A new species, Gerres septemfasciatus （Perciformes： Gerreidae） from the Chinese coastal waters of the South China Sea

We describe a new species of gerreid fish,Gerres septemfasciatus,based on four specimens collected from the northern South China Sea.G.septemfasciatus most closely resembles G.limbatus in general appearance.However,G.septemfasciatus is distinguished from the latter and other congeners by having 3 to 3.5 scales between the base of the fifth dorsal spine and lateral line.This species has a distinctive color pattern,including 7-8 regular,vertical,blue-grayish bands on its side.The distribution of this species ...     

Optimization of fluorescence in situ hybridization （FISH） for the identification of two polar coccoid green algae species

Standard FISH protocols using fluorochrome-labeled oligonucteotide probes have been successfully applied for in situ detection.However,optimized protocols of FISH for specific eukaryotes in marine environments are often not developed.This study optimized the conditions of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) by using two polar isolated microalgae.The modified conditions were as follows: (1) 10 mg·mL-1 lysozyme solution pretreatment at 37℃ for 30 min;(2) the hybridization buffer including 20% formamide;(3) the hybridization condition was 47℃ for 6 h. The cells enumerated by FISH were compared with those enumerated by flow eytometry (FCM) and DAPI to confirm the cell loss and hybridization efficiency.The optimized protocol was also successfully applied to Arctic Ocean samples,which were found to be dominated by Micromonas sp.The modified protocol showed a high relative efficiency and could be successfully applied for the detection of specific microbial eukaryotes in environmental samples.     

Inheritance of 15 microsatellites in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas： segregation and null allele identification for linkage analysis

Microsatellites were screened in a backcross family of the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas. Fifteen microsatellite loci were distinguishable and polymorphic with 6 types of allele-combinations. Null alleles were detected in 46.7% of loci, accounting for 11.7% of the total alleles. Four loci did not segregate in Mendelian Ratios. Three linkage groups were identified among 7 of the 15 segregating loci. Fluorescence-based automated capillary electrophoresis (ABI 310 Genetic Analyzer) that used to detect the microsatellite loci, has been proved a fast, precise, and reliable method in microsatellite genotyping.     

Stock discrimination of spottedtail goby (Synechogobius ommaturus) in the Yellow Sea by analysis of otolith shape

Otolith shape is species specific and is an ideal marker of fish population affiliation. In this study, otolith shape of spottedtail goby Synechogobius ommaturus is used to identify stocks in different spawning locations in the Yellow Sea. The main objectives of this study are to explore the potential existence of local stocks of spottedtail goby in the Yellow Sea by analysis of otolith shape, and to investigate ambient impacts on otolith shape. Spottedtail goby was sampled in five locations in the Yellow Sea in 2007 and 2008. Otoliths are described using variables correlated to size (otolith area, perimeter, length, width, and weight) and shape (rectangularity, circularity, and 20 Fourier harmonics). Only standardized otolith variables are used so that the effect of otolith size on the shape variables could be eliminated. There is no significant difference among variables of sex, year, and side (left and right). However, the otolith shapes of the spring stocks and the autumn stocks differ significantly. Otolith shape differences are greater among locations than between years. Correct classification rate of spottedtail goby with the otolith shape at different sampling locations range from 29.7%–77.4%.     

Use of Otolith Shape for the Identification of Trumpeter Sillago （Sillago maculata） and Silver Sillago （Sillago sihama）

Otolith shape is species-specific in fish. In this study, 161 samples of Trumpeter sillago Sillago maculata and 164 of Silver sillago Sillago sihama were collected from Beibu Gulf in July 2009. The main objective of this study was to use morphological variables and Fourier harmonics to describe otolith characteristics and use discriminant analyses to separate the two species. Otoliths were measured by traditional one and two dimensional measures(otolith length, width, diameters, area, perimeter, rectangularity and circularity), as well as by Fourier analysis to capture the finer regions of the otolith. Analysis of covariance(ANCOVA)showed that there was significant correlation between morphological variables(diameter, perimeter, otolith length, otolith width, otolith area, density, harmonics 3, harmonics 4, harmonics 5, harmonics 13, harmonics 15, and harmonics 16)and body length. To minimize size effects on the morphological variables between species, only fish with a body length between 90 and 140 mm were included in the data analysis and the variables which had significant relation with body length were transformed using the residual. The result showed that the accuracy of discriminant analysis was 97. 8% and 100% for Trumpeter sillago and Silver sillago, respectively. This high accuracy indicated that otolith shape was described accurately by morphological variables and Fourier harmonics, and discriminant analysis was an effective way to identify and separate the two species.     

Otolith shape analysis for stock discrimination of two Collichthys genus croaker(Pieces: Sciaenidae,) from the northern Chinese coast

The otolith morphology of two croaker species(C ollichthys lucidus and C ollichthys niveatus) from three areas(Liaodong Bay, LD; Huanghe(Yellow) River estuary, HRE; Jiaozhou Bay, JZ) along the northern Chinese coast were investigated for species identifi cation and stock discrimination. The otolith contour shape described by elliptic Fourier coefficients(EFC) were analysed using principal components analysis(PCA) and stepwise canonical discriminant analysis(CDA) to identify species and stocks. The two species were well dif ferentiated, with an overall classifi cation success rate of 97.8%. And variations in the otolith shapes were significant enough to discriminate among the three geographical samples of C. lucidus(67.7%) or C. niveatus(65.2%). Relatively high mis-assignment occurred between the geographically adjacent LD and HRE samples, which implied that individual mixing may exist between the two samples. This study yielded information complementary to that derived from genetic studies and provided information for assessing the stock structure of C. lucidus and C. niveatus in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea.