Phytophthora oleae,a new root pathogen of wild olives

Wild olive (Olea europaea subsp. europaea var. sylvestris) is an important component of Mediterranean forests and a key genetic source for olive improvement programmes. Since 2009, a severe decline caused by Phytophthora cryptogea and P. megasperma has been detected in a protected wild olive forest of high ecological value (Dehesa de Abajo, Seville, Spain). In this natural forest, sampling of roots and soil was carried out on 25 wild olives with symptoms in 2014 and 2015. Apart from the already known P. cryptogea A1 and P. megasperma, a third Phytophthora species was consistently isolated from wild olive rootlets with symptoms. These isolates conformed morphologically with the newly described species P. oleae and were confirmed by analysis of their ITS regions and cox1 sequences. Temperature–growth relationships showed a maximum growth at 19.9 °C on carrot agar medium, making it the lowest temperature Phytophthora species infecting wild olive roots. Pathogenicity was confirmed on 1-year-old healthy wild olive seedlings and was similar to the previously known pathogenic phytophthoras. As temperature requirements are quite different, the three Phytophthora species may be active against wild olive roots in different seasons. However, the prevalence of P. oleae infecting wild olives in recent years could be due to its introduction as a new invasive pathogen. The probable invasive nature of P. oleae, together with increasing rain episodes concentrated in short periods frequent in southern Spain, would allow the outbreak of infections in wild olive forests, and also put cultivated olive orchards at risk.     

Genetic parameters for spawning and growth traits in the Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus (Litopenaeus) vannamei)

The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for spawning traits and growth traits in a breeding line of Pacific white shrimp, Penaeus (Litopenaeus) vannamei, selected for growth and survival. Traits studied were number of eggs (NE) and number of nauplii (NN) and female body weight at insemination (FWI) and body weight at 130 days of age (BW130). Genetic parameters were estimated using a multivariate animal model. Heritability for NE and NN were estimated as 0.13 ± 0.04 and 0.03 ± 0.04 respectively. The contribution to NN total variation due to ‘factors associated with male’ effect was estimated as 0.47 ± 0.07. In the cases of FWI and BW130, heritability was estimated as 0.44 ± 0.08 and 0.19 ± 0.03 respectively. Genetic correlation between FWI and NE was estimated as 0.49 ± 0.15, between FWI and NN as 0.54 ± 0.39 and between NE and NN as 0.27 ± 0.41, whereas the genetic correlations of FWI, NE and NN with BW130 were 0.30 ± 0.13, ?0.21 ± 0.19 and ?0.25 ± 0.38 respectively. Although it is important to perform more studies on this issue, our results found no evidence of a genetic antagonistic effect between female reproductive traits and body weight at harvesting (130 days of age) in P. vannamei.     

Growth and reproduction of the lion's paw scallop Nodipecten subnodosus in a suspended culture system at Guerrero Negro lagoon,Baja California Sur,Mexico

The lion's paw scallop, Nodipecten subnodosus (Sowerby) has considerable aquacultural potential due to its fast growth and large adductor muscle. Prior investigations throughout northwestern Mexico's littoral have reported highly variable growth rates; furthermore, no studies are available of the environment on growth and gametogenesis in this species under culture conditions. This investigation assesses the effect of food availability and temperature on the growth and gametogenesis of N. subnodosus in a suspended culture system at Guerrero Negro lagoon, Mexico. After 1 year of cultivation, N. subnodosus reached 69.13 mm in shell height (SH) (0.196 mm day^?1, 14 months old). Two significant growth spurts were observed: over the two first months of culture (August and September 2001, mean growth rate 0.4 mm day^?1) and in September 2002 (0.3 mm day^?1), both related to high temperatures and chlorophyll a concentrations. The onset of gametogenesis occurred in April 2002, with an increase in temperature (10‐month‐old scallops, 54.5 mm SH). The first spawning occurred in October and November (86.2 and 93 mm SH), with peak temperatures. These results, together with the analysis of previous reports, indicate that N. subnodosus has a higher preference for temperate areas; therefore, the Guerrero Negro lagoon appears to be a suitable site to culture this species.     

