarachnanthus maderensis. Here, we aimed to verify whether genetic relationships (using COI, 16S, ITS1 and ITS2 molecular markers) confirmed morphological affinities among members of Isarachnanthus from different regions across the Atlantic Ocean. Results from four DNA markers were completely congruent and revealed that two different species exist in the Atlantic Ocean. The low identification success and substantial overlap between intra and interspecific COI distances render the Anthozoa unsuitable for DNA barcoding, which is not true for Ceriantharia. In addition, genetic divergence within and between Ceriantharia species is more similar to that found in Medusozoa (Hydrozoa and Scyphozoa) than Anthozoa and Porifera that have divergence rates similar to typical metazoans. The two genetic species could also be separated based on micromorphological characteristics of their cnidomes. Using a specimen of Isarachnanthus bandanensis from Pacific Ocean as an outgroup, it was possible to estimate the minimum date of divergence between the clades. The cladogenesis event that formed the species of the Atlantic Ocean is estimated to have occured around 8.5 million years ago (Miocene) and several possible speciation scenarios are discussed.

Nd, Pb, and Be isotopes of ferromanaganese crusts of the Atlantic Ocean

The isotopic composition of Nd in present-day deep waters of the central and northeastern Atlantic Ocean is thought to fingerprint mixing of North Atlantic Deep Water with Antarctic Bottom Water. The central Atlantic Romanche and Vema Fracture Zones are considered the most important pathways for deep water exchange between the western and eastern Atlantic basins today. We present new Nd isotope records of the deepwater evolution in the fracture zones obtained from ferromanganese crusts, which are inconsistent with simple water mass mixing alone prior to 3 Ma and require additional inputs from other sources. The new Pb isotope time series from the fracture zones are inexplicable by simple mixing of North Atlantic Deep Water and Antarctic Bottom Water for the entire past 33 Myr. The distinct and relatively invariable Nd and Pb isotope records of deep waters in the fracture zones appear instead to have been controlled to a large extent by contributions from Saharan dust and the Orinoco/Amazon Rivers. Thus the previously observed similarity of Nd and Pb isotope time series from the western and eastern North Atlantic basins is better explainable by direct supply of Labrador Seawater to the eastern basin via a northern pathway rather than by advection of North Atlantic Deep Water via the Romanche and Vema Fracture Zones.

Zooplankton and chlorophyll in upper water layers within research polygons in the Atlantic Ocean, June-September 2001

During Cruise 46 of R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh (from June to September 2001), vertical distributions of Radiolaria (Acantharia - Bac and Euradiolaria - Beur), mesozooplankton (from 0.2 to 3.0 mm size, Bm), and chlorophyll a (Cchl) in the epipelagic zone of the North Atlantic were studied. To examine the above-listed characteristics, samples were taken by Niskin 30 l bottles from 12-16 depth levels within the upper 100 to 200 m layer in the subarctic (48°11'N, 16°06'W) and subtropical (27°31'N, 75°51'W) waters, as well as in the transitional zone (41°44'N, 49°57'W). The latter proved to be characterized by the highest values of all averaged parameters examined by us within the upper 100 m layer (Bm - 365mg/m**3, Bac - 140 mg/m**3, Beur - 0.37 mg/m**3, and Cchl - 0.32 mg/m**3). For subarctic and subtropical waters corresponding characteristics were as follows: Bm - 123 and 53 mg/m**3, Bac - 0 and 0.06 mg/m**3, Beur - 0.17 and 0.19 mg/m**3, and Cchl - 0.27 and 0.05 mg/m**3, respectively. Percentage of Acantharia in total biomass of Radiolaria and zooplankton ranged from 0 to 39%, whereas that of Euradiolaria varied from 0.01 to 0.36%. Depth levels with maximum abundance of Acantharia were located above maxima of zooplankton and chlorophyll a or coincided with them. As for Euradiolaria, vertical profiles of their biomass were more diverse as compared with Acantharia. The latter group preferred more illuminated depth levels for its maximum development (10-100% of surface irradiance, E0) with respect to Euradiolaria (1-60% of E0). Possible reasons for this difference are discussed.

Declaration signed by Harvard students to not speak in the vernacular for one year, 1712 August 23

The declaration, handwritten in Latin and signed by members of the junior and sophomore classes (Harvard Classes of 1714 and 1715), promises that the undersigned will not use the vernacular but instead "whenever, at meals, at banquets,...in our rooms, in all our gatherings, wherever and whenever" will speak in Latin, Greek, or Hebrew through the next May. Additional Latin text appears on both the front and back of the document. The original is accompanied by a typed transcription and two partial handwritten translations. Note at top of original: "Script. Leonardo Dowding, Composit. a Tho. Foxcroft."

A copy of the general map the most part compiled from the actual survey by order of the commisioners appointed to settle the partition line between the provinces of New York and New Jersey : manuscript map, 1769

Map showing the whole of New Jersey and its borders with as well as part of Pennsylvania and New York. Map is drawn in black ink with green, pink, and yellow watercolors used to show features such as waterways, borders, and places of interest. Notes on map concern border disputes between New Jersey and New York.

Notes of cases decided in the Superior and Supreme Judicial Courts of Massachusetts from 1772 to 1789: taken by the Hon. William Cushing, one of the judges during that period and most of the time Chief Justice

Notes of cases taken by Judge William Cushing during his tenure on the Massachusetts superior and supreme courts. (Formerly MS 2141.)

Letter to Samuel Dexter, 13 November 1796

Letter regarding a bankruptcy case, later heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1797 (3 Dallas 369; Emory v. Greenough) and the upcoming national election.

Letter to John Worthington: 13 August 1791

Letter to Worhtington, a Springfield, Massachusetts lawyer, regarding tax on a meeting house near Pittsfield, Massachusetts and public support for ministers.

Capt. Weeks his answers to interogatorys on oath ... ca. 1738

Weeks (of Greenland, N.H.) was accused of concealing and embezzling items from his late son's estate. Document is signed: William Parker reg.

[ Order to the sheriff of Bucks County], 1731

An order to the sheriff of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, for twelve men to serve on a jury in the trial of John Borrowes, for an unspecified crime. Signed: Jeremiah Langhorne (justice of the peace); dated 14 June 1731. With seal. With this document (originally attached) is the list of jurors chosen to serve at the trial.

Docket book, 1774-1800

Contains list of names of parties in legal disputes arranged chronologically. Little information is given about the nature of disputes.

The royal charter of King Charles the Second to William Penn, esquire, proprietor of the province of Pennsylvania, 1701

A copy of the charter giving William Penn land in the colonies. Also contains Penn's "Frame of the Government of Pennsylvania in America", the laws he established, and the charter of the city of Philadelphia.