Reproductive cycle of the chiton Chiton iatricus and environmental control of its gonad growth

The annual reproductive cycle of the chiton Chiton iatricus was studied for the period from September, 1977 to December, 1978. Gametogenesis is initiated in the November – December period followed by rapid gonadal growth up to March. Breeding season of C. iatricus extends up to the beginning of August. Though the emission of the gametes halts in August, the gonad never enters into the quiescent phase owing to the time required for the gametogensis. The examination of correlation between the reproductive events during the annual reproductive cycle and existing environmental factors suggests that multiple environmental factors are involved in the control of different phases of gonad growth. The collected data are discussed in the light of the reproductive physiology of C. iatricus.     

Food information in the Black-headed Gull,Larus ridibundus

Summary The information-centre hypothesis suggests that bird colonies function as sources of information about good feeding sites, to which unsuccessful birds may follow foragers. One assumption of the hypothesis is that unusually successful foragers are followed by other colony members when returning to a newly found, rich food source. We tested this assumption in a colony of Black-headed Gulls (Larus ridibundus). Parents feeding their young from a rich, artificial food source were observed on their return trips to the feeding site. In none of 50 cases did other colony members follow them to the newly found food. However, the gulls were attracted to groups of foraging conspecifics. In experiments with paired food piles and a group of model gulls at one pile in each pair, Black-headed Gulls always alighted first at the piles with models. Hence the information-centre mechanism was refuted, but the gulls did acquire food information from each other in another way.     

Comparative study of different hydrophobic devices for sampling lipid surface films and adherent microorganisms

Some simple devices for collection of lipid films and adhering microorganisms have been tested at various places along the Swedish west coast and in model systems. Information is given about enrichment of microorganisms and the magnitude of accumulation in these films. The present work indicates that the use of a Teflon sheet is a suitable method for lipid film sampling, both for microbiological and chemical purposes.     

Oil pollution monitoring in the Lagoon of Venice using the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

Gas chromatographic analyses of mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis, from different areas of the Lagoon of Venice show that these organisms contain a very complex mixture of hydrocarbons attributable to fuel oil contamination. The measured amounts normally range from 0.8 to 8.7 mg/100 g wet weight, but values as high as 22.0 mg/100 g have been recorded. This high value indicates a saturation limit for these organisms which is considerably higher than those values normally found in mussels from the lagoon. The aliphatic hydrocarbon levels in mussels are related to distance from pollution sources and to the degree of exchange between the sea and the area sampled. On the basis of this relationship between overall hydrocarbon pollution load and level of contamination of M. galloprovincialis, it appears that this bivalve might be effectively utilized as a self-integrating monitoring index of oil pollution in the wasters of the lagoon.     

Feeding of marine planktonic copepods on mixed phytoplankton

The feeding of juveniles and adults of the copepods Eucalanus pileatus, Temora stylifera and T. turbinata fed a mixture of the phytoplankton Skeletonema costatum, Leptocylindrus danicus and Rhizosolenia alata f. indica was studied at 20°C. E. pileatus nauplii, copepodids and adult females ingest similar percentages of the 3 algae in terms of carbon. Temora juveniles younger than CII ingest mainly S. costatum; at more advanced developmental stages, the ingestion rate on S. costatum remains constant whereas feeding on L. danicus and R. alata f. indica increases with increasing body weight. Feeding on high concentrations of large particles reduces the grazing pressure on small particles, thus favoring zooplankton which require small-sized food.     

Do echolocation calls of wild colony-living Bechstein's bats (Myotis bechsteinii) provide individual-specific signatures?

Social animals often use vocal communication signals that contain individual signatures. As bats emit echolocation calls several times per second to orient in space, these might seem ideal candidates for conveying the caller's individual identity as a free by-product. From a proximate perspective, however, coding of caller identity is hampered by the simple acoustic structure of echolocation signals, by their task-specific design and by propagation loss. We investigated the occurrence of individual signatures in echolocation calls in individually marked, free-living Bechstein's bats (Myotis bechsteinii) in a situation with defined social context in the field. The bats belonged to two different colonies, for both of which genetic data on relatedness structure was available. While our data clearly demonstrate situation specificity of call structure, the evidence for individual-specific signatures was relatively weak. We could not identify a robust and simple parameter that would convey the caller's identity despite the situation-specific call variability. Discriminant function analysis assigned calls to call sequences with good performance, but worsened drastically when tested with other sequences from the same bats. Therefore, we caution against concluding from a satisfactory discrimination performance with identical training and test sequences that individual bats can reliably be told apart by echolocation calls. At least the information contained in a single call sequence seems not to be sufficient for that purpose. Starting frequencies did give the best discrimination between individuals, and it was also this parameter that was correlated with genetic relatedness in one of our two study colonies. Echolocation calls could serve as an additional source of information for individual recognition in Bechstein's bats societies, while it is unlikely that a large number of individuals could be reliably identified in different situations based on echolocation alone.     

Colonization of Europe by two American genetic types or species of the genus Marenzelleria (Polychaeta: Spionidae). An electrophoretic analysis of allozymes

Allozyme electrophoresis was conducted in an attempt to identify the origin ofMarenzelleria sp. found in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. The analysis covered eight enzymes with ten loti from nine populations found on the North American Atlantic toast, these populations in the North Sea and five populations in the Baltic. The North Sea spionids correspond to the Type IMarenzelleria from North American coastal waters between Barnstable Harbor (Massachusetts) and Cape Henlopen (Delaware). Nei's genetic distance between these North American populations and those from the North Sea wasD = 0.010 to 0.020. TheMarenzelleria sp. found in the Baltic Sea very probably stems from North American populations of Type II found from the region of Chesapeake Bay (Trippe Bay) south to the Currituck Sound (North Carolina). The genetic distance between these North American populations and the Baltic populations isD = 0.000 to 0.001. The invaders appear to have lost little of their genetic variation while colonizing the North and Baltic Seas. Probably, both colonizing events tan be attributed to large numbers of individuals reaching Europe simultaneously on one or more occasions. In addition, aMarenzelleria Type III was found by electrophoresis among specimens from Currituck Sound (North Carolina), rohere it is sympatric withMarenzelleria Type II. Salinity is discussed as an important factor for the establishment ofMarenzelleria Type I in the North Sea and Type II in the Baltic Sea.