A study on length-weight relationship, food and feeding habits of Indian scad, Decapterus russelli (Ruppel, 1830) along the northwest coast of India

Length and weight relationship of Decapterus russelli (Ruppell, 1830) is worked out to be W = 0.00312 L³ which indicates the isometric growth of the fish. Study on food and feeding habits revealed that the species is carnivorous, pelagic, feeding primarily on small crustaceans and small fish species, viz. Acetes indicus, ostracods, Apogon sp., Leiognathus sp., sciaenids, Netnipterus japonicas, Myctophid sp., Trichiurus sp., Therapon sp., D.russelli and occasionally on prawns. It is a selective feeder on Aeetes indicus.

Heterorhabditidoides chongmingensis gen. nov., sp nov (Rhabditida : Rhabditidae), a novel member of the entomopathogenic nematodes

During a recent soil sample survey in Eastern China, a new entomopathogenic nematode species, collected from the Chongming Islands in the southern-eastern area of Shanghai, was discovered. Morphological characteristics of different developmental stages of the nematode combined with molecular data showed that this nematode is a new genus of Rhabditidae, and described as Heterorhabditidoides chongmingensis gen. nov., sp. nov., for that it shares more morphological characteristics with heterorhabditids than with ste-inernematids. For males, the papillae formula of bursa is 1, 2, 3, 3, with constant papillae number in the terminal group, stoma tubular-shaped and about 1.5 head width; cheilorhabdions cuticularized, esophageal collar present and long, median bulb present. For infective juveniles, EP = 90 (80-105) mu m, ES = 104 (92-120) mu m, tail length = 111 (89-159) mu m, and a = 19.1 (15-21). The percentages of the nucleotides A, T, C and G in the ITS1 regions of the new species are significantly different from those of heterorhabditids and other rhabditids. Molecular phylogenetic trees based on 18S rDNA and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences data revealed that the new entomopathogenic nematode species forms a monophyletic group, which is a sister group of the clade comprised of some genera of Rhabditidae. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of stocking density on survival and growth of mud crablings, Scylla sp. in laboratory conditions

Mud crablings, Scylla sp. were reared, for a period of six weeks in fiberglass aquarium under laboratory conditions, to determine the effect of four different stocking densities of 1, 2, 3 and 4 crabling/l of water on their survival and growth. Salinity of water was maintained at 25 ppt throughout the rearing period. Stocking rates of 1, 2, and 3 crabling/l resulted in a similar (p>0.05) survival rates of 75, 74, and 83.5%, respectively, that of 4 crabling/l resulted in significantly lower (p<0.05) survival rate of 56%. No significant difference was observed among different stocking densities in average growth of carapace length (CL), carapace width (CW) and body weight (BW).

Occurrence of Zoothamnium sp. infection in Penaeus monodon (Fabricius, 1798) of the coastal shrimp culture ponds of Cox's Bazar Bangladesh

Penaeus monodon (Fabricius, 1798) is a popular cultivable species and valuable foreign exchange earning item among all the fishery commodities in Bangladesh. At present with semi-intensive and intensive shrimp culture practices, disease is a problem. Protozoan infection, caused by the Zoothamnium sp. is one of the causes of damage in the total production by growth retardation and mortality. No work has yet been done on shrimp disease in Bangladesh. The present account therefore, constitutes the first report on it from the shrimp culture ponds of Cox's Bazar. The present work includes the occurrence and prevalence of protozoan disease, its seasonal variations and level of infestation in different length groups in Penaeus monodon.

Peridiniopsis niei sp nov (Dinophyceae), a new species of freshwater red tide dinoflagellates from China

A new freshwater phototrophic species of the dinoflagellate genus Peridiniopsis, P. niei sp. nov., is described based on morphology. The new species appeared during spring with densities up to 1.48 x 10(7) cells L-1 in some tributaries and gullies of Three Gorge Reservoir and Lake Donghu, China, forming red tides. Peridiniopsis niei is a cyst-producing freshwater dinoflagellate that belongs to the group Penardii. The plate tabulation is po+x+4 '+0a+6 ''+5c+5s+5 '''+2 '''' and the plate pattern is symmetric. The cells of P. niei are pentagonal in ventral view, the epitheca is larger than the hypotheca, making up about 2/3 the length of the cell. Plate 3 ' is hexangular. The closest species to P. niei is P. penardii (Lemmermann) Bourrelly, but cells of the former are pentagonal, very compressed dorsoventrally, and the hypotheca is truncated with one transparent, robust spine on each antapical plate.

First report of two Balantidium species from the Chinese giant salamander, Andrias davidianus: Balantidium sinensis Nie 1935 and Balantidium andianusis n. sp.

