Studies on rickettsia-like organism(RLO)disease of tropical marine pearl oyster--Epidemiologicai investigation of RLO disease in juvenile populations of maricultured Pinctada maxima

The death which occurred in juvenile population was a severe problem in the course ofPinctada maxima artificial culture. With the methods of field investigation, histological study andstatistic analyses, the epidemiological study was carried out on the disease and death in juvenile popula-tions of Pinctada maxima in the Xinying Pearl Oyster Mariculture Farm of Lingao County (for the A,B and C batches of cultured juveniles hanged in the sea) and the Xincun Pearl Oyster Mariculture Farmof Lingshui County (for the D batch of cultured juvenile hanged in the pond), Hainan Province fromNovember 1993 to April 1995. The results show that the deaths which occurred in juvenile populations of Pinctada maxima pre-sented an outbreak pattern. The peak of mortality rates, in general, occurred in 4-to 6-month old pearloyster juveniles, and the mortality rates gradully declined with the extention of pearl oyster age after cul-turing 8 months. The correlation between the mortality rates of juvenile populations and mean bodylengths of juvenile populations show that the mortality rate become higher under 4 cm of mean bodylengths of juvenile population and become obvious declined over 5 cm of mean body lengths. The peak ofmortality rate occurred in 1 ～3 cm of mean body lengths. The results of histological observation showedthat rickettsia-like organism inclusions were common, histological widespread infective agent among ev-ery batches (A, B, C and D) of cultured juvenile populations. The mean severity indices (SI) of rick-ettsia-like organism (RLO) infection were positively correlated with mortality rates of juvenile popula-tions. After or within every peaks of RLO infection were all accompanied with the peaks of mortalityrates of host populations and the mortality rates declined with decreased RLO infection. So the evidencesof histological observation and epidemiology in this study indicated that rickettsia-like organism (RLO)may be as an important pathogenic organism of disease and death of cultured Pinctada maxima. In addi-tion, a few ciliates were discovered only in part of batch A of cultured juvenile population. The mortalityrates in juvenile populations were not correlated with the weekly mean temperature and salinity of seawater.     

0421号热带风暴"海马"登陆后的温带变性过程特征探讨

0421号热带风暴“海马”于2004年9月13日12:00在浙江温州市沿海登陆后,迅速减弱为热低压,然后继续北移;并在中高纬高空槽后的冷平流和中低纬低层暖式切变南部的暖平流共同作用下,低压加深及冷、暖锋生,发展为斜压温带锋面气旋.采用相对辐散作为气旋发展的判据,能很好地体现整个变化过程,气旋的移向基本上沿着相对辐散中心长轴方向移动.通过对地面温度场水平结构分析后发现,该气旋经历了3个阶段:暖涡旋基本对称结构、半冷半热非对称结构、冷涡旋基本对称结构.对流层低层气旋中心上空为暖平流区,引导气旋移动,而对流层中层的冷平流中心区一直位于气旋移向的下侧,推动气旋移动.     

Population Dynamics and Life History Characteristics of the Blue Crabs Callinectes similis and C. sapidus in Bay Environments of the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Abstract. The population dynamics and life history characteristics of Callinectes similis and C. sapidus in the Mobile Bay-Mississippi Sound estuarine system of the northern Gulf of Mexico were studied. We report that C. similis is numerically dominant in open-bays, while C. sapidus is more abundant in shallow salt marshes. Juvenile C. similis recruit into both open-bays and salt marshes, but juvenile C. sapidus primarily recruit into shallow salt marshes. Sex ratios of C. similis and C. sapidus were generally skewed towards higher proportions of males than females. Callinectes similis appears to have a life cycle similar to that of C. sapidus. Egg-carrying C. similis migrate to higher salinity waters and presumably release larvae to nearshore shelf waters; following development, the larvae re-invade estuaries as megalopae. Juvenile C. similis grow more slowly than C. sapidus. This may be attributable to reduced feeding rates. Marked differences in fecundity and reproductive effort were found between these species. Callinectes similis and C. sapidus , respectively, produced 2.4–5.5 times 10⁵ and 2.1–3.2 times 10⁶ eggs and invested 24–49 and 171–372 kJ per brood. Rhizocephalan barnacle infestation by Loxothylacus texanus was encountered in C. sapidus , while sympatric C. similis were free of this rhizocephalan parasite.     

Population dynamics of Acartia pacifica (Copepoda: Calanoida): the importance of benthic-pelagic coupling

1Introduction Benthic -pelagic coupling refers to the two -way exchange or flux of matter between benthic andpelagic environments in aquatic systems. Most stud-ies have focused on the deposition of non-living or-ganic matter to the seabed, resuspension an…