Biota of a subalpine springbrook in the Southern Alps

The flora and fauna of a subalpine springbrook at Cass in the Southern Alps of New Zealand was studied from April 1975 to January 1976. Spring water was moderately hard (30.0 g.m.^‐3), with high concentrations of dissolved oxygen (> 90% saturation) and carbon dioxide (5–14 g.m^‐3) and a temperature of 6.0–6.5°C. Three mosses covered much of the stream bed and formed distinct zones. Fissidens rigidulus inhabited torrential, water near the middle of the channel, Pterygophyllum quadrijarium. grew in the water‐saturated inner spray zone, and Cratoneuropsis relaxa inhabited the outer spray zone. In moss samples, 44 species of invertebrates were collected, mainly immature stages of insects. Zelandoperla jenestrata (Plecoptera), Zelolessica cheira (Trichoptera) a species of Empididae (Diptera) and several species of Chironomidae were most abundant in Fissidens; Austroperla cyrene (Plecoptera), a species of Helodidae (Coleoptera) and a triclad, Neppia montana, were most abundant in Pterygophyllum; an isopod, Styloniscus otakensis, was the only common animal on Cratoneuropsis. It is suggested that animal microdistribution patterns reflect differences in water saturation, flow rates, and detritus trapping ability within the moss zones.     

Pleistocene Ross seal (ommatophoca Rossi) from New Zealand (note)

A fossil seal jaw from the Early Pleistocene (Wanganui Series; Hautawan Stage) of Napier, New Zealand, is identified as that of an Ommatophoca rossi juvenile of less than 1.8 m body length.     

Life-history patterns of the salt-marsh killifish Fundulus heteroclitus (L.) introduced in the estuary of the guadalquivir river (South West Spain)

Two thousand four hundred and eighty-four specimens from a population of Fundulus heteroclitus introduced into the southwestern Iberian Peninsula were used to carry out a study on age, growth and reproduction. In this new habitat the species displayed the same life-history tactics as in its original areas. The life-span was shorter, with a winter age-structure of 67·4% in 0 + group, 29·1% in 1 + group, 2·5% in 2 + group and 1·1% in 3 + group. Females showed a higher growth rate and a longer growth period than males and because of this they were always longer than males in all the age-groups. In both sexes growth stopped and the somatic condition was at a minimum from April to June, when the gonadosomatic index reached its highest values. The maximum average gonadosomatic index in females was four times higher than that of males. Specimens achieved maturity during the spawning season the year following birth at a minimum average total length of 45 mm for males and 60 mm for females. Fecundity was related to fish weight, total length and gonad weight. The overall sex ratio did not differ significantly from 1:1.     

Population Parameters, Life Cycle, and Feeding of Mysidium columbiae (Zimmer) in the Waters Surrounding a Belizian Mangrove Cay

Abstract. The ecology of tropical Mysidacea is poorly known. Mysidium columbiae (Z immer ), because of its ubiquitous distribution in the tropical western Atlantic and the information available on its aggregative behavior, is an ideal subject of study to reconcile aspects of this problem. Information and data were obtained on abundance, population size, shoal/school structure, fecundity, development, and feeding of a M. columbiae population inhabiting waters surrounding Twin Cays, a mangrove archipelago in Belize. Although reproduction was continuous and proportions of life stages within shoals remained relatively constant throughout the year, population size decreased by an order of magnitude from summer to winter. Embryonic development averaged 4.7 days, with postlarvae being released near the surface before dawn. Aquarium experiments suggested that olfaction may be more sensitive than vision, although both senses were used to locate food. This species is a detritivore, but gut contents suggested that it may also be a predator.     

What do egg size distributions in marine invertebrates tell us about validity of fecundity‐time models?

An early mathematical model of egg size evolution in marine invertebrates (American Naturalist, 1973a, 107 , 353) traded fecundity against development time and resulted in a U‐shaped optimality curve suggesting that only extremes of egg sizes should be evolutionary stable. It was later suggested that the model predicts a bimodal distribution of egg sizes and therefore can be tested by examining histograms of egg sizes. More recent fecundity‐time models (American Naturalist, 1997, 150 , 48; American Naturalist, 2000, 156 , 175) came up with predictions of intermediate optimal egg sizes; however, comparisons of optimality curves with histograms of egg sizes remained central to model testing. Here the question whether the bimodality assumption has any basis has been addressed theoretically. Simulation modeling and analysis show that egg size distributions generally do not match the optimality curves produced by fecundity‐time models and that the shape of predicted frequency distributions depends on both the optimality curve and other model parameters. Therefore, egg size frequency distributions alone cannot be used for model testing.     

Differences in life table demography among eight geographic populations of Brachionus calyciflorus (Rotifera) from China

Eight geographic populations of Brachionus calyciflorus collected from China in August 2007 were cultured at 18 °C, 23 °C and 28 °C with 3.0×10⁶ cells mL⁻¹ of alga Scenedesmus obliquus to investigate their differences in life table demography. The results showed that the response in each of the life table demographic parameters (age-specific survivorship and fecundity, life expectancy at hatching, generation time, net reproductive rate, intrinsic rate of population increase and proportion of sexual offspring) to increasing temperature differed with geographic population. Life expectancy at hatching, generation time, net reproductive rate and intrinsic rate of population increase were all significantly influenced by temperature, geographic population and their interaction and indirectly affected by the changes in body size and egg volume of the rotifers; however, the proportion of sexual offspring produced by the rotifers was markedly influenced only by geographic population. Among all the combinations of temperature and geographic population, the generation times of Guangzhou and Hainan populations at 18 °C were the longest, and the intrinsic rate of population increase of the Tai’an population at 18 °C was the lowest. Among all the eight geographic populations, the proportion of sexual offspring produced by Xuzhou population was the highest. Although the higher proportions of sexual offspring produced by all the geographic populations of rotifers (9.7-41.1%) might lead to higher resting egg productions, and thus to wide spread of the rotifers among the eight geographic populations, their differences in life table demography might be regarded as the results of adaptation to the different environmental conditions faced by them in the field.