Population structure of red drum (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Sciaenops ocellatus</Emphasis>) as determined by otolith chemistry

To examine current genetic-based paradigms pertaining to the structure and possible philopatry of red drum populations, we used solution-based inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to analyze the otolith chemistry of juvenile red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) from eight different estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) and the North Atlantic Ocean. One estuary (Tampa Bay, Fla.) was sampled in three different years. Analyses of variance for five elemental ratios (Mg/Ca, Mn/Ca, Zn/Ca, Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca) were all significantly different between estuaries, as was a multi-element signature (MANOVA, Pillais trace F _{50, 1020}=19.41, P<0.0001). We also found that red drum from the Gulf could be distinguished from those taken from the Atlantic Ocean with 99.5% accuracy, likely due to differences in water chemistry between these water masses. A discriminant function developed using these elemental ratios was more than 80% accurate in assigning juvenile red drum to their natal estuary, or in the case of Tampa Bay, to the correct year of spawning. We also used laser ablation ICP-MS to examine the otolith core chemistry of adult red drum collected from spawning aggregations near Tampa Bay. Using a discriminant function analysis with a calibration data set derived from juvenile signatures, we found that 75% of the adult cores matched the juvenile signal established for Tampa Bay 1982. Although preliminary, the results presented here suggest that red drum may return to their natal estuary to spawn, which has been postulated from genetic data.Communicated by P.W. Sammarco, Chauvin     

Gill pump characteristics of the soft clamMya arenaria

Pumping rates in the soft clamMya arenaria, collected in June 1987 in the Great Belt, Denmark, were determined as rates at which clams cleared suspensions of algae,Dunaliella marina. The frictional resistance of the siphons to water flow was estimated by studying the effect of excision of the siphons at the base on the rate of water pumping. The frictional resistance was also calculated from the Poiseuille equation. Excision of the siphons had no measurable effect on the pumping rate, and calculations indicated pressure losses ranging between 0.3 to 1.2 mm H₂O. This is consistent with the conception that the capacity of filter feeding bivalves to process large amounts of water depends upon a low resistance to water flow in the siphons.     

In-situ observations of Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) spawning behaviour in the Askö-Landsort area,northern Baltic proper

In a Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras L.) spawning ground study, carried out in summer 1982 in the northern Baltic proper, spawning herring were encountered on two line transects on June 14. The spawning behaviour of minor groups as well as of a large school was studied in situ by four divers for approximately three hours. No behavioural differences or systematic coordinated behaviour between the sexes could be detected. Most of the spawning took place in a limited depth interval, 0.5 to 4 m, and Ceramium tenuicorne was the substrate most used.     

Current versus future reproduction: an experimental test of parental investment decisions using nest desertion by mallards (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Anas platyrhynchos</Emphasis>)

Past investment in offspring may be important in determining a parent's ability to reproduce in the future and, hence, should affect the relative value of current offspring. However, there have been surprisingly few clear tests of whether animals actually adjust parental care in response to diminished opportunities for future reproduction. We modified the experimental protocol of Sargent and Gross [Behav Ecol Sociobiol (1985) 17:43–45] to examine offspring desertion by mallards ( Anas platyrhynchos), and decoupled the influence of past investment from expected current benefits by controlling for the effect of offspring age on clutch value. Using 9 years of nest mortality data, we accounted for the increasing prospects of egg survival with clutch age by calculating clutch sizes throughout incubation with equivalent expected benefits. Applying this approach, we experimentally reduced 203 clutches at two different incubation stages such that they had equivalent expected benefits but differed in the amount of past investment. Nest desertion rates did not differ between early- and late-incubated clutches that had equivalent expected benefits. Rather, the probability of desertion increased with the severity of the clutch reduction treatment. These results suggest that female mallards adjust parental care according to the expected benefits of current offspring, rather than to diminished prospects for future reproduction due to past investment. We further examined whether females assessed expected benefits on the basis of clutch size alone or clutch size adjusted for the age of the clutch. Using Akaike's Information Criterion, the most parsimonious model to explain the probability of deserting an experimentally reduced clutch included both the proportion of the clutch remaining and clutch age. Thus, female mallards appear to fine-tune their level of parental care not only according to the relative number of offspring in the clutch, but also to the increased prospects for offspring survival as they age.     

Intraspecific variation of photosynthesis,respiration and photoprotective carotenoids in<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Gracilaria birdiae</Emphasis> (Gracilariales: Rhodophyta)

In most rhodophytes, the quenchers zeaxanthin or lutein seem to be used for carotenoid photoprotection next to β-carotene. However, our study shows that the tropical intertidal alga Gracilaria birdiae possesses high concentrations of antheraxanthin, as well as lower concentrations of both zeaxanthin and violaxanthin. In higher plants and some algal groups, these three oxygenated carotenoids are known to protect photosystem II in a xanthophyll cycle. We were able to manipulate the carotenoid concentrations in G. birdiae by varying irradiance and temperature in laboratory experiments. Higher concentrations of violaxanthin were found in dark incubations and higher concentrations of zeaxanthin in light incubations, which is an indication that a xanthophyll cycle is active in G. birdiae. Our results also suggest a biosynthesis pathway from lycopene to β,β-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin in the light and synthesis of new lycopene in darkness. This would imply that the production of functional carotenoids is regulated by their need in photoprotection. Despite cultivation in the laboratory under the same conditions for at least 6 years, there were differences in photosynthetic properties and carotenoid dynamics between algae obtained from a population close to the Equator and another population close to the Tropic of Capricorn. These differences most probably have their origin in genetic differentiation mediated by ambient irradiance and temperature regimes. Four phycoerythrin-deficient mutant strains of G. birdiae were studied as well. Photosynthetic properties and carotenoid dynamics were basically the same in the mutants and the wild strains, but two green strains had remarkably low dark respiratory rates. This is an indication of low production of metabolites, which may be a competitive disadvantage.     

