An experimental study on the burrowing activity of river crabs on subsurface water movement and piping erosion

The effects of the burrowing activity of river crabs on subsurface water movement and piping erosion were studied through a flume experiment. Cohesive field soil was used and constant fluvial head was applied. During the experiments with river crabs, burrows were excavated downwards under the groundwater level. At the outlet of each burrow, the crabs excavated pellets of soil and stacked them in piles, in the form of cone mounds. These mounds acted as effective dams for subsurface outflow, but they sometimes collapsed. The roofs of the burrows also caved in occasionally, whereby the crabs would excavate new burrows. The burrowing activity of the crabs led to marked erosion. In contrast, no marked erosion was observed in experiments without crabs, indicating that piping erosion occurs through the assistance of burrowing activity. It was observed that burrowing activity and piping erosion was pronounced when the hydraulic head was not significantly high (0.21–0.25). Analysis of the potential distribution of the soil mass indicated that the head loss close to the burrow was small in the case of experiments with crabs. This suggests that the burrow enhances rapid discharge of subsurface water. Consequently, burrowing activity was found to play an important role in piping erosion and rapid discharge of subsurface water.     

中华绒螯蟹和同科几种大眼幼体的形态区别

本文镜检了１９９４，１９９５年５，６月采自福建莆田黄石，闽江口的海洋蟹类大眼幼体，初步提出绒螯蟹属与同科几属大眼幼体的区别及绒螯蟹属大眼幼体鉴别方法，并区别出中华绒螯蟹，日本绒螯蟹，字纹弓蟹，相手蟹和厚蟹的大眼幼体。     

Hatching of an Estuarine Crab, Sesarma Haematochier: Factors Affecting the Timing of Hatching in Detached Embryos, and Enhancement of Hatching Synchrony by the Female

The zoeas of the estuarine terrestrial crab Sesarma haematocheir hatch in synchrony with nocturnal high tides. Hatching is also highly synchronized among embryos: i.e., female-attached embryos would all hatch within 1 h, if the female is maintained at about 23°C. This study examined the factors affecting the timing of hatching in female-attached and detached embryos. The timing of hatching in the embryos detached from the female was somewhat affected by continuous light, salinity, and cluster size, but it was much more strongly affected by low temperature. In addition, a notable feature was that the influence of low temperature was markedly different between female-attached embryos and detached embryos. Hatching of this crab occurs after a special developmental process for hatching ("hatching program") that requires 48–49.5 h. This program would be mediated by a temperature-dependent process. Hatching of this crab cannot be fully explained in terms of osmotic effects. Since hatching of female-attached embryos was highly synchronized, the female should release an (unknown) stimulus enhancing hatching synchrony among embryos. Highly synchronized hatching among embryos would enable the female to release hatched zoeas into the water all at one time.     

Phylogenetic relationships of five species of Dorippinae(Crustacea, Decapoda) revealed by 16S rDNA sequence analysis

A molecular phylogeny is presented for the subfamily Dorippinae (including 9 individuals, representing 5 species and 4 genera), based on the sequence data from 16S rRNA gene. Two-cluster test between lineages in these phylogenetic trees has been performed. On the basis of rate constancy, the rate of nucleotide substitutions of 16S rDNA sequence data is estimated as 0.27% per million years. The analysis strongly supports the recognition of the Dorippinae as a monophyletic subfamily. Phylogenetic tree indicates that the subfamily Dorippinae is divided into two main clades, and genus Dorippe appears basal in the subfamily, diverging from other species 36.6 Ma ago. It is also clear that the Heikea is closely related to the genus Neodorippe. The divergence time between them is 15.8 Ma.     

长江、黄河、辽河水系中华绒螯蟹(Eriocheir sinensis)野生和养殖群体遗传变异的微卫星分析*

我国中华绒螯蟹(以下简称河蟹)养殖主要集中在长江、黄河和辽河流域, 经过多年的人工养殖、跨流域引种和增殖放流等活动可能会对其遗传特性造成一定的影响,因此本研究利用29个微卫星标记对3个水系的野生和养殖群体进行了遗传特征分析。结果表明：(1) 29个SSR标记共检测到943个等位基因,各位点等位基因数在11-52之间, 平均为32.52个; 各位点的平均观测和期望杂合度分别为0.723和0.876,仅5个位点处于Hardy-Weinberg平衡中;各位点平均多态信息含量(PIC)为0.864,其中28个为高多态性位点(PIC>0.5)。(2) 6个群体均表现出较高的遗传杂合度水平(H_O=0.702-0.744);香农信息指数(I,介于2.566-2.661)显示6群体的遗传多样性水平依次为：长江野生>长江养殖>黄河野生>辽河养殖>黄河养殖>辽河野生。(3)方差分析(AMOVA)结果显示,来源于种群内个体间和个体内部的变异分别为14.02%和85.88%,群体遗传分化指数F_ST仅为0.0008-0.0050,群体间的遗传分化处于较低水平(F_ST<0.05);基于Nei’s遗传距离的UPGMA聚类结果显示,长江野生群体单独聚为一支, 其余5群体共同聚为大一支, 其中长江养殖群体、黄河野生群体与黄河养殖群体聚为一小支,辽河野生群体和养殖群体聚为另一小支。(4) 瓶颈效应分析显示,所有群体近期均经历过有效种群的降低。群体遗传结构分析显示显示,6种群内个体的遗传组成混杂,不能根据其遗传结构划分出最佳理论群体数。综上所述,三水系野生和养殖群体均具有较高的遗传多样性,长江和黄河野生群体的遗传多样性略高于养殖群体;三水系河蟹野生群体的遗传分化与地理距离具有一定的相关性,长江养殖群体、黄河野生及养殖群体间的遗传分化较小可能与其跨流域引种及养殖群体逃逸造成其种质混杂有关。     

