Histological alterations in gills of shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei in low‐salinity waters under different stocking densities: Potential relationship with nitrogen compounds

Two experimental modules with different stocking densities (M1 = 70 and M2 = 120 shrimp /m²) were examined weekly over a culture cycle in tanks with low‐salinity water (1.9 g/L) and zero water exchange. Results showed survival rates of 87.7 and 11.9% in M1 and M2, respectively. Water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity and chlorophyll a were not significantly (p > .05) different between modules. In contrast, the concentrations of nitrogen compounds were significantly (p < .05) different between modules, except nitrite‐N (M2 were 2.31 ± 1.38 mg/L N‐TAN, 0.18 ± 0.49 mg/L N‐NO₂^? and 6.83 ± 6.52 mg/L N‐NO₃^?; in M1: 0.97 ± 0.73 mg/L N‐TAN, 0.05 ± 0.21 mg/L N‐NO₂^? and 0.63 ± 0.70 mg/L N‐NO₃^?). When waters of both modules reached higher levels of ammonia and nitrite, histological alterations were observed in gills. The histological alterations index (HAI) was higher in M2 (5‐112) than in M1 (2‐22).     

Growth and maturation of three commercially important coral reef species from American Samoa

Fisheries Science - This study presents age-based life history information on three small-bodied species targeted in the American Samoan fishery: Chlorurus japanensis palecheek...     

Fluctuating salinity effect on Sphoeroides annulatus (Jenyns 1842) physiological responses

Euryhaline fish, such as the Bullseye puffer Sphoeroides annulatus (Jenyns 1842), experience sudden salinity changes in their natural environment, which is more common than the exception, so they must adapt to survive and cope with extreme salt conditions. Therefore, Bullseye puffer juveniles were exposed to short‐term stress (39 hr) by fluctuating salinity conditions (41, 35, 29, 23, 17, 11, 5, 11, 17, 23, 29, 35, 41 psu) with a 3‐hr interval between each point at 26 ± 1ºC in a respirometer chamber and acclimation reservoirs. Responses to oxygen consumption rate (OCR: 23–35 mg O₂ h^–1 kg^–1), ammonium excretion rate (AER: 1–1.85 mg NH4⁺ h^?1 kg^?1), oxygen‐nitrogen atomic ratio (O:N 17–30), osmoregulatory pattern (blood osmotic pressure from 342.4 to 332.8 mmol/kg) and changes in expression levels of Na⁺/K⁺‐ATPase in the gills (higher values at higher salinities) were measured. Although some signs of stress were detected below the iso‐osmotic point (11.4 psu), the puffer fish is a strong euryhaline fish that survives under these conditions. Nonetheless, it could recover when salinity returned to the initial acclimation point because Sphoeroides annulatus is able to live in a wide range of environments with wide natural salinity fluctuations; thus, a common practice in aquaculture has been to expose fish to low salinity for several reasons discussed in this study. This capacity reveals its high plasticity to saline adaptation from 41 to 5 psu an up from 5 to 41 psu, all in less than 2 days.     

Effect of Stocking Density on Growth,Survival, and Condition of the Mexican Cichlid Cichlasoma beani

The Mexican cichlid Cichlasoma beani is currently exploited regionally as food and can be commercialized in the aquarium trade. Natural populations of C. beani may already be negatively affected by anthropogenic alteration of the areas in which it is distributed. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect on growth, survival, and condition of C. beani cultured in three stocking densities: three (D3), six (D6), and nine (D9) fish per each 40 L tank. At the end of a 6‐wk trial the fish cultured in D3 were longer, heavier, and grew faster than the rest of the treatments but their survival was the lowest compared to D6 and D9. The mortalities were caused by a strong aggressive behavior in D3.     

Detection of Ecballium elaterium in hedgerow olive orchards using a low-cost uncrewed aerial vehicle and open-source algorithms

BACKGROUND

Ecballium elaterium (common name: squirting cucumber) is an emerging weed problem in hedgerow or superintensive olive groves under no tillage. It colonizes the inter-row area infesting the natural or sown cover crops, and is considered a hard-to-control weed. Research in other woody crops has shown E. elaterium has a patchy distribution, which makes this weed susceptible to design a site-specific control strategy only addressed to E. elaterium patches. Therefore, the aim of this work was to develop a methodology based on the analysis of imagery acquired with an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) to detect and map E. elaterium infestations in hedgerow olive orchards.

RESULTS

The study was conducted in two superintensive olive orchards, and the images were taken using a UAV equipped with an RGB sensor. Flights were conducted on two dates: in May, when there were various weeds infesting the orchard, and in September, when E. elaterium was the only infesting weed. UAV-orthomosaics in the first scenario were classified using random forest models, and the orthomosaics from September with E. elaterium as the only weed, were analyzed using an unsupervised algorithm. In both cases, the overall accuracies were over 0.85, and the producer's accuracies for E. elaterium ranged between 0.74 and 1.00.

CONCLUSION

These results allow the design of a site-specific and efficient herbicide control protocol which would represent a step forward in sustainable weed management. The development of these algorithms in free and open-source software fosters their application in small and medium farms. © 2022 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.     

Genetic variation in architectural seedling traits of Patagonian cypress natural populations from the extremes of a precipitation range

? Species distributed along wide environmental ranges are expected to be either plastic or adapted to local optima. The elucidation of which of these alternatives prevails, is crucial in planning breeding and conservation strategies for not yet domesticated species. Austrocedrus chilensis (Cupressaceae) is the most commercially important conifer of the temperate forests of Argentina and the target of a domestication program. A steep precipitation gradient characterizes its Argentinean range.

? Variation within and differentiation among four natural populations of this Patagonian cypress representative of two contrasting precipitation regimes (>1 300 and 330 mm per y) were assessed by analyzing several morpho/architectural traits in one-year-old seedlings grown in a greenhouse.

? Progenies from one of the two xeric populations did not differ from those corresponding to both humid-site populations. The two most variable populations in terms of additive genetic variance belonged to contrasting precipitation regimes. Differentiation among populations was low as measured by each and every variable (average Q _st = 0.088). Morphological traits related to the main axis size would have a dubious adaptive meaning.

? The results suggest that the Patagonian cypress would have not evolved genetic pools adapted to local optima, and thus it appears to be a phenotypically plastic species, at least regarding growth at juvenile age.

     

Responses of citrus fine roots to localized soil drying: a comparison of seedlings with adult fruiting trees

We studied the responses of citrus (Citrus volkameriana Tan. & Pasq.) roots to 15 weeks of soil drying. A comparison was made between the fine roots of 1-year-old seedling root systems (seedling) and the fine roots of woody laterals of 6-year-old grafted trees (adult). Each seedling and woody lateral root system was established in a pair of vertically separated and independently irrigated soil compartments located in field root chambers excavated adjacent to the trees to which the woody laterals were attached. Root + soil respiration and fine root survival of seedlings and adults were similar for the first 5 weeks. However, eight weeks after termination of irrigation to the upper soil compartments, mortality of fine roots was high in adults but not seedlings. Fine roots of adults exposed to dry soil for 5, 8 and 15 weeks exhibited 2, 26 and 33% mortality, respectively, whereas the corresponding values for fine roots of seedlings were 2, 6 and 8%. Although root + soil respiration rates of adults and seedlings were similar before the soil drying treatment, rates for adults were only 25% of those for seedlings after 15 weeks of soil drying. We conclude that, although fine roots of adults and seedlings are similar in form, they respond differently to soil drying.