Reproductive biology and seasonality of the Indo-Australasian mysid Mesopodopsis orientalis (Crustacea: Mysida) in a tropical mangrove estuary,Malaysia

A year-round survey of the tropical shallow-water mysid Mesopodopsis orientalis (Tattersall, 1908) (Crustacea, Mysidacea) was conducted in the Merbok mangrove estuary, northwestern Peninsular Malaysia. The mysid formed dense aggregations at the river's edge close to the mangrove forest during the daytime, but very few were captured elsewhere in the estuary system. The sampled population was found in a wide range of salinities from 16 to 32, demonstrating broad euryhalinity, and the number of the catch at the littoral zone ranged from 11.8 to 2273 ind m⁻². The overall annual mean was 709.2 ind m⁻². Females predominated over males in the entire population, and brooding females were present at every monthly sample, indicating that reproduction is continuous year round. The clutch size positively correlated with female body length. The diameter of eggs (Stage I embryos) was unaffected by the seasonality and independent of the maternal size within an observed size range. The life history pattern of the estuarine population of M. orientalis showed close similarity to that of the coastal counterpart. However, the former was found to produce fewer but larger eggs, and the specimens in this population were larger than those in the coastal population at the embryo, juvenile, and adult stages. This evidence indicates that the life history features of the estuarine population would differ to some degree from those of the coastal counterpart.     

Changes in survivorship,behavior, and morphology in native soft‐shell clams induced by invasive green crab predators

Many studies on invasive species show reduced native densities, but few studies measure trait‐mediated effects as mechanisms for changes in native growth rates and population dynamics. Where native prey face invasive predators, mechanisms for phenotypic change include selective predation, or induced behavioral or morphological plasticity. Invasive green crabs, Carcinus maenas, have contributed to declines in native soft‐shell clams, Mya arenaria, in coastal New England, USA. We tested the hypothesis that clam ability to detect chemical cues from predators or damaged conspecifics would induce greater burrowing depth as a refuge from invasive crabs, and greater burrowing would require increased siphon growth. To determine how crab predation affected clam survivorship and phenotypic traits in the field, clams in exclosure, open, and crab enclosure plots were compared. Crab predation reduced clam density, and surviving clams were deeper and larger, with longer siphons. To determine whether the mechanism for these results was selective predation or induced plasticity, phenotypes were compared between clams exposed to chemical cues from crab predation and clams exposed to seawater in laboratory and field experiments. In response to crab predation cues, clams burrowed deeper, with longer siphons and greater siphon mass. Overall, crab predation removed clams with shorter siphons at shallow depths, and crab predation cues induced greater burrowing depths and longer siphons. Longer siphons and greater siphon mass of deeper clams suggests clams may allocate energy to siphon growth in response to crabs. By determining native behavior and morphological changes in response to an invasive predator, this study adds to our understanding of mechanisms for invasive impacts and illustrates the utility of measuring trait‐mediated effects to investigate predator–prey dynamics.     

鲤鱼（Cyprinuscarpio L．）体重和体长QTL的定位

利用265个AFLP标记、127个微卫星分子标记、37个EST-SSR标记和16个RAPD标记（共445个标记）对大头鲤／荷包红鲤抗寒品系的F2代雌核发育群体44个个体进行基因型检测,构建鲤鱼（CyprinuscarpioL.）遗传连锁图谱;利用软件WinQTLCart2.5采用复合区间作图法对体重和体长两个性状进行了QTL定位分析。结果共检测到与两个与体重性状相关的QTL,分别定位到LG24连锁群（qBWh-24-1）和LG20连锁群（qBWh-20-1）上,可解释的表型变异分别为7.98％和20.05％;检测到两个与体长性状相关的QTL,分别位于LG2连锁群（qFS-2-1）和LG20连锁群（qFS-20-1）,可解释的表型变异分别为5.69％和12.69％,4个QTL的加性效应均为负值。     

辽宁沿海菲律宾蛤仔不同地理群体形态差异研究

利用多变量形态度量学方法,对辽宁沿海菲律宾蛤仔(Ruditapes philippinarum)长兴岛(CXD)、旅顺(LS)、营口(YK)、盘锦(PJ)、锦州(JZH)、海洋岛(HYD)、黑石礁(HSJ)以及金州(JZ)8个野生群体进行形态学比较分析。结果表明:主成分分析得到了3个主成分,贡献率分别为40.21%,19.98%和11.57%,累积贡献率为71.75%。聚类分析结果显示,旅顺群体和锦州群体形态最为接近,而与黑石礁群体差异较大。营口群体的趋异程度最大,长兴岛群体、金州群体和海洋岛群体的趋异程度居中。长兴岛群体壳型最扁,贝壳较厚且重;营口群体软体部最肥;金州群体壳型"凸"型最明显,且质量最大,而黑石礁群体贝壳最薄。这些明显特征揭示了不同群体的形态差异。研究结果为菲律宾蛤仔的地理群体识别、种质资源保护与恢复提供了重要依据。     