Molecular characterization of microalgae used in aquaculture with biotechnology potential

Microalgae are the main component of first tropic level in aquatic food chain; it is for this reason that they are used as food in aquaculture. Also due to its biotechnological potential properties, they are used in the production of diverse components, dyes, antioxidants, enzymes, emulsifiers, etc. The extended ways of microalgae applications require physiologically and genetically stable cultures as well as correctly identified organisms to guarantee reproducibility and reliability. But the variety of species and the morphological similarity between some of them make difficult the identification of some microalgae. The use of molecular markers has supplied a very useful tool for identification of microalgae in fast mode, such as in classification. The present study has worked on the molecular characterization of main species of microalgae used in aquaculture in base of the molecular markers 18S rRNA and 16S rRNA. Microalgae DNA has been amplified and sequenced, and the resultant sequences were analyzed and reflected in phylogenetic trees. The phylogenetic analyses obtained reflect as both molecular markers allow to differentiate the main genus used in aquaculture.     

Incorporating spatial autocorrelation into the general linear model with an application to the yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) longline CPUE data

Catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) data have often been used to obtain a relative index of the abundance of a fish stock by standardizing nominal CPUE using various statistical methods. The theory underlying most of these methods assumes the independence of the observed CPUEs. This assumption is invalid for a fish population because of their spatial autocorrelation. To overcome this problem, we incorporated spatial autocorrelation into the standard general linear model (GLM). We also incorporated into it a habitat-based model (HBM), to reflect, more effectively, the vertical distributions of tuna. As a case study, we fitted both the standard-GLM and spatial-GLM (with or without HBM) to the yellowfin tuna CPUE data of the Japanese longline fisheries in the Indian Ocean. Four distance models (Gaussian, exponential, linear and spherical) were examined for spatial autocorrelation. We found that the spatial-GLMs always produced the best goodness-of-fit to the data and gave more realistic estimates of the variances of the parameters, and that HBM-based GLMs always produced better goodness-of-fit to the data than those without. Of the four distance models, the Gaussian model performed the best. The point estimates of the relative indices of the abundance of yellowfin tuna differed slightly between standard and spatial GLMs, while their 95% confidence intervals from the spatial-GLMs were larger than those from the standard-GLM. Therefore, spatial-GLMs yield more robust estimates of the relative indices of the abundance of yellowfin tuna, especially when the nominal CPUEs are strongly spatially autocorrelated.     

Regulation of growth, fatty acid composition and delta 6 desaturase expression by dietary lipids in gilthead seabream larvae (Sparus aurata)

The Δ6 and Δ5 desaturases and elongases show only very limited activity in marine fish, and little is known of the possibility of enhancing Δ6 desaturase gene expression in these fish. The use of plant oils in marine fish diets is limited by their lack of n−3 highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) despite an abundant content of the 18C fatty acid precursor linoleic and α-linolenic acids. The objective of the present study was to determine the ability of larval gilthead seabream to utilize vegetable oils and assess the nutritional regulation of Δ6 desaturase gene expression. Seventeen-day-old gilthead seabream larvae were fed during a 17-day period with one of four different microdiets formulated with either sardine fish oil (FO), soybean, rapeseed or linseed oils, respectively, or a fifth diet containing defatted squid meal and linseed oil. Good larval survival and growth, both in terms of total length and body weight, were obtained by feeding the larvae either rapeseed, soybean or linseed oils. The presence of vegetable oils in the diet increased the levels of 20:2n−9 and 20:2n−6, 18:2n−9, 18:3n−6, 20:3n−6 and 20:4n−6, in larvae fed rapeseed and soybean oils in comparison to those fed FO. In addition, a sixfold increase in the relative expression of Δ6 desaturase-like gene was found in larvae fed rapeseed and soybean oils, denoting the nutritional regulation of desaturase activity through its gene expression in this fish species. However, feeding linseed oil did not increase the expression of the Δ6 desaturase gene to such a high extent.     

