Effect of Polianthes tuberosa (Amaryllidaceae) on the Reproduction and Biochemical Parameters in the Ovotestis of Snail Lymnaea acuminata (Mollusca,Pulmonata)

The present study elucidates the effect of powder of Polianthes tuberosa bulb and its sapogenins tigogenin and hecogenin on the reproduction of the snail Lymnaea acuminata. It has been reported that the two sapogenins tigogenin and hecogenin caused a significant reduction in fecundity, hatchability, and survival of young snails. Exposure to sublethal concentration caused a small but significant reduction in protein, amino acids, nucleic acids, and phosphatase activities in gonadal tissue of treated snails. Withdrawal after 7 days indicates that the effect of powder of P. tuberosa bulb, tigogenin, and hecogenin on the reproduction and different biochemical parameters is reversible.     

Myosotella myosotis (Mollusca: Ellobiidae) — an overlooked,but well-established introduced species in South Africa

Myosotella myosotis is shown to be a well-established alien species in South Africa. Discovered in Port Elizabeth more than 100 years ago, it was initially thought to be indigenous and was described under two different names, but subsequent taxonomic work has demonstrated that these are synonyms of the variable and widely introduced European M. myosotis. This information, published in a revision of western Atlantic Ellobiidae, has escaped the attention of the South African marine science community. There has been no recent mention of M. myosotis or its two pseudoindigenous synonyms in the literature pertaining to either the estuaries or the malacofauna of South Africa, or to marine bioinvasions in the region. This example serves to demonstrate that invasion biology has a global context and that taxonomic literature is an important source of pertinent data. The fact that a species, which evidently occurs in abundance, can be overlooked for so long is both surprising and sobering.     

Dinophysis caudata generated lipophilic shellfish toxins in bivalves from the Nanji Islands,East China Sea

A 12-month program of monitoring potentially toxic microalgae(that produce lipophilic shellfi sh toxins; LSTs) and their toxins in bivalves was conducted from April 2006 to March 2007 in the Nanji Islands, East China Sea. Two Dinophysis species, D. caudata and D. acuminata, were identifi ed, and D. caudat a was found to be the dominant species. D. caudata was detected in water samples between April and June 2006, and between February and March 2007. It reached its highest abundances in May, with a mean abundance of 1.38×10 2 cells/L in surface water and 1.25×10 2 cells/L in bottom water(10 m deep). The temporal distribution of D. caudata was associated with the occurrence of LSTs in bivalve samples, which mostly occurred at the same time as D. caudata blooms, between April and July 2006. All of the cultured bivalves sampled between April and June were contaminated with LSTs, with an average toxicity of 85 μg okadaic acid(OA) eq./100 g meat, which was four times higher than the Chinese regulatory limit(20 μg OA eq./100 g meat). Ten out of fi fteen wild samples(66.7%) collected during the same period were positive for LSTs, and contained an average LST toxicity of 45 μg OA eq./100 g meat(more than twice the regulatory value). Cultured Patinopecten yessoensis collected on 15 May 2006 had the highest toxicity, 320 μg OA eq./100 g meat, and relatively high toxicities(80 to 160 μg OA eq./100 g meat) were found in bivalves until the end of July.     

Recent Occurrences of Dinophysis fortii (Dinophyceae) in the Okkirai Bay, Sanriku, Northern Japan, and Related Environmental Factors

Occurrence of Dinophysis fortii, a causative organism of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, in the Okkirai Bay, Sanriku was surveyed in 1995, 1996, 1998 and 1999. In each year, its major occurrence was detected from the late May or early June and continued until the late June or early July. Seawater temperature, salinity and nutrients measurements suggested that inflows of offshore water into the bay played key role on the first major occurrence of D. fortii. With an analysis of continuous temperature data in the Otsuchi Bay which locates north of the Okkirai Bay, this influent was considered to be intermittent inflow of the offshore water by internal tidal waves which propagated from north to south. First occurrence peak of D. fortii was synchronous with phycobilin containing microalgae, synechococcoid cyanobacteria and cryptomonad, in all years. In vivo fluorescence measurement of D. fortii cells in 1995 and 96 showed that the cells in these microalgal-rich water contained more phycobilin pigment than those in the microalgal-poor water. The result may support a hypothesis that D. fortii acquires phycobilin by an uptake of these microalgae. After the first major occurrence in the bay, D. fortii sometimes occurred in rather inshore waters where showed elevated ammonium level possibly due to increased heterotrophic activity. Together with another finding that D. fortii is mixotrophic, it could be assumed that the environment being suited to heterotrophic nutrition also stimulates D. fortii growth in the bay.     

Dinoflagellates of the genus Dinophysis Ehrenberg from New Zealand coastal waters

Eight marine species of the Dinoflagel‐late genus Dinophysis are recorded from New Zealand coastal waters. Some notes are given on the morphology and range of variation in the New Zealand specimens as seen in the scanning electron microscope.     

