Natural food,foregut clearance-rate and activity of the crab Scylla serrata

The natural diet, rate of foregut clearance and diurnal activity of the crab Scylla serrata were determined. The gut volume is related to size of crab as gut volume (ml)=0.07e^0.033x , where x=carapace width in millimetres. Fifty per cent of crabs collected in Australia and South Africa contained molluscan remains and about 21% contained crustacean remains — chiefly grapsid crabs. Fish remains were rarely found, and it was concluded that S. serrata does not normally catch mobile forms such as fish and penaeid prawns. Gut clearance of organic tissue was rapid and almost complete after 12 h. Fish bone was retained for a mean time of 2 to 3 days, and shell for 5 to 6 days. Time-lapse photography, using infra-red light, was used to record activity. Visible light flashes reduced activity. S. serrata remained buried during the day, emerging at sunset to spend the night feeding, which occurred intermittently even when unlimited food was available. If no food was present the amount of time spent on the substrate surface was halved.     

Abundance,breeding and growth of the crab Scylla serrata in two South African estuaries

Populations of the crab Scylla serrata (Forskal) were studied in two South African estuaries from 1971 until 1974. One estuary was open to the sea, the other was closed by a sandbar. Population density in the closed estuary was estimated by means of mark-release-recapture data from tagged crabs. The population of S. serrata was estimated as 1 crab/124m² and the production at 3.4 g/m²/annum. Catch per unit effort data from the closed estuary indicated a natural mortality of 41% in the crabs' second year and 60% in the third. Growth was studied in both estuaries by means of size-frequency analysis and from tagging returns. Growth was rapid in the first 12 to 15 months, when the crabs attained a carapace width of 80 to 160 mm. Thereafter growth slowed, and after 3 years crabs were between 140 and 180 mm in carapace width. Females mated in summer at a carapace width of 103 to 148 mm, males at 141 to 166 mm. After mating, females migrated out of both estuaries into the sea.     

Sexual selection and cuckoldry in a monogamous songbird: implications for sexual selection theory

Sexual selection is generally assumed to be weaker in monogamous than in polygynous animals. Recently, though, extra-pair fertilizations have been hailed as an important force in generating variance in reproductive success among males in socially monogamous species, thereby increasing the intensity of sexual selection. To see if extra-pair copulations contribute to variance in male reproductive success in the house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus), we used DNA fingerprinting to determine the paternity of chicks from 35 nests. This species is a socially monogamous passerine in which plumage brightness serves as a sexually selected indicator of male quality. Out of 119, nestlings 10 (8.3%) were fathered by a male other than the attending male, but cuckoldry occurred randomly with respect to the plumage colouration, size, or age of the attending male. Thus extra-pair fertilizations do not generate variance in male reproductive success with respect to plumage colour. On the other hand, a strongly male-biased sex ratio and asynchronous breeding by females may generate substantial variance in male reproductive success and could explain the evolution of ornamental colouration.     

Feeding by the sand crab Portunus pelagicus on material discarded from prawn trawlers in Moreton Bay,Australia

A field and laboratory study in 1984–1985 using the foregut contents of crabs caught in Moreton Bay, Queensland, when trawling was underway, showed that animals discarded from trawls constituted about 33% of the diet. Portunus pelagicus can fill its foregut in about 8 min and clear it completely of tissues in about 6 h, except for fish bone which requires about 24 h. P. pelagicus used a zigzag search pattern to find food and moved towards it at a mean point-to-point speed of 290 m h^-1 (8 cm s^-1). Underwater still photography on the trawl grounds showed that P. pelagicus was the most common scavenger attracted to a bait that simulated trawl-discards, and that it was most active at dusk. Trawler-discards at periods of high food demand in summer may allow larger populations of P. pelagicus to exist than would otherwise occur.     

Consistent association of crenarchaeal Archaea with sponges of the genus Axinella

The association of sponges with microorganisms has been accepted to be a common feature of the phylum Porifera. Herein we describe the association between filamentous Archaea and three Mediterranean species of sponges from the family Axinellidae (Porifera: Demospongiae). Axinella damicornis, A. verrucosa and Axinella sp. harbor a high concentration of filamentous Archaea in the collagen that surrounds the siliceous spicules that form their skeleton. These Archaea have been found in every axinellid specimen studied, regardless of their environment and collection time. The morphology of the filaments has been studied using transmission electron microscopy, and they all show similar characteristics. Their nature has been determined by in situ hybridization experiments and by PCR amplification and sequencing of their 16S DNA. Each sponge species contains a single filamentous archaeal phylotype. The Archaea of the three sponges are closely related to each other and to the marine "group 1" crenarchaeotes. Our findings suggest that this newly described association could be defined as a symbiosis, where biochemical and/or metabolic relationships between the sponge hosts and their symbionts remain to be determined.     

Effects of biofilm growth on flow and transport through a glass parallel plate fracture

The effects of biofilm growth on flow and solute transport through a sandblasted glass parallel plate fracture was investigated. The fracture was inoculated using soil microorganisms. Glucose, oxygen and other nutrients were supplied to support growth. The biomass initially formed discrete clusters attached to the glass surfaces, but over time formed a continuous biofilm. From dye tracer tests conducted during biofilm growth, it was observed that channels and low-permeability zones dominated transport. The hydraulic conductivity of the fracture showed a sigmoidal decrease with time. The hydraulic conductivity was reduced by a factor of 0.033, from 18 to 0.6 cm/s, corresponding to a 72% decrease in the hydraulic aperture, from 500 to 140 microm. In contrast, the mass balance aperture, determined from fluoride tracer tests, remained relatively constant, indicating that the impact of biomass growth on effective fracture porosity was much less than the effect on hydraulic conductivity. Analyses of pre-biofilm tracer tests revealed that both Taylor dispersion and macrodispersion were influencing transport. During biofilm growth, only macrodispersion was dominant. The macrodispersion coefficient alpha(macro) was found to increase logarithmically with hydraulic conductivity reduction.     

