Low water exchange Gracilariopsis bailiniae Zhang & B.M. Xia culture in intensive milkfish culture effluents: effects of seaweed density on seaweed production and effluent treatment

This study tested the feasibility of a low-cost seaweed biofiltration system for pond-based aquaculture through an indoor-integrated fish-seaweed culture experiment using weekly nutrient supply regime and different seaweed stocking densities. The culture experiment was conducted in glass aquaria that were stocked with Gracilariopsis bailiniae at 3 densities (low = 0.5 kg m^?2, middle = 2 kg m^?2 and high = 3.5 kg m^?2) and provided either with effluents from intensive milkfish (Chanos chanos) culture or with effluent-free seawater (control) as nutrient source. Stocking density was used as a factor in optimizing nutrient availability for growth and nutrient removal under such low water exchange conditions. Our results showed that G. bailiniae cultivated in milkfish effluents had higher growth, biomass and nitrogen yields than those cultivated in effluent-free seawater. Among the different stocking densities tested, highest growth rate (1.03 % day^?1) was obtained in the middle density. Increasing biomass and nitrogen yields were also obtained at this density until the end of the culture period. Poorer growth rates at low and high stocking densities were attributed to light limitation from phytoplankton and self-shading, respectively. Due to seaweed treatment, average outflow concentration of NH₄ ⁺ was reduced from half of its pretreated level. This study showed that a weekly effluent supply at 2 kg m^?2 seaweed stocking density can sustainably support the growth of G. bailiniae as long as the dissolved nutrients are present at high levels.     

Manipulations of Shrimp Embryos: A Viable Technique for the Removal of the Hatching Envelope

The hatching envelope elevated around the spawned eggs of penaeoidean eggs presents a formidable barrier for manipulation of the embryo. By spawning eggs into seawater containing 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole and subsequently passing the eggs through Nitex screening approximately 45 min after spawning, the hatching envelope can be effectively removed with little or no damage to the embryos. The time and extent to which the envelope is removed can be varied. Embryos treated in this manner continue to develop and the method provides a new technique with which investigators can gain access to the surface of the egg or embryo.     

Intestinal phytase I: Detection and preliminary characterization of activity in the intestinal brush border membrane of hybrid striped bass Morone saxatilis × M. chrysops

While numerous studies have evaluated intestinal phytase activity in terrestrial monogastric species, little work has been conducted investigating the enzyme's activity in finfish. This experiment was conducted to determine if hybrid striped bass Morone saxatilis × M. chrysops possess intestinal phytase activity, and to perform a preliminary characterization of this activity in terms of pH, metal ion dependence and substrate kinetics. Hybrid bass do exhibit low levels of intestinal phytase activity. The activity has an acidic pH optimum between 3.5 and 4.5. Low concentrations of Mn²⁺ slightly enhance this activity. The divalent cations Mg²⁺ and Zn²⁺ were shown to either have no effect on the enzyme activity or to be inhibitory, particularly at high concentrations. The present results indicate that intestinal phytase activity in hybrid bass does follow Michaelis-Menten kinetics, with estimated K_m and V_max values of 2.5 mM phytate and 4.8 units mg⁻¹ protein, respectively. The physiologic significance of the enzyme's presence in hybrid striped bass is questionable due to the low activity as compared to terrestrial monogastrics, the acidic pH optimum and the low affinity the enzyme appears to have for phytate. These observations also raise the question of whether the intestinal phytase activity detected in hybrid bass is merely a manifestation of non-specific acid phosphatase activity. Further investigation is needed to determine the practical significance of phytase activity in hybrid bass in terms of phytate phosphorus utilization. Additional experiments should also be conducted which evaluate intestinal phytase activity in other important aquacultured finfish species. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Repeated physical disturbances and the stability of sub‐tropical coral communities in Hong Kong,China

