Laboratory culture of Dreissena polymorpha larvae: spawning success, adult fecundity, and larval mortality patterns

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (9) ◽  
pp. 1436-1443 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A Stoeckel ◽  
Dianna K Padilla ◽  
Daniel W Schneider ◽  
Chris R Rehmann

Understanding the entire life history, especially critical periods during the life cycle of a species, is important for understanding population dynamics and is crucial for control of nuisance species. Errors in estimates of growth rates and recruitment in field and modeling studies are likely to occur if one assumes uniform rather than size- or stage-specific mortalities for larval stages. Similarly, effects of brood-stock health on adult fecundity and larval mortality patterns might affect results of laboratory studies investigating larval life history. We maintained zebra mussels, Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771), in spawning condition in the laboratory for 24 weeks. Healthy larvae were produced for 18 weeks. However, induction of spawning and egg production declined through time. Fecundity increased with size per female, but sperm production did not for males. We found no correlation between clutch size and egg size across a wide range of clutch sizes. Survivorship was greater when larvae were reared at lower densities. Daily larval mortality was strongly size dependent; the average size of dead larvae was similar to the minimum size of live larvae. Highest daily larval mortality occurred during the transition from D stage to umbonal stage, supporting the suggestion of a developmental bottleneck as found in previous field studies.

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 552 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. GRAU ◽  
F. SABORIDO-REY ◽  
E. PASTOR ◽  
M. PALMER ◽  
E. MASSUTÍ-PASCUAL ◽  
...  

Common dentex Dentex dentex is an iconic endangered species in the Mediterranean where is a sought after target species for small-scale, recreational and spearfishing fisheries. The reproductive biology of D. dentex in the natural environment is poorly known; therefore the reproductive strategy of the species was assessed by combining reproductive traits with the growth characteristics (estimated from length-at-age data), the size/age of sexual maturity and the energetic dynamics. A total of 358 wild fish were sampled on Mallorca Island (W Mediterranean) from March 1996 to June 1999 with a 19 to 84.7 cm total length (LT) range. The sex ratio was skewed towards females (1.361) albeit the length composition was not different between sexes (p = 0.551). Three young immature individuals (< 28 cm LT, 0.8% individuals) were rudimentary hermaphrodites supporting the late gonochoristic species classification. The age composition determined from sagitta otolith interpretation ranged from 0 to 26 years (yr). Concerning growth, between sex differences in von Bertalanffy parameters were not relevant, even after accounting for potential between-year differences. The most noticeable difference was found for L∞ (64.7 cm for females versus 61.6 for males) but even in this case, the bayesian credibility interval of between-sex differences included zero.  Maturity ogives at size and age showed that females achieved 50% maturity at 34.9 cm LT and 3.3 years, while males did at 33.8 cm LT and 2.5 years. The onset of gonad developing phase took place in December, while it progresses until April. The spawning peak was in April and May for both sexes. A generalized linear model showed that female size didn’t affect significantly the spawning season, whilst there was a strong seasonality in the spawning. Most of the evidences showed that fecundity is likely determinate, with an asynchronous oocyte development before spawning and a clear ovarian bimodal organization after the onset of spawning. Female weight explained 84% of the observed variance for fecundity. The gonadosomatic, hepatosomatic and condition indexes varied significantly with the reproductive season for females and only the gonadosomatic index for males. Storage in muscle seemed to be the primary source of energy for reproduction, although liver appeared to play a short-term role in egg production, suggesting a combination of capital and income breeding. The results indicate that the life history strategy of common dentex possess consist on maturing well before reaching maximum size, investing in growth after maturation, and therefore the reproductive effort is distributed through a longer lifespan and related with the size attained after maturation. At present no management measures are directed to D. dentex; given its life history strategy we suggest that a slot limit should be implemented, i.e. a minimum and a maximum landing size, with a minimum size of 35 cm. The upper threshold, to protect the higher reproductive potential of older and larger fish, should still be defined.