Sex‐specific affinity for redox‐active metals influences antioxidant responses of Callinectes amnicola (blue crab) populations in littoral and open water habitats of a tropical coastal lagoon

The critical role of ecological preferences and opportunity in determining contaminant uptake and adaptive responses of sexes in the wild is still poorly understood. This ecological relationship was investigated by measuring metal bioaccumulation and antioxidant activity in male and female blue crab populations from open water habitat and the littoral/inter‐tidal zone of the Lagos Lagoon. A total of 741 samples of blue crab (littoral zone: 263 females, 137 males; open water zone, 230 females, 111 males) was collected monthly over 24 months (January 2010–January 2012) from each site and the measurements of morphometric features (wet weight, carapace length, carapace width) were recorded; condition index, metal (redox active: Cu, Zn, redox inactive: Pb, Cd) concentration in tissues (gills, hepatopancreas, gonads and muscle) and antioxidant activity (superoxide dismutase, reduced glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, catalase and malondialdehyde) were measured for each sex. Monthly sediment samples for both habitats were also analysed for metals using standard methods. Female crabs were significantly larger (p < .05) with a better condition index than the male crabs across sites and seasons, while higher oxidative damage was recorded in male crabs in the littoral zone compared to the open water zone. The results show that there was a negative association between antioxidant activity and lipid peroxidation; a negative relationship between concentrations of redox‐inactive metals (Pb and Cd) and antioxidant activity in male crab tissues; and a positive relationship between uptake of a redox‐active metal (Cu) and antioxidant activity in female crab tissues. Although these trends suggest sex‐specific toxicity, they also associate redox‐inactive metals with the downregulation of antioxidant activity and oxidative stress. Furthermore, the higher condition index of females corroborates the possibility of sex‐specific toxicity, while the larger‐sized females compared to males suggests size‐sexual dimorphism in the blue crab populations. The site‐specific oxidative damage between sexes may be attributed to the different complexity of both habitats, which affords different ecological opportunities for the sexes.     

VC对河蟹血清和组织中超氧化物歧化酶及磷酸酶活性的影响

研究了饲料中添加不同含量VC 对河蟹体内超氧化物歧化酶 (SOD)、碱性磷酸酶 (ALP)和酸性磷酸酶 (ACP)活性的影响 .结果表明 ,饲料中不添加VC 时 ,河蟹肝胰腺、卵巢、血清和肌肉各组织中SOD、ALP和ACP活性各异 ,其中SOD活性大小顺序为肝胰腺 >卵巢 >血清 >肌肉 ,ALP活性顺序为肝胰腺 >血清 >卵巢 >肌肉 ,而ACP活性则为肝胰腺 >血清 >肌肉 >卵巢 .饲料中VC 添加量分别 2 .5× 1 0 - 3 、5.0×1 0 - 3 、1 0 .0× 1 0 - 3 和 1 5.0× 1 0 - 3 (m m)时 ,与对照组相比 ,河蟹不同组织中SOD活性显著下降 (p <0 .0 5或 p <0 .0 1 ) ,而ALP、ACP这两种酶的活性却显著升高 (p <0 .0 5或 p <0 .0 1 ) .但它们的变化幅度不同 ,其中就肝胰腺、卵巢、血清和肌肉中SOD活性而言 ,VC 添加量为 1 5.0× 1 0 - 3 (m m )饲料组分别比对照组的低1 41 .3 4 %、1 2 5.94%、1 1 6.67%和 1 1 5.79%;ALP活性 ,VC 添加量为 1 0 .0× 1 0 - 3(m m)饲料组分别比对照组高 93 .0 %、77.5%、1 66.3 %和 2 66.4%;ACP活性 ,VC的添加量为 1 5.0× 1 0 - 3 (m m)饲料组分别比对照组高 1 3 0 .7%、2 3 7.4%、43 7.6%和 2 65.5%.饲料中VC 添加量为 (5.0～ 1 0 .0 )× 1 0 - 3 (m m )时 ,可有效地增强河蟹非特异性免疫能力 .此外 ,本实验还就VC     

中华绒螯蟹受精卵离体培育的初步研究

用实验生态学的方法对培养中华绒螯蟹离体胚胎的条件进行了研究。结果表明,温度不仅直接影响胚胎的发育速度,而且通过影响水中真菌的繁殖间接但明显地影响胚胎的存活率。光照对胚胎发育的影响不明显,用０．０５￣０．１ｍｇ／Ｌ的孔雀石绿、２￣８ｍｇ／Ｌ的亚甲基蓝,２０￣５０ｍｇ／Ｌ的福尔马林或３￣５ｍｌ／Ｌ的制霉茵素都能有效地抑制水中真菌的生长,在无真菌感染的情况下,能有效地在４￣８℃保存离体河蟹胚胎６０ｄ,孵