基于高效液相色谱法的扇贝毒素-2制备方法研究

本文以渐尖鳍藻(Dinophysis acuminata)为实验原料,建立了基于高效液相色谱法(HPLC)的扇贝毒素-2(Pectenotoxin-2,PTX2)的制备方法。研究重点对鳍藻细胞的破碎、PTX2毒素的提取及HPLC纯化等三个步骤的方法进行筛选和优化。结果表明,反复冻融与超声波细胞破碎相结合可获得最大的细胞破碎率和毒素提取率,分别为99.2%和81.5%。采用四种有机试剂(甲醇、丙酮、乙醚、二氯甲烷)及三种固相萃取小柱(Solid Phase Extraction,SPE)(Oasis HLB SPE,Phenomenex Strata-X SPE,Sep-Pak C18 SPE)对PTX2毒素进行提取,其中乙醚-二氯甲烷的提取效率最高,达78.2%。在HPLC对PTX2毒素的纯化实验中发现,流动相的pH会影响毒素组分的分离,其中在碱性流动相(含6.7mmol/L氨水的水溶液和乙腈溶液,pH=10.94)条件下,PTX2的分离效果最佳,响应值最高。实验使用Phenomenex Kinetex C18(4.8mm×250mm,5μm)色谱柱,在上述碱性流动相条件下,分离得到纯度为93.2%的PTX2毒素。本研究选定的藻细胞破碎、PTX2毒素提取、及HPLC纯化方法简单快捷,高效易操作,为从大规模培养的鳍藻细胞中制备高纯度PTX2毒素提供了技术支持。     

深圳河口泥滩3种大型多毛类的数量动态及其环境分析

深圳湾潮间带泥滩宽阔,低潮时面积约27km2,陆向以红树林沼泽地为边界,有深圳河和元郎溪等许多河流和小溪流入湾内.每年有数万只鸟类在深圳河口红树林区和泥滩栖息和觅食[1],因此,深圳湾的环境越来越受到重视[2].1993年,香港和深圳协作治理深圳河,由北京大学总承担,清华大学、厦门大学、汇亚环保顾问公司、环境科学顾问(亚洲)有限公司、世界自然(香港)基金会、深圳市环境监测站、华南环境科学研究院和广东内伶仃福田国家级自然保护区等协作进行环境影响评估研究.     

An Inshore Poleward Current in the NW of the Iberian Peninsula Detected from Satellite Images, and its Relation withG. catenatum and D. acuminata Blooms in the Galician Rias

Toxic Gymnodinium catenatum blooms usually occur in the Galician Rias at the end of the upwelling season, which necessitates a ban on harvesting shellfish extraction, with subsequent economic losses for this sector. One of the possible causes cited in the literature is the advection of populations from outside the area but no evidence was available to substantiate this.Oceanographic conditions at the end of the upwelling season in the NW coast of the Iberian Peninsula (39°–43°N) have been studied for the years 1986, 1990, 1995 and 1998. Sea surface temperature data from satellite images, wind data, drifter tracks and in situ oceanic data from the Galician Rias have been combined to clarify the oceanographic structures in the area at the commencement of the blooms. On the inner shelf, an inshore poleward current advecting warm water has been identified after the cessation of upwelling. On the middle and outer shelf, a tongue of cold water as a remnant of the previous upwelling continued to move southward. On the slope and offshore, the poleward counter current reported by several authors was detected carrying warm oceanic water northwards.It is suggested that the inshore poleward current, not previously reported in the literature, could advect initial populations of dinoflagellates to the Rias from northern Portuguese waters. This would explain why blooms such as G. catenatum have been found usually in Portuguese waters several weeks before the Galician Rias, showing an apparent northward movement, but cells of this toxic dinoflagellate species have not been found in waters of the offshore poleward counter current.     

Accumulation of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning toxins in the oyster Crassostrea gigas and the mussel Choromytilus meridionalis in the southern Benguela ecosystem

Diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) poses a significant threat to the safe consumption of shellfish in the southern Benguela ecosystem. The accumulation of DSP toxins was investigated in two cultivated bivalve species, the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas and the mussel Choromytilus meridio-nalis, suspended from a mooring located off Lambert's Bay on the west coast of South Africa. The dinoflagellate Dinophysis acuminata, a known source of polyether toxins associated with DSP, was common through most of the study period. The toxin composition of the dinoflagellate was dominated by okadaic acid (OA) (91%), with lesser quantities of the dinophysistoxin DTX-1 (6.5%) and pecteno-toxin PTX-2 (2.4%), and traces of PTX-2sa and PTX-11. The mean cell toxin quota of D. acuminata was 7.8 pg OA cell^–1. The toxin profile in shellfish was characterised by a notably higher relative content of DTX-1. The study showed the average concentration of DSP toxins in the mussels to exceed that in the oysters by approximately 20-fold. The results indicate a need to establish species-specific sampling frequencies in shellfish safety monitoring programmes.