Morphology of the gastric mill teeth in dotillid crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura: Dotillidae) from Indonesia.

The gastric mill is a prominent structure in the digestive system of brachyuran crabs, consisting of a median tooth plate and a pair of lateral tooth plates. Among crab species that are deposit feeders, the morphology and size of the gastric mill teeth are correlated with the preferred substrate types and food spectrum. In this study, we provide a detailed description of the morphology of the median and lateral teeth of the gastric mills in eight species of dotillid crabs from Indonesia, and compare them in relation to habitat preferences and molecular phylogeny.

Two new species of Koelbel, 1897 (Decapoda, Brachyura, Dotillidae) from Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Koelbel, 1897, is a central Indo-West Pacific genus of small intertidal, soft sediment dotillid crabs that includes five recognised species. Two new species, and , are here described from Sulawesi, Indonesia. is found on the west coast of Central Sulawesi, while occurs in the north-eastern part of Sulawesi.

Autochthonous production contributes to the diet of wood-boring invertebrates in temperate shallow water.

Marine wood-boring invertebrates rapidly fragment coarse woody debris in the sea. These wood borers have the ability to digest wood cellulose, but other potential food sources have been less investigated. To assess the contribution of each potential food source to the diet of wood borers, we traced seasonal and environmental changes in δC of shipworms cultured under the same experimental conditions and related these changes to variations in δC of potential food sources, i.

Crustaceans in changing climate: Global warming and invasion of tropical land hermit crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Coenobitidae) into temperate area in Japan.

There is currently a strong scientific consensus that recent global change of climate, including the global warming, seriously damage ecosystems of both lands and oceans. Here, I review recent drastic northern expansion of distribution of tropical land hermit crabs (Coenobita) into temperate Japan. Seto Marine Biological Laboratory of Kyoto University has a long history (97 years) and has been conducting various programs of long-term monitoring survey on coastal biota.

Reproductive Aggregations of (Crustacea: Peracarida), an Intertidal Isopod with Remarkable Sexual Dimorphism.

AbstractThe intertidal isopod is a sexually dimorphic species; males are much larger than females and have a large, horn-like pleonal process (hereafter referred to as a "horn") and large, posteriorly extended uropods. Here, we investigated the function of these structures with regard to their mating system. Behavioral interactions were observed between a male occupying a small tube (resident) and a newly introduced individual (a female or male visitor).

A Brief Description of Surface Structure and Composition of the Pseudo-Snail Shell Formed by a Sea Anemone sp. Symbiotic with Hermit Crabs from the Deep-Sea Floor.

Sea anemones belonging to the genera and have a remarkable symbiotic relationship with hermit crabs. These symbiotic sea anemones produce a shell-like structure, called a "carcinoecium," that covers and extends over the gastropod shell of the host hermit crab as hermit crabs grow. This structure has been described as "chitinous carcinoecium" or "chitinous coating.

Morphology and Habitats of the Hermit-Crab-Associated Calyptraeid Gastropod Ergaea walshi.

Ergaea walshi, a gastropod with a markedly flat shell, often lives inside empty snail shells occupied by hermit crabs. We investigated its lifestyle, shell growth pattern, and habitat preference for host hermit crabs and host snail shells. Four hundred sixteen snail shells, including 363 shells with hermit crabs and 53 empty shells, were collected from intertidal zones of sandy and muddy flats around Kii Peninsula, Japan.

Molecular phylogeny of ten intertidal hermit crabs of the genus Pagurus inferred from multiple mitochondrial genes, with special emphasis on the evolutionary relationship of Pagurus lanuginosus and Pagurus maculosus.

The hermit crab genus Pagurus exhibits high species diversity and a wide geological distribution. Despite the high species diversity of hermit crabs in the western Pacific coast of Japan, molecular phylogenetic studies of these species have yet to be conducted. To investigate their molecular phylogeny and genetic diversity, we obtained nearly complete mitochondrial genome sequences for ten Pagurus species found along the Pacific coast of Japan by next-generation sequencing, which were compared to other congeners deposited in the GenBank database.

