DOI: 10.3897/zoologia.37.e37658

Authors: Aline Nunes-Silva, Isabela de Lima-Keppe, Robson V. de Souza, Gilmar Perbiche-Neves

Abstract: Copepods have been successfully used in many countries for the biological control of larvae of mosquitoes that vector diseases. In Brazil, this line of research has been focused on the use of the copepod Mesocyclops longisetus (Thiébaud, 1914) for the biological control of the mosquito Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, 1792). The transportation of the copepods from the place where they are reared to where they will be used often involves long distances for extended periods of time. This study assesses the survivorship of M. longisetus during simulation of transport under different conditions. Different loading densities (20, 30, 40, 80, and 120 ind.L) and stirring times (30 minutes, one hour, two hours, and four hours) were tested. Survivorship was high, with 75% of the results equal or higher than 90% survival. Reduced mortality was observed when transportation time was up to 120 minutes and densities were up to 40 ind.L. In higher densities or longer transportation times, the mortality rate was significantly affected.

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DOI: 10.3897/zoologia.36.e29814

Authors: Leonardo Lopes Costa, Phillipe Mota Machado, Ilana Rosental Zalmon

Abstract: The role of morphodynamic features such as grain size, swash climate and wave action on the macrofauna of beaches are well-known. However, few studies have investigated natural disturbances as potential drivers of temporal community variations. In southeastern Brazil, we sampled the intertidal macrofauna of two sandy beaches to test whether seasonal disturbances as the frequency of storm wave events (SWE) and rainfall have significant influence on their composition and abundance. The macrofauna assemblage differed significantly between the rainy and the dry seasons, but rainfall was not the main driver of community changes, although both beaches are in the vicinity of extensive river plumes. Actually, SWE explained most macrofauna richness overtime, with positive effects. Our results point to the importance of learning more about the effects of poorly studied disturbances on macrofaunal communities, and based on them we strongly recommend including these seasonal phenomena when monitoring sandy beaches.

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DOI: 10.3897/zoologia.36.e29774

Authors: Diego García-Ulloa, Victor Landa-Jaime, Andres Martín Góngora-Gómez, Manuel García-Ulloa, Jaun Antonio Hernández-Sepúlveda

Abstract: Symbiosis between decapods and mollusks provides a unique opportunity to examine some of the evolutionary strategies employed by marine invertebrates. We describe the sexual and reproductive traits of the pearl oyster shrimp, Pontonia margarita Verril, 1869, found symbiotically inhabiting the mantle cavity of the rugose pen shell, Pinna rugosa Sowerby, 1835. Solitary males and females (ovigerous and non-ovigerous) and heterosexual pairs (with ovigerous and non-ovigerous females) were found in a total of 47 rugose pen shells collected from a sandy area with seagrass meadows on the southeastern coast of the Gulf of California, Mexico. The body length (BL) of female P. margarita was correlated with the shell volume of their rugose pen shell host. The sex ratio was female-biased (0.85M:1F). Female P. margarita were larger than their male counterparts in terms of BL, cephalothorax length (CL), and the maximum chelae length of the second pereopod (MCL). The CL and MCL were more strongly correlated for males (r = 0.70, p = 0.01). The number and volume of eggs per ovigerous female varied from 95 to 1,571 and from 5.46 ± 0.48 to 8.85 ± 0.97 mm3, respectively. Our results indicate polygamous behavior and social monogamy among P. margarita, and a short-term pairing system for their association with P. rugosa.

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DOI: 10.3897/zoologia.35.e14641

Authors: Adriana P. Rebolledo, Rachel Collin

Abstract: Although larval stages are often considered particularly vulnerable to stressors, for many marine invertebrates studies of thermal tolerance have focused on adults. Here we determined the upper thermal limit (LT50) of the zoea I of four Caribbean crab species (Macrocoeloma trispinosum, Aratus pisonii, Armases ricordi, and Minuca rapax) and compared their thermal tolerance over time and among species. The zoea from the subtidal species M. trispinosum and tree climbing mangrove species A. pisonii had a lower thermal tolerance, 35 and 38.5 °C respectively, than did the semiterrestrial A. ricordi and M. rapax. In all four species tested, the estimates of thermal tolerance depend on the duration of exposure to elevated temperatures. Longer exposures to thermal stress produce lower estimates of LT50, which decreased by ~1 °C from a two- to a six-hour exposure. Crab embryos develop on the abdomen of the mother until the larvae are ready to hatch. Therefore, the thermal tolerances of the embryos which need to coincide with the environmental conditions experienced by the adult stage, may carry over into the early zoea stage. Our results suggest that semiterrestrial species, in which embryos may need to withstand higher temperatures than embryos of subtidal species also produce larvae with higher thermal tolerances. Over the short term, the larvae of these tropical crab species can withstand significantly higher temperatures than those experienced in their marine habitat. Longer term rearing studies are necessary to determine the temperature at which chronic exposure has a negative impact on embryonic and larval survival.

