Production of Australian freshwater crayfish in earthen-based systems using pelleted diets and forage crops as food

Juvenile Cherax destructor (commonly called theyabby) were cultured in earthen-based ponds and tanks for 70–105d, and were fed pellets and/or a forage crop of the perennialwhiteclover, Trifolium repens. Three supplementary feedingstrategies were evaluated. Yabby growth on pellets consistently exceeded (by67–159%) that obtained on clover. Base-line yields for extensiveproduction systems are around 400 kg ha^–1. Thesupplementary addition of T. repens produced yields of 635kg ha^–1 (in ponds) to 1086 kgha^–1 (in tanks). The sequential addition of cut-cloverto tanks stimulated growth to levels approaching those achieved on pellets.Yabbies stocked into ponds at 17 m^–2 and fed 33%protein pellets for 100 d, resulted in a yield of 1117 kgha^–1.Pellet inputs at a rate of 129–249 g m^–2(dry matter) and 38–83 g m^–2 (protein) over70–100 d resulted in acceptable growth and feed utilisationindices. Clover inputs of 534–682 g m^–2 (asdry matter) or 84–177 g m^–2 (as protein)produced reasonable growth rates but poor feed utilisation indices. Aconsiderable quantity of the dry matter and protein content of clover waseitherinefficiently utilised or directed into other production pathways. In tanks,clover inputs from 113–296 g m^–2 (drymatter) and 24–54 g m^–2 (protein) weresufficient to maintain high growth rates for 4 weeks, while in ponds, inputs of21 g m^–2 (dry matter) and 4.3 gm^–2 (protein) were sufficient for 3 weeks. During theearly weeks of production no growth advantage was gained by providing pelletstoanimals cultured in forage-based systems. Forage depletion occurred after3–4 weeks and was probably a major growth limiting factor.     

Improving breed-and-release programmes in the face of a threatening pathogen,Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

1. As the proportion of threatened species increases, so too does the need for effective conservation strategies. In response, captive breed-and-release and habitat mitigation programmes are two conservation actions that are increasing in use and effectiveness.
2. Success of these programmes is frequently hampered by the continued presence of threatening processes. In the case of amphibian reintroductions, a key threatening process that is difficult to eliminate is the deadly fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). This pathogen is the proximate cause of decline for the threatened green and golden bell frog, Litoria aurea, and has contributed to the failure of previous breed-and-release programmes of this amphibian.
3. To investigate whether is it possible to establish a captive-bred population of L. aurea that could persist in the presence of Bd, a breed-and-release programme was conducted in a created habitat that included increased salinity to inhibit fungal growth rates, exclusion of potential reservoir hosts and source animals bred from parents ‘experienced’ with the strain of Bd present in the release environment.
4. The population persisted in the created habitat for more than 4 years (the timescale of monitoring) but suffered higher infection levels compared with nearby extant populations of L. aurea. These infections significantly reduced apparent survival. Infection dynamics were linked to temperature, host density in the previous season, and size and age of the host, and these factors differed from those in extant populations and are likely to have contributed to the high levels of Bd infection at the created site.
5. This article discusses how it may be possible to manipulate these factors to improve the success of future breed-and-release programmes, and recommends the construction of warm water bodies and a strategy of prioritizing the release of fewer, large propagules of high body condition and mixed-age class, over large numbers of younger, smaller animals.

     

人工育苗条件下大黄鱼仔、稚、幼鱼的摄食与生长

在人工育苗条件下,对0到40日龄大黄鱼(Pseudosciaenacrocea,Richardson)仔、稚鱼及早期幼鱼的摄食习性与生长特性进行研究。水温(24±1)℃时,孵化后0～5d属于仔鱼期,6～20d为稚鱼期,第21天起转为幼鱼期。大黄鱼仔鱼孵化3d后开口摄食;开口时平均口径为240μm,40日龄达2480μm;口径的大小变化与日龄的关系是:y=0.2327e0.0682x,R2=0.9492。试验用的生物饵料与实际生产一致,包括轮虫、丰年虫无节幼体、活桡足类和冷藏桡足类。不同生长期的大黄鱼鱼苗的摄食活动具有明显的昼夜节律:在1昼夜(24h)中,仔鱼仅在18:00左右出现1个摄食高峰,而稚鱼和幼鱼除了在18:00左右出现1个显著的摄食高峰外,在10:00左右还有1个相对小的摄食高峰。仔、稚、幼鱼夜间基本不摄食。大黄鱼鱼苗具有较高的摄食率和饱食率,随着生长而迅速升高。仔、稚、幼鱼的生长速度具有明显的阶段性,1～2日龄仔鱼生长较快,5～9日龄生长减慢,21～30日龄生长加快,31～40日龄生长减慢。这与鱼苗的食物转换和饵料生物的营养变化有关:5～9日龄生长减慢是由于鱼苗由混合营养转变为外源性营养所致;31～40日龄生长减慢是因为冷藏桡足类的营养价值较低。鱼体全长与日龄的关系式为y=3.2552e0.0472x,R2=0.9710;体长与日龄的关系式为y=3.3205e0.0374x,R2=0.9777;     