Ammonia emission, deposition and impact assessment at the field scale: a case study of sub-grid spatial variability

A local ammonia (NH3) inventory for a 5x5 km area in central England was developed, to investigate the variability of emissions, deposition and impacts of NH3 at a field scale, as well as to assess the validity of the UK 5-km grid inventory. Input data were available for the study area for 1993 and 1996 on a field by field basis, allowing NH3 emissions to be calculated for each individual field, separately for livestock grazing, livestock housing and manure storage, landspreading of manures and fertiliser N application to crops and grassland. An existing atmospheric transport model was modified and applied to model air concentrations and deposition of NH3 at a fine spatial resolution (50 m grid). From the mapped deposition estimates and land cover information, critical loads and exceedances were derived. to study the implications of local variability for regional NH3 impacts assessments. The results show that the most extreme local variability in NH3 emissions, deposition and impacts is linked to housing and storage losses. However, landspreading of manures and intensive cattle grazing are other important area sources, which vary substantially in the landscape. Overall, the range of predicted emissions from agricultural land within the study area is 0-2000 kg N ha(-1) year(-1) in 1993 and 0-8000 kg N ha(-1) year(-1) in 1996, respectively, with the peak at a poultry farm located in the study area. On average, the estimated field level NH3 emissions over the study area closely match the emission for the equivalent 5-km grid square in the national inventory for 1996. Deposition and expected impacts are highly spatially variable, with the edges of woodland and small "islands" of semi-natural vegetation in intensive agricultural areas being most at risk from enhanced deposition. Conversely the centres of larger nature reserves receive less deposition than average. As a consequence of this local variability it is concluded that national assessments at the 5 km grid level underestimate the occurrence of critical loads exceedances due to NH3 in agricultural landscapes.     

Salinity and temperature tolerance of zoeae of the portunid crab Scylla serrata

The tolerances of the first zoeal stage of the crab Scylla serrata (Forskal) have been investigated in 64 different temperature-salinity combinations. Exposure to temperatures above 25°C or to salinities below 17.5 caused considerable mortality; therefore, zoeae are unsuited to estuarine conditions. The larvae can tolerate temperatures down to 5°C is they are inactive below 10°C. It is suggested that 10°C is probably a lower limit and that female crabs which migrate to sea to release their eggs do not enter water with a temperature below 12°C. Hydrological conditions along the south-east coast of Africa indicate that females would, therefore, migrate less than 10 km offshore.     

Symbiotic zooxanthellae enhance boring and growth rates of the tropical sponge Anthosigmella varians forma varians

Several species of boring sponges harbor symbiotic zooxanthellae, and it is believed that the symbiont enhances boring activity of host sponges. This hypothesis was tested using manipulative field experiments to assess the effect of intracellular zooxanthella populations on boring rates of the tropical sponge Anthosigmella varians forma varians. Portions of sponge were attached to 60 calcium carbonate blocks of known weight. Three sets of 10 blocks were grown at high light levels and three sets of 10 blocks were grown at low light levels for 105 d in the Florida Keys, Florida, USA. Boring rates, growth rates (lateral growth and within-substratum tissue penetration), and zooxanthella populations were measured at the end of the experiment. Absolute rates of boring and growth of A. varians forma varians were significantly greater when zooxanthella densities were higher. Boring rate and tissue penetration related to final surface area of sponge attachment was also enhanced when zooxanthella densities were higher, suggesting that the symbiont plays a physiological role in the decalcification process. This is in contrast to the role that zooxanthellae play in coral hosts. Based on the results of this study, it appears that the presence of zooxanthellar symbionts has important ecological and life-history consequences for host sponges. Ability to laterally overgrow competitors will be correlated with the size and activity of zooxanthella populations. In addition, the fitness of host sponges will be enhanced by algal symbionts, since greater penetration within substrata will result in an increase in production of tissue that can be converted into storage, feeding and reproductive functions.     

Variation in metabolism of BOA among species in various field communities – biochemical evidence for co-evolutionary processes in plant communities?

Summary. The capacity of benzoxazolinone metabolization of dicotyledonous species characteristic for the former vegetation classes Secalietea (grain field weed communities) and Chenopodietea (hoed vegetable communities) was estimated by the production of BOA-6-OH, BOA-6-β-O-glucoside, and BOA-N-glucoside. Except for Urtica urens, Galinsoga ciliata, and Polygonum aviculare (Chenopodietea), all species tested were able to synthesize BOA-6-OH, its glucoside, and BOA-N-glucoside, but effectiveness of BOA metabolism differed highly depending on species and plant organ. There was no correlation between bacterial phenoxazinone production and appearance of metabolites in the plants. Bioassays demonstrated that N-glucosylation is more efficient in BOA detoxification than O-glucosylation. The intermediate BOA-6-OH, however, is more harmful than BOA itself. It is therefore assumed that the ability to synthesize BOA-N-glucoside reduces the sensitivity to BOA strikingly. Since the detoxification capacity did not correlate with the taxonomic position, the affiliation of the species tested with the corresponding plant communities was taken into consideration. Evidently, the ecobiochemical potential of species to detoxify benzoxazolinone, regarded as an essential secondary compound in rye and wheat fields, reflects their occurrence in those plant associations. The ability to cope with the compound could be the result of co-evolutionary processes and presents a hidden aspect of allelopathic interaction. Received 4 January 1999; accepted 14 June 1999.