Two ciliated protozoa, Balantidium sinensis Nie 1935 and Balantidium andianusi n. sp., were isolated from the feces of a wild Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) captured from the mountainous area of Shiyan, Hubei Province, Central China in October 2006. It is the first report of Balantidium species inhabiting Cryptobranchoidea amphibians. The occurrence of B. sinensis in A. davidianus should be a new record because the type specimens were first discovered and named by Nie in 1935 from Rana nigromaculata and Rana plancyi. For the lack of enough descriptions of taxonomic features in the previous report, it was re-described in detail and compared with Nie's type specimens and B. giganteum to complete the morphological descriptions in the present work. B. andianusi n. sp. was considered to be a new species based on its unique morphological characteristics, especially the high length/width ratio of the vestibulum (8:1). Comparisons were also made among Balantidium species that were found from urodele amphibians.

Induction and preliminary characterization of a novel halophage SNJ1 from lysogenic Natrinema sp F5

Halophage SNJ1 was induced with mitomycin C from Natrinema sp. strain F5. The phage produces plaques on Natrinema sp. strain J7 only. The phage has a head of about 67 nm in diameter and a tail of 570 nm in length and belongs morphologically to the family Siphoviridae. The phage is strongly salt dependent; NaCl concentration affects the integrity of SNJ1, phage adsorption, and plaque formation. The optimal NaCl concentration for phage adsorption and plaque formation is 30% and 25%, respectively.

The freeliving nematode genus Parodontophora Timm 1963 (Nematoda : Axonolaimidae) is not exclusively marine: Parodontophora limnophila sp nov from freshwater in China

Parodontophora limnophila sp. nov. is described from Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake of China. It is characterized by having an amphid with its posterior end close to the base of the stoma, relatively short cephalic setae, opisthocephalic setae arranged as two subdorsal groups of three longitudinally arranged setae and two single subventral setae, excretory pore at the level of the anterior part of the stoma and renette gland 34-47% of the oesophageal length. To date, the new species is the only Parodontophora species found in freshwater habitats.

