Advances in Amphibian Clinical Therapeutics

This review covers recent developments in the field of amphibian therapeutics without repeating previous extensive clinical reviews, formularies, and compendia. The information provided in this article would aid the veterinary practitioner treating amphibian species through the use of updated clinical therapeutic techniques and dosages.     

Responses of anuran diversity to wetland characteristics and surrounding landscape in the Southern Andean Yungas,Argentina

1. Modification and loss of natural habitats caused by human activities are among the main drivers of biodiversity decline worldwide. To evaluate how land‐use changes affect species diversity at different spatial scales, amphibians represent an excellent group given that their complex life cycle requires both aquatic and terrestrial habitats.
2. In this study, the influence of wetland characteristics and surrounding landscape features on richness and functional diversity of anurans was investigated in 26 natural wetlands in a human‐modified landscape within the Southern Andean Yungas.
3. The analysis was performed at two spatial scales: wetland scale (the breeding pond structure) and the surrounding landscape scale. The classification of the landscape was limited to land uses modified by human activities within concentric circular buffers (radius = 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, and 1 km) centred on each breeding pond.
4. Generalized linear models were applied to investigate the relationship between environmental variables measured at different scales and anuran species richness and functional diversity, respectively.
5. Pond area best explained the observed variation in both diversity measures, which is consistent with other studies on anuran diversity in disturbed landscapes. In contrast to regression models including landscape scale variables only, integrated models (which included variables on both scales) highly improved model fit.
6. Conservation strategies for anuran species diversity in these altered Andean Yungas forests should include efforts to maintain or restore aquatic habitats (e.g. breeding ponds) placed within suitable landscapes.
7. Successful long‐term management will require an understanding of relationships between habitat characteristics at different spatial scales to identify variables that relate to species diversity in such heterogeneous habitats.

     

Once in a blue moon: Lipid keratopathy and intrastromal hemorrhage in a Mission golden‐eyed tree frog (Trachycephalus resinifictrix)

Mimicking natural anuran biology is a major challenge faced in the husbandry management of frogs, and the quandary of lipid keratopathy in frogs under human care has plagued keepers and practitioners for decades. Unlike corneal lipid dystrophy or lipidosis secondary to degeneration, where there is limited or no vascular in‐growth or inflammatory response, lipid keratopathies are associated with vascularization, most often following the appearance of lipid. Hemorrhage from stromal neovascularization has not been described in a frog; however, the presence of vessels in lipid keratopathy certainly heralds the possibility. We report a rather unique case of lipid keratopathy in a 6‐year‐old female Mission golden‐eyed tree frog (Trachycephalus resinifictrix) that not only had concurrent intrastromal hemorrhage, but blue plasmoid staining of the corneal stroma. Current views on both the function of blue plasma in several species and lipid keratopathy are briefly discussed. Overall, evidence suggests that the cause of lipid keratopathy is probably multifactorial and will not successfully be rectified until anuran biology and husbandry are better understood.     

昆仑山地区两栖爬行动物调查

昆仑山脉横越新疆、西藏、青海等省区,是藏北羌塘高原的一部分。山脉拔地而起,东西绵延2500多公里。该地区的两栖爬行动物调查,除阿尔金山地区和西部阿里地区有人作过一些工作外,大部分地区是未考察过的处女地。1987-1988年,中国科学院组织了喀喇昆仑山-昆仑山地区综合科学考察,生物组对昆仑山由西向东考察了新疆的乌恰、阿图什、塔什库尔干、莎车、叶城、皮山、和田、策勒、且末、若羌等县的山地以及西藏阿里地     

南岳衡山国家级自然保护区两栖爬行动物资源调查与分析

为了掌握两栖爬行动物资源现状,加强生物多样性的保护与促进生态旅游的可持续发展,作者于2005年7月2日—10日,2006年7月22日—29日,2007年4月9日—16日、6月2日—10日和8月24日—31日,主要采用样线法和访问调查法,前后5次对湖南南岳衡山国家级自然保护区两栖爬行动物资源进行了实地调查。结果表明:该保护区两栖爬行动物物种多样性丰富,现已记录两栖爬行动物67种。其中:两栖动物23种,隶属于2目8科,占湖南省已知两栖动物65种的35.38%;爬行动物44种,隶属于3目9科,占湖南省已记录96种爬行动物的45.83%。两栖爬行动物区系属于东洋界华中区东部丘陵平原亚区,有51种为东洋界物种,16种为广布种,无古北界物种分布。建议加强资源监测与保护管理,减少保护区内的人为干扰。     

