On the behaviour of some physical parameterization methods in high-resolution numerical weather prediction models

Modern-day weather forecasting is highly dependent on Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models as the main data source. The evolving state of the atmosphere with time can be numerically predicted by solving a set of hydrodynamic equations, if the initial state is known. However, such a modelling approach always contains approximations that by and large depend on the purpose of use and resolution of the models. Present-day NWP systems operate with horizontal model resolutions in the range from about 40 km to 10 km. Recently, the aim has been to reach operationally to scales of 1 4 km. This requires less approximations in the model equations, more complex treatment of physical processes and, furthermore, more computing power. This thesis concentrates on the physical parameterization methods used in high-resolution NWP models. The main emphasis is on the validation of the grid-size-dependent convection parameterization in the High Resolution Limited Area Model (HIRLAM) and on a comprehensive intercomparison of radiative-flux parameterizations. In addition, the problems related to wind prediction near the coastline are addressed with high-resolution meso-scale models. The grid-size-dependent convection parameterization is clearly beneficial for NWP models operating with a dense grid. Results show that the current convection scheme in HIRLAM is still applicable down to a 5.6 km grid size. However, with further improved model resolution, the tendency of the model to overestimate strong precipitation intensities increases in all the experiment runs. For the clear-sky longwave radiation parameterization, schemes used in NWP-models provide much better results in comparison with simple empirical schemes. On the other hand, for the shortwave part of the spectrum, the empirical schemes are more competitive for producing fairly accurate surface fluxes. Overall, even the complex radiation parameterization schemes used in NWP-models seem to be slightly too transparent for both long- and shortwave radiation in clear-sky conditions. For cloudy conditions, simple cloud correction functions are tested. In case of longwave radiation, the empirical cloud correction methods provide rather accurate results, whereas for shortwave radiation the benefit is only marginal. Idealised high-resolution two-dimensional meso-scale model experiments suggest that the reason for the observed formation of the afternoon low level jet (LLJ) over the Gulf of Finland is an inertial oscillation mechanism, when the large-scale flow is from the south-east or west directions. The LLJ is further enhanced by the sea-breeze circulation. A three-dimensional HIRLAM experiment, with a 7.7 km grid size, is able to generate a similar LLJ flow structure as suggested by the 2D-experiments and observations. It is also pointed out that improved model resolution does not necessary lead to better wind forecasts in the statistical sense. In nested systems, the quality of the large-scale host model is really important, especially if the inner meso-scale model domain is small.

Communication and Political Crisis: Media, Politics and Governance in a Globalized Public Sphere

Communication and Political Crisis explores the role of the global media in a period of intensifying geopolitical conflict. Through case studies drawn from domestic and international political crises such as the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, leading media scholar Brian McNair argues that the digitized, globalized public sphere now confronted by all political actors has produced new opportunities for social progress and democratic reform, as well as new channels for state propaganda and terrorist spectaculars such as those performed by the Islamic State and Al Qaeda. In this major work, McNair argues that the role of digital communication will be crucial in determining the outcome of pressing global issues such as the future of feminism and gay rights, freedom of speech and media, and democracy itself.

Aerosol characteristics and radiative impacts over the Arabian Sea during the intermonsoon season: Results from ARMEX field campaign

During the second phase of the Arabian Sea Monsoon Experiment (ARMEX-II), extensive measurements of spectral aerosol optical depth, mass concentration, and mass size distribution of ambient aerosols as well as mass concentration of aerosol black carbon (BC) were made onboard a research vessel during the intermonsoon period (i.e., when the monsoon winds are in transition from northeasterlies to westerlies/ southwesterlies) over the Arabian Sea (AS) adjoining the Indian Peninsula. Simultaneous measurements of spectral aerosol optical depths (AODs) were made at different regions over the adjoining Indian landmass. Mean AODs (at 500-nm wavelength) over the ocean (similar to0.44) were comparable to those over the coastal land (similar to0.47), but were lower than the values observed over the plateau regions of central Indian Peninsula (similar to0.61). The aerosol properties were found to respond distinctly with respect to change in the trajectories, with higher optical depths and flatter AOD spectra associated with trajectories indicating advection from west Asia, and northwest and west-coastal India. On average, BC constituted only similar to2.2% to total aerosol mass compared to the climatological values of similar to6% over the coastal land during the same season. These data are used to characterize the physical properties of aerosols and to assess the resulting short-wave direct aerosol forcing. The mean values were similar to27 W m(-2) at the surface and -12 W m(-2) at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), resulting in a net atmospheric forcing of +15 W m(-2). The forcing also depended on the region from where the advection predominates. The surface and atmospheric forcing were in the range -40 to -57 W m(-2) and +27 to +39 W m(-2), respectively, corresponding to advection from the west Asian and western coastal India where they were as low as -19 and +10 W m(-2), respectively, when the advection was mainly from the Bay of Bengal and from central/peninsular India. In all these cases, the net atmospheric forcing (heating) efficiency was lower than the values reported for northern Indian Ocean during northern winter, which is attributed to the reduced BC mass fraction.

