INTRODUCTION The addition of copper salts to dense suspensions of unwashed sea-urchin spermatozoa in sea water markedly stimulates the O2 uptake of the suspension (Rothschild & Tuft, 1950). An investigation of the Cu content of sea-urchin semen and seminal plasma was therefore of interest and is the subject of this note. At the same time the coelomic fluid of Echinus esculentus and sea water we...

The present study was aimed to identify the frequency of coagulase (Coa) and thermonuclease (Nuc) genes and Staphylococcal enterotoxin A (Sea) production among Staphylococcus aureus isolated from various sources in Shiraz. Moreover, the correlation between the Sea gene and coagulase and thermonuclease enzymes is also considered. A total of 100 S. aureus were isolated from various sources includ...

The experiments with Beroe ovata showed that this ctenophore can survive and reproduce in the Caspian Sea water, though at far lower rate than in the Black Sea; larval growth in the Caspian Sea water was also slower and mortality higher. Maximum fecundity of 2210 and 240 eggs recorded in laboratories of Turkey and Iran, respectively. About 34 to 100% of eggs in the Caspian Sea water could not d...

The SALMFamides are a family of neuropeptides that act as muscle relaxants in echinoderms. Two types of SALMFamides have been identified: L-type (e.g. the starfish neuropeptides S1 and S2) with the C-terminal motif LxFamide (x is variable) and F-type with the C-terminal motif FxFamide. In the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus (class Echinoidea) there are two SALMFamide genes, one encodin...

Two new holostan-type triterpenoid oligoglycosides, named parvimosides A (1) and B (2), were isolated from the warty sea cucumber Stichopus parvimensis (syn. Parastichopus parvimensis). Their structures and total assignments of the proton and carbon signals were established on the basis of spectral evidence, mainly 1H and 13C 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy including DEPT, COSY, TOCSY, NOESY/ROESY, ...

Sperm interaction with an egg in animals was first documented 160 years ago in sea urchins by Alphonse Derbès (1847) when he noted the formation of an "envelope" following the sperm's "approach" to the egg. The "envelope" in sea urchins is an obvious phenotype of fertilization in this animal and over the past 35 years has served to indicate a presence of calcium released from cytoplasmic stores...

Faunal inventories are extremely important, especially when focused on neglected groups, such as echinoderms, and concentrated on areas under intense anthropic activity such as the SAo Sebastilo Channel in Brazil (23 degrees 41' - 23 degrees 54' S and 45 degrees 19' - 45 degrees 30' W). Intertidal and upper sublittoral zone collections were performed at five sites of the Channel's continental m...

We investigated the community-wide effects of no-take marine reserves at the regional scale in the Mediterranean Sea. Reserves had general positive effects of protection on fish targeted by fishing, and variable effects on non-target species. Differences in the structure of fish assemblages (in terms of abundance of species and trophic groups) were greater between geographic locations than when...

Diadumene lineata (Actiniaria: Diadumenidae) is a prolific invader of coastal environments around the world. First described from Asia, this sea anemone has only been reported once from the western Gulf of Mexico at Port Aransas, Texas. No subsequent sampling has located this species at this locality. The first record of the reappearance of D. lineata on the Texas coast from three locations in ...

Reliable data necessary to parameterize population models are seldom available for imperiled species. As an alternative, data from populations of the same species or from ecologically similar species have been used to construct models. In this study, we evaluated the use of demographic data collected at one California sea lion colony (Los Islotes) to predict the population dynamics of the same ...