The complete larval development of Pagurus maculosus Komai & Imafuku, 1996 (Decapoda, Anomura, Paguridae) reared in the laboratory, and a comparison with sympatric species.

The complete larval development of the hermit crab Pagurus maculosus, is described and illustrated based on specimens reared in the laboratory at 15 °C and 33-35 PSU. Newly hatched larvae invariably passed through a short prezoeal stage (10 minutes to 2 hours), four zoeal stages (each of 7 days,) and one megalopal stage (14 days). Distinct morphological features of each larval stage of the present study are compared with other closely related species in Japanese waters, and we found many differences in morphology and the duration of zoeal stages between them.

The complete larval development of Pagurus lanuginosus De Haan, 1849 (Decapoda, Anomura, Paguridae) reared in the laboratory, with emphasis on the post-larval stage.

The complete larval development of Pagurus lanuginosus is described and illustrated including the first description of the post-larval stage. Specimens were reared in the laboratory at 15°C and 33.5-35.

A new species of Fizesereneia Takeda & Tamura, 1980 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Cryptochiridae) from Japan.

A new species of pit crab of the genus Fizesereneia Takeda & Tamura, 1980, Fizesereneia daidai sp. nov., is described and illustrated based on specimens collected from the scleractinian corals Micromussa amakusensis and Micromussa sp.

Hermit crabs perceive the extent of their virtual bodies.

A flexible body image is required by animals if they are to adapt to body changes and move effectively within a structurally complex environment. Here, we show that terrestrial hermit crabs, Coenobita rugosus, which frequently change shells, can modify walking behaviour, dependent on the shape of the shell. Hermit crabs walked along a corridor that had alternating left and right corners; if it was narrow at the corner, crabs rotated their bodies to avoid the wall, indicating an awareness of environmental obstacles.

Influence of the distribution of emphysema on diaphragmatic motion in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Purpose: We investigated whether the distribution of emphysema on computed tomography (CT) images can affect chest wall motion in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD).

Materials And Methods: The subjects were 35 male patients with COPD (age, 69.7 ± 6.

Pneumothorax and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Purpose: We evaluated the relation between the severity of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and the incidence of pneumothorax on computed tomography (CT) images.

Materials And Methods: In this retrospective study, we evaluated the presence of pneumothorax in 56 consecutive patients who died of IPF from the initial CT to death. We quantitatively analyzed a total of 207 CT images and measured the volume of the normal pattern (N-pattern) and each lesion pattern on the initial CT and their serial changes.

Assessment of prognosis of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis by computer-aided analysis of CT images.

Purpose: To present the Gaussian Histogram Normalized Correlation (GHNC) system, to quantify the extent of disease on computed tomography (CT) images of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and to assess its utility by comparing the radiologist' scoring and prognosis.

Materials And Methods: GHNC was used to analyze baseline thin-section CT images (30-60images per patients) of 40 patients with IPF. It classified the CT lung field into normal (N), ground-glass opacities (G), consolidation (C), emphysema (E) and fibrosis (F) patterns [the latter was also subdivided into reticular (F1) and honeycomb (F2) patterns], then the relative lung volume and relative each pattern volume (area multiplied by slice thickness and interval and divided by predicted total lung capacity) were estimated.

Correlation of lung parenchymal MR signal intensity with pulmonary function tests and quantitative computed tomography (CT) evaluation: a pilot study.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of ventilatory impairment on MR signal intensity of the lung parenchyma.

Materials And Methods: Subjects were five normal volunteers (age = 30 +/- 7.9 years, mean +/- SD) and 19 male patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) (mean age = 70.

Biotin synthase of Bacillus subtilis shows less reactivity than that of Escherichia coli in in vitro reaction systems.

The biotin synthases of Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli were compared in a physiological reduction system using cell-free extracts and in a artificial reduction system using photo-reduced deazariboflavin. The biotin synthase of B. subtilis was less active than that of E.