A genetic assessment of the taxonomic status of New Zealand mussels of the genus Xenostrobus Wilson, 1967

ABSTRACT

The genus Xenostrobus consists of small, marine and estuarine mussels that all appear similar externally. One of its estuarine species, Xenostrobus securis, with a native range in New Zealand and Australia, has become invasive in the Northern Hemisphere. No genetic data are available to determine if X. securis populations from the two countries are conspecific. Additionally, marine Xenostrobus from New Zealand have often been regarded as a species, X. neozelanicus, distinct fromthe marine Australian species X. pulex. We combined new DNA sequences with published data to assess the taxonomic status of New Zealand Xenostrobus. The data comprised 658 aligned bases of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene and 331 bases of nuclear histone H3. There was no evidence that X. securis populations from Australia and New Zealand are specifically distinct. Northern Hemisphere specimens of X. securis belonged to Australian, not New Zealand, clades in phylogenetic analyses of COI data, suggesting the former country as their more likely original source. The results confirm that X. neozelanicus and X. pulex are distinct species and for nomenclatural completeness for this taxonomic decision a lectotype is designated for Mytilus ater Zelebor in Dunker and Zelebor, 1866 DunkerW, ZeleborJ. 1866. Bericht über die von der Novara-expedition mitgebrachten Mollusken. Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien. 16:909–916. [Google Scholar] [?=?Modiolus neozelanicus Iredale, 1915 IredaleT. 1915. A commentary on Suter’s ‘Manual of New Zealand Mollusca’. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute. 47:417–497. [Google Scholar]].     

Estimation of Rapidly Time-Varying Sparse Channels

The estimation of sparse shallow-water acoustic communication channels and the impact of estimation performance on the equalization of phase coherent communication signals are investigated. Given sufficiently wide transmission bandwidth, the impulse response of the shallow-water acoustic channel is often sparse as the multipath arrivals become resolvable. In the presence of significant surface waves, the multipath arrivals associated with surface scattering fluctuate rapidly over time, in the sense that the complex gain, the arrival time, and the Dopplers of each arrival all change dynamically. A sparse channel estimation technique is developed based on the delay-Doppler-spread function representation of the channel. The delay-Doppler-spread function may be considered as a first-order approximation to the rapidly time-varying channel in which each channel component is associated with Doppler shifts that are assumed constant over an averaging interval. The sparse structure of the delay-Doppler-spread function is then exploited by sequentially choosing the dominant components that minimize a least squares error. The advantage of this approach is that it captures both the channel structure as well as its dynamics without the need of explicit dynamic channel modeling. As the symbols are populated with the sample Dopplers, the increase in complexity depends on the channel Doppler spread and can be significant for a severely Doppler-spread channel. Comparison is made between nonsparse recursive least squares (RLS) channel estimation, sparse channel impulse response estimation, and estimation using the proposed approach. The results are demonstrated using experimental data. In training mode, the proposed approach shows a 3-dB reduction in signal prediction error. In decision-directed mode, it improves significantly the robustness of the performance of the channel-estimate-based equalizer against rapid channel fluctuations.     

A comparative mineralogical study of gas-related sediments of the Gulf of Cádiz

The Gulf of Cádiz area has been extensively surveyed in recent years and several gas-related fluid escape seafloor structures have been identified. In this study, gravity cores, collected during the ANASTASYA/00 and ANASTASYA/01 cruises, on mud volcanoes, hemipelagic sediments and dredged material from diapiric structures, have been studied. A comparative mineralogical analysis by XRD and SEM of samples from different areas has been performed in order to determine whether there is a characteristic mineralogy related to these fluid escape structures, and also to determine the origin of the mud matrix and constrain the depth of the parent units. The mineralogical analysis reflects the different origins of the different units described in the cores: hemipelagic material of the slope, clays that underlie the mud volcanoes and are discharged at the sea bottom surface, and authigenic and diagenetic minerals possibly involved in the anaerobic oxidation of methane in the mud volcano sediments.     

Contamination of organotin compounds and imposex in molluscs from Vancouver,Canada

Gastropods and bivalves were collected at 15 sites at Vancouver and Victoria, Canada between 24 May and 7 June, 1999, to establish tissue concentrations of butyltin and phenyltin compounds, to record imposex symptoms in gastropods, and to assess the present status of organotin contamination around Vancouver. No neogastropods (such as Nucella lima) were found around Vancouver. Neogastropod populations could have been extirpated by severe TBT contamination in Vancouver, as relatively high concentrations of TBT were detected in tissues of Mytilus trossulus from Vancouver, and the neogastropods distributed in Vancouver might be sensitive to TBT. Recovery from imposex, however, was observed in neogastropod populations from three sites at Victoria and Mission Point. TBT contamination has continued around Vancouver, arising from continuous use of TBT in antifouling paints for vessels larger than 25 m in length; however, TBT has decreased around Victoria and Mission Point. Different patterns of TBT accumulation in tissue were observed among the bivalve species from Vancouver. The highest TBT concentration detected in Tresus capax suggested some possible adverse effects. TBT was the most predominant butyltin component in almost all bivalve specimens surveyed, suggesting a low rate of TBT metabolism. Phenyltin compounds were not detected in any molluscan specimens in this study.     

