A Stable Carbon Isotope Study of the Food-web in a Freshwater-deprived South African Estuary, with Particular Emphasis on the Ichthyofauna

The importance of macrophytes as food sources for estuarine nekton is unclear. Previous carbon isotope investigations in the macrophyte-dominated, freshwater-deprived Kariega Estuary showed that the bivalveSolen cylindraceusdid not utilize the dominant estuarine macrophytes found within the estuary as a primary food source. This finding prompted questions as to what the nekton of this estuary utilize as primary energy sources. δ¹³C analyses of the principal autochthonous and allochthonous primary carbon sources, as well as the dominant invertebrate and fish species, indicate that there are two main carbon pathways within the Kariega Estuary. The littoral community, which incorporates the majority of crustaceans, gobies, mullet and a sparid, utilizes δ¹³C enriched primary food sources namelySpartina maritima,Zosteracapensis and epiphytes. The channel fauna, which includes the zooplankton, zooplanktivorous and piscivorous fish, utilizes a primary food source depleted in δ¹³C, which is most likely a mixture of phytoplankton, terrestrial plant debris and C₄macrophyte detritus. The C₃saltmarsh macrophytesSarcocornia perennisandChenolea diffusa, as well as benthic microalgae, appear to be less important as primary food sources to the nekton of the Kariega Estuary.     

Radioecological studies of activation products released from a nuclear power plant into the marine environment

The seaweeds Fucus vesiculosus, Fucus serratus, Ascophyllum nodosum and Cladophora glomerata and crustaceans of the Idothea and Gammarus families have proven to be excellent bioindicators for radioactive corrosion products released from a nuclear power plant into the marine environment. These bioindicators have been used to map the spatial and temporal distribution of the released radioactivity. The activity has been followed up to 150 km from the power plant, and the decrease in activity concentration C(z) in the bioindicators with distance z can be expressed by a power function C(z) = α. z^?1·4 where α is a constant.The variation with time of activity concentration very well reflects the amount of activity discharged from the power plant, with surprisingly good resolution in time.The bioindicators exhibit different uptake patterns of the radionuclides detected, and variations from summer to winter for the crustaceans Idothea, when compared to Fucus, has been found.     

Quaternary geology of the Amazonian Lowland

The Quaternary history of the Amazon lowlands is characterized by deposition of sediments of Andean provenance and by the influences of changing sea levels. Areas well above the present water tables were not reached by Pleistocene high-water stages. These areas have been intensively weathered since the Tertiary, forming hard lateritic weathering horizons. These weathering horizons are best explained by the relatively constant, humid tropical climate throughout the Quaternary. In the western Amazonian Lowland, flood plains corresponding to the different Pleistocene sea-level heights were formed. During low sea level, erosion in the drainage areas increased and the water levels of the central Amazon River system were lowered. Valleys drowned and lakes formed in the lower reaches of rivers and creeks during high sea-level stages. These lakes (ria lakes) remained in the valleys with rivers having a low sediment load. Seismic profiling (3.5 kHz) in some of these lakes clearly showed deposits of the three last periods of Quaternary high sea-level stages.     

Growth of Five Species of Gorgonians (Sub-Class Octocorallia) in the Sedimented Waters of Singapore

Abstract. Annual growth rates of gorgonians in the Indo-Pacific region are reported ror the first tinie. A method of measuring gorgonian growth using periodic photographic monitoring that is sensitive to horizontal growth and changes in growth foci but that does not require tedious underwater measurements is applied. Growth parameters of five species of gorgonians from three Families ( Plexauridae. Melithaeidae . and Subergorgiidae ) were monitored over a period of 18 months using this method. Growth rates ranged from 2.30 cm a^-1 to 7.88 cm. a ^-1 in the highly sedimented waters of Singapore. The maximum number of branches added per year ranged from 1.7 to 14.5.     

Immunological characterization of metallothionein in marine and freshwater fish

Metallothionein (MT) is a low-molecular-weight, cysteine-rich, metalbinding protein found in all vertebrates. The primary structure of the protein is evolutionary conserved, especially the location of cysteine-residues. There are nonetheless significant differences between MTs from different vertebrate classes, notably in major antigenic epitopes. Previous work has shown that MT from different fish species also differ. The objective of the present work was to characterize MT from temperate, sub-tropical and tropical fish species by their relative reactivities with two anti-fish MT antisera. One or both antisera cross-reacted with MT from all fish species investigated. Surprisingly, the relative reactivities of the two antisera with MT from species belonging to different taxonomic groups appeared to reflect differences at the level of family rather than differences between major phylogenetic lineages.     

Directional spread parameter at intermediate water depth

The characteristics of directional spread parameters at intermediate water depth are investigated based on a cosine power ‘2s' directional spreading model. This is based on wave measurements carried out using a Datawell directional waverider buoy in 23 m water depth. An empirical equation for the frequency dependent directional spreading parameter is presented. Directional spreading function estimated based on the Maximum Entropy Method is compared with those obtained using a cosine power ‘2s' parameter model. A set of empirical equations relating the directional spreading parameter corresponding to the peak of wave spectrum to other wave parameters like significant wave height and period are obtained. It shows that the wave directional spreading at peak wave frequency can be related to the non-linearity parameter, which allows estimation of directional spreading without reference to wind information.     

Seasonal variation in mussel Mytilus edulis digestive gland cytochrome P4501A- and 2E-immunoidentified protein levels and DNA strand breaks (Comet assay).

Mytilus edulis digestive gland microsomes were prepared from indigenous populations sampled from a clean reference site (Port Quin) and an urban-industrial contaminated site (Blackpool) in the UK. Samples were collected in March/April, May, August and December 1998. Western blot analysis was performed using polyclonal antibodies to fish CYP1A and rat CYP2E using partially purified M. edulis CYP as a positive control, to aid identification. CYP1A- and CYP2E-immunopositive protein levels showed different site-specific seasonal variation with higher levels of CYP2E determined in May (P < 0.05). At both sites, lower levels of CYP1A-immunopositive protein but not CYP2E-immunopositive protein were observed in the samples collected in December (P < 0.05). This correlated with lower levels of nuclear DNA damage (Comet assay expressed as per cent tail DNA) observed in December compared to August (P < 0.05).