The Black Clam, Villorita cyprinoides, Fishery in the State of Kerala, India

The black clam, Villorita cyprinoides, is the most important clam species landed in India. The State of Kerala has been, by far, the leading producer of the species. Nearly all the landings, about 25,000 tons (t)/year are harvested in Vembanad Lake, the largest estuary, 96 km (54 mi) long, on the west coast of India. Nearly 4,000 fishermen harvest the black clams year-round. They harvest most by hand while diving in waters from 2.1–2.7 m (7–9 ft) deep. Each collects 150–200 kg (3–5 bushels)/day. Upon returning from the harvesting beds, the fishermen and their families cook the clams and separate their meats from their shells using simple sieves. Fishermen’s wives sell the meats within their local villages and save some for their families to eat. The shells are sold through organized fishermen societies to various industries. A substantial quantity of sub-fossil black clam shells lies buried from 22–50 cm (9–20 in) beneath the lake sediments. They are dredged in a controlled manner and sold to the same industries. The stocks of black clams seem to be declining slowly in the southern part of the lake because the water has been getting fresher, but they are not declining in the northern half. A likely threat to the landings may be a lack of fishermen in the future.

Trade of live brooders of the black tiger shrimp, Penaeus Monodon Fabricius 1978, at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

The demand for brooders of Penaeus monodon by the hatcheries, which are solely dependant on wild brooders for their seed production, has resulted in a vigorous fishery and trade for this species, especially along the Visakhapatnam coast. More than three hundred brooders are brought in per day for trading during the peak landing season from December to March every year. The price of gravid brooders has been declining over the years but on an average is about Rs. 30,000 per brooder. The total length of male brooders ranged from 190 to 246 mm during the three years under study and for females it varied between 210 and 330 mm. A specialized methodology for transportation, storage and trade of P. monodon brooders has been evolved over the years at Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour. Concentrated exploitation of brooders from the wild and presence of pathogens in them makes a strong case for development of specific pathogen free brooders and conservation of wild stock.

Evolution of the black muntjac (Muntiacus crinifrons) karyotype revealed by comparative chromosome painting

The black muntjac (Muntiacus crinifrons) has an unusual karyotype of 2n = 8 in females and 2n = 9 in males. We have studied the evolution of this karyotype by hybridising chromosome-specific paints derived from flow-sorted chromosomes of the Chinese muntjac (M. reevesi, 2n = 46) to chromosomes of the black muntjac. The hybridisation pattern allowed us to infer chromosomal homologies between these two species. Tandem and centromeric fusions, reciprocal translocations, and insertions are involved in the reduction of the diploid number from 2n = 46 to 2n = 8, 9. The painting patterns further show complex chromosomal rearrangements in the male black muntjac which involve more than half the karyotype, including both sex chromosomes. Since early meiosis is reported to be normal without any visible inversion loops of the synaptonemal complex, the observed chromosomal rearrangements would lead to heterosynapsis and, therefore, leave a large fraction of the male black muntjac karyotype balanced between the two sexes.

High-density comparative BAC mapping in the black muntjac (Muntiacus crinifrons): Molecular cytogenetic dissection of the origin of MCR 1p+4 in the X1X2Y1Y2Y3 sex chromosome system

The black muntjac (Muntiacus crinifrons, 2n = 8 female/9 male) is a critically endangered mammalian species that is confined to a narrow region of southeastern China. Male black muntjacs have an astonishing X1X2Y1Y2Y3 sex chromosome system, unparalleled i

Improving productivity - Opening the black box

Hourly productivity levels in the UK still remain behind those in some competitor countries. The government devotes much policy attention to enhancing productivity and continues to emphasise its five drivers - investment, innovation, skills, enterprise, and competition. This article argues that it is investment broadly defined that is the key to sustained productivity improvement. The emphasis should be on improving productivity simultaneously with improving the quality of production. Only thus will the gains be widely shared. In achieving these aims there are two prerequisites for policy-makers. The first is to ensure better coordination of policy than appears to be currently achieved by the present departmental structures in Whitehall. The second is to recognize fully the long and complex chain of causation that can be triggered by pulling on one policy lever. Such complexity can only be fully understood by more research on what actually goes on inside the black box of the organization. © 2006 Oxford University Press.

