Planaxidae (Mollusca,Gastropoda) from the South China Sea

Planaxidae is a family of tropical and subtropical marine gastropods that are adapted to an intertidal, rocky environment. The present study deals with three species in the family Planaxidae from the South China Sea: P lanaxis sulcatus(von Born, 1778), Angiola longispira(Smith, 1872), and S upplanaxis niger(Quoy and Gaimard, 1833), based on specimens deposited in the Marine Biodiversity Collections of the South China Sea, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The taxonomic status, main morphological characteristics of the shell and radula, distribution, and habitat of these three planaxid species are presented. We also briefly discuss their morphological dif ferences and the biogeographic distribution.     

Descriptions of three new species of Mitridae （Mollusca： Gastropoda） from South China Sea

Three new species of Family Mitridae （Mollusca： Gastropoda） from the South China Sea are described in the present paper. They are Ziba aglais sp. nov. B. LI ＆ S. ZHANG, Neocancilla daidaleosa sp.nov. B. LI ＆ X. LI, and Mitra holkosa sp. nov. B. LI. Their systematic positions are also discussed.     

Induction of larval settlement and metamorphosis ofHaliotis discus hannai Ino (Gastropoda,Mollusca)

Conspecific foot mucus, excessive [K⁺] and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) showed different metamorphosis-inductive effect on the veliger ofHaliotis discus hannai. The inductive effect of excessive [K⁺] and GABA was developmental stage-dependent and dose-dependent, while that of conspecific foot mucus was only developmental stage-dependent. At 20°C the veliger larvae became competent within 4 days after fertilization.H. discus hannai larvae showed gregarious settlement pattern on the conspecific foot mucus under the conditions of either presence or absence of KCl or GABA. The present studies showed that the effect of conspecific foot mucus on abalone larvae metamorphosis could be dose-independent.     

Description of the biology of Caspian vimba, Vimba vimba (Linnaeus, 1758), in Gorgan Bay-Miankaleh Wildlife Refuge (southeast Caspian Sea)

We collected Vimba vimba throughout the spawning season (mid April to mid June, 2007) in Gorgan Bay (south-western Iran) and investigated its age, growth, and reproductive traits. The maximum age was 5⁺ years. Both sexes grew allometrically (positive for males: b=3.140 9 and negative for females: b=2.791 4). The von Bertalanffy growth functions were described by the formulae L _t =32.565(1-e^{−0.184(t+0.530)}) for males and L _t =35.950(1-e^{−0.179(t+0.529)}) for females. The overall sex ratio was balanced, but males were predominant in the smaller size classes and females in the larger size classes. Based on the gonadosomatic index (GSI) values, spawning appears to occur between late April and late May in the bay. The highest mean GSI was 6.44 for males in early May and 20.36 for females in late April. Absolute fecundity varies from the minimum of 5 436 eggs for age 3⁺ fish to the maximum of 36 141 eggs for age 5⁺ fish. Fecundity was also positively correlated with fish size (length and weight). Egg diameter ranged from 1.05 to 1.70 mm in the mean of 1.42 mm. There was no correlation between female size and ova diameter.     

A new species of Lataxiena Jousseaume, 1883 (Gastropoda: Muricidae) from the East and South China Seas

A new muricid gastropod species,L ataxiena lutescena sp. nov.,is described and illustrated. The new species was recognized during reidentification of the Muricidae collection in the Marine Biological Museum,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Qingdao. The specimens of the new species were collected from the East and South China Seas off Fujian,Guangdong,and Hainan Provinces. Lataxiena lutescena sp. nov. is similar to Lataxiena blosvillei(Deshayes,1832) in general shape,but can be distinguished from the latter by the shell sculpture and radular characteristics. Lataxiena lutescena sp. nov. also resembles Lataxiena bombayana(Melvill,1893),but differs from that species in the shell shape and anal notches and in lacking short spines on the shell.     

