Search

The present study aims at assessing the life span of populations of the orchid L. loeselii during successional in dune slacks on the Wadden Sea islands. An inventory of Liparis loeselii populations was carried out on 6 islands, while the population structure was assessed in more detail on the island of Texel. The occurrence of the orchid was related to soil factors and hydrological conditions. Groundwater levels were measured in a dune area with natural dune slack formation. The groundwater composition was analyses and the freshwater lenses were modelled. Various scenarios were investigated, including sea level rise and sand nourishment. The window of opportunity for L. loeselii to colonize a new slack is relatively narrow. Under favorable management, the population can survive c. 20 years. Soil pH was positively correlated with the occurrence of L. loeselii populations, while a high organic matter content was negatively correlated. Sites with large populations of L. loeselii, were situated in young dune slacks, that functioned as flow-through lakes and has top soilsinfluenced by anoxic calcareous groundwater. Modelling showed that the freshwater lens would decrease due to sea level rise, while artificial sand nourishment could counteract this effect. The populations of the Hors area on Texel, the Netherlands, can survive for several decades due to continuous formation of new slacks. Discharge of calcareous groundwater is essential to keep the pH on a high level. The hydrological systems that supply dune slack with groundwater are relatively small and are vulnerable for changes in sea level rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in distributional range and morphological characters between two color morphotypes of a snailfish, Crystallichthys matsushimae, were investigated. Specimens with yellow stripes (yellow morphotype) were collected only from southern part of the Sea of Japan, whereas those with rounded red markings (red morphotype) were collected from northern part of the Sea of Japan, the southern Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific coast of northern Japan. Although principal component analysis based on 24 morphometric characters did not result in clear separation of the two color morphotypes, the combination of anal and pectoral-fin ray counts clearly distinguished them. These differences in distributional ranges and counts suggest that the two color morphotypes represent two difference species or subspecies, although some differences in measurements and counts among local populations (northern Sea of Japan, southern Sea of Okhotsk and Pacific coast of northern Japan) of the red morphotype were also evident. Because snailfishes usually bear large demersal eggs and have no planktonic stage, the results suggested that migration among local populations is probably restricted due to their low dispersal ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tanaka's snailfish Liparis tanakae (Gilbert & Burke) (Scorpaeniformes: Liparidae) is an economically important marine fish species in China. However, the helminth parasites of this fish are still poorly known. During a helminthological survey of Chinese marine fishes from 2011 to 2012, we revealed that L. tanakae was heavily infected with third-stage larvae and adults of ascaridoid nematodes (total prevalence 100 % and mean intensity 82.3 nematodes per fish). Four species of third-stage larvae Hysterothylacium liparis Li, Xu & Zhang, 2007, H. aduncum (Rudolphi, 1802), Hysterothylacium fabri (Rudolphi, 1819), and Anisakis pegreffii (Campana-Rouget & Biocca, 1955) and a single species of adults H. liparis were differentiated and identified by morphological and molecular methods. The detailed morphology of the four species of third-stage larvae was also studied using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The morphological and molecular characterization of the third-stage larvae of H. liparis was reported. Liparis tanakae represents a new host record for A. pegreffii and H. fabri. In addition, a new name, Hysterothylacium zhoushanense nom. nov. was also given to Hysterothylacium zhoushanensis Li, Liu & Zhang, 2012 to make the latinized specific epithet agree with this neuter generic name. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Character intercorrelation was studied in a natural population of the epiphytic orchid Liparis resupinata in northern Thailand, and patterns of morphological variation in relation to the local growth environment of individual plants were mapped. Massive occurrence of character intercorrelation was detected, but clone size only influenced few characters of individual flowering shoots. Variation in vegetative and floral organs was largely independent, but two cases differed from the general pattern: (1) the only character not defined by size (distance between apices of lateral sepals) exhibited largely independent variation; (2) ovary length was positively correlated with nearly all other characters. Major groups of vegetative and floral characters were found to covary with different combinations of ecological parameters. Although our study does not document the existence of phenotypic plasticity in L. resupinata, the overall patterns observed would be congruent with a scenario involving phenotypic plasticity. No positive correlation between variability and apparent morphological susceptibility to environmental influence was found; but floral characters were generally less variable and covaried with more ecological parameters than vegetative characters. Based on our observations, we make a few methodological recommendations for morphometric studies of species complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]