Global population genetic structure of the sequential hermaphrodite,dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus)

1. The dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus is a large epinephelid species that occurs in the eastern and south-western Atlantic and western Indian Oceans. Late maturity, protogynous hermaphroditism, site fidelity, and overfishing have all contributed to its demographic decline.
2. Connectivity and demography within a broad sampling of dusky grouper populations throughout its distribution were assessed. To do so, genetic variation at 11 polymorphic microsatellite loci and a partial sequence of the mitochondrial control region (mtCR) were evaluated.
3. Two major mtCR lineages with a sequence divergence of 1.6% were found. The magnitude of genetic differentiation for mtCR among north and south Atlantic and Indian Ocean populations was high, with Φ_ST = 0.528.
4. D_EST and results of discriminant analysis of principal component revealed significant microsatellite genetic differentiation between all collection areas. Significant pairwise D_EST showed moderate (0.084) to very great (0.603) differentiation. The effective population size was low for all localities, ranging between 25 (Azores Archipelago) and 311 (Rio Grande do Sul). The overall effective population size was estimated as 299 (confidence interval = 215–412), and there was no evidence of strong or recent bottleneck effects.
5. Local and regional genetic structuring among dusky grouper populations is the consequence of the species' site fidelity, distribution across multiple oceanographic boundaries, and probably also of sequential hermaphroditism that contributes to the intensity of random genetic drift.
6. The spatial pattern of genetic structuring of dusky groupers is such that fisheries management and conservation of population genetic integrity will have to be pursued at the local and regional scales.

     

A novel low-cost method for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis DNA extraction from an automated broth culture system for real-time PCR analysis

PCR is a highly accurate technique for confirming the presence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) in broth culture. In this study, a simple, efficient, and low-cost method of harvesting DNA from Map cultured in liquid medium was developed. The proposed protocol (Universidad Austral de Chile [UACH]) was evaluated by comparing its performance to that of two traditional techniques (a QIAamp DNA Stool Mini Kit and cethyltrimethylammonium bromide [CTAB] method). The results were statistically assessed by agreement analysis for which differences in the number of cycles to positive (CP) were compared by Student''s t-test for paired samples and regression analysis. Twelve out of 104 fecal pools cultured were positive. The final PCR results for 11 samples analyzed with the QIAamp and UACH methods or ones examined with the QIAamp and CTAB methods were in agreement. Complete (100%) agreement was observed between data from the CTAB and UACH methods. CP values for the UACH and CTAB techniques were not significantly different, while the UACH method yielded significantly lower CP values compared to the QIAamp kit. The proposed extraction method combines reliability and efficiency with simplicity and lower cost.     

Histomorphometric study of the goat stomach during prenatal development

The aim of this study was to perform a morphometric analysis of the different structural tissue layers of the goat stomach to study their prenatal growth from mathematical models fitted to these morphometric data. A total of 90 embryos and fetuses were used, from the early stages of prenatal life until birth. The growth rate of the gastric wall was slower than that of body length; rumen was the stomach compartment displaying slowest growth. In the three non‐glandular compartments, the epithelial layer grew faster than the gastric wall itself, while the growth rate of the abomasal epithelium declined in the early stages of development. A decline in growth rate was also observed for the lamina propria and submucosa in rumen and reticulum from the early embryonic stages, whereas in omasum and abomasum these layers continued to grow as gestation progressed. The tunica muscularis displayed consistent growth in all compartments, growing faster than the gastric wall. Serosa thickness increased as gestation progressed, displaying a decline in growth‐rate only in the omasum. In conclusion, the dynamics of gastric wall growth were governed by the growth rate of each of the component tissue layers.     

烟草苗床上的甲基溴替代技术研究

采用田间试验方法,研究了在烟草苗床上的甲基溴替代技术。结果表明,与甲基溴相比,浮盘育苗法可生产整齐、高质量的烟苗;浮盘育苗法无须抗旱、除草、假植,可直接移栽到大田,节省大量劳力;浮盘法不施用杀虫剂、除草剂,减少了农药的污染和对环境的破坏,有利于提高烟草的品质和对生态环境的保护;浮盘法单位面积能生产更多的烟苗。因此,浮盘育苗法具有显著的经济效益和环境生态效益,在烟草苗床上是一项可持续发展的甲基溴替代技术。     

Quantile regression: prediction of growth and yield for a eucalyptus plantation in northeast Brazil

European Journal of Forest Research - Regression analysis is a traditional technique to fit equations and predict tree and forest attributes. However, problems may occur when the data show high...     

Genetic analysis of medfly populations in an area of sterile insect technique applications

Journal of Pest Science - The sterile insect technique (SIT) is widely used in integrated pest management programs for the control of the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata. The...