Aquarium Plants Research Articles

Discovery of the natural habitat of the aquatic thysanopteran, Organothrips indicus (Terebrantia: Thripidae) in India and North America

Organothrips indicus Bhatti passes its life cycle under water. So far the species was known from stray specimens from India, Bangladesh, and Thailand, and in warmed aquaria for tropical ornamental fishes in Germany on an exotic aquarium plant Cryptocoryne sp., on which it was breeding under water. O. indicus is now reported from Dehra Dun (north India) on Typha and from 3 counties in Florida (USA) on Typha and Eichhornia crassipes. In India it was found living underwater in the slimy secretion of the widely distributed North Indian marsh plant Typha elephantina, where adults of both sexes and immatures were found. Specimens have also been taken in quarantine on taro from Hong Kong. The species can tolerate a wide range of temperature. O. indicus is likely to be found wherever its host plants Typha and Cryptocoryne are distributed.

Management of Hydrocotyle ranunculoides L.f., an aquatic invasive weed of urban waterways in Western Australia

Hydrocotyle ranunculoides L.f. is a stoloniferous perennial plant with floating and emergent leaves that is native to Europe. It is commonly used as an aquarium plant with little published information on its biology and natural range. In 1983 H. ranunculoides was first observed in the urban drainage network in the Canning River Regional Park, Western Australia. By 1991 the plant had extended throughout the drainage network into the river and adjacent wetlands. H. ranunculoides formed extensive mats, disrupting the ecology and recreational uses of the waterways, and posed a threat to other waterways. It is not known to be invasive in other Australian waterways. A group of state and local government and community members assessed environmental, technical and social interactions and developed an integrated management strategy for the weed, using a combination of physical, chemical and ecological techniques. The environmental significance of the affected waterways required the programme to be accompanied by appropriate ecological surveillance. The initial short-term control phase was completed successfully. An assessment of water quality and aquatic invertebrates during the initial phase showed only short-term disruption of river ecology following physical and chemical control. The long-term eradication phase is on-going.

941 AQUARIUM PLANT MICROPROPAGATION: CRYPTOCORYNE BECKETII

The genus Cryptocoryne (Araceae) contains some of the most commercially important amphibious species used in the aquarium plant trade. However, seed production is rare and vegetative propagation by rhizome division is extremely slow. Procedures for in vitro establishment, axillary shoot proliferation and plantlet acclimatization of Cryptocoryne Becketti Thwaites ex Trimen were determined. Surface sterilized rhizomatous shoot tips were established on a medium consisting of Linsmaier & Skoog mineral salts and organics supplemented with 87.6 mM sucrose, 2.2 μM benzyladenine (BA) and 0.57 μM indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) solidified with 0.8% TC® Agar. Effects of medium supplementation with factorial combinations of BA (0 - 25 μM) and IAA (0 - 10 μM) on axillary shoot proliferation from single node explants were determined after 28 days. Maximum axillary shoot proliferation (`l-fold increase) occurred on medium supplemented with 25 μM BA and 1.0 μM IAA. Excellent microcutting rooting (100%) was achieved by direct sticking in Vergro Klay Mix A. Greenhouse acclimatization of rooted microcuttings was 100%.

Potential Economic seaweeds of Hengchun peninsula, Taiwan

There are 25 genera and 76 species of economically important marine algae found in the Hengchun Peninsula. The greatest number of useful species is found in the Rhodophyta. Sargassum is the most common genus of the Phaeophyta and has the largest biomass and the widest distribution, but fewer useful species. The local people harvest seaweeds from natural beds for food, fodder, fish bait, fertilizer and medical purposes. However, only a few of the available seaweeds are used and in small quantities. Most of the species are seasonal and more abundant in spring and winter than in the summer. Four genera,Sargassum,Enteromorpha,Ulva andCodium have large standing crops and are widely distributed in the coastal water. Production of the other genera is lower. There are many other useful seaweeds present in this area, some of which are also used as landscape plants in aquaria and as fertilizer in horticulture. The potential commercial uses forHalymenia microcarpa are also briefly discussed.

Does algal morphology affect amphipod susceptibility to fish predation?

This study evaluated the hypothesis that phytal amphipods are less susceptible to predation by fishes when on highly branched, morphologically complex algal hosts than when on seaweeds with a simple bladed morphology. Contrary to this hypothesis, laboratory experiments demonstrated that the amphipod Ampithoe longimana (Smith) was more susceptible to predation by the pinfish Lagodon rhomboides (L.) when on any of four highly branched seaweeds ( Hypnea musciformis (Wulf.) Lamouroux, H. comuta (Lamour.) J. Agardh, Gracilaria tikvahiae McLachlan, or G. verrucosa (Huds.) Papenruss) than when on either of two species with a simpler sheetlike morphology ( Padina gymnospora (Kutz.) Sonder or Ulva sp.) The morphologically intermediate alga Sargassum filipendula J. Agardh provided an intermediate level of protection. Similar experiments were conducted using plastic aquarium plants of highly branched and sheetlike morphology to evaluate the effects of host-plant morphology without the potentially confounding effects of other species-specific algal characteristics. The pattern evident in our tests with real plants was repeated in only one of two tests with plant mimics. This variable effect of host morphology combined with a demonstration that pinfish consumed the highly branched species Hypnