A case of stranded Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) with lobomycosis-like skin lesions in Kinko-wan,Kagoshima, Japan

Lobomycosis is a chronic fungal disease caused by the etiologic agent, Lacazia loboi, in the skin and subcutaneous tissues in humans and dolphins in tropical and transitional tropical climates. An Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) stranded in Kagoshima, Japan, had severe skin lesions characterized by granulomatous reactions and hyperkeratosis that were similar to those of the lobomycosis, but no fungal organism was observed in the skin lesion. In this paper, we report a stranded Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin with lobomycosis-like lesions based on pathological examinations in Japan.     

Effect of temperature on the hatching success of the eggs of Japanese whiting, Sillago japonica Temminck & Schlegel, during the spawning season

Abstract. Hatching responses of the Japanese whiting, Sillago japonica Temminck et Schlegel, to a series of temperature changes were measured by exposing the fertilized eggs to eight constant incubation temperatures which ranged from 20·0 to 34·0°C. For a control, hatching temperature was kept the same as temperature of the ambient environment. Hatching responses were expressed as hatching percentages. Altogether 18 experimental trials were conducted during the natural spawning season of the species which extended over a period of 2 months from late July to mid-September 1988, when seawater temperature varied between 24·0 and 30·0°C. Optimum and limiting temperatures were recorded and the data were optimally fit to the quadratic model. Results indicated that viable hatch occurred at almost all ranges of hatching temperature from 22·0 to 32·0°C. However, no hatching was recorded at either 20·0 or 32·0°C. The experiment showed that the optimum hatching temperature varied with the ambient temperature changes during the spawning season, indicating the latter to be a dependent factor for any hatching success.