• 1. This paper reports on the dynamics of the coral community structure at A Ma Wan (AMW) and A Ye Wan (AYW) in Tung Ping Chau, Hong Kong, focusing on data collected before and after the summer typhoon seasons in 1997 to 1999. This period (1999) experienced the highest frequency of severe tropical cyclones to hit Hong Kong with one cyclone being the strongest to hit in the last 23 years (1984 to 2006).
• 2. This is part of a long‐term monitoring programme of subtropical coral communities that has been set up in AMW since May 1997 and AYW since May 1998 with nine fixed position 40 m long transects and 0.5 m × 0.5 m permanent quadrats laid at 5 m intervals along each transect. A total of 45 scleractinian coral species from 21 genera (12 families) was recorded, with 40 species in AMW and 32 species in AYW recorded at the beginning of the study.
• 3. Multidimensional scaling ordinations showed distinct spatial variations in the coral communities within and between sites. These variations were probably a result of the differential effects of the repeated cyclone impacts on the communities. Cyphastrea serailia, Goniopora lobata, Montipora peltiformis and Pavona decussata were the dominant species most strongly affected by cyclone impacts at AMW, experiencing a 6.2–16.2% loss of mean area cover during the study period. Some dominant species (e.g. P. decussata) in AYW also experienced a 6.5–14.3% loss of mean area cover within the same period.
• 4. Overall, these coral community structures appeared relatively stable and resistant to repeated physical disturbances. However, they may have low resilience towards more severe disturbances in the future. Preserving the resilience of coral communities/species in Tung Ping Chau should be one of the main goals of coral conservation strategies for the island.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of light intensity on biofilm formation and the performance of pink shrimp Farfantepenaeus paulensis juveniles reared in cages

A reduction in light intensity may increase shrimp activity, although it may also negatively affect the development of photoautotrophic organisms present in biofilm, an important natural food source for shrimp. This experiment evaluated the influence of light intensity on biofilm development and on the growth of cultured Farfantepenaeus paulensis juveniles. Six cages were deployed in a shrimp culture pond and stocked with 60 juveniles (0.72 ± 0.03 g). Three cages were randomly chosen and covered with five layers of polyamide net to reduce light incidence (shaded treatment), while the other three cages were not covered (control treatment). Biofilm chlorophyll a and microorganism abundance, as well as shrimp growth, were monitored during the experiment. Chlorophyll a concentration and the abundance of bacteria and flagellates were significantly lower in the shaded treatment (P<0.05). After 75 rearing days, shrimp stocked in control treatment achieved significantly higher (5.98 g) (P<0.05) mean weight than shrimp reared in shaded treatment cages (5.13 g). Similarly, the biomass produced was also significantly higher (P<0.05) in the control treatment (322.92 g) than in the shaded treatment (287.31 g). The results of this study demonstrate that light intensity has a huge influence on shrimp performance mainly due to the increase in natural food availability.     

Growth overfishing in the brown shrimp fishery of Texas, Louisiana, and adjoining Gulf of Mexico EEZ

Growth overfishing in the brown shrimp, Farfantepenaeus aztecus, fishery in inshore (estuarine) and offshore (Gulf of Mexico) territorial waters of Texas and Louisiana, and adjoining waters of the United States’ (U.S.) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and its potentially detrimental economic consequences to the harvesting sector, have not been among major concerns of Federal and State shrimp management agencies. Three possible reasons include (1) environmentally influenced variations in recruitment that cause wide fluctuations in annual landings, which tend to obscure effects of fishing, (2) competition between inshore and offshore components of the harvesting sector, and (3) partitioning of management jurisdiction among a Federal council and two State agencies. Wide variations in landings led to beliefs that high levels of fishing mortality were tolerable and recruitment overfishing was of no major concern. This encouraged somewhat laissez-faire management approaches that allowed fishing effort to increase over the years.Our objectives were to determine whether growth overfishing occurred in this fishery during 1960–2006, and whether and how decreases in size of shrimp within the landings, in response to increases in fishing effort, affected inflation-adjusted annual (calendar year) ex-vessel value of the landings, i.e., their value to the harvesting sector. Growth overfishing occurred in the early 1990s, and then abated as fishing effort declined due to rising fuel costs and competition from imported shrimp. However, inflation-adjusted annual ex-vessel value of the landings peaked in 1985, prior to growth overfishing.Management actions implemented in 2001 for Texas’ territorial waters, and in the EEZ off Texas and Louisiana in 2006, should limit future fleet expansion and increases in fishing effort, thereby reducing the chances of growth overfishing and its potentially detrimental economic impacts on the harvesting sector. Growth overfishing should be included among the guidelines for future management of this brown shrimp fishery.     

