Clinical efficacy of teflubenzuron (Calicide) for the treatment of Lepeophtheirus salmonis infestations of farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar at low water temperatures. (1/284)

The efficacy of teflubenzuron (Calicide) for the treatment of farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. infested with sea lice Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Kroyer, 1838), was investigated at low water temperatures in 2 commercial salmon farms. Calicide, coated on commercial feed pellets, was administered orally at 10 mg kg(-1) d(-1) for 7 consecutive days. Fish were randomly sampled and lice numbers recorded from both treated and control groups on 3 or 4 sampling occasions post-medication. Statistically significant reductions in the number of L. salmonis per fish were recorded. Maximum efficacy was observed toward chalimus and preadult stages of L. salmonis, and was achieved approximately 26 d post-medication. No adverse drug reactions or palatability problems were associated with the treatments.  (+info)

Laboratory evaluation of Mesocyclops annulatus (Wierzejski, 1892) (Copepoda: Cyclopidea) as a predator of container-breeding mosquitoes in Argentina. (2/284)

In laboratory bioassays we tested the predatory capacity of the copepod Mesocyclops annulatus on Aedes aegypti and Culex pipiens larvae. A single adult female of M. annulatus caused 51.6% and 52.3% mortality of 50 first instar larvae of Ae. aegypti and Cx. pipiens respectively, in a 72 h test period. When alternative food was added to the containers, mortality rates declined to 16% and 10.3% for Ae. aegypti and Cx. pipiens respectively. When 50 first instar larvae of each of the two mosquito species tested were placed together with a single adult female of M. annulatus, mortality rates were 75.5% for Ae. aegypti larvae and 23.5% for Cx. pipiens larvae in a three day test period. Different density of adult females of M. annulatus ranged from 5 to 25 females produced mortality rates of Ae. aegypti first instar larvae from 50% to 100% respectively. When a single adult female of M. annulatus was exposed to an increasing number of first-instar Ae. aegypti larvae ranging from 10 to 100, 100% mortality was recorded from 1 to 25 larvae, then mortality declined to 30% with 100 larvae. The average larvae killed per 24 h period by a single copepod were 29.  (+info)

Copepod feeding currents: flow patterns, filtration rates and energetics. (3/284)

Particle image velocimetry was used to construct a quasi 3-dimensional image of the flow generated by the feeding appendages of the calanoid copepod Temora longicornis. By scanning layers of flow, detailed information was obtained on flow velocity and velocity gradients. The flow around feeding T. longicornis was laminar, and was symmetrical viewed dorsally, but highly asymmetrical viewed laterally, with high levels of vorticity on the ventral side. The flow rate through the feeding appendages varied between 77 and 220 ml day(-1) per individual. The morphology of the flow field ensured that water was entrained over the full length of the first antennae. These were kept out of areas with high velocity gradients that could interfere with distant mechano- or chemoreception. The volume of influence, i.e. the volume of water around the foraging copepod, where shear rates were significantly higher than background levels, was calculated. Implications for encounter probability and mechanoreception are discussed. The average rate of energy dissipation within the copepod's volume of influence is several times higher than the levels of turbulent energy dissipation these animals are likely to encounter in their environment. Even in highly turbulent environments, adult T. longicornis will not experience very significant effects of turbulence. Within the volume of influence of the copepods the energy dissipation due to viscous friction varied between 6.6 x 10(-11) and 2.3 x 10(-10)W. Taking mechanical efficiency and muscle efficiency into account, this results in a total energetic cost of the feeding current of 1.6 x 10(-9)W per copepod. This value represents only a small percentage of the total energy budget of small calanoid copepods.  (+info)

Escape from viscosity: the kinematics and hydrodynamics of copepod foraging and escape swimming. (4/284)

Feeding and escape swimming in adult females of the calanoid copepod Temora longicornis Muller were investigated and compared. Swimming velocities were calculated using a 3-D filming setup. Foraging velocities ranged between 2 and 6 mm s(-1), while maximum velocities of up to 80 mm s(-1) were reached during escape responses. Foraging took place at Reynolds numbers between 2 and 6, indicating that viscous forces are considerable during this swimming mode. Inertial forces are much more important during escape responses, when Reynolds numbers of more than 100 are reached. High-speed film recordings at 500 frames s(-1) of the motion pattern of the feeding appendages and the escape movement of the swimming legs revealed that the two swimming modes are essentially very different. While foraging, the first three mouth appendages (antennae, mandibular palps and maxillules) create a backwards motion of water with a metachronal beating pattern. During escape movements the mouth appendages stop moving and the swimming legs beat in a very fast metachronal rhythm, accelerating a jet of water backwards. The large antennules are folded backwards, resulting in a streamlined body shape. Particle image velocimetry analysis of the flow around foraging and escaping copepods revealed that during foraging an asymmetrical vortex system is created on the ventral side of the animal. The feeding motion is steady over a long period of time. The rate of energy dissipation due to viscous friction relates directly to the energetic cost of the feeding current. During escape responses a vortex ring appears behind the animal, which dissipates over time. Several seconds after cessation of swimming leg movements, energy dissipation can still be measured. During escape responses the rate of energy dissipation due to viscous friction increases by up to two orders of magnitude compared to the rate when foraging.  (+info)

Spectral sensitivity of vertically migrating marine copepods. (5/284)