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DOI: 10.3897/zoologia.35.e21577

Authors: Taísa Mendes Marques, Walter A. Boeger

Abstract: Ergasilus von Nordmann, 1832 is the type and the most speciose genus of Ergasilidae, with more than 150 valid species. The first species of this genus, Ergasilus iheringi Tidd, 1942, was described from the Neotropical Region, from the gills of Hoplias malabaricus (Bloch, 1794). Since then, 35 new species of Ergasilidae have been described from the Neotropics. However, a reanalysis of the available type specimens of E. iheringi revealed features that suggest that it represents a lineage independent from Ergasilus. Consequently, we propose Tiddergasilus gen. nov. (Ergasilidae: Cyclopoida) to accommodate T. iheringi (Tidd, 1942) comb. nov. The species was re-examined and redescribed based on available type specimens. Tiddergasilus gen. nov. is characterized by species with exopod of leg 4 2-segmented; antenna small and robust, with a short second segment (approximately three times shorter than the first segment), and claw with a unique morphology (short, recurved with a sub-proximal indentation in the inner margin). A phylogenetic analysis, based on a matrix of 15 taxa and 16 morphological characters in PAUP* software 4.0a152, resulted in 15 equally parsimonious trees. Based on this analysis, Tiddergasilus is closely related to a group composed of Neotropical species of Ergasilus – sharing with them antennule with 6-segments. When the highly homoplastic character “number of segments in the antennule” is removed from the analysis, Tiddergasilus forms a polytomy with the clade of genera of the former Vaigamidae, Ergasilus, and the clade Rhinergasilus+Brasergasilus+Pindapixara.

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DOI: 10.3897/zoologia.34.e20173

Authors: Carolina Arruda Freire, Leonardo de P. Rios, Eloísa P. Giareta, Giovanna C. Castellano

Abstract: Palaemonid shrimps occur in the tropical and temperate regions of South America and the Indo-Pacific, in brackish/freshwater habitats, and marine coastal areas. They form a clade that recently (i.e., ~30 mya) invaded freshwater, and one included genus, Macrobrachium Bate, 1868, is especially successful in limnic habitats. Adult Macrobrachium acanthurus (Wiegmann, 1836) dwell in coastal freshwaters, have diadromous habit, and need brackish water to develop. Thus, they are widely recognized as euryhaline. Here we test how this species responds to a short-term exposure to increased salinity. We hypothesized that abrupt exposure to high salinity would result in reduced gill ventilation/perfusion and decreased oxygen consumption. Shrimps were subjected to control (0 psu) and experimental salinities (10, 20, 30 psu), for four and eight hours (n = 8 in each group). The water in the experimental containers was saturated with oxygen before the beginning of the experiment; aeration was interrupted before placing the shrimp in the experimental container. Dissolved oxygen (DO), ammonia concentration, and pH were measured from the aquaria water, at the start and end of each experiment. After exposure, the shrimp’s hemolymph was sampled for lactate and osmolality assays. Muscle tissue was sampled for hydration content (Muscle Water Content, MWC). Oxygen consumption was not reduced and hemolymph lactate did not increase with increased salinity. The pH of the water decreased with time, under all conditions. Ammonia excretion decreased with increased salinity. Hemolymph osmolality and MWC remained stable at 10 and 20 psu, but osmolality increased (~50%) and MWC decreased (~4%) at 30 psu. The expected reduction in oxygen consumption was not observed. This shrimp is able to tolerate significant changes in water salt concentrations for a few hours by keeping its metabolism in aerobic mode, and putatively shutting down branchial salt uptake to avoid massive salt load, thus remaining strongly hyposmotic. Aerobic metabolism may be involved in the maintainance of cell volume, concomitant with reduced protein/aminoacid catabolism upon increase in salinity. More studies should be conducted to broaden our knowledge on palaemonid hyporegulation.

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DOI: 10.3897/zoologia.34.e13731

Authors: Renata C. Lima-Gomes, Jô de Farias Lima, Célio Magalhães

Abstract: The morphology of stomach ossicles of decapod crustaceans provides valuable information on their phylogeny and biology. We herein described ten new ossicles in the foreguts of two trichodactylid crabs, Sylviocarcinus pictus (H. Milne-Edwards, 1853) and Valdivia serrata White, 1847, in addition to previously described 38 ossicles, which are also recognized and listed. Five specimens each of S. pictus and V. serrata were selected for morphological analysis of gastric ossicles. The stomachs were obtained after removing the carapace, and they were fixed in 10% formalin for 24 hours. After this procedure, the stomachs were immersed in a solution of 10% Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) and heated to 100 °C during 60 minutes for tissue maceration. At this point, the clean skeletons were colored by adding 1% Alizarin Red to the KOH solution in order to facilitate visualization of the internal structures such as the setae and ossicles. The ten new ossicles are: dorsomedial cardiac plate; dorsolateral cardiac plate; suprapectineal lateral ossicle; inferior cardiac valve; lateral mesopyloric ossicle; ampullary roof-medium portion ossicle; process of the ampullary roof-upper portion; lateral-inferior post-ampullary plate; pleuro-pyloric valve’s ossicle; and lateral pleuro-pyloric plate. Some ossicles are thin plates that together with the main ossicles assist in the structure and support of the stomach, which are similar in the two species studied herein. The current knowledge on gastric ossicles will be useful in establishing taxonomic characters, which can evaluate phylogenetic relationships among brachyuran crabs.

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