A “Precaução Padrão”
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ABSTRACTS – 2008 JOINT MEETING OF ICHTHYOLOGISTS & HERPETOLOGISTS COMPLIED BY M.A. DONNELLY (for co-authored abstracts, the underlined name indicates the presenter) ___________________________________________________________________________ 0469 General Herpetology I, Salons 4&5, Sunday July 27, 2008 Dean Adams, James Church Iowa State University, Ames, IA, United States Community Organization in Plethodon Salamanders: Categorical but Not Continuous Patterns of Body Size Assortment A long-standing goal in evolutionary ecology is to determine whether the organization of communities is reflective of underlying deterministic processes. Research on Plethodon salamanders has revealed that species interactions are important drivers of phenotypic evolution within communities, and that these interactions play a role in community composition. Specifically, at both a regional and continental scale, the number of large and small Plethodon that co-occur at individual localities is highly non-random, suggesting that body size plays an important role in community membership. However, whether these processes generate regular patterns of body size dispersion has not been investigated. In this study, we measured 96,996 adult Plethodon from 3,154 geographic localities, and used several null model approaches to determine whether Plethodon communities exhibited body size assortment (i.e. community-wide character displacement). We found that only 2-species communities exhibited greater body size dispersion than was expected from chance, whereas communities containing, 3, 4, or 5 species did not. Further, these results are largely explained by the presence of a single large and a single small Plethodon at particular localities. Our results suggest that competitive interactions shape communities at a ‘categorical’ level (i.e. how many large and how many small Plethodon can co-exist), but do not further drive the evolution of body size within particular communities. ___________________________________________________________________________ 0294 Fish Morphology & Histology I, Salons 6&7, Thursday July 24, 2008 Dominique Adriaens, Hannes Vanhaeren Ghent University, Gent, Belgium Biting for Blood: A Novel Jaw Mechanism in Haematophagous Candirú Catfish (Vandellia sp.) Teleostean evolution is characterised by specialisations of the trophic apparatus, where oral and pharyngeal jaw mechanisms have enabled an efficient and highly diverse prey capturing and manipulating behaviour. Oral jaws with immovable premaxillaries being ancestral, many teleostean lineages exhibit an increasing trend towards premaxillary mobility and protrusion, especially extensive in suction 1 feeding fishes. Immovable premaxillaries are found at least in four lineages of basal teleosts (Osteoglossomorpha, Anguilliformes, Ostariophysi and Protacanthopterygii). The basal condition in catfish (Siluriformes), within the Ostariophysi, also involves plate-like premaxillaries that are strongly connected immovably to the ethmoid. This condition is found in nematogenyids and diplomystids, both considered basal (depending on molecular or morphological evidence, respectively). However, as is the case in many other teleostean lineages, specialised feeding habits in some catfishes have also been linked to premaxillary mobility, as for example in some algae scraping loricariids. A not so distinct relative of these loricariids also comprise taxa showing an extremely unusual feeding habit for a fish, i.e. blood sucking. Within the Trichomycteridae, the clade Tridentinae- Stegophilinae-Vandelliinae seems to reflect an evolutionary history towards improved parasitic behaviour, with haematophagy making the candirú vandelliinecatfish notorious. Vandelliines are known to exhibit unusual upper and lower jaws, with specialised teeth on the premaxillaries, assumed to be an adaptation for slashing gill filaments of their hosts. However, the morphology of the jaws (strange shape of ethmoid and premaxillaries, lower jaws without a symphysis) also suggest that the whole mechanism of ‘biting’ in vandelliines is distinct from that of other catfish, and even other teleosts. This includes novel joints ánd novel muscles. A detailed morphological analysis of the musculo-skeletal system of the oral jaw apparatus in Vandellia sp. and allied trichomycterids, including 3D-modelling, is performed to unravel this apparent novel jaw mechanism. ___________________________________________________________________________ 0416 Northern Herps Symposium, Salons 6&7, Friday July 25, 2008 Frog Life Below Zero: Oxygen And Antioxidants Oscar Aguilar, Kenneth Storey Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada Winter presents a series of challenges for wildlife and, in turn, animals have adapted in their own unique