2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 369
Author(s):  
Amy K. Hooper ◽  
Russell Bonduriansky

Nutrient abundance during development has profound effects on adult morphology, life history and behaviour in many insects, but effects of nutrition on juvenile development are less well known. We investigated how larval diet quality affects patterns of growth, development and survival of larvae and pupae in the neriid fly Telostylinus angusticollis (Enderlein). We reared flies on two larval diets varying in nutrient concentration (‘rich’ versus ‘poor’) that have been shown previously to affect a wide range of adult traits in this species. We found that nutrient concentration affected larval growth trajectories, with individuals reared on the rich diet exhibiting greatly accelerated growth and reaching a larger body size. By contrast, we found no evidence that diet affected timing of development at the pupal stage, suggesting that developmental constraints may prevent variation in pupal development rate. Although overall mortality during the immature stages was not affected by larval diet, we found some evidence that individuals reared on a poor diet might experience higher larval mortality, whereas individuals reared on a rich diet might experience higher mortality during emergence from the puparium. Our results enhance understanding of the effects of nutrition on growth, development, and life history.


1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 1534-1539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Soluk ◽  
Hugh F. Clifford

Aspects of the life history and abundance of Pseudiron centralis McDunnough were examined in the Sand River in east central Alberta. The population exhibited a univoltine summer life cycle, spending 9 to 10 months of the year in the egg stage. Eggs were large (0.33 × 0.41 mm; mean dry weight, 0.005 mg). Larvae were associated with three types of substrate in the river bed: shifting sand, marginal sand, and gravelly sand. Larvae were active epibenthic predators, feeding primarily on psammophilous chironomid larvae. Larval density was low (< 4 larvae/m2); however, larval mortality also appeared to be low. Stage III and IV larvae exhibited a random dispersion pattern. Annual production (instantaneous growth method) was estimated to be 28.70 and 11.24 mg∙m−2∙year−1 in 1980 and 1981, respectively. The relatively large size of first-instar larvae may allow them to cope with the dynamics of sandy substrates, or may be the minimum size that can effectively capture and consume chironomid larvae. Although chironomid abundance in sandy substrates remains high throughout the year, P. centralis larvae exploit this resource for only a short period.


Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vila-Aiub

Herbicide resistance is the ultimate evidence of the extraordinary capacity of weeds to evolve under stressful conditions. Despite the extraordinary plant fitness advantage endowed by herbicide resistance mutations in agroecosystems under herbicide selection, resistance mutations are predicted to exhibit an adaptation cost (i.e., fitness cost), relative to the susceptible wild-type, in herbicide untreated conditions. Fitness costs associated with herbicide resistance mutations are not universal and their expression depends on the particular mutation, genetic background, dominance of the fitness cost, and environmental conditions. The detrimental effects of herbicide resistance mutations on plant fitness may arise as a direct impact on fitness-related traits and/or coevolution with changes in other life history traits that ultimately may lead to fitness costs under particular ecological conditions. This brings the idea that a “lower adaptive value” of herbicide resistance mutations represents an opportunity for the design of resistance management practices that could minimize the evolution of herbicide resistance. It is evident that the challenge for weed management practices aiming to control, minimize, or even reverse the frequency of resistance mutations in the agricultural landscape is to “create” those agroecological conditions that could expose, exploit, and exacerbate those life history and/or fitness traits affecting the evolution of herbicide resistance mutations. Ideally, resistance management should implement a wide range of cultural practices leading to environmentally mediated fitness costs associated with herbicide resistance mutations.


1980 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith L. Connor

AbstractField studies of the benthic macroalgae of fifteen selected Chesapeake Bay oyster communities were conducted over a period of a year (March 1977 to February 1978). Algal distribu tion and seasonal occurrence were studied in relation to changes in the physical environment. Salinity, temperature, and light availability were important factors in the spatial and temporal distributions of algae in these subtidal habitats.Seventeen species of Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta, and Rhodophyta were recorded from the fifteen study sites distributed over 130 kilometers within the Maryland portion of Chesapeake Bay. Species of Chlorophyta were associated with oyster communities throughout the year of study with maximum numbers of species and maximum biomass occurring in spring. Only once was a member of the Phaeophyta encountered; a single filamentous species, Ectocarpus, was collected during winter. Species of Rhodophyta were present throughout the year at the study sites.Most of the algae collected reproduced asexually by spores and/or vegetative fragments. Sexual reproduction occurred in some of the red algal species. The presence of tetrasporic and cystocarpic plants of Dasya baillouviana and Polysiphonia harveyi var. olneyi may indicate that the usual triphasic Florideophycean life history occurs in this estuary.