双刺纺锤水蚤（Acartia bifilosa）基础生物学与生态学研究

20世纪90年代以来，为了确保日益增长的人口对蛋白质的需求，海洋鱼类养殖在全球范围内日趋发展。然而，许多养殖鱼类的品质如抗病力、口味等与野生种类相比大为降低。饵料对于鱼类品质的好坏起着至关重要的作用。在海洋的自然环境中，浮游动物，特别是数量庞大、种类繁多的桡足类是野生鱼类的天然活饵料。哪些桡足类适于作养殖饵料，如何获得、从何处获得桡足类，人工培养是否可行，能否通过加入桡足类来改善养殖鱼类的品质是长期以来业内人士一直关注的问题，需要大量的基础性探索研究工作。 开展有潜在开发价值种的生物学特性及室内培养的基础研究，进而开展大量生产技术的研究与应用，不仅是开发利用桡足类的一个重要途径，而且可以获得一些重要的生态学参数。 本论文自2003年10月－2004年9月之间，在胶州湾采集不同的桡足类种类，通过室内比较培养实验，选定双刺纺锤水蚤作为具有开发潜力的研究培养对象，对其展开一系列培养条件及生物学特性研究，在此基础上进行了小水体增殖培养，结合现场调查资料对与其生活策略相关的生态学问题进行了初步研究探索。结果如下： 筛选：2003年10月－2004年9月全年不同季节共采集11 种桡足类，在室内自然温度、自然海水（盐度30－32）下长时间培养，粗略筛选出能够经受实验室人工养殖水体生活的种类有：强额拟哲水蚤（Paracalanus. crassirostris）、汤氏长足水蚤（Calanopia thompson）、太平洋真宽水蚤（Eurytemora pacifica）、双刺纺锤水蚤（Acartia bifilosa）。对上述种类的成体和子代幼体分别测定其对不同盐度、温度的耐受能力。培养结果表明：18℃室温下，强额拟哲水蚤幼体在盐度20以上的环境中，存活时间不超过11天；汤氏长足水蚤雌体在培养温度低于20℃时，只能存活10天；25℃室温下，当盐度低于20时，汤氏长足水蚤雌体存活时间不超过9天，子代的存活时间不超过7天；太平洋真宽水蚤不适宜在温度较高的夏秋季培养，幼体在不同盐度的实验条件下存活时间不超过5天，不适宜长期培养；双刺纺锤水蚤在全年8－24℃的室内培养温度范围内保持了24－85％的存活率，雌体和子代在盐度10－35的范围内都能存活，最终结果表明双刺纺锤水蚤是其中最适宜进行人工培养的种类。 繁殖：对双刺纺锤水蚤雌体的培养条件和繁殖生物学的研究结果表明：在本实验所使用的6种微藻饵料：微绿球藻（Nannochloropsis oculata）、小球藻（Chlorella.sp）、等鞭金藻（Isochrysis galbana）、三角褐指藻(Phaeodactylum tricornutum)、亚心型扁藻(Platymonas subordiformis)、中肋骨条藻(Skeletonema costatum)中，亚心型扁藻和中肋骨条藻适宜成体培养，亚心型扁藻对雌体存活有利，排粪率也要比中肋骨条藻低得多，亚心型扁藻在高温条件下的饵料利用效率要高于中肋骨条藻，中肋骨条藻对产卵有利，二者混合优势互补；预饥饿处理的双刺纺锤水蚤恢复到最高产卵率需要较长的时间，并且一直保持较低的产卵率；该种繁殖的最适温度范围15－20℃；在10－25℃温度范围内的平均产卵率差异并不显著。 生长及发育：对双刺纺锤水蚤幼体培养条件及发育生物学研究结果表明：在本实验所使用的6种微藻饵料中，微绿球藻是比较理想的开口饵料；粒径小（ 4 m）的微藻——微绿球藻和小球藻不能保证双刺纺锤水蚤后期无节幼体发育至桡足阶段，22℃以下采用微绿球藻 + 亚心型扁藻 + 中肋骨条藻的食物搭配，22℃以上需加入粒径在4m左右的等鞭金藻。 世代时间：通过一系列的温度梯度实验，证明在相同饵料的情况下，温度对双刺纺锤水蚤的发育具有显著的影响，在15－25℃的范围内，随着温度的升高，生长速度加快、世代周期缩短；在温度条件为15、18、20、22、25℃下的世代时间分别为25.5, 18.5, 13, 11.5, 9.5天。 群体培养：研究了适宜的微藻饵料种类搭配比例以及总饵料浓度对种群日均增值率的影响。结果表明：20℃下培养宜采用亚心型扁藻：中肋骨条藻：微绿球藻按含碳量2:1:1的比例组成混合饵料，达到最高增殖率的混合饵料浓度范围在1.0－4.0 μg C ml-1之间；25℃下培养宜采用亚心型扁藻：中肋骨条藻：微绿球藻：等鞭金藻按含碳量2:1:1:2的比例组成混合饵料，日均增殖率在混合饵料总浓度为1.0 μg C ml-1 时最高，低于和高于此浓度都会降低日增值率。 度夏机制：针对野外大面调查发现双刺纺锤水蚤在高温季节的胶州湾内仍然存在的事实（传统观点认为该种在夏季从水体中消失，通过休眠卵度夏），本论文从基础生态学研究出发，根据胶州湾夏季的温度和叶绿素浓度资料，设计实验研究了高温和饵料浓度对成体繁殖和幼体生长发育的影响。实验发现，饵料浓度对高温下雌体的繁殖有着明显的影响，15g Chla l-1浓度下的雌体在28℃都可以保持产卵状态，而且卵的孵化率也在50％以上；各处理中的卵都很快孵化，并保持了60％以上的孵化率；高浓度组15 g Chla l-1和10 g Chla l-1，无节幼体都能发育至成体，低浓度5 g Chla l-1处理组中，28℃下，不能发育至桡足阶段，而25℃下也只能发育至C4期。在本实验中没有发现双刺纺锤水蚤产生休眠卵。在胶州湾自然环境中发现该种全年存在。胶州湾中的双刺纺锤水蚤在夏季能够在不产生休眠卵的情况下安全度夏。

Kiitricha minuta n. Sp., a peculiar hypotrichous ciliate (Ciliophora, Spirotrichea) from the Yellow Sea

The morphology and infraciliature of a new ciliate, Kiitricha minuta n. sp., isolated from the Yellow Sea, were investigated using live observation and protargol impregnation. Kiitricha minuta represents a third member of the rarely known order Kiitrichida. It is unique in the subclass Hypotrichia in having many rows of small uniform cirri along the right side of the body and the dorsal kineties composed of dikinetids, most of which bear two cilia. Kiitricha minuta n. sp. is ovoid and measures about 60 x 45 mu m in vivo. It has a huge buccal cavity occupying about 80% of the body length, numerous body extrusomes, one macronucleus and two micronuclei, 27-27 adoral membranelles, 9-12 frontoventral cirral rows, a submarginal row of 7-9 cirri, 6 or 7 transverse cirri, and roughly 7-9 dorsal kineties. This new species differs distinctly from its only congener Kiitricha marina by its smaller size (60 mu m vs. 80-150 mu m), the presence of body extrusomes (vs. absent), the different macronuclear pattern (one vs. two nodules), and the lower number of frontoventral cirral rows (9-12 vs. 21-26), which terminate at the anterior two-thirds of body (vs. extend to the posterior). The new term "submarginal cirral row" is introduced to distinguish from the marginal cirral row in typical hypotrichs sensu lato. Based on our new observations and the literature, an improved diagnosis for the genus Kiitricha is provided and its phylogenetic importance is discussed.