Twilight fighting in the evening brown butterfly,<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Melanitis leda</Emphasis> (L.) (Nymphalidae): age and residency effects

Butterflies are conspicuous among animals that fight for mating opportunities because it is not clear how contest costs could accrue. Nevertheless, the bulk of research in this group suggests that contests are settled on the basis of asymmetries in fighting ability (the superior competitor hypothesis). There is also a consistent effect on contest escalation due to apparent 'confusion' over residency, which could result from resident butterflies playing different tactics than non-residents, or from a causal link between residency and fighting ability. I addressed these hypotheses by studying contest behavior in the crepuscular species Melanitis leda (L.) (Nymphalidae) over a 5-month period in tropical Australia. Males competed via conspicuous two-stage maneuvers of a form unique among butterflies. Prior residents won 77% of all contests. Non-resident males arrived and perched in occupied sites until challenged by incumbent residents, and the aggressiveness of these interlopers increased as a function of the time before they were detected. Contest winners also tended to be younger than losers, and contest escalation was negatively related to both the age of the losing male and the magnitude of the between-combatant age asymmetry. These results are consistent with the superior competitor hypothesis based upon age as a determinant (or correlate) of fighting ability, but also suggest residency has a unique influence on contest behavior. Further research is clearly required to unravel the effects of age, residency and other potential biophysical determinants of fighting ability in this species.     

Acid dissolution methods for heavy metals determination in pine needles

Microwave digestion procedures using HNO₃, HNO₃+H₂O₂, HNO₃+HClO₄, HF mixtures and dry ashing with HF were investigated for heavy metals analysis by either inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) or ICP-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in pine needles. The HF digestion procedures gave about 1.5 times higher values than a mixture of HNO₃+H₂O₂ alone. For Ti determination in needles, the HF procedure using dry ashing is thus recommended. The mean concentrations amounted to 900 mg/kg for Fe and 21.8 mg/kg for Ti in needles collected at an area polluted by a stainless steel works. Those concentrations were 10.6 and 4.3 times higher than in needles collected at an area nearby a pulp mill complex (84.5 mg/kg Fe and 5.0 mg/kg Ti).     

Call structure may affect male mating success in the quacking frog<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Crinia georgiana</Emphasis> (Anura: Myobatrachidae)

We investigated the relationship between mating success, male size and variation in the advertisement call in the frog Crinia georgiana under field conditions. Mating success in 91 males was determined by following 32 females as they moved through the chorus. Our analyses indicated that successful males had a higher number of pulses in the first note and/or called at a higher rate. However, we did not detect a significant relationship between mating success and dominant frequency, the property that varied most strongly with body size, suggesting that size is not an important influence on mate choice in this species. Even so, smaller males were more successful if they called at a higher rate whereas larger males were more successful if they had more pulses in their first note. Accordingly, males of different size may use different calling tactics to attract females. These results provide a framework for further experimental studies aimed at investigating the independent impacts of both inter- and intra-sexual selection on the advertisement call and body size of C. georgiana.     

Lipid deposition and sexual maturation in cohorts of<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Calanus finmarchicus</Emphasis> (Gunnerus) originating from Bergen (60°N) and Tromsø (69°N) reared in Tromsø, Norway

Two cohorts of Calanus finmarchicus (Gunnerus), with habitats in Bergen (60°N) and Tromsø (69°N), were reared from copepodite stage III (CIII) in mesocosms in Tromsø from April 24 1998 to June 30 1998. The aim was to study whether the two cohorts diverged phenotypically with respect to indication of physiological preparation for diapause as opposed to initiating another generation. At the end of the experiment the fractions of the cohorts that had reached sexual maturation, based on observed stage shifts to adults, was ~45% within the Bergen cohort and ~35% for the Tromsø cohort, within which males appeared before females. Examination of the mandibular gnathobase of copepodites at stage V (CV) revealed that <10% of the Bergen cohort, but >40% of the Tromsø cohort were ready for ecdysis, eventually to become adults in the same year. The physiological expression of the range in individual maturity within the cohorts was revealed in individual carbon and nitrogen content. Both cohorts incorporated the storage lipids wax esters (WE) and triacylglycerols (TAG) rapidly, primarily during CV (0.16–0.21 µg total neutral lipid ind ^-1 day ^-1), with no significant difference. Lipid storage was incorporated from CIII and the maximum was reached at the CV stage. Presumably due to excess food, high WE, TAG and free fatty acid levels were observed in both cohorts. A relative decrease in neutral lipids was observed later in females from both cohorts. We suggest that part of the Bergen population, but also a fraction of the Tromsø population, prepared for diapause in CV. A possible reason for the sexual maturation among the rest of the CV copepodites could be a shift in life "strategy" caused by an unusually high rise in temperature in the mesocosms during the last 10 days of the experiment.