Light is a critical factor in the proximate basis of diel vertical migration (DVM) in zooplankton. A photobehavioral approach was used to examine the spectral sensitivity of four coastal species of calanoid copepod, representing a diversity of DVM patterns, to test whether species that migrate (nocturnal or reverse DVM) have response spectra that differ from non-migratory surface dwellers. The following species were given light stimuli at wavelengths from 350 to 740 nm, and their photoresponses were measured: Centropages typicus (nocturnal migrator), Calanopia americana (nocturnal migrator), Anomalocera ornata (reverse migrator), and Labidocera aestiva (non-migrator). Centropages typicus and A. ornata had peak responses at 500 and 520 nm, respectively, while Calanopia americana had maximum responses at 480 and 520 nm. Thus, the species that undergo DVM have peak photobehavioral responses at wavelengths corresponding to those available during twilight in coastal water, although the range of wavelengths to which they respond is variable. Non-migratory surface-dwelling L. aestiva had numerous response peaks over a broad spectral range, which may serve to maximize photon capture for vision in their broad-spectrum shallow-water habitat.  (+info)

Longitudinal processes in Salto Grande Reservoir (Americana, SP, Brazil) and its influence in the formation of compartment system. (6/284)

Studies on the longitudinal processes in reservoirs, involving physical, chemical and biological processes have been thoroughly appraised, suggesting the existence of a longitudinal organization controlled by the entrance and circulation of water which inserts modifications in the structuring of the system. To evaluate this effect, the Salto Grande reservoir (Americana, SP) was analyzed in 11 sampling stations in its longitudinal axis, in the rainy and dry seasons of 1997 considering the physical chemical and biological variables. Analyzing the results in agreement with the declining concentration degree of the river-barrage direction, a more significant correlation was verified in the dry period for total phosphorus (r2 = 0.86), dissolved total phosphate (r2 = 0.83), nitrite (r2 = 0.93), inorganic phosphate (r2 = 0.89), ammonium (r2 = 0.84) and suspended material (r2 = 0.85). In the rainy period, only nitrite (r2 = 0.90) and conductivity (r2 = 0.89) presented correlation with the distance of the dam, which demonstrates the effects of precipitation and the operational mechanism of the dam, as well as the distinction among the physical (sedimentation), chemical (oxidation) and biological (decomposition) processes in spatial heterogeneity of the system. These factors were decisive in the organization of these communities, with higher occurrence of rotifers and copepods in relation to cladocerans, the first ones being more abundant in the entrance of the Atibaia river, decreasing towards the dam direction, while copepods presented an inverse pattern. A distribution pattern similar to Copepoda was also verified for the Cladocera, evidencing a tendency to increase the density of organisms in the stations distant to the entrance of the Atibaia river, not being registered, however, a distribution gradient in the longitudinal axis, as observed for rotifers and copepods. In relation to the trophic degree a longitudinal gradient was also verified from eutrophic to oligotrophic depending on the location of the sampling station in relation to the longitudinal axis and period of analysis. The differences obtained, relating to the distribution of the environmental variables, demonstrate a characteristic pattern for reservoirs, with a longitudinal gradient in the sense river-barrage that inserts changes in the physical and chemical composition of the water, contributing to the differentiated establishing of biological communities.  (+info)

Susceptibility of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch to experimental infection with sea lice Lepeophtheirus salmonis. (7/284)

Physiological, immunological and biochemical parameters of blood and mucus, as well as skin histology, were compared in 3 salmonid species (rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and coho salmon O. kisutch) following experimental infection with sea lice Lepeophtheirus salmonis. The 3 salmonid species were cohabited in order to standardize initial infection conditions. Lice density was significantly reduced on coho salmon within 7 to 14 d, while lice persisted in higher numbers on rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon. Lice matured more slowly on coho salmon than on the other 2 species, and maturation was slightly slower on rainbow trout than on Atlantic salmon. Head kidney macrophages from infected Atlantic salmon had diminished respiratory burst and phagocytic capacity at 14 and 21 d post-infection (dpi), while infected rainbow trout macrophages had reduced respiratory burst and phagocytic capacities at 21 dpi, compared to controls. The slower development of lice, coupled with delayed suppression of immune parameters, suggests that rainbow trout are slightly more resistant to lice than Atlantic salmon. Infected rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon showed increases in mucus lysozyme activities at 1 dpi, which decreased over the rest of the study. Mucus lysozyme activities of infected rainbow trout, however, remained higher than controls over the entire period. Coho salmon lysozyme activities did not increase in infected fish until 21 dpi. Mucus alkaline phosphatase levels were also higher in infected Atlantic salmon compared to controls at 3 and 21 dpi. Low molecular weight (LMW) proteases increased in infected rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon between 14 and 21 dpi. Histological analysis of the outer epithelium revealed mucus cell hypertrophy in rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon following infection. Plasma cortisol, glucose, electrolyte and protein concentrations and hematocrit all remained within physiological limits for each species, with no differences occurring between infected and control fish. Our results demonstrate that significant differences in mucus biochemistry and numbers of L. salmonis occur between these species.  (+info)

Insights into fish host-parasite trophic relationships revealed by stable isotope analysis. (8/284)

Trophic relationships between 10 species of fish host and their associated nematode, cestode, and copepod parasites were investigated using stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen. Nematodes and cestodes were consistently depleted in 15N with respect to their host, and such fractionation patterns are unlike those conventionally observed between consumers and their diets. Species of copepod parasite were sometimes depleted and sometimes enriched in 15N with respect to fish hosts, and this confirms earlier reports that the nature and magnitude of ectoparasite-host fractionations can vary. Significant differences in delta15N and delta13C were observed among fish tissues, and the isotopic signature of parasites did not always closely correspond to that of the tissue with which the parasite was found most closely associated, or on which the parasite was thought to be feeding. Several possible explanations are considered for such discrepancies, including selective feeding on specific amino acids or lipids, migration of the parasite among different fish tissues, changes in the metabolism of the parasite associated with life history and migration between different host animals.  (+info)

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