We Are All Georgians : The Neoconservative Narrative on the Russia-Georgia War

In this thesis I examine the U.S. foreign policy discussion that followed the war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008. In the politically charged setting that preceded the presidential elections, the subject of the debate was not only Washington's response to the crisis in the Caucasus but, more generally, the direction of U.S. foreign policy after the presidency of George W. Bush. As of November 2010, the reasons for and consequences of the Russia-Georgia war continue to be contested. My thesis demonstrates that there were already a number of different stories about the conflict immediately after the outbreak of hostilities. I want to argue that among these stories one can discern a “neoconservative narrative” that described the war as a confrontation between the East and the West and considered it as a test for Washington’s global leadership. I draw on the theory of securitization, particularly on a framework introduced by Holger Stritzel. Accordingly, I consider statements about the conflict as “threat texts” and analyze these based on the existing discursive context, the performative force of the threat texts and the positional power of the actors presenting them. My thesis suggests that a notion of narrativity can complement Stritzel’s securitization framework and take it further. Threat texts are established as narratives by attaching causal connections, meaning and actorship to the discourse. By focusing on this process I want to shed light on the relationship between the text and the context, capture the time dimension of a speech act articulation and help to explain how some interpretations of the conflict are privileged and others marginalized. I develop the theoretical discussion through an empirical analysis of the neoconservative narrative. Drawing on Stritzel’s framework, I argue that the internal logic of the narrative which was presented as self-evident can be analyzed in its historicity. Asking what was perceived to be at stake in the conflict, how the narrative was formed and what purposes it served also reveals the possibility for alternative explanations. My main source material consists of transcripts of think tank seminars organized in Washington, D.C. in August 2008. In addition, I resort to the foreign policy discussion in the mainstream media.

Molecular phylogeny of Hemidactylus geckos (Squamata: Gekkonidae) of the Indian subcontinent reveals a unique Indian radiation and an Indian origin of Asian house geckos

Represented by approximately 85 species, Hemidactylus is one of the most diverse and widely distributed genera of reptiles in the world. In the Indian subcontinent, this genus is represented by 28 species out of which at least 13 are endemic to this region. Here, we report the phylogeny of the Indian Hemidactylus geckos based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers sequenced from multiple individuals of widely distributed as well as endemic congeners of India. Results indicate that a majority of the species distributed in India form a distinct clade whose members are largely confined to the Indian subcontinent thus representing a unique Indian radiation. The remaining Hemidactylus geckos of India belong to two other geographical clades representing the Southeast Asian and West-Asian arid zone species. Additionally, the three widely distributed, commensal species (H. brookii, H. frenatus and H. flaviviridis) are nested within the Indian radiation suggesting their Indian origin. Dispersal-vicariance analysis also supports their Indian origin and subsequent dispersal out-of-India into West-Asian arid zone and Southeast Asia. Thus, Indian subcontinent has served as an important arena for diversification amongst the Hemidactylus geckos and in the evolution and spread of its commensal geckos. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

