Temporal drivers of abundance and community structure of scyphozoan jellyfish in tropical coastal waters.

Population blooms of scyphozoan jellyfish in tropical shallow water regions can fuel localized fisheries but also negatively impact human welfare. However, there is a lack of baseline ecological data regarding the scyphozoans in the region, which could be used to manage a fast-growing fishery and mitigate potential impacts. Thus, this study aims to investigate the temporal factors driving the distribution of scyphozoan community along the environmental gradients under different monsoon seasons, rainfall periods, moon phases, and diel-tidal conditions in the Klang Strait located in the central region along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, where bloom events are increasing.

Development of the muscular and nervous systems during the larval ontogeny of the stalked barnacle, Octolasmis angulata Aurivillius 1894 (Cirripedia: Thoracicalcerea: Poecilasmatidae).

The advancements in microscopic techniques have stimulated great interest in the muscular and neural architectures of invertebrates, specifically using muscle and neural structures to infer phylogenetic relationships. Here, we provide the data on the development of the muscular and nervous systems during the larval development of stalked barnacle, Octolasmis angulata using the phalloidin F-actin and immunohistochemical labelling (e.g.

Using DNA Barcodes to Aid the Identification of Larval Fishes in Tropical Estuarine Waters (Malacca Straits, Malaysia).

Larval descriptions of tropical marine and coastal fishes are very few, and this taxonomic problem is further exacerbated by the high diversity of fish species in these waters. Nonetheless, accurate larval identification in ecological and early life history studies of larval fishes is crucial for fishery management and habitat protection. The present study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of DNA barcodes to support larval fish identification since conventional dichotomous keys based on morphological traits are not efficient due to the lack of larval traits and the rapid morphological changes during ontogeny.

Heat shock response and metabolic stress in the tropical estuarine copepod Pseudodiaptomus annandalei converge at its upper thermal optimum.

Heat shock response (HSR), in terms of transcription regulation of two heat shock proteins genes hsp70 and hsp90), was analysed in a widespread tropical copepod Pseudodiaptomus annandalei. The mRNA transcripts of both genes were quantified after copepods at a salinity of 20 underwent an acclimation process involving an initial acclimation temperature of 29 °C, followed by gradual thermal ramping to the target exposure temperature range of 24-36 °C. The respective cellular HSR and organismal metabolism, measured by respiratory activity at exposure temperatures, were compared.

Fish Ontology framework for taxonomy-based fish recognition.

Life science ontologies play an important role in Semantic Web. Given the diversity in fish species and the associated wealth of information, it is imperative to develop an ontology capable of linking and integrating this information in an automated fashion. As such, we introduce the Fish Ontology (FO), an automated classification architecture of existing fish taxa which provides taxonomic information on unknown fish based on metadata restrictions.

First evidence for temporary and permanent adhesive systems in the stalked barnacle cyprid, Octolasmis angulata.

Although there have been extensive studies on the larval adhesion of acorn barnacles over the past few decades, little is known about stalked barnacles. For the first time, we describe the larval adhesive systems in the stalked barnacle, Octolasmis angulata and the findings differ from previous reports of the temporary (antennulary) and cement glands in thoracican barnacles. We have found that the temporary adhesives of cyprid are produced by the clustered temporary adhesive glands located within the mantle, instead of the specialised hypodermal glands in the second antennular segment as reported in the acorn barnacles.

Preliminary Taxonomic Survey and Molecular Documentation of Jellyfish Species (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa and Cubozoa) in Malaysia.

Scientific enquiries into jellyfish blooms and associated problems are often deterred by the lack of taxonomical and ecological studies worldwide. Taxonomic difficulty is attributed to the high degree of morphological variations among and within species. To date, only two scyphozoan jellyfish species have been documented from field surveys in Malaysian waters, whereas another four Malaysian scyphozoan and two cubozoan jellyfish species have been mentioned in toxicological studies.

Response of marine copepods to a changing tropical environment: winners, losers and implications.

Background. Climate change concurrent with anthropogenic disturbances can initiate serial changes that reverberate up the food chain with repercussions for fisheries. To date, there is no information available concerning the combined effects of global warming and human impacts on tropical marine food webs.