Author(s):  
SYAIMAK ISMAIL ◽  
MOHAMAD SAUPI BIN ISMAIL ◽  
MUHAMMAD SAIFUL ISLAM ISMAIL ◽  
AEMY AZIZ

In the state of Melaka, there are eighteen islands recorded by the Melaka State Museum Corporation (PERZIM). Part of this island serves as a tourist island, and developed islands are also uninhabited islands. However, three islands are recorded to have amazing coral reefs that are still in good condition. The Penang Batu Maung Fisheries Research Institute (AkuaTAR) has conducted a study on the biodiversity of coral reefs around the waters of Pulau Dodol, Pulau Serimbun, and Pulau Undan. AkuaTAR researchers are using scuba diving methods, and at the same time, they did conservation on coral reefs that have been identified in the waters of the Straits of Melaka. The objective of this study is to record the types of community forms such as living corals and identify the species of coral reefs found in three islands in the state of Melaka in Pulau Undan, Pulau Dodol, and Pulau Serimbun. The study also implemented method observation by conducting field studies on the islands involved by doing scuba diving. Results and discussion of the search, these three islands are located in very clean, uninhabited waters. They have a wide range of coral biodiversity using soft coral reefs and hard coral reefs. The study also found that the three islands in the state have the largest coral reefs in the waters of the Straits of Melaka. Keywords: Biodiversity; Conservation; Coral; Three island; Melaka


1996 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 163-166
Author(s):  
J. Van den Bosch ◽  
C.F. Mercer

Root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne sp.) reduces growth and nutrition of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) in New Zealand, and breeding resistant cultivars (with low galls per gram of root) is the preferred control method. Resistant and susceptible selections were bred from a wide range of white clover lines for three generations. In the third generation there were significant differences between seed lines from the selections for number of galls, root dry weight, visual growth score and galls/gram of root dry weight. Resistant selections had 43% of the susceptible selections' galls per gram, and 50% of the number of galls. Germplasm showing resistance to Meloidogyne spp. in the USA showed partial resistance to the local Meloidogyne sp. Two resistant and two susceptible genotypes were also compared for nematode egg production; resistant genotypes had a mean of 3,460 eggs/plant, compared to 25,030 for susceptible genotypes. Keywords: breeding, Meloidogyne sp., resistance, rootknot nematode, screening, selection, Trifolium repens, white clover


2012 ◽  
Vol 78 (18) ◽  
pp. 6405-6412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cesar A. Morales ◽  
Jean Guard ◽  
Roxana Sanchez-Ingunza ◽  
Devendra H. Shah ◽  
Mark Harrison

ABSTRACTSalmonella entericaserovar Enteritidis is one of a fewSalmonella entericaserotypes that has SEF14 fimbriae encoded by thesefoperon, which consists of 4 cotranscribed genes,sefABCD, regulated bysefR. A parental strain was used to construct asefDmutant and its complement, and all 3 strains were compared for gene expression, metabolic properties, and virulence characteristics in hens. Transcription ofsefDby wild type was suppressed at 42°C and absent for the mutant under conditions where the complemented mutant had 103times higher transcription. Growth of the complemented mutant was restricted in comparison to that of the mutant and wild type. Hens infected with the wild type and mutant showed decreased blood calcium and egg production, but infection with the complemented mutant did not. Thus, the absence ofsefDcorrelated with increased metabolic capacity and enhanced virulence of the pathogen. These results suggest that any contribution thatsefDmakes to egg contamination is either unknown or would be limited to early transmission from the environment to the host. Absence ofsefD, either through mutation or by suppression of transcription at the body temperature of the host, may contribute to the virulence ofSalmonella entericaby facilitating growth on a wide range of metabolites.


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