We Are All Georgians: The Neoconservative Narrative on the Russia-Georgia War

In this thesis I examine the U.S. foreign policy discussion that followed the war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008. In the politically charged setting that preceded the presidential elections, the subject of the debate was not only Washington's response to the crisis in the Caucasus but, more generally, the direction of U.S. foreign policy after the presidency of George W. Bush. As of November 2010, the reasons for and consequences of the Russia-Georgia war continue to be contested. My thesis demonstrates that there were already a number of different stories about the conflict immediately after the outbreak of hostilities. I want to argue that among these stories one can discern a “neoconservative narrative” that described the war as a confrontation between the East and the West and considered it as a test for Washington’s global leadership. I draw on the theory of securitization, particularly on a framework introduced by Holger Stritzel. Accordingly, I consider statements about the conflict as “threat texts” and analyze these based on the existing discursive context, the performative force of the threat texts and the positional power of the actors presenting them. My thesis suggests that a notion of narrativity can complement Stritzel’s securitization framework and take it further. Threat texts are established as narratives by attaching causal connections, meaning and actorship to the discourse. By focusing on this process I want to shed light on the relationship between the text and the context, capture the time dimension of a speech act articulation and help to explain how some interpretations of the conflict are privileged and others marginalized. I develop the theoretical discussion through an empirical analysis of the neoconservative narrative. Drawing on Stritzel’s framework, I argue that the internal logic of the narrative which was presented as self-evident can be analyzed in its historicity. Asking what was perceived to be at stake in the conflict, how the narrative was formed and what purposes it served also reveals the possibility for alternative explanations. My main source material consists of transcripts of think tank seminars organized in Washington, D.C. in August 2008. In addition, I resort to the foreign policy discussion in the mainstream media.

Suomussalmen varhaisproterotsooisten diabaasien mineralogia tektonisessa tulkinnassa

The object of this research is to study the mineralogy of the diabase dykes in Suomussalmi and the relevance of the mineralogy to tectonic events, specifically large block movements in the Archaean crust. Sharp tectonic lines separate two anomalies in the dyke swarms, shown on a geomagnetic map as positive anomalies. In one of these areas, the Toravaara anomaly, the diabases seem to contain pyroxenes as a main component. Outside the Toravaara anomaly hornblende is the main ferromagnesian mineral in diabases. The aim of this paper is to research the differences in the diabases inside and outside the anomalies and interpret the processes that formed the anomalies. The data for this sudy consist of field observations, 120 thin sections, 334 electron microprobe analyses, 19 whole-rock chemical analyses, a U-Pb age analysis and geomagnetic low-altitude aerial survey maps. The methods are interpretation of field observations, chemical analyses, microprobe analyses of single minerals and radiometric age determination, microscopic studies of the thin sections, geothermometers and geobarometers. On the basis of field observations and petrographic studies the diabases in the area are divided into pyroxene diabases, hornblende diabases and the Lohisärkkä porphyritic dyke swarm. Hornblende diabases are found in the entire study area, while the pyroxene diabases concentrate on the area of the Toravaara geomagnetic anomaly. The Lohisärkkä swarm transects the whole area as a thin line from east to west. The diabases are fairly homogenous both chemically and by mineral composition. The few exceptions are part of rarer older swarms or are significantly altered. The Lohisärkkä dyke swarm was dated as 2,21 Ga old, significantly older than the most common 1,98 Ga swarm in the area. The geothermometers applied showed that the diabases on the Toravaara anomaly were stabilized at a much higher temperature than the dykes outside the anomaly. The geobarometers showed the pyroxenes to have crystallized at varying depths. The research showed the Toravaara anomaly to have formed by a vertical block movement, and the fault on its west side to have a total lateral transfer of only a few kilometers. The formation of the second anomaly was also interpreted to be tectonic in nature. In addition, the results of the geothermobarometry uncovered necessary conditions for the study of diabase emplacement depth: the minerals for the study must be chosen by minimum crystallization depth, and a geobarometer capable of determining the magmatic temperature must be used. In addition, it would be more suitable to conduct this kind of study in an area where the dykes are more exposed.

Development of a regional model for the North Indian Ocean

We have developed a one-way nested Indian Ocean regional model. The model combines the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory's (GFDL) Modular Ocean Model (MOM4p1) at global climate model resolution (nominally one degree), and a regional Indian Ocean MOM4p1 configuration with 25 km horizontal resolution and 1 m vertical resolution near the surface. Inter-annual global simulations with Coordinated Ocean-Ice Reference Experiments (CORE-II) surface forcing over years 1992-2005 provide surface boundary conditions. We show that relative to the global simulation, (i) biases in upper ocean temperature, salinity and mixed layer depth are reduced, (ii) sea surface height and upper ocean circulation are closer to observations, and (iii) improvements in model simulation can be attributed to refined resolution, more realistic topography and inclusion of seasonal river runoff. Notably, the surface salinity bias is reduced to less than 0.1 psu over the Bay of Bengal using relatively weak restoring to observations, and the model simulates the strong, shallow halocline often observed in the North Bay of Bengal. There is marked improvement in subsurface salinity and temperature, as well as mixed layer depth in the Bay of Bengal. Major seasonal signatures in observed sea surface height anomaly in the tropical Indian Ocean, including the coastal waveguide around the Indian peninsula, are simulated with great fidelity. The use of realistic topography and seasonal river runoff brings the three dimensional structure of the East India Coastal Current and West India Coastal Current much closer to observations. As a result, the incursion of low salinity Bay of Bengal water into the southeastern Arabian Sea is more realistic. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Methotrexate Promotes Platelet Apoptosis via JNK-Mediated Mitochondrial Damage: Alleviation by N-Acetylcysteine and N-Acetylcysteine Amide

