Plastic debris ingestion by marine catfish: an unexpected fisheries impact

Plastic marine debris is a pervasive type of pollution. River basins and estuaries are a source of plastics pollution for coastal waters and oceans. Estuarine fauna is therefore exposed to chronic plastic pollution. Three important catfish species [Cathorops spixii (N = 60), Cathorops agassizii (N = 60) and Sciades herzbergii (N = 62)] from South Western Atlantic estuaries were investigated in a tropical estuary of the Brazilian Northeast in relation to their accidental ingestion of plastic marine debris. Individuals from all three species had ingested plastics. In C. spixii and C. agassizii, 18% and 33% of individuals had plastic debris in their stomachs, respectively. S. herzbergii showed 18% of individuals were contaminated. All ontogenetic phases (juveniles, sub-adults and adults) were contaminated. Nylon fragments from cables used in fishery activities (subsistence, artisanal and commercial) played a major role in this contamination. These catfish spend their entire life cycles within the estuary and are an important feeding resource for larger, economically important, species. It is not yet possible to quantify the scale and depth of the consequences of this type of pollution. However, plastics are well known threat to living resources in this and other estuaries. Conservation actions will need to from now onto take plastics pollution into consideration.     

Trophic ecology of the sea urchin Spatangus purpureus elucidated from gonad fatty acids composition analysis

Irregular sea urchins such as the spatangoid Spatangus purpureus are important bioturbators that contribute to natural biogenic disturbance and the functioning of biogeochemical cycles in soft sediments. In the coastal waters of the Balearic Islands S. purpureus occurs in soft red algal beds, and can reach high densities. The diet of S. purpureus is unknown and it is particularly difficult to analyze the stomach contents of this group; therefore, we analyzed the fatty acid (FA) composition of the gonads and potential food resources in order to assess the trophic relationships of this species. The FA profiles of the gonads of S. purpureus agree well with the FA composition of the potential trophic resources (algae and sediment) and reveals changes between localities with different available resources. Three polyunsaturated FAs mainly contributes in the composition in the S. purpureus gonads: eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5n-3) and arachidonic acid (C20:4n-6), both abundant in the macroalgal material, and palmitoleic acid (C16:1n-7), which is characteristic of sediment samples. Trophic markers of bacterial input and carnivorous feeding were significantly more abundant in sea urchins caught on bottoms with less vegetation. The current study demonstrates that the FA content of S. purpureus gonads is a useful marker of diet, as differences in the profiles reflected the variations in detritus composition. The results of this study show that this species has omnivorous feeding behavior; however, viewed in conjunction with available abundance data the results suggest that phytodetritus found within algal beds is an important carbon source for this species.     

各向异性,横向非均匀介质中的传播不变量,透射和反射

对于地震波主要特性随深度变化的准层状介质，可根据两个地震波场的位移和作用力的某种组合建立传播不变量计算公式。这样的不变量与深度无关，对于相同的场则趋于零。它是空间和波数域中为各向异性和横和变化介质而建立的一种计算方法。这些传播不变量可大大简化横向变化介质中反射和透射过程的综合分析，其中包括了波数间耦合作用的计算。本文通过分析ＳＨ波在自由表面下的非规则界面上的入射过程，阐明了这种方法的实现过程。其结