ways to survive multiple stresses on animal physiology and biochemistry. The wood frog, Rana sylvatica, uses a remarkable strategy of winter survival – freeze tolerance – and these frogs have been extensively used as a vertebrate model for studying the mechanisms of cryoprotection. During freezing, frogs must endure a variety of stresses including cell dehydration, anoxia/ischemia, and potential tissue damage by ice crystals growing in extracellular fluid spaces. One aspect of survival is a profound suppression of physiological and metabolic processes that leaves cells in a state of low activity. Transitions to and from a hypometabolic state is a closely regulated process which includes selected changes in gene expression under the regulation of a series of transcription factors. FOXO transcription factors have recently been shown to be involved in regulating many cell functions such as cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and coping with oxidative stress. Oxidative stress can derive from a variety of external and internal sources and it is essential that cells have protective antioxidant defenses that defend against damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). In the case of frozen frogs this can include contributing to long term cell viability over days/weeks in the frozen state and dealing with a surge of ROS production when oxygen is reintroduced to tissues after 2 thawing. The effect of freeze/thaw on protein levels of FOXO1 and FOXO3 were assessed in wood frog organs using immunobloting. Transcript levels of foxo1, foxo3, catalase and MnSOD were also analyzed by RT-PCR. Catalase and MnSOD (manganese superoxide dismutase) are two key antioxidant enzymes regulated by FOXOs, and show differential expression during freezing. The results demonstrate that regulation of FOXOs and their target genes is important for cellular defense during freeze/thaw. ___________________________________________________________________________ 0084 AES Student Papers I, Kafka/Lamartine, Thursday July 24, 2008; GRUBER Age, Growth and Reproduction of the Bering Skate, Bathyraja interrupta (Gill & Townsend, 1897), from Alaskan Waters Shaara M. Ainsley, David A. Ebert, Gregor M. Cailliet Pacific Shark Research Center, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, CA 95062, United States Life history traits of a common commercial bycatch species from the Gulf of Alaska were examined. Collections of Bathyraja interrupta were obtained from annual surveys, port sampling of commercial catch and observer collections from 2005 to 2007 in the Gulf of Alaska. Observed total lengths for males ranged from 19-82 cm and females from 20-87 cm. There was no difference in mean MIRs amongst months (n = 131, F = 0.903, p = 0.481) using samples from 6 consecutive months. No significant difference was found in B. interrupta growth parameters between sexes (F = 0.8259, p = 0.4804). B. interrupta has a relatively short life span with growth parameters comparable to other skates of a similar size (Linf = 126.40, k = 0.07, t0 = - 2.32). Age estimates show a minimum longevity of 12 years for males and 13 for females. Total lengths at 50% maturity were approximately 68 cm for males and 70 cm for females (Males: r2 = 0.8836, p < 0.0001, n = 40; Females: r2 = 0.9947, p < 0.0001, n = 43), which corresponds to 7 years and 7.5 years respectively (Males: r2 = 0.9937, p < 0.0001, n = 12; Females: r2 = 0.9969, p < 0.0001, n = 14). Gravid females were found in all months between April and September. ___________________________________________________________________________ 3 0277 Poster Session III, Sunday July 27, 2008 Species Richness and Cladal Diversity in Freshwater Fishes of the Americas James S. Albert1, Henry L. Bart, Jr.2, Roberto E. Reis3 1University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, United States, 2Tulane University Museum of Natural History, New Orleans, LA, United States, 3Museu de Ciências e Tecnologia da PUCRS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Species-richness is not distributed evenly among taxa. Most species are members of a few, highly diverse cades, whereas most taxa are species-poor. This sort of distribution with the shape of “hollow curve” is well described by a power function with an exponent close to -1. Power laws describe empirical scaling relationships in a broad range of natural phenomena and are widely used to explain the ecological mechanisms that constrain biodiversity. However, the relationships between species richness and cladal diversity remain poorly understood, and the mechanisms that promote differential net diversification among clades are almost entirely unknown. Here we report species-richness profiles for the two largest freshwater faunas of the Americas; the 'Amazon superbasin' (ASB) and 'Mississippi superbasin' (MSB), with regional