群动盖丝藻(Geitlerinema ionicum)中国蓝藻门一个新纪录种

颤藻目蓝藻是世界广泛分布的藻类,也是正处于藻类分类学修订中的一大类群.根据形态特征,在2014年夏季上海黄浦江水体采集的藻类样品中,确定了中国蓝藻的一个新纪录属——盖丝藻属(Geitlerinema)和新纪录种——群动盖丝藻(Geitlerinema ionicum),对该属和该种的分类学形态特征进行了详细的描述;另外,参考KOMAREK和ANAGNOSTIDIS分类体系,对我国与该属相关的蓝藻种类进行了重新归类组合,发现尖头颤藻(Osicllatoria acutissima)、两栖颤藻(O.amphibia)、双点颤藻硫泉变种(O.geminate var.sulphurea)、四点颤藻单颗粒变种(O.quadripunctulata var.unigranulata)等4种应归入盖丝藻属.     

贵州省两栖爬行动物资源现状及保护利用对策

贵州省两栖、爬行动物资源丰富。根据相关数据资料进行统计分析,目前贵州省境内有两栖动物有68种,其中有尾目12种,隶属3科7属;无尾目56种,隶属6科20属,有国家二级保护动物3种,贵州特有物种8种。爬行动物103种,其中龟鳖目6种,隶属2科4属;蜥蜴目20种(包括亚种),隶属5科11属;蛇目78种(包括亚种),隶属6科27属,有国家二级保护动物1种,贵州特有物种5种。综述了贵州省境内两栖爬行动物的资源现状和特点,并分析了当前存在的问题,提出了相应的保护措施。     

中国水产动物病毒学研究概述

本研究简要概述了过去几十年来中国水产养殖动物病毒学的代表性研究成果,主要涉及鱼类病毒、虾类病毒、两栖和爬行动物病毒等。此外,本研究还展望了水产动物病毒学研究的发展趋势,以有助于加深对中国水产养殖动物病毒学研究现状和未来发展的认识。     

Artificial light at night decreases the pupillary light response of dark-adapted toads to bright light

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is expanding worldwide. Many physiological effects have been reported in animals, but we still know little about the consequences for the visual system. The pupil contributes to control incoming light onto the retina. Sudden increases in light intensity evokes the pupil light reflex (PLR). Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGC) affect PLR and melatonin expression, which largely regulate circadian rhythms and PLR itself. IpRCG receive inputs from various photoreptors with different peak sensitivities implying that PLR could be altered by a broad range of light sources. We predicted ALAN to enhance PLR. Contrary to our prediction, dark-adapted cane toads Rhinella marina, exposed to ALAN (5 lx) for 12 days, exhibited a lower PLR than controls and individuals exposed to 0.04 lx, even after 1 h in bright light. We cannot conclude whether ALAN induced a larger pupil size in dark-adapted toads or a slower initial contraction. Nevertheless, the response was triggered by a light source with an emission peak (590 nm) well above the sensitivity peak of melanopsin, the main photoreceptor involved in PLR. Therefore, ALAN alters the capacity of toads to regulate the incoming light in the eye at night, which may reduce the performance of visually guided behaviors, and increase mortality by predators or road kills at night. This first study emphasizes the need to focus on the effect of ALAN on the vision of nocturnal organisms to better understand how this sensory system is altered and anticipate the consequences for organisms.     

都庞岭两栖动物生态学调查及多样性分析

1997年7月～8月,对湖南都庞岭国家级自然保护区进行了生物资源综合考察.结果表明该区有两栖动物2目8科12属31种.除3种古北界种类外,其余28种均为东洋种,占总种类的90.32%;东洋种中有13种主要分布于华中区,有11种为华中区和华南区共有种;国家二级保护动物有大鲵和虎纹蛙2种;尾斑瘰螈和中国瘰螈在湖南省主要分布于都庞岭山系;数量优势种有棘侧蛙、华南湍蛙、崇安湍蛙、花臭蛙、泽陆蛙、黑斑侧褶蛙、饰纹姬蛙等;香农-维纳多样性系数为1.3123,均匀度系数为0.9068.最后,对区系特征、资源状况和生态类型进行了分析,并提出了保护对策.