Diet of albacore Thunnus alalunga from the waters of Mauritius (western Indian Ocean) inferred from stomach contents and fatty acid analysis

The diet of albacore Thunnus alalunga from their spawning ground in the waters of Mauritius was investigated. The stomach contents of 249 albacore individuals, caught by industrial longliners and artisanal fishers, was analysed, and the dominant prey taxa were selected for lipid and fatty acid (FA) analysis. The FA profiles of prey were compared with those of liver tissue of spawning-capable and post-spawning female albacore, using multivariate analysis. Whereas stomach content analysis identified cephalopods and crustaceans as the dominant prey items in number, FA-profile analysis identified crustaceans and fishes as the most-frequently consumed prey of post-spawning female albacore. In contrast, the FA profiles of spawning-capable albacore and those of prey showed very low similarity. Analysis of the prey suggests that although cephalopods, crustaceans and fishes could all provide albacore with the required lipids and FAs, cephalopod prey seem to be less desirable owing to their lower energy content (i.e. low in total lipid, triacylglycerol, 16:0, 18:0 and 18:1ω9). Instead, the most beneficial food appeared to be locally available fishes, which are more energy-rich and have a higher docosahexaenoic acid/ eicosapentaenoic acid ratio. These results provide new information on the trophic ecology of albacore, promote our understanding of the importance of prey type for successful reproduction of albacore, and highlight the advantages of FA profiling to study diet.     

Growth and primary productivity of marine macrophytes exposed to domestic sewage effluents

This study provides the first response data for ten Southern California macrophytes exposed to untreated, primary, secondary and secondary chlorinated sewage effluent during long-term culture studies in the laboratory as well as short-term metabolic studies in the field and in the laboratory. Bossiella orbigniana, Lithothrix aspergillum and Corallina officinalis var, chilensis had relatively broad homeostatic capabilities and enhanced net production rates when exposed to primary treated sewage. In the long-term cultures, Amphiroa zonata, B. orbigniana and C. officinalis var. chilensis all demonstrated enhanced growth in the presence of primary sewage. Chlorination of effluent had only a short-term negative effect; i.e. species' responses to secondary and secondary chlorinated sewage were virtually identical beyond the second week in culture. Three populations of C. officinalis var. chilensis with differing pollution histories showed a tolerance to sewage corresponding to the extent of previous exposure, indicating that this species may be able to acclimate physiologically to sewage stress. The more sewage-tolerant macrophytes displayed lower photosynthetic quotient values during exposure to effluent than those possessing little tolerance to sewage.     

Variations of antioxidant efficiency and presence of endosymbiotic diatoms in the Antarctic porifera Haliclona dancoi

The role of endosymbiotic diatoms as pro-oxidant stressors in porifera has been investigated in the Antarctic sponge Haliclona dancoi in which the presence of diatoms is influenced by marked seasonal variations during the austral summer. Both chlorophaeopigments and frustules were absent in sponge tissues sampled in early November at the beginning of the summer and increased from the mid of December with slightly shifted temporal trends. The efficiency of antioxidant defenses in the sponge showed a marked response to symbionts with clearly enhanced values corresponding to the peak of diatoms.     

A densely sampled core and climate variable aliasing

Undersampled records are susceptible to aliasing, in which a high frequency appears incorrectly as a lower one. We study the sampling requirements in a core taken from Rockall Trough using bulk density, P-wave velocity, and magnetic susceptibility as measured on an automated system. At 2-cm spacing (approximately 33 years in this core), all variables show a characteristic red-noise behavior, but with a spectral slope that is sufficiently weak so that significant aliasing appears to be present. P-wave velocity shows the largest potential corruption, probably owing to the weaker spatial averaging present in the sensor. Approximately 50% of the apparent low-frequency energy is aliased in all variables at some frequencies in both quiet and active regions of the record. In this core, a sampling interval of 0.2 cm appears to be "safe" in both active and quiet portions of the core, aliasing little or no energy, except in the P-wave record. For cores of different duration, sampling interval, and measurement type, the considerations will be identical, the importance of the problem depending directly upon the shape of the overall spectrum describing the entire frequency (wavenumber) range of physical variability.     

Sedimentology of a subtidal,tide-dominated sand body in the Yellow Sea,southwest Korea

Odanam Satoe, a subtidal, tide-dominated sand body in the Yellow Sea, Korea, is linear in plan and asymmetrical in cross-section. It consists of fine- to medium-grained, well-sorted subangular sand. Bedforms consist of high-amplitude (1–2 m) sandwaves on the lower flanks of the gentler-sloping bar surface, and medium-amplitude (0.5-1 m) sandwaves on the sand body trough adjoining the steeper face, the bar crest and shallower parts of the gently sloping bar surface. Bedforms are absent on the relatively steeper bar surface, which is characterized by 2° slopes. Bedform orientation on the gentler slope is oblique by 30° to the bar crest, parallel to the sand-body crest on the crest itself, and opposite to the steeper sand-body face in the trough below the steeper slope of the bar.Bottom current velocity data show that tidal currents are semi-rotary with a flood time—velocity asymmetry over the gentler slope, and ebb time—velocity asymmetry over the steeper slope during most of the tidal cycle. Tidal-current flow parallels bar elongation over the steeper slope, whereas over the gentler slope, tidal-current flow is directed at 30° to the bar crest and changes to normal to the crest one hour prior to low tide. Bedform orientation mapped with side-scan sonar shows agreement with these flow directions.Sand dispersal around the sand body is controlled by time—velocity asymmetry and partial rotary flow directions of tidal currents. This circulation causes not only a trapezoidal mode of grain dispersal, but also westerly migration of the sand body documented from comparative bathymetric surveys in 1964 and 1980.