Vol 42, No 5 (2016)

A two-step approach, based on a combined use of environmental, geographic, and genetic data, is suggested for studying population structures of species. First, populations are grouped into eco-geographic units (EGUs) according to the environmental gradients in the studied part of the species range, the types of life strategies, and other non-genetic characteristics that are presumably associated with adaptation and interpopulation gene flows. Second, the selected EGUs are tested for their congruence with genetic data by comparing the genetic differentiation between populations within EGUs to that between populations of different EGUs. Some of the issues discussed are as follows: the relationship of the EGU concept with the concepts of biogeocenosis and evolutionarily significant units (ESUs); designing EGUs in practice; the level of EGUs in a hierarchical population structure; and the weights of genetic and phenotypic markers in estimating population differentiation. The population structure of a salmonid fish, the Sakhalin taimen, in terms of eco-geographic units is considered as an example.

Small collections of leptostracans (4 specimens and 1 defective specimen) was collected with the help of the epibenthic sledge (EBS) in August 2012 in the deep-sea basin at depth 5245–5421 m in the region to east of the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench during the Russian-German KuramBio expedition. All these specimens relate to two new species of genera Sarsinebalia and Nebaliella from family Nebaliidae. Sarsinebalia pseudotyphlops sp. nov. differ from S. kunyensis, S. cristoboi and S. urgorrii by compound eyes gud. Eyes of S. pseudotyphlops have not discernible ommatidia and pigment. S. pseudotyphlops differ from S. typhlops and S. biscayensis by next characteristic: supra-orbital plate of S. pseudotyphlops reach only basal third of eye dorsally; antennular flagellum is 1.6 length of antennular scale; S. pseudotyphlops has 2-segmented endopod of maxilla 2; lateral border of furcal rami is by this species smooth, without set; exopod of pleopod 1 has by S. pseudotyphlops with 7 small and 2 long spines on dorsolateral border and 1 stout spine and 4 very long setae on apex; protopod of pleopod 4 has by S. pseudotyphlops on distal border between exopod and endopod nearly rectangular process. Moreover, S. pseudotyphlops differ from two other species of compound and arming of pleopods 5 and 6. Nebaliella kurila sp. nov. separate from the other species of Nebaliella the unique characters of compound articles 1 and 2 on peduncle of antenna, exopod of pleopod 1, and minimal value for this genus ratio length of pleopod 6 to length of pleonite 6. Moreover, N. kurila has carina on anterolateral lower corner of carapace; ratio of the rostral flange to exposed keel 1:1; 6-segmented palp of maxilla 1 and endopod of toracopod 8; and has not proximalventral tuberculate process on rostrum and stout spinulose process on article 2 of mandibular palp.

For the first time in the waters of the Cape Fiolent Reserve, a high species richness of benthic diatoms was revealed on natural substrates, 290 species and infraspecific taxa (IT), belonging to 281 species, 68 genera, 32 families, 19 orders, and 3 classes. A total of 68 species and 3 genera were previously registered as new for the flora of the Black Sea; 3 species and 1 taxonomic combination were previously described as new to science, as well as 4 species that did not occur in the Black sea in the past 50 and 100 years of research. Navicula (41 species and IT), Amphora (30), Nitzschia (29), Fallacia (20), Cocconeis (17) and Diploneis (16) were the most represented genera. Only one representative was identified in each of the orders Anaulales, Ardissoneales, Thalassionematales, Rhaphoneidales, and Rhopalodiales. The diversity assessment that was carried out using taxonomic distinctness indices, TaxDI, revealed that the structure of the phylogenetic diatom tree was formed by branches with various species saturation levels and different hierarchical subordination, but with the predominance of polyspecific taxa up to at genera level. The TaxDI values (Δ⁺ = 76.71; Λ⁺ = 361.52) indicate the low evenness and high variability of the structure of the benthic diatom taxocene near Cape Fiolent.

An analysis of the structure of scales from two morphologically close species of Far Eastern redfins, genus Tribolodon, has shown that their species affiliation can be diagnosed not only in adults, but also in immature individuals. The most pronounced inter-species differences between redfins have been observed using a combination of three basic parameters of scales from fish with different body sizes: the lesser diameter, greater diameter, and the number of radii. Since the scale parameters exhibit a non-linear relationship with the body size, the basic parameters were logarithmically transformed for the analysis.