Genome sequence of Rhodococcus sp. strain PML026, a trehalolipid biosurfactant producer and biodegrader of oil and alkanes

Rhodococcus sp. strain PML026 produces an array of trehalolipid biosurfactant compounds in order to utilize hydrophobic carbon sources, such as oils and alkanes. Here, we report the high-quality draft genome sequence of this strain, which has a total length of 5,168,404 bp containing 4,835 protein-coding sequences, 12 rRNAs, and 45 tRNAs.

Bursaphelenchus antoniae sp. n. (Nematoda: Parasitaphelenchidae) associated with Hylobius sp. from Pinus pinaster in Portugal

Bursaphelenchus antoniae sp. n. is described and illustrated. Dauer juveniles were isolated from the body of the large pine weevil, Hylobius sp., collected from maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) stumps, in Portugal. Bursaphelenchus antoniae sp. n. was reared and maintained in P. pinaster wood segments and on Petri dish cultures of the fungi Botrytis cinerea and Monilinia fructicola. The new species is characterised by a relatively small body length of ca 583 μm (females) and 578 μm (males), a lateral field with two incisures, presence of a small vulval flap and a conoid female tail with a rounded or pointed terminus. Males have stout spicules with a disc-like cucullus and seven caudal papillae arranged as a single midventral precloacal papilla, one precloacal pair and two postcloacal pairs. In the character of the lateral field, B. antoniae sp. n. comes close to B. abietinus, B. rainulfi and B. hylobianum, whilst spicule characters place it within the piniperdae-group sensu Ryss et al. Morphologically, B. antoniae sp. n. is closest to B. hylobianum; the spicules of these two species having flattened, wing-like, alae on the distal third of the lamina. Bursaphelenchus antoniae sp. n. is distinguished from B. hylobianum on the arrangement of the caudal papillae (two vs three pairs). ITS-RFLP profiles and the failure to hybridise support the separation of the two species. Phylogenetic analysis of the new species, based on the 18S rDNA sequence, supports the inclusion of this new species in the B. hylobianum-group sensu Braasch. Sequence analysis of the 28S rDNA D2/D3 domain did not place the new species in a definite group.

Flexible MMSE DFE using length and LAG adaptation

This paper investigates how to choose the optimum tap-length and decision delay for the decision feedback equalizer (DFE). Although the feedback filter length can be set as the channel memory, there is no closed-form expression for the feedforward filter length and decision delay. In this paper, first we analytically show that the two dimensional search for the optimum feedforward filter length and decision delay can be simplified to a one dimensional search, and then describe a new adaptive DFE where the optimum structural parameters can be self-adapted.

Henneguya pseudoplatystoma n. sp causing reduction in epithelial area of gills in the farmed pintado, a South American catfish: Histopathology and ultrastructure

The present study is part of an ongoing investigation into the characteristics of Myxozoan parasites of Brazilian freshwater fish and was carried out using morphology, histopathology and electron microscopy analysis. A new Myxosporea species (Henneguya pseudoplatystoma) is described causing an important reduction in gill function in the farmed pintado (a hybrid fish from a cross between Pseudoplatystoma corruscans and Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum), which is a commercially important South American catfish. From a total of 98 pintado juveniles from fish farms in the states of Sao Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil), 36 samples (36.7%) exhibited infection of the gill filaments. infection was intense, with several plasmodia occurring on a same gill filament. The plasmodia were white and measured up to 0.5 mm in length; mature spores were ellipsoidal in the frontal view, measuring 33.2 +/- 1.9 mu m in total length, 10.4 +/- 0.6 mu m in body length, 3.4 +/- 0.4 mu m in width and 22.7 +/- 1.7 mu m in the caudal process. The polar capsules were elongated, measuring 3.3 +/- 0.4 mu m in length and 1.0 +/- 0.1 mu m in width and the polar filaments had six to seven turns. Histopathological analysis revealed the parasite in the connective tissue of the gill filaments and lamella. No inflammatory process was observed, but the development of the plasmodia reduced the area of functional epithelium. Ultrastructural analyses revealed a single plasmodial wall, which was in direct contact with the host cells and had numerous projections in direction of the host cells as well as extensive pinocytotic canals. A thick layer (2-6 mu m) of fibrous material and numerous mitochondria were found in the ectoplasm. Generative cells and the earliest stage of sporogenesis were seen more internally. Advanced spore developmental stages and mature spores were found in the central portion of the plasmodia. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.