First Insights into Body Localization of an Osmoregulation-Related Cotransporter in Estuarine Annelids.

The expression of the Na-K-2Cl cotransporter (NKCC), widely associated with cell volume regulation, has never been directly demonstrated in annelids. Its putative presence was firstly recovered in silico, and then using immunofluorescence, its signal was retrieved for the first time in different tissues of four species of estuarine annelids from southern Brazil that are regularly subjected to salinity fluctuations. We tested two euryhaline species (wide salinity tolerance), the nereidids and (habitat salinity: ~10-28 psu), and two stenohaline species (restricted salinity tolerance), the nephtyid (habitat salinity: ~6-10 psu), and the melinnid (habitat salinity: ~28-35 psu).

A systematic evaluation on the relationship between hypo-osmoregulation and hyper-osmoregulation in decapods of different habitats.

Decapods occupy all aquatic, and terrestrial and semi-terrestrial environments. According to their osmoregulatory capacity, they can be osmoconformers or osmoregulators (hypo or hyperegulators). The goal of this study is to gather data available in the literature for aquatic decapods and verify if the rare hyporegulatory capacity of decapods is associated with hyper-regulatory capacity.

Strategies of Invertebrate Osmoregulation: An Evolutionary Blueprint for Transmuting into Fresh Water from the Sea.

Early marine invertebrates like the Branchiopoda began their sojourn into dilute media some 500 million years ago in the Middle Cambrian. Others like the Mollusca, Annelida, and many crustacean taxa have followed, accompanying major marine transgressions and regressions, shifting landmasses, orogenies, and glaciations. In adapting to these events and new habitats, such invertebrates acquired novel physiological abilities that attenuate the ion loss and water gain that constitute severe challenges to life in dilute media.

Osmo-ionic regulation and carbonic anhydrase, Na/K-ATPase and V-H-ATPase activities in gills of the ancient freshwater crustacean Aegla schmitti (Anomura) exposed to high salinities.

Aeglidae anomuran crabs originated in the sea, but invaded and diversified in southern South American freshwater (FW) streams. We here aimed at examining their tolerance of increased salinity, after a long time of evolution in FW (~33 million years). Aegla schmitti were exposed to FW and dilute seawater of salinities 15, 20, and 25‰ for 1, 5 and 10 days.

Thermal Imaging Reveals Changes in Body Surface Temperatures of Blacktip Sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) during Air Exposure.

Fish physiology is significantly affected by temperature variability. During fisheries interactions, fish are often exposed to air and subjected to rapid temperature changes. Fish thermal dynamics during such exposure, and the possible outcomes to their physiology, depend on how heat is distributed across their bodies, the speed at which their body temperatures change, and the size of the individual.

Early time course of variation in coelomic fluid ionic concentrations in sea urchins abruptly exposed to hypo- and hyper-osmotic salinity challenges: Role of size and cross-section area of test holes.

Echinoderms are restricted to the marine environment and are osmoconformer invertebrates. However, some species live in unstable environments. Especially those species, and those of larger body size, tend to show variable, albeit transient, ionic gradients between their coelomic fluid and external seawater.

Histological alterations in gills of Macrobrachium amazonicum juveniles exposed to ammonia and nitrite.

Aquaculture has shown great growth in the last decades. Due to the restrictions on water use, production systems are becoming increasingly more intensive, raising concerns about the production water quality. Macrobrachium amazonicum is among the freshwater prawn species with favorable characteristics for production and possibility of intensification.

Acute Toxicity of Nitrite to Various Life Stages of the Amazon River Prawn, Macrobrachium amazonicum, Heller, 1862.

This study determined the effects of nitrite on different life stages of the Amazon river prawn Macrobrachium amazonicum. Prawns of each life stage (postlarvae, juveniles and adults) were stocked in 24 experimental units (n = 10 prawns), under a complete randomized design. Individuals were exposed to nitrite (0, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 mg L).

Talking to the dead: using Post-mortem data in the assessment of stress in tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) (Péron and Lesueur, 1822).

Sharks are very sensitive to stress and prone to a high mortality rate after capture. Since approximately 50 million of sharks are caught as bycatch every year, and current recommendations to reduce the impact of commercial fishing strongly support immediate release, it is imperative to better understand post-release mortality caused by the stress of capture and handling. Blood samples allow the assessment of stress levels which are valuable tools to reduce mortality in commercial, recreational and scientific fishing, being essential for the improvement in those conservation measures.

Immunocytochemical localization of V-H(+) -ATPase, Na(+) /K(+) -ATPase, and carbonic anhydrase in gill lamellae of adult freshwater euryhaline shrimp Macrobrachium acanthurus (Decapoda, Palaemonidae).

Physiological (organismal), biochemical, and molecular biological contributions to the knowledge of the osmoregulatory plasticity of palaemonid freshwater shrimps has provided a fairly complete model of transporter localization in their branchial epithelium. Direct immunological demonstration of the main enzymes in the gill epithelia of adult palaemonids is, however, still incipient. The diadromous freshwater shrimp Macrobrachium acanthurus was exposed to increased salinity (25‰ for 24 hr), and its responses at the systemic level were evaluated through the assays of hemolymph osmolality and muscle hydration, and at cellular and subcellular levels through the activity and localization of the V-H(+) -ATPase, the Na(+) /K(+) -ATPase, and the carbonic anhydrase.

Monitoring water quality in reservoirs for human supply through multi-biomarker evaluation in tropical fish.

Paraíba do Sul River is located at a very densely inhabited region of Brazil crossing the three most industrialized states of the country (São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro states). As a result, industrial and farming residues as well as urban sewage are frequently disposed without appropriate treatment. The current study aimed at investigating the water quality in three reservoirs along the Paraíba do Sul River (Ilha dos Pombos, Santa Cecília and Santa Branca), through physiological, morphological, biochemical, and genetic biomarkers.