We studied the distribution of the “bitter-crab” syndrome, a disease caused by the parasitic dinoflagellate Hematodinium sp., in eight commercial species of crabs in the west of the Bering and Chukchi seas. The crabs (25 388 individuals) were sampled during bottom trawl surveys of July‒September 2010 and October‒November 2012. The disease was first identified visually by a color change of the exoskeleton and the hemolymph of the animals and then using microscope analysis of hemolymph samples. Infestation was detected in crabs of three species, Chionoecetes opilio, C. bairdi, and Paralithodes platypus. The prevalence of the disease (the percent of infected individuals relative to all of those examined) in C. bairdi and P. platypus was very low, 0.1 and 0.3%, respectively. Infestation was widespread among C. opilio, its peak in the Bering Sea was in the fall. The average prevalence of the crab disease in different areas of the Bering Sea ranged from 0.8 to 10.8%. A high rate of crab infection was recorded in the Korfa Bay. In the Chukchi Sea, the average prevalence was 2%. Infestation by Hematodinium sp. was not revealed in the deep-sea snow crabs Chionoecetes tanneri and C. angulatus, and in three species of lithodid crabs, Paralithodes camtschaticus, P. brevipes, and Lithodes couesi. This can be explained by the small sample volume and/or ecology of these species, since the disease was registered in other areas in four of them.

The effect of lowered salinity on the growth and the content of photosynthetic pigments (PPs) of chlorophyll a and of carotenoids was studied in three strains of the microalga Pseudo-nitzschia pungens, PP-07, PP-08 and PP-081. It was determined that under a salinity of 24‰ the number of cells and the PP contents from all the P. pungens strains decreased after 1 day exposure compared to the control (salinity 32‰); with increasing exposure, these parameters were restored to the control level. The number of cells and PP content decreased more significantly for a 1 day exposure to salinity lowered to 16‰.The number of dead cells was the highest under salinities of 8 and 4‰ after a 1 day exposure; by the end of the test the number of cells and PP contents were low. It was shown that strains PP-07 and PP-081 were less tolerant to the effects of lowered salinity than strain PP-08.

A key for the identification of the zoeae of hermit crabs (Decapoda: Anomura: Paguroidea) in the plankton of Vostok Bay (the Sea of Japan) has been developed based on the external morphology and live coloration of the larvae. The time of hatching and the duration of occurrence of diogenid and pagurid larvae in this area have been determined.

This article presents the experimental data on the testing of new wound dressings, viz., porous plates, prepared on the basis of chitosan and calcium alginate that contain biologically active substances (BASs) derived from marine hydrobionts. In a burn wound model in guinea pigs, we revealed a positive effect of tested samples of wound dressings on the wound-healing process; the data of planimetric and pathomorphological studies showing the acceleration of the process of regeneration in the wound are discussed. It was noted that the dynamics and patomorphological characteristics of the wound healing process differed depending on the structure of the BAS included into the composition of wound dressings (peptides, sulfated polysaccharides, a complex of amino acids and peptides).

The cellular metabolic activity was studied in the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus from the Barents Sea. Several phases of activity of physiological processes in cells of this alga during a 1-year period have been identified. This study shows that the onset and duration of the three main phases of seasonal development of alga, viz., the resting phase, growth, and the accumulation of reserve nutrients, can be determined based on the level and dynamics of the cellular metabolic activity. Each development phase in F. vesiculosus is characterized by a specific rhythm of the daily metabolic activity of cells.

Various stresses, including exposure to cold or heat, can result in a sharp increase in pigmentation of sea urchin embryos and larvae. The differentiation of pigment cells is accompanied by active expression of genes involved in the biosynthesis of naphthoquinone pigments and appears to be a part of the defense system protecting sea urchins against harmful factors. To clarify numerous issues occurring at various time points after the cold injury, we studied the effect of shikimic acid, a precursor of naphthoquinone pigments, on cell viability and expression of some pigment genes such as the pks and sult before and after freezing the cultures of sea urchin embryo cells. The maximum level of the pks gene expression after a freezing–thawing cycle was found when sea urchin cells were frozen in the presence of trehalose alone. Despite naphthoquinone pigments have been reported to possess antioxidant and cryoprotectant properties, our data suggest that shikimic acid does not have any additional cryoprotective effect on freezing tolerance of sea urchin embryo pigment cells.