A new species of Cerithium （Gastropoda： Cerithiidae） from the South China Sea

Specimens of a new species of Cerithiidae, Cerithium mangrovum n. sp., were collected during two surveys along the coasts of Hainan and Guangdong Province, China. Usually associated with potamidid snails, this species often occurs in large populations between the mid-high tidal zones in a range of habitats, including mangroves, grass beds, silt, mud, and coral reefs. C. mangrovum n. sp. has a slender and tapering shell and the straight-sided whorl bears three aligned beaded spiral cords. The thick outer lip has a wide posterior sinus. It morphologically resembles C. coralium Kiener, 1841. The shell of C. coralium is usually larger and wider and the spiral cords are not as beaded as in C, mangrovum n. sp. Its radula has a rachidian tooth with a shallow, wide, median basal projection while the rachidian tooth of C. mangrovum n. sp. has a moderately long, median basal projection.     

A new species of Nassarius (Gastropoda: Nassariidae) from the western Pacific Ocean

This paper describes a new species of Nassarius from the South China Sea,which was recognized when re-sorting the collection of Nassariidae in the Marine Biological Museum,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Qingdao,China.The shells were collected during several investigations,including the National Comprehensive Oceanic Survey in 1958-1959,and the China-Vietnam Co-Investigation on Marine Resource of the Beibu Gulf during 1959-1962.The morphology of the shell and the radula places the new species of Nassarius within the subgenus Zeuxis.It is named Nassarius(Zeuxis) nanhaiensis sp.nov.     

New genus and species of polyplacophora (Mollusca) from the East China Sea

The present paper dealing with two new species and one new genus of the Polyplacophora, is the first of a series of reports of systematic study on the deep sea mollusca collected by the research vesselsJINXING andKEXUE I of the Academia Sinica, Institute of Oceanology, during 1978 and 1981 from the continental margin to the bathyal zone of the East China Sea. Contribution No. 1647 from the Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica.     

Two new species of the genus Cobitis Linnaeus(Teleostei:Cobitidae) from southern China

Two new species of the genus Cobitis from southern China,C.hereromacula from the Luohe River in Guangdong Province and C.baishagensis from the Nandujiang River in Hainan Province,are described and illustrated here.C.hereromacula can be distinguished from its congeners by possessing the following combination of characteristics;absence of the second and third pigmentary zones of Gambetta;13–16 oval blotches on the dorsum and 10–13 vertical,elongated triangular blotches below the midlateral line with more than 20 vertical dark brown bars between them;6–7 narrow rows of dark spots on the caudal fin;a vertical oval spot smaller than the eye diameter on the upper part of the caudal peduncle;pointed mental lobes of the lower lip pointed with a slightly filiform tip;one slender and long needle-shaped lamina circularis at the base of the first branched ray of the male pectoral fins.C.baishagensis can be distinguished from its congeners by the fourth Gambetta zone being covered by 10–12 transverse elongated blotches;4–5 narrow rows of dark spots on the caudal fin;a vertical blotch smaller than the eye diameter on the upper part of the caudal peduncle;males with a slender and long needle-shaped lamina circularis at the second branched pectoral fin ray in males;large scales with a slightly large focal zone;undeveloped mental lobes with a lower lip that does not end posteriorly in a filiform tip.     

Depth distribution and ecological preferences of periphytic algae in Kenyir Lake, the largest tropical reservoir of Malaysia

We studied the depth distribution of periphyton, growing on inundated dead trees in Kenyir Lake, Malaysia in June 1995. The algal floral composition and structure manifested changes down the depth gradient in terms of species richness, abundance, diversity and cell density. In regression analysis, all these algal attributes were negatively correlated with the depth gradients at P<0.05. In terms of species richness, the bacillariophytes showed dominance over the cyanophytes and chlorophytes; whereas with respect to standing crop, the cyanophytes showed dominance over the bacillariophytes and chlorophytes. The chlorophyll a was higher at the mid and bottom-depths than the surface-depth in both the downstream and upstream sites, which showed that vertical productivity or biomass accumulation was greater in low light irradiance. The product-moment correlation analysis showed that conductivity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, reactive phosphate and ammonium-nitrogen were highly correlated with the algal assemblage data. However, photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) showed poor correlation with the community data. These observations have cast some light on the autoecological characteristics, habitat preferences and environmental responses of tropical periphytic communities.     