Isolation and Characterization of Aquatic-Borne Klebsiella pneumoniae from Tropical Estuaries in Malaysia.

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen that is responsible for causing nosocomial and community-acquired infections. Despite its common presence in soil and aquatic environments, the virulence potential of K. pneumoniae isolates of environmental origin is largely unknown.

Fully-automated identification of fish species based on otolith contour: using short-time Fourier transform and discriminant analysis (STFT-DA).

Background. Fish species may be identified based on their unique otolith shape or contour. Several pattern recognition methods have been proposed to classify fish species through morphological features of the otolith contours.

Sound signatures and production mechanisms of three species of pipefishes (Family: Syngnathidae).

Background. Syngnathid fishes produce three kinds of sounds, named click, growl and purr. These sounds are generated by different mechanisms to give a consistent signal pattern or signature which is believed to play a role in intraspecific and interspecific communication.

Automated identification of copepods using digital image processing and artificial neural network.

Background: Copepods are planktonic organisms that play a major role in the marine food chain. Studying the community structure and abundance of copepods in relation to the environment is essential to evaluate their contribution to mangrove trophodynamics and coastal fisheries. The routine identification of copepods can be very technical, requiring taxonomic expertise, experience and much effort which can be very time-consuming.

Diverse and abundant multi-drug resistant E. coli in Matang mangrove estuaries, Malaysia.

E.coli, an important vector distributing antimicrobial resistance in the environment, was found to be multi-drug resistant, abundant, and genetically diverse in the Matang mangrove estuaries, Malaysia. One-third (34%) of the estuarine E.

Complete mitogenome of two moray eels of Gymnothorax formosus and Scuticaria tigrina (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae).

In this study, the complete mitogenome sequence of two moray eels of Gymnothorax formosus and Scuticaria tigrina (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) has been sequenced by the next-generation sequencing method. The assembled mitogenome, with the length of 16,558 bp for G. formosus and 16,521 bp for S.

Next-generation sequencing yields the complete mitochondrial genome of the longfang moray, Enchelynassa canina (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae).

In this study, the complete mitogenome sequence of the longfang moray, Enchelynassa canina (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) has been sequenced by the next-generation sequencing method. The length of the assembled mitogenome is 16,592 bp, which includes 13 protein coding genes, 22 transfer RNAs, and 2 ribosomal RNAs genes. The overall base composition of longfang moray is 28.

Next generation sequencing yields the complete mitochondrial genome of the Zebra moray, Gymnomuraena zebra (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae).

In this study, the complete mitogenome sequence of the Zebra moray, Gymnomuraena zebra (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) has been sequenced by the next-generation sequencing method. The assembled mitogenome consisting of 16,576 bp includes 13 protein coding genes, 22 transfer RNAs, and two ribosomal RNAs genes. The overall base composition of Zebra moray is 30.

Molecular and morphological analyses reveal phylogenetic relationships of stingrays focusing on the family Dasyatidae (Myliobatiformes).

Elucidating the phylogenetic relationships of the current but problematic Dasyatidae (Order Myliobatiformes) was the first priority of the current study. Here, we studied three molecular gene markers of 43 species (COI gene), 33 species (ND2 gene) and 34 species (RAG1 gene) of stingrays to draft out the phylogenetic tree of the order. Nine character states were identified and used to confirm the molecularly constructed phylogenetic trees.

Worldwide genetic differentiation in the common fouling barnacle, Amphibalanus amphitrite.

Amphibalanus amphitrite is a common fouling barnacle distributed globally in tropical and subtropical waters. In the present study, the genetic (mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I) and morphological differentiation in A. amphitrite from 25 localities around the world were investigated.

Detection of multiple potentially pathogenic bacteria in Matang mangrove estuaries, Malaysia.

The deltaic estuarine system of the Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve of Malaysia is a site where several human settlements and brackish water aquaculture have been established. Here, we evaluated the level of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) and the presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria in the surface water and sediments. Higher levels of FIB were detected at downstream sampling sites from the fishing village, indicating it as a possible source of anthropogenic pollution to the estuary.