Intensive rearing of juvenile crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus,Astacidae) during the first 6 months: effects of size grading

Recent advances in crayfish feeding have enabled the development of size grading studies from the start of first‐feeding. A 180‐day experiment aimed at intensive rearing of Pacifastacus leniusculus was carried out under controlled conditions, evaluating the effects of size grading at two different periods from the onset of exogenous feeding. Stage 2 juveniles were stocked in fibreglass tanks at a density of 100 m², and fed a dry diet for salmonids combined with restricted amounts of Artemia cysts. Five groups were tested: no grading, grading at 60 days (large and small size) and grading at 100 days (large and small size). After 6 months, no significant differences were found in the survival among groups (mean: 73.06%). The highest final growth (pooled results from upper and lower classes: 17.39 mm carapace length, 1.43 g weight) was achieved by the crayfish sorted at 60 days, showing significant differences from the ungraded group. Smaller crayfish graded at 60 days grew significantly faster than smaller crayfish graded at 100 days. The food conversion ratio was lower in the graded groups (mean: 2.64), showing significant differences from the ungraded group (3.23). This study shows that size grading allows a better performance and an improved feeding efficiency.     

First results of embryonic development,spawning and larval rearing of the Mediterranean spider crab Maja squinado (Herbst ) under laboratory conditions,a candidate species for a restocking program

The Mediterranean spider crab, Maja squinado, is depleted due to overfishing. The crab has virtually disappeared from areas where it was abundant, such as the Balearic Islands and the Catalan coast. Maja squinado, is economically and ecologically very valuable, and it is essential to obtain information on its biology and rearing conditions to attempt to repopulate the damaged stocks of the species in the Mediterranean basin. Herein, we describe the first successful rearing of M. squinado under laboratory conditions. Our results show that M. squinado is an excellent candidate for restocking using cultured juveniles. Two consecutive broods with a 1–4 day interbrood period were observed in the laboratory in wild‐caught females, the maximum observed duration of embryonic development of the egg mass being 32 days at 18.4 ± 0.9°C, and went through four different stages. The complete larval and first juvenile development was studied in laboratory cultures fed enriched Artemia metanauplius. At 19.6 ± 0.6°C, development from hatching to first crab moult took 17 days, and it comprised two zoeae stages and one megalopa stage. The survival rate at the different stages was monitored, and 7.13 ± 2.3% was achieved at the first crab instar.     

Spatio‐temporal trends of sailfish,Istiophorus platypterus catch rates in relation to spawning ground and environmental factors in the equatorial and southwestern Atlantic Ocean

Spatial and temporal trends of sailfish catch rates in the southwestern and equatorial Atlantic Ocean in relation to environmental variables were investigated using generalized additive models and fishery‐dependent data. Two generalized additive models were fit: (i) ‘spatio‐temporal’, including only latitude, longitude, month, and year; and (ii) ‘oceanographic’, including sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll‐a concentration, wind velocity, bottom depth, and depth of mixed layer and year. The spatio‐temporal model explained more (average ~40%) of the variability in catch rates than the oceanographic model (average ~30%). Modeled catch rate predictions showed that sailfish tend to aggregate off the southeast coast of Brazil during the peak of the spawning season (November to February). Sailfish also seem to aggregate for feeding in two different areas, one located in the mid‐west Atlantic to the south of ~15°S and another area off the north coast of Brazil. The oceanographic model revealed that wind velocity and chlorophyll‐a concentration were the most important variables describing catch rate variability. The results presented herein may help to understand sailfish movements in the Atlantic Ocean and the relationship of these movements with environmental effects.     

Recruitment of catarina scallop (Argopecten ventricosus) larvae on artificial collectors off the NE coast of the Gulf of California

We evaluated recruitment of larvae of catarina scallop, Argopecten ventricosus, in the area of Puerto Peñasco, NE Gulf of California. We moored artificial collectors in six sites from June 2007 to August 2008 and replaced them every 2 months. We used monthly (July 2002–September 2011) sea surface temperature (SST, °C) and surface chlorophyll‐a concentration (SSChl, mg m^?3) Aqua/MODIS satellite data to describe seasonal environmental behaviour study area. Also, we recorded bottom temperature at each site every 4 h, and every 2 months measured sea surface salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen. We used a repeated measures anova to evaluate differences in the number of recruited spat between main factors, and analysed the presence of multimodal spat shell size frequency distributions. Overall, spat recruitment was negatively correlated with seawater temperature and showed higher spat recruitment abundances throughout winter, which is the season with the highest surface chlorophyll a concentration. We estimated multimodal shell size frequency distributions characterized by more than one modal size. The natural collection of A. ventricosus spat on artificial collectors in the area can be successfully performed over a protracted period (November–December to May–June). Our results extend the area where collection of A. ventricosus spat can be successful.