Three species of Siphonalia Adams, 1863 (Gastropoda,Buccinidae) from China seas,with descriptions of two new species

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology - Three species of Siphonalia A. Adams, 1863 collected from the East and South China Seas are described and illustrated. Species were identified during...     

Ingestion of Domoic Acid and Its Impact on King Scallop（Pecten maximus,Linnaeus 1758）

A simple method for spiking formulated feed with domoic acid （DA） was developed in this study. DA feed was prepared by mixing 0.15 mL 100 μg mL-1 DA with 0.1 g formulated feed, and drying the mixture at room temperature for 2 h. The prepared DA feed contained 0.19 pg DA per particle. Of the added DA, 46.72% was retained in the feed. Relatively high DA retention （about 50%） was recorded after DA feed was soaked in water for 2h. Exposure to DA feed for 7d did not cause the increase of tissue DA level of adult king scallop （Pecten maximus） significantly in 60 d. The increase of their gonad index after DA exposure was not significantly different from the control. No significant change in DA level was found in spermary, ovary or fertilized eggs after DA exposure. These results indicated that DA excretion may be more efficient than DA accumulation under the current experimental conditions, and the mechanism of domoic acid incorporation in P. maximus may involve intracellular biotransformation.     

Relaxation of Selective Constraint on the Ultra-Large Mitochondrial Genomes of Arcidae(Mollusca: Bivalvia)

The mitochondrial genomes(mitogenomes) are purportedly under selection for smaller size to improve their replication and translation efficiency. However, the mitogenomes of Arcidae species are larger than those of other bivalves, and are among the largest metazoan mitogenomes reported to date. In order to explore the differences of base composition and selective constraints between the large and small mitogenomes, we compared the mitogenomes of 9 large arcid mitogenomes and 77 small bivalves mitogenomes. Base composition analyses indicated that Arcidae mitogenomes have significantly greater GC skews in both their whole genomes and coding sequences. This result suggests that the replication of the large mitogenomes in Arcidae may be slower than those in other bivalves, exposing the parental strand to deamination for a longer time. Selection pressure analyses showed that the mitochondrial protein-coding genes of Arcidae species have significantly higher Ka/Ks ratios than other bivalves,suggesting that they have accumulated more nonsynonymous nucleotide substitutions. Seven protein-coding genes(atp6, cox1-3,nad1, nad4 and nad5) show significant difference for Ka/Ks ratios between the Arcidae and non-Arcidae groups. However, these divergences are not observed in the nuclear gene within histone H3. From these observations, we concluded that the large mitogenomes of Arcidae species experienced more relaxed selective constraints. As some Arcidae species are more tolerant to hypoxia that can lead to low metabolic rate, the relaxed selective constraints of mitogenomes may be energy-related. This study provides new insights into the evolution of Arcidae mitogenomes.     

Ontogenetic development in the morphology and behavior of loach （Misgurnus anguillicaudatus） during early life stages

Loach （Misgurnus anguillicaudatus） is a commercially important fish in China and an ideal aquaculture species. However, culturists experience high larval and juvenile mortality during mass production. To provide insight into ways to improve larviculture techniques, we describe the morphological characteristics and behavior of loach during the larval and early juvenile stages. Yolksae larvae ranged from 2.8 to 4.0 mm body length （BL） between days 0 to 4; preflexion larvae ranged from 3.6 to 5.5 mm BL between days 4 to 6; flexion larvae ranged from 4.8 to 8.1 mm BL between days 5 and 14; and post-flexion larvae ranged from 7. l to 15.7 mm BL between days 11 to 27; the minimum length and age of juveniles was 14.1 mm BL and 23 d, respectively. Loach are demersal from hatch through to the early juvenile stages. A suite of morphological characteristics （e.g., external gill filament and ventral mouth opening） and behavioral traits have developed to adapt to demersal living. We observed positive allometric growth in eye diameter, head length, head height, and pectoral fin length during the early larval stages, reflecting the priorities in the development of the organs essential for survival. Our results provide a basis for developing techniques to improve the survival of larval and juvenile loach during mass production.     

