Prenatal diagnosis and management of anterior abdominal wall defects in the West of Scotland

An attempt was made to identify all the cases of abdominal wall defects occurring in the West of Scotland over a 7-year period to determine the current incidence, prenatal diagnosis, management, and prognosis for fetuses and neonates with abdominal wall defects. Cases were identified because they presented either for prenatal diagnosis, or to the Department of Pathology following termination or spontaneous pregnancy loss, or as neonates to the Neonatal Surgical Department. The incidence of abdominal wall defects was found to be 1 in 2500 births. Exomphalos was diagnosed before birth in 66 per cent of cases, and in 30 per cent of cases it was associated with another major abnormality. There was a 20 per cent intact survival in the cases diagnosed prenatally who had no fetal anomaly and who opted to continue with the pregnancy. Gastroschisis was diagnosed before delivery in 70 per cent of cases, and in the group who continued with the pregnancy there was an intact survival of 77 per cent. Body stalk anomalies were all diagnosed prenatally and terminated. Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein was elevated in 89 per cent of the cases with exomphalos and in 100 per cent of the cases with gastroschisis and body stalk anomalies in which it was tested.     

The effects of predator abundance and habitat structural complexity on survival of juvenile sea urchins

We studied the effect of the abundance of predatory fishes and structural complexity of algal assemblages on the survival of juveniles of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus on Mediterranean infralittoral rocky bottoms. Post-settlement juveniles (2–10 mm) were placed on four distinct natural substrates with increasing structural complexity (coralline barren, algal turf, erect fleshy algal assemblages and small crevices) inside and outside the Medes Islands Marine Reserve. Predation on these sea urchins increased at greater abundance of predatory fishes, and decreased with greater structural complexity. The refuge provided by structural complexity, however, decreased with increasing size of sea urchin recruits. Predation on the smallest post-settlers was carried out almost exclusively by small fishes (<20 cm), mainly the labrid Coris julis, while the dominant predator of larger juveniles was the sparid Diplodus sargus. Our results demonstrate the cascading effects caused by the prohibition of fishing in marine reserves, and highlight the potential role of small predatory fishes in the control of sea urchin populations.Communicated by O. Kinne, Oldendorf/Luhe     

Female choice in sage grouse: the roles of attraction and active comparison

Previous studies of female choice in sage grouse Centrocercus urophasianus have implicated both the acoustic quality and repetition rate of the stereotyped strut display as putative cues for female choice. Stages in the choice process at which specific components of male courtship display influence female decisions were investigated using field observations of female pre-mating behavior. Females visited a subset of territorial males and then actively chose one of these as a mate. The order in which males were visited suggested that females searched until an acceptable mate was found, rather than employing a “best-of-n” tactic. Numbers of females visiting a male were related to differences in an acoustical component of display (inter-pop interval) whereas the probability that a visiting female mated was related to display rate (Table 3), indicating that initial attraction and active choice are influenced by different components of display. In addition, inter-pop interval and display rate tended to covary inversely (Fig. 1), suggesting that attraction and active choice may impose conflicting selection pressures on display performance. Received: 11 November 1995/Accepted after revision: 16 March 1996     

Grazing of phytoplankton by copepods in eastern Antarctic coastal waters

Chlorophyll a, primary productivity and grazing by copepods on phytoplankton were measured in the upper water column during the summer of 1994/1995 at a coastal site near Davis Station, East Antarctica. Chlorophyll a was at a maximum in mid-December, then dropped markedly as the coastal fast ice melted and broke‐out. Phytoplankton biomass increased again from mid‐ to late‐February. Copepods accounted for at least 65% of zooplankton biomass in the water column before sea ice break‐out, whereas larval polychaetes and ctenophores dominated after ice break‐out. Oncaeacurvata was the numerically dominant species throughout the study. The highest grazing rate (8.7 mg C␣m⁻³␣d⁻¹) was recorded on 21 December when O.␣curvata accounted for 64% of the total. Grazing had decreased markedly by 28 December (0.9 mg C m⁻³ d⁻¹); again O. curvata accounted for over 50% of the total ingested. Copepod grazing increased after ice break-out until the last experiment on 20 February (⋍5 mg C␣m⁻³␣d⁻¹). The main species responsible for grazing during this period were O. curvata, Oithonasimilis, Calanoidesacutus and unidentified copepod nauplii. It was estimated that copepods removed between 1 and 5% of primary productivity. Received: 11 October 1996 / Accepted: 22 October 1996     

Limited evidence for increased cold-tolerance of invasive versus native <Emphasis Type="Italic">Caulerpa taxifolia</Emphasis>

Growth characteristics of native and invasive Caulerpa taxifolia from coastal eastern Australia were compared in warm (22–25°C) and cool (15–18°C) water in two laboratory experiments. Measurements of biomass, stolon length, mean frond length and numbers of fronds and stolon meristems, demonstrated that the growth of native and invasive C. taxifolia in warm water was up to ten times greater than in cool water. Growth rates differed substantially among locations over 9 weeks, but for most variables, the growth of native C. taxifolia was greater than the growth of invasive C. taxifolia in warm water. In cool water, there was little difference in growth of invasive versus native C. taxifolia. The morphology of C. taxifolia changed considerably in response to temperature, such that native and invasive samples that were morphologically distinct at the start of the experiment became indistinguishable after 69 days in warm water. We concluded there was little evidence that the C. taxifolia which recently invaded temperate estuaries in New South Wales could spread faster in cool water than could native C. taxifolia from Queensland. Native tropical C. taxifolia appears tolerant of a wide range of environmental conditions and seems capable of surviving and becoming invasive in temperate estuaries.     