Sex chromosomes in the black muntjac recapitulate incipient evolution of mammalian sex chromosomes

Background: The regular mammalian X and Y chromosomes diverged from each other at least 166 to 148 million years ago, leaving few traces of their early evolution, including degeneration of the Y chromosome and evolution of dosage compensation. Results: We

Can a group elicit duets from its neighbours? A field study on the black-crested gibbon (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis) in Central Yunnan, China

We tested the intergroup spacing hypothesis with a 13-month field study of the interaction of singing behaviour between 3 neighbouring groups of black-crested gibbons (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis) at Mt. Wuliang, Central Yunnan, China. Neighbouring gr

Gibbons under seasonal stress: the diet of the black crested gibbon (Nomascus concolor) on Mt. Wuliang, Central Yunnan, China

The diet of a habituated group of black crested gibbon (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis) was studied from March 2005 to April 2006 in the Wuliang Mountains, central Yunnan, China. Gibbons consumed 77 different plant species, one mammal-, two bird-, one li

Genetic diversity of the black crested gibbon (Nomascus concolor) from the Wuliang Mountains of Yunnan, China: preliminary results.

The authors thank Peng Shi, Scott Groom, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments. This work was supported by grants from the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, 2007CB411600), National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Bureau of Science and Technology of Yunnan Province (to Y.-P.Z.).

Diurnal time budget of the Black-necked Crane during the breeding season

From 26 March to 2 August 2003, both the time budget and the diurnal rhythm of behavior of breeding Black-necked Cranes (Grus nigricollis) were studied at Ruoergai Wetlands National Natural Reserve, Sichuan Province, China. The breeding season was divided

Molecular systematics and historical biogeography of the Black-browed Barbet species complex (Megalaima oorti)

Although Southeast Asia is a global biodiversity hotspot, the tempo and mode of avian diversification there has not been well studied. We investigated the history of the diversification of an endemic Asian tropical bird, the Black-browed Barbet Megalaima

A key gene of the RNA interference pathway in the black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon: Identification and functional characterisation of Dicer-1

RNA interference (RNAi) is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism by which double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) initiates post-transcriptional silencing of homologous genes. Here we report the amplification and characterisation of a full length cDNA from black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) that encodes the bidentate RNAase III Dicer, a key component of the RNAi pathway. The full length of the shrimp Dicer (Pm Dcr1) cDNA is 7629 bp in length, including a 51 untranslated region (UTR) of 130 bp, a 3' UTR of 77 bp, and an open reading frame of 7422 bp encoding a polypeptide of 2473 amino acids with an estimated molecular mass of 277.895 kDa and a predicted isoelectric point of 4.86. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence indicated that the mature peptide contains all the seven recognised functional domains and is most similar to the mosquito (Aedes aegypti) Dicer-1 sequence with a similarity of 34.6%. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that Pm Dcr1 mRNA is most highly expressed in haemolymph and lymphoid organ tissues (P 0.05). However, there was no correlation between Pm Dcr1 mRNA levels in lymphoid organ and the viral genetic loads in shrimp naturally infected with gill-associated virus (GAV) and Mourilyan virus (P > 0.05). Treatment with synthetic dsRNA corresponding to Pm Dcr1 sequence resulted in knock-down of Pm Dcr1 mRNA expression in both uninfected shrimp and shrimp infected experimentally with GAV. Knock-down of Pm Dcr1 expression resulted in more rapid mortalities and higher viral loads. These data demonstrated that Dicer is involved in antiviral defence in shrimp. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hypothesizing Device Mechanisms: Opening Up the Black Box

I describe an approach to forming hypotheses about hidden mechanism configurations within devices given external observations and a vocabulary of primitive mechanisms. An implemented causal modelling system called JACK constructs explanations for why a second piece of toast comes out lighter, why the slide in a tire gauge does not slip back inside when the gauge is removed from the tire, and how in a refrigerator a single substance can serve as a heat sink for the interior and a heat source for the exterior. I report the number of hypotheses admitted for each device example, and provide empirical results which isolate the pruning power due to different constraint sources.