凡纳滨对虾(Litopenaeus vannamei)不同品系生长与耐高盐性状配合力及杂种优势分析

凡纳滨对虾(Litopenaeus vannamei)是优质经济虾类,为培育出具有更多不同优良经济性状的优质亲本,亟需开展杂交育种工作。以凡纳滨对虾5个不同品系进行不完全双列杂交产生的F1代资料为分析对象,利用统计学和混合线性模型对生长及耐高盐性状进行配合力和杂种优势分析。结果显示,对于生长性状,5个品系中检测到的一般配合力(GCA)效应值较低,实验环境下生长性状主要受特殊配合力的影响,Z♂×Z♀、P♂×XH♀2个组合生长性状的非加性效应明显,特殊配合力(SCA)效应值分别为0.69和0.30;对于耐高盐性状,品系P、S的GCA效应值最高,分别为0.83和0.53,P♂×XH♀、S♂×S♀2个组合耐高盐性状SCA效应值最高,分别为2.67和3.37;生长和耐高盐性状配合力方差组分结果显示,3个性状的特殊配合力方差占表型方差比例均高于一般配合力;5个杂交组合中体质量和高盐耐受性状的平均杂种优势范围分别为–19.23%~18.07%和–10.50%~20.97%。P♂×XH♀组合在生长和耐高盐性状方面杂种优势明显,可以考虑加强该组合在选育及生产方面的应用。     

马氏珠母贝早期生长性状的遗传参数估计

以马氏珠母贝选育系F6代为亲本,采用巢式设计方法和人工解剖授精技术,依照1雄配3雌的原则,建立了8个父系半同胞家系和24个母系全同胞家系,在第8、21、35和50天测定了每个母系全同胞个体的壳长和壳高,以全同胞组内相关分析法估计马氏珠母贝早期生长性状的遗传参数。结果表明,母系半同胞个体具有较大的变异程度,存在着较大的母性效应,父系半同胞组内相关分析法估算的狭义遗传力是马氏珠母贝遗传力的估计值。8-50日龄壳长狭义遗传力估计值为0.11~1.14,壳高狭义遗传力估计值为0.12~1.04,其中利用父系半同胞组内相关法估计壳长的遗传力依次为0.17、0.19、0.12、0.11,壳高的遗传力依次为0.20、0.23、0.13、0.12,属于中等遗传力。马氏珠母贝早期生长性状的遗传相关和表型相关表现为一定的正相关,相关系数的范围分别为0.528~0.746和0.747~0.921。在早期生长阶段以壳长或壳高为参数进行选择育种时,具有较大的遗传改良潜力。     

数量性状位点的相对选择效率

从理论上采用蒙特卡罗(Monte Carlo)模拟的方法研究了不同遗传力条件下数量性状位点的直接选择(DSQ)和以表型为基础的选择(TBS)在10个不重叠世代中的选择反应以及DSQ相对于TBS的优势。结果表明,在10个世代中DSQ的选择进展在几乎总是大于TBS的选择进展,说明DSQ较TBS具有优越性;但DSQ的相对选择效率(RSE)会随着世代数的增加而呈现较迅速下降的趋势,单个性状情况下RSE则呈直线下降的趋势。随着选择代数的增加,DSQ将失去其优越性,TBS在遗传进展上将超过DSQ。     

Isolation, cloning and sequencing of AFLP markers related to disease-resistance traits in Fenneropenaeus chinensis

Amplified fragment length polymorphisms （AFLP） technique was used to analyze the fingerprinting of four successive generations of Fenneropenaeus chinensis to reveal their disease-resistance traits. Some loci showed quite different genetic frequencies due to artificial selection, which implied that these fragments were putative markers related to the disease-resistance trait. We developed a simple and effective method to further characterize these AFLP fragments. Specific AFLP bands were cut directly from polyacrylamide gels, re-amplified, cloned and sequenced. Eight putative genetic markers were sequenced and their sizes ranged from 63 to 209 bp. The sequences were submitted to dbGSS （database of Genome Sequence Survey）; and the BLAST analysis showed low similarity to the function genes, indicating these markers were tightly linked to a disease-resistance trait but were not functional genes.     

Habitat preference and locomotive traits of the Japanese mitten crab Eriocheir japonica within the stream unit of the freshwater river environment

Preferences by the Japanese mitten crab Eriocheir japonica of three mesoscale environments within a river unit (pools, riffles and runs) were investigated in a freshwater river by pot fishing and hand-net collecting during the fall. In addition, E. japonica’s life modes during each growth stage were elucidated by comparing data obtained by hand-net collecting into three size groups (20 mm < CW, 20 mm ≤ CW < 40 mm, and 40 mm ≤ CW). Both the number of crabs caught per pot and per 10 m stretch sampled along the river by hand-net collecting indicated that mean catch values varied in the following manner runs < pools < riffles, and that this variation was large in riffles and small in pools and runs. Only large crabs of 40 mm ≤ CW could be collected by pot fishing; in contrast, small juveniles were only caught by hand-net collecting. Results of the hand-net collecting indicated that small juveniles (CW < 20 mm) preferred to be in riffles, while the mid-size class crabs (20 – 40 mm CW) presence in the riffles decreased and once they became adults (40 mm ≤ CW) they chose to be in pools. In all size classes, runs were not a preferred choice. These results suggest that the small juveniles are oriented by their positive rheotaxis. Their movement is probably affected by flow regimes, creating large variations in their density in the riffles. In contrast, adults can freely move within a stream unit and use pools as their resting site, thus they are steadily captured in large numbers with a small variation in the pools by pot fishing. However, the adults can actively wander around riffles and runs, searching for animal food, and are attracted to the riffles by bait odors depending on the water flow. Therefore, the most effective catching method is to set the pots in riffles when the river is swollen.