Herbivory and detritivory among gammaridean amphipods from a Florida seagrass community

The gammaridean amphipods Cymadusa compta (Smith), Gammarus mucronatus Say, Melita nitida Smith and Grandidierella bonnieroides Stephensen from a seagrass community in the Indian River estuary of Florida (USA) fed variously upon large drift algae, small algae epiphytic on seagrasses and seagrass leaf debris and detritus. Consumption was measured in the laboratory using an index (CI) equivalent to mg ingested mg^-1 amphipod day^-1. Observations revealed that the amphipods fed by macrophagy, an attack upon large algae and seagrass debris, and by microphagy, small particle detritus feeding and scraping of plant surfaces for diatoms and other epiphytic algae. C. compta was a macrophagous feeder with a generalized diet of algae and seagrass debris, preferring epiphytic algae and drift algae at mean rates of 1.10 and 0.87 CI, respectively. Gammarus mucronatus fed upon epiphytes and seagrass debris equally at mean rates of 0.90 and 0.97 CI, respectively. The diet of M. nitida condisted primarily of epiphytes, consumed at an average rate of 1.05 CI. Grandidierella bonnieroides fed in a specialized microphagous manner, grooming plant surfaces for small particle detritus and diatoms at an approximate CI rate of 1.45. Assimilation of plants ingested, as reflected by carbon-14 uptake, varied similarly among the 4 amphipods. Epiphytic algae appeared to be most useful as food, providing means of 41 to 75% carbon-14 uptake as ingesta. Drift algae and seagrass debris were of less value, with means varying between 11 and 24 % of carbon-14 uptake by the amphipods. The data show a pattern of feeding which resembles resource partitioning of food both by size and kind. Other evidence, however, including population limitation by predators and an apparent overabundance of food, indicate that resource partitioning as seen may be an artifact, and one which has no co-evolutionary basis among the present species.Contribution No. 102 of Harbor Branch Foundation, Inc.     

Desperado siblings: uncontrollably aggressive junior chicks

According to the desperado sibling hypothesis, chicks of obligately siblicidal species kill their junior broodmates as early as possible because junior broodmates face dire ecological prospects and are consequently predisposed to aggressively overthrow elder broodmates by all-out aggression. The agonistic behavior of junior chicks is virtually unknown because they die so young. We investigated the agonistic behavior of hypothetical desperados by fostering junior brown boobies (Sula leucogaster, an obligately siblicidal species) into nests of the blue-footed booby (S. nebouxii, a facultatively siblicidal species) containing an older singleton blue-foot chick. Controls were junior blue-footed boobies fostered into the same situation. Junior brown boobies were 7 times more aggressive than controls and most of them dominated their elder and larger nestmates. Four of nine brown booby juniors showed relentless aggression, delivering up to 711 pecks, bites and pushes (including "expulsion pushes") per hour, thereby overwhelming nestmates 90% heavier and permanently expelling one of them from the nest. Similarly, in natural broods of two surviving brown booby chicks, the losing chick was 13 times as aggressive as blue-foot subordinates, up to at least age 7 weeks. Contrast of the two species of booby suggests the evolution of agonistic roles within broods may be partly driven by selection on potential victims to express a level and type of aggressiveness appropriate to their status-related ecological prospects.     

Modulation of branchial ion transport protein expression by salinity in glass eels (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Anguilla anguilla</Emphasis> L.)

The Anguillid juvenile glass eel must deal with the osmoregulatory consequences of highly variable environmental salinities on its recruitment migration from coastal to fresh waters. Changes in ionoregulatory parameters and branchial ion transport protein [Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase, Na⁺:K⁺:2Cl⁻ cotransporter (NKCC), cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) anion channel, V-type proton ATPase] expression (activities, protein and/or mRNA level expression and/or cellular localization) in response to acclimation to a broad range of ionic strengths [distilled water (DW) to hypersaline water (HSW; 150%) sea water (SW 32‰)] was studied. The estuarine glass eels were very euryhaline and successfully acclimated to acute changes in environmental ionic strength from 50% SW, with high mortality only observed in HSW (51%) and sublethal osmoregulatory indicators (whole body water content and sodium levels) disturbed at the extremes (DW and HSW). Central to a high salinity acclimation were elevated branchial Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase, NKCC and CFTR expression. At lower salinity, Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase expression was maintained and NKCC and CFTR expressions were reduced. Branchial chloride cells increased in size up to SW but decreased in HSW. During hypotonic disturbance (DW), no compensatory elevation in V-ATPase or Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase expression was observed.     

Field playback of male display attracts females in lek breeding sage grouse

Summary Recent correlational studies of lekking sage grouse suggest that male vocal display attracts females. To test this hypothesis further, the natural displays of a territorial male were supplemented with the tape-recorded display of another, reproductively-successful, individual. Significantly, more females approached the speaker's location on days when the recording was played, and also on non-playback days immediately following a playback, than on other non-playback days (Fig. 1). Analysis of male displays indicated that females were responding to the playback itself rather than to changes in male behavior. The after-response following a playback suggests that some females present during a playback remembered its location and approached on a subsequent lek visit. The results provide necessary support for the epigamic function of vocal display, and suggest ways in which female responses to male display may influence lek structure.     

Electrochemical degradation of the dye indigo carmine at boron-doped diamond anode for wastewaters remediation

Here we demonstrate that anodic oxidation with a boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode can be applied to the remediation of wastewaters containing indigo carmine. This environmentally friendly method decontaminates completely acid and alkaline aqueous solutions of this dye. The degradation rate increases with increasing current and dye concentration. Indigo carmine is more rapidly removed in alkaline than in acid medium, but its kinetics does not follow a defined reaction order. Isatin 5-sulfonic acid is the main aromatic product formed. Oxalic and oxamic acids are generated as ultimate carboxylic acids. The nitrogen of the dye is converted into NH₄ ⁺ and NO₃ ⁻.