Ontogenetic changes in digestive enzyme activities and the amino acid profile of starry flounder Platichthys stellatus

Ontogenetic changes in digestive enzyme activities and the amino acid(AA) profile of starry flounder,Platichthys stellatus,were investigated and limiting amino acids were estimated compared with the essential AA profile between larvae and live food to clarify starry flounder larval nutritional requirements.Larvae were collected at the egg stage and 0,2,4,7,12,17,24 days after hatching(DAH)for analysis.Larvae grew from 1.91 mm at hatching to 12.13 mm at 24 DAH.Trypsin and chymotrypsin activities changed slightly by 4 DAH and then increased significantly 4 DAH.Pepsin activity increased sharply beginning 17 DAH.Lipase activity increased significantly 4 DAH and increased progressively with larval growth.Amylase activity was also detected in newly hatched larvae and increased 7 DAH followed by a gradual decrease.High free amino acid(FAA) content was detected in starry flounder eggs(110.72mg/g dry weight).Total FAA content dropped to 43.29 mg/g in 4-DAH larvae and then decreased gradually to 13.74 mg/g in 24-DAH larvae.Most FAAs(except lysine and methionine) decreased 50%in 4-DAH larvae compared with those in eggs and then decreased to the lowest values in 24-DAH larvae.Changes in the protein amino acid(PAA) profile were much milder than those observed for FAAs.Most PAAs increased gradually during larval development,except lysine and phenylalanine.The percentages of free threonine,valine,isoleucine,and leucine decreased until the end of the trial,whereas the protein forms of these four AAs followed the opposite trend.A comparison of the essential AA composition of live food(rotifers,Artemia nauplii,and Artemia metanauplii) and larvae suggested that methionine was potentially the first limiting AA.These results may help develop starry flounder larviculture methods by solving the AA imbalance in live food.Moreover,the increased digestive enzyme activities indicate the possibility of introducing artificial compound feed.     

Bacteriological analysis of the digestive tube of the mud snail (Bullacta exarata Philippi) and its rearing shoal

The bacterial flora in the digestive tube of Bullacta exarata Philippi and its rearing shoal were investigated. A total of 157 strains of heterotrophic bacteria, isolated from crop, stomach intestine and other parts of the digestive tube, mainly belong to the genera Photobacterium, Bacillus, Pseudomonas Vibrio and some genera of the family Enterobacteriaceae. There are significantly more varieties of bacteria in crop than in stomach and intestine. A total of 173 strains of bacteria were isolated from the rearing shoal, belonging to 13 genera. The 5 predominant genera, such as Bacillus and Photobacterium, are the same as those in the digestive tube, but greatly differ in percentages. The number of heterotrophic bacteria and Vibrio in rearing shoal change in line with the alteration of the temperature, and are significantly affected by the use of pesticides.     

ON THE FAMILY LYONSIIDAE (MOLLUSCA:BIVALVIA), WITH DESCRIPTION OF A NEW GENUS AND SPECIES FROM THE CHINA SEAS

The present paper deals with 4 species of Family Lyonsiidae , collected from the China Seas : one new genus and new species, Sinolyonsia sinica gen . et sp. nov, one species, Lyonsia kawamurai recorded for the first time from the China Seas , and 2 species L . ventricosa Gould and Agriodesma navicula (Adams et Reeve) reported previously from the Yellow Sea by the author .