Cytogenetic mechanism for reversion of triploids to heteroploid mosaics in Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg) and Crassostrea ariakensis

Triploid oyster induction has been very successful. However, during field culture, a certain proportion of triploids apparently loses one set of chromosomes, ‘reverting’ to diploid–triploid mosaics. The revertants will lose their aquaculture advantages due to the recovery of reproductive ability. Mitotic chromosomes were observed in mosaics of Crassostrea gigas and Crassostrea Ariakensis to elucidate the cytogenetic mechanism of reversion. Most individuals showed a modal number of 30 in triploid cells and varying numbers of chromosomes in other cells. From all 15 mosaics of C. gigas and 16 mosaics of C. ariakensis individuals, high proportions of aneuploid cells with various numbers of chromosomes were observed. Most of the aneuploid cells were hypotriploid cells with 26–29 chromosomes. Notably, in 10 out of 15 C. gigas and 9 out of 16 C. ariakensis, some cells consisted of 20–26 well‐spread chromosomes and 3–10 chromosome ‘clumps’. Individuals with more chromosome clumps tended to have higher percentages of hypotriploid cells. The correlation between these two categories of cells was significant (P<0.05) in C. gigas and highly significant (P<0.01) in C. ariakensis. Thus, we conclude that some chromosomes are eliminated during mitotic divisions because they clump together and are thus unable to undergo normal segregation.     

Tolerance of Juvenile Flatfish Paralichthys orbignyanus to Acid Stress

Abstract.— The tolerance of juvenile flatfish Paralichthys orbignyanus to acid stress, was studied in 30-L plastic tanks using ten flatfishes (95 ± 13 g) per treatment. Water pH was monitored every 3 h and re-adjusted to the test pH using either HCl or NaOH. The photoperiod was fixed at 12L:12D, water temperature at 23 ± 0.8 C, and salinity at 30 ppt. Fish survival and ventilatory rate were monitored daily. At pH 4.0, we observed 100% mortality and ventilation rates different from controls. At pH 5.2, there was 100% survival even after 96 h. However, ventilation rate was higher than in controls. At pH equal or higher than 6.0, we observed 100% survival and normal ventilation rates. The estimated pH which would kill 50% of test organisms were: 4.51, 4.50 and 4.40 after 48, 72, and 96 h of experiment, respectively. These results show that juvenile flatfish are relatively tolerant to acid stress.     

Genotype by environment interaction and model comparison for growth traits of Santa Ines sheep

The objectives of the present study were to compare alternative models for the genetic evaluation and assess the importance of genotype by environment interaction (G×E) in the estimation of genetic parameters and genetic evaluation of birth weight (BW), weight at 60 days of age (W60) and weight at 180 days of age (W180) of Santa Ines sheep. Data comprise 7622 BW, 4673 W60 and 2830 W180 records from animals born in 44 Brazilian herds. Four models were used for the analyses: animal model (AM) with homogeneous residual variance (1), or heterogeneous residual variance (2), hierarchical reaction norms model (HRNM) with homogeneous (1) or heterogeneous residual variance (2). The models that best fit the BW, W60 and W180 data were AM2, HRNM1 and HRNM2 respectively. Thus, models for genetic evaluation that consider heterogeneity of variances are recommended to evaluate growth traits of sheep. The correlation between intercept and slope of the HRNM was higher than 0.70 for all traits studied, indicating that animals with higher average breeding values responded better to improvement in environmental conditions, a fact characterizing the scale effect of G×E. Therefore, G×E is an important factor to be considered in the estimation of genetic parameters and genetic evaluation of growth traits of sheep.     

Inorganic nitrogen movement in tropical soils

A field experiment was conducted to follow the transformation of ammonium fertilizer applied in rainfed-upland fields. The study was done during the rainy season on a heavy-textured, poorly rained soil. Ammonium fertilizer was applied in rows, and soil samples from different depths were analyzed to check the vertical distribution of inorganic nitrogen. In order to learn the relation between nitrogen loss and nitrification, the effect of nitrification inhibitor was also checked. Ice variety IR5 was used to check nitrogen uptake.

The ammonium content decreased by about 40 per cent up to I month after fertilizing and about 90% up to 2 months after fertilizing in the unplanted plots. Up to 5 months it decreased to a level equal to or lower than that before fertilizer application. The accumulation of nitrate was observed in the lower soil layers-after 3 months, but the accumulated amount was too low to account for the loss of ammonia from the surface. The overall loss of mineral nitrogen within 60 cm of the surface was observed after 5 months in unplanted plots. The addition of nitrification inhibitor retarded the decrease of ammonium nitrogen up to 2 months. After 3 months, the nitrifying activity began to recover.

Only 23 to 27 per cent of the fertilizer nitrogen was taken up by the rice plants, indicating low efficiency.