Biomedical subjects
Brian Morton
Publications and source records attributed to Brian Morton.
Fishing perturbations and beached corals in the Cape d'Aguilar Marine Reserve, Hong Kong (2000-2002) and a summary of data obtained from January 1996 to March 2003.
Every month for four years (1996-1999) and every three months for three years thereafter (2000-2003) stranded corals were collected from Telecom Bay Beach in the Cape d'Aguilar Marine Reserve, Hong Kong. Over time, the numbers of coral pieces and heads recovered declined progressively. Exceptions to this at first occurred after the passage of tropical depressions and typhoons over Hong Kong when the numbers of coral heads rose sharply. This was particularly obvious from 1996 to 1999. During this period, however, fishing was banned in the marine reserve and in 2000 and 2001 only a few corals were beached despite the passage of a series of typhoons over Hong Kong in both years. It is argued that gill net and purse seine fishermen had stopped snagging their nets on the shallow corals of Telecom Bay and they were thus no longer being dislodged and subsequently deposited on the beach by typhoon surges and waves. In 2002, therefore, few corals were collected. This situation changed in September 2002, however, when Severe Tropical Storm Hagiput deposited numerous large living coral heads on the beach. A seabed inspection showed there to be three active ghost nets in the reserve. Natural perturbations such as, for example, coral bleaching in the El Nino year of 1997-1998 also affected community composition at Cape d'Aguilar through selective, low salinity-induced mortality.
Our resilient seas and shores.
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Crocodiles and sharks.
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Over fishing: Hong Kong's fishing crisis finally arrives.
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Lines in the Western Australian sand.
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Marine pollution of a more ruthless kind.
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Animal rights activists who have targeted for harassment and abuse.
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Morphological and ITS1, 5.8S, and partial ITS2 ribosomal DNA sequence distinctions between two species Platygyra (Cnidaria: Scleractinia) from Hong Kong [corrected].
Two sympatric species of Platygyra have been identified from Hong Kong waters: i.e., P. sinensis and P. pini. The former has been further subdivided into 4 morphotypes based on colony growth form as follows: classic, encrusting, hillocky, and long-valley. Taxonomic confusion raised by overlapping morphological variations and frequent sympatric occurrences, however, has posed problems in relation to Platygyra ecology and population dynamics. This study attempted to differentiate Platygyra pini and morphotypes of P. sinensis by both morphological and ITS1, 5.8S, and partial ITS2 ribosomal DNA sequence analysis. Morphological data based on 9 skeletal characters were subjected to multivariate analysis. No clear groupings were obtained using a multidimensional scaling plot. Most parsimony analysis was conducted using either the rDNA data set including ITS1, 5.8S, and partial ITS2 or the ITS1 region only. Maximum parsimony (MP) and neighbor-joining (NJ) trees obtained from both data sets, clustered samples of P. sinensis and P. pini into 2 clades. The interspecific Kimura 2-parameter sequence divergence value (k2) obtained by the former rDNA data set was 14.275 +/- 0.507%, which is greater than the intraspecific values (1.239 +/- 1.147% for P. sinensis and 0.469 +/- 0.364% for P. pini), indicating that this marker of ITS1, 5.8S, and ITS2 contains substantially high levels of inherent diversity and is useful in resolving the problematic taxonomy of Platygyra.
Fishing for diplomacy in China's Seas.
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Whaling: when is enough, enough?
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The influence of diet on comparative trace metal cadmium, copper and zinc accumulation in Thais clavigera (Gastropoda: Muricidae) preying on intertidal barnacles or mussels.
The influence of diet on comparative metal accumulation was investigated using a predatory muricid gastropod Thais clavigera. Individuals were fed for up to 56 days on either barnacles, i.e., Tetraclita squamosa, or mussels, i.e., Perna viridis, collected from metal-contaminated and clean sites. Barnacles and mussels have contrasting metal handling strategies and, therefore, different body concentrations, intracellular distributions and detoxification systems. Field collection of prey items that accumulated body metal concentrations over a lifetime of exposure allowed bioavailability to the predator, T. clavigera, to be assessed naturally, which may not be the case for prey exposed to metals for a short time in the laboratory. T. clavigera that was fed cadmium- and copper-contaminated barnacles or mussels ingested significantly greater amounts compared to those fed conspecifics collected from clean locations. T. clavigera body cadmium and copper concentrations were not, however, significantly different between individuals fed either contaminated or clean prey. Amount of zinc ingested was similar in mussels collected from clean and contaminated environments but much less when compared to the barnacle prey. The body concentrations of zinc in T. clavigera fed mussels collected from both sites fell. In contrast, the amount of zinc ingested from barnacle prey was significantly greater from those collected from the metal-contaminated site as compared to the clean one. This was reflected as significantly greater body zinc concentrations in T. clavigera fed contaminated barnacles compared to those fed clean individuals. Copper and zinc accumulation from prey was, therefore, complex. It varied between metal and between prey type, but appeared to be related to the amount ingested and the metal handling strategy of the prey.
Dong-Sha Atoll, South China Sea: ground zero!
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