Thrombocytopenia in methotrexate (MTX)-treated cancer and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients connotes the interference of MTX with platelets. Hence, it seemed appealing to appraise the effect of MTX on platelets. Thereby, the mechanism of action of MTX on platelets was dissected. MTX (10 mu M) induced activation of pro-apoptotic proteins Bid, Bax and Bad through JNK phosphorylation leading Delta psi m dissipation, cytochrome c release and caspase activation, culminating in apoptosis. The use of specific inhibitor for JNK abrogates the MTX-induced activation of pro-apoptotic proteins and downstream events confirming JNK phosphorylation by MTX as a key event. We also demonstrate that platelet mitochondria as prime sources of ROS which plays a central role in MTX-induced apoptosis. Further, MTX induces oxidative stress by altering the levels of ROS and glutathione cycle. In parallel, the clinically approved thiol antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and its derivative N-acetylcysteine amide (NACA) proficiently alleviate MTX-induced platelet apoptosis and oxidative damage. These findings underpin the dearth of research on interference of therapeutic drugs with platelets, despite their importance in human health and disease. Therefore, the use of antioxidants as supplementary therapy seems to be a safe bet in pathologies associated with altered platelet functions.

Regional research priorities in brain and nervous system disorders

The characteristics of neurological, psychiatric, developmental and substance-use disorders in low-and middle-income countries are unique and the burden that they have will be different from country to country. Many of the differences are explained by the wide variation in population demographics and size, poverty, conflict, culture, land area and quality, and genetics. Neurological, psychiatric, developmental and substance-use disorders that result from, or are worsened by, a lack of adequate nutrition and infectious disease still afflict much of sub-Saharan Africa, although disorders related to increasing longevity, such as stroke, are on the rise. In the Middle East and North Africa, major depressive disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder are a primary concern because of the conflict-ridden environment. Consanguinity is a serious concern that leads to the high prevalence of recessive disorders in the Middle East and North Africa and possibly other regions. The burden of these disorders in Latin American and Asian countries largely surrounds stroke and vascular disease, dementia and lifestyle factors that are influenced by genetics. Although much knowledge has been gained over the past 10 years, the epidemiology of the conditions in low-and middle-income countries still needs more research. Prevention and treatments could be better informed with more longitudinal studies of risk factors. Challenges and opportunities for ameliorating nervous-system disorders can benefit from both local and regional research collaborations. The lack of resources and infrastructure for health-care and related research, both in terms of personnel and equipment, along with the stigma associated with the physical or behavioural manifestations of some disorders have hampered progress in understanding the disease burden and improving brain health. Individual countries, and regions within countries, have specific needs in terms of research priorities.

Joint modeling of lithosphere and mantle dynamics: Evaluation of constraints from global tomography models

With the advances in technology, seismological theory, and data acquisition, a number of high-resolution seismic tomography models have been published. However, discrepancies between tomography models often arise from different theoretical treatments of seismic wave propagation, different inversion strategies, and different data sets. Using a fixed velocity-to-density scaling and a fixed radial viscosity profile, we compute global mantle flow models associated with the different tomography models and test the impact of these for explaining surface geophysical observations (geoid, dynamic topography, stress, and strain rates). We use the joint modeling of lithosphere and mantle dynamics approach of Ghosh and Holt (2012) to compute the full lithosphere stresses, except that we use HC for the mantle circulation model, which accounts for the primary flow-coupling features associated with density-driven mantle flow. Our results show that the seismic tomography models of S40RTS and SAW642AN provide a better match with surface observables on a global scale than other models tested. Both of these tomography models have important similarities, including upwellings located in Pacific, Eastern Africa, Iceland, and mid-ocean ridges in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean and downwelling flows mainly located beneath the Andes, the Middle East, and central and Southeast Asia.

Monte Carlo filtering and smoothing with application to time-varying spectral estimation

We develop methods for performing filtering and smoothing in non-linear non-Gaussian dynamical models. The methods rely on a particle cloud representation of the filtering distribution which evolves through time using importance sampling and resampling ideas. In particular, novel techniques are presented for generation of random realisations from the joint smoothing distribution and for MAP estimation of the state sequence. Realisations of the smoothing distribution are generated in a forward-backward procedure, while the MAP estimation procedure can be performed in a single forward pass of the Viterbi algorithm applied to a discretised version of the state space. An application to spectral estimation for time-varying autoregressions is described.

Proceedings of the Second PICES Workshop on the Okhotsk Sea and Adjacent Areas [Nemuro, Japan, November 9-12, 1998]

Table of Contents [pdf, 0.01 Mb] Preface [pdf, 0.01 Mb] Masaaki Aota Long-term tendencies of sea ice concentration and air temperature in the Okhotsk Sea coast of Hokkaido [pdf, 0.05 Mb] Hajime Ito & Miki Yoshioka Geography of the seasonally ice covered seas [pdf, 0.5 Mb] George V. Shevchenko & Victor F. Putov On wind and tide induced sea-ice drift on the northeastern shelf of Sakhalin Island (analysis of radar data) [pdf, 0.96 Mb] Boris S. Dyakov, A.A. Nikitin, L. S. Muktepavel & T.A. Shatilina Variability of the Japan and Okhotsk Seas ice cover depending on geopotential field H500 over the Far-Eastern region [pdf, 0.10 Mb] Aleksandr G. Petrov & Nikolay A. Rykov Intermediate cold layer and ice cover in the Sea of Okhotsk [pdf, 0.37 Mb] Vladimir Ponomarev, Olga Trusenkova, Elena Ustinova & Dmitry Kaplunenko Interannual variations of oceanographic and meteorological characteristics in the Sea of Okhotsk [pdf, 0.16 Mb] George V. Shevchenko & Akie Kato Seasonal and interannual changes of atmospheric pressure, air and water temperature in the area of the Kuril Ridge [pdf, 0.13 Mb] George V. Shevchenko & Vladimir Yu. Saveliev Spatial variability of the wind field in the area of the Kuril Islands [pdf, 0.15 Mb] Alexander L. Figurkin & Igor A. Zhigalov Seasonal variability and specifity of the oceanological conditions in the northern Okhotsk Sea in 1997 [pdf, 1.04 Mb] Igor A. Zhabin Ventilation of the upper portion of the intermediate water in the Okhotsk Sea [pdf, 0.80 Mb] Vladimir A. Luchin & Alexander L. Figurkin Oceanographic conditions over the Kashevarov Bank [pdf, 0.61 Mb] Toshiyuki Awaji, Tomohiro Nakamura, Takaki Hatayama, Kazunori Akimoto & Takatoshi Takizawa Tidal exchange through the Kuril Straits [pdf, 2.01 Mb] Tomohiro Nakamura, Toshiyuki Awaji, Takaki Hatayama, Kazunori Akimoto, Takatoshi Takizawa & Masao Fukasawa Vertical mixing induced by tidally generated internal waves in the Kuril Straits [pdf, 0.83 Mb] Katsuro Katsumata & Ichiro Yasuda Water exchange between the Okhotsk Sea and the North Pacific Ocean estimated by simple models [pdf, 0.97 Mb] Konstantin A. Rogachev Oyashio west path culmination as the consequence of a rapid thermohaline transition in the Pacific Subarctic [pdf, 0.22 Mb] Yasuhiro Kawasaki On the year-to-year change in subarctic water characteristics around the Kuril Islands [pdf, 0.39 Mb] Alexander L. Figurkin & Evgeniy E. Ovsyannikov Influence of oceanological conditions of the West Kamchatka shelf waters on spawning grounds and on pollock egg distribution [pdf, 0.97 Mb] Igor E. Kochergin & Alexander A. Bogdanovsky Transport and turbulence characteristics for the northeastern Sakhalin shelf conditions [pdf, 0.08 Mb] Igor E. Kochergin, Alexander A. Bogdanovsky, Valentina D. Budaeva, Vyacheslav G. Makarov, Vasily F. Mishukov, S.N. Ovsienko, Victor F. Putov, L.A. Reitsema, J.W. Sciallabba, O.O. Sergucheva & P.V. Yarosh Modeling of oil spills for the shelf conditions of northeastern Sakhalin [pdf, 0.32 Mb] Valentina D. Budaeva & Vyacheslav G. Makarov A peculiar water regime of currents in the area of eastern Sakhalin shelf [pdf, 0.66 Mb] Nikolay A. Rykov The oceanographic databases on the Sakhalin shelf [pdf, 0.27 Mb] Akifumi Nakata, Iori Tanaka, Hiroki Yagi, Tomomi Watanabe, Gennady A. Kantakov & Andrew D. Samatov Formation of high-density water (over 26.8 sigma-t) near the La Perouse Strait (the Soya Strait) [pdf, 0.09 Mb] Minoru Odamaki & Kouji Iwamoto Currents and tidal observations by Hydrographic Department of Maritime Safety Agency, off the Okhotsk coast of Hokkaido [pdf, 0.16 Mb] Yasushi Fukamachi, Genta Mizuta, Kay I. Ohshima, Motoyo Itoh, Masaaki Wakatsuchi & Masaaki Aota Mooring measurements off Shiretoko Peninsula, Hokkaido in 1997-1998 [pdf, 0.19 Mb] Mikhail A. Danchenkov, David Aubrey & Stephen C. Riser Oceanographic features of the La Perouse Strait [pdf, 0.91 Mb] Iori Tanaka & Akifumi Nakata Results of direct current measurements in the La Perouse Strait (the Soya Strait), 1995-1998 [pdf, 0.06 Mb] Gennady A. Kantakov & George V. Shevchenko In situ observations of Tsushima and West-Sakhalin currents near La Perouse (Soya) Strait [pdf, 0.79 Mb] Irina Y. Bragina Geographical and biological characteristics of the net zooplankton in the southwestern part of the Sea of Okhotsk during 1987-1996 [pdf, 0.27 Mb] List of corresponding authors [pdf, 0.01 Mb] (Document pdf contains 193 pages)

Facilitated advocacy: supporting farmers to have a voice in policy making and the development of service provision

Listening to people, especially those who are poor, and involving them in policy making and decisions about service delivery processes are logical steps in building better services and improving policies aimed at poverty alleviation. This case describes a facilitated advocacy that helped to negotiate and support a role for poor people who farm and fish, to contribute recommendations for changes in services and policies that impact on their lives. The national Government of India’s Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and the Indian Council for Agricultural Research, both in the capital Delhi, have been linking with farmers and fishers and state government officials in the eastern states of Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal, in partnership with the STREAM Initiative of the intergovernmental Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia Pacific and with the support of the UK Government Department for International Development, Natural resources Systems Program supporting farmers to have a voice(13 p.)

The ontogeny of haematopoiesis in the marine teleost Leiostomus xanthurus and a comparison of the site of initial haematopoiesis with Opsanus tau

The ontogeny of haematopoiesis in the perciform fish, spot Leiostomus xanthurus, differed from that reported as the norm for fishes, as exemplified by the cypriniform zebrafish Danio rerio, and observed in the batrachoidiform oyster toadfish Opsanus tau. Erythropoiesis in spot was first evident in the head kidney of yolk-sac larvae 3 days after hatching (DAH). No embryonic intermediate cell mass (ICM) of primitive stem cells or blood islands on the yolk were apparent within embryos. Erythrocytes were first evident in circulation near the completion of yolk absorption, c. 5 DAH, when larvae were c. 20 mm notochord length (LN). Erythrocyte abundance increased rapidly with larval development for c. 14 to 16 DAH, then became highly variable following changes in cardiac chamber morphology and volume. Erythrocytic haemoglobin (Hb) was not detected within whole larvae until they were 12 DAH or c. 31 mm LN, well after yolk and oil-globule absorption. The Hb was not quantified until larvae were >47 DAH or >7 mm standard length. The delayed appearance of erythrocytes and Hb in spot was similar to that reported for other marine fishes with small embryos and larvae. In oyster toadfish, a marine teleost that exhibits large embryos and larvae, the ICM and Hb were first evident in two bilateral slips of erythropoietic tissue in the embryos, c. 5 days after fertilization. Soon thereafter, erythrocytes were evident in the heart, and peripheral and vitelline circulation. Initial haematopoiesis in oyster toadfish conformed with that described for zebrafish. While the genes that code for the development of haematopoiesis are conserved among vertebrates, gene expression lacks phylogenetic pattern among fishes and appears to conform more closely with phenotypic expression related to physiological and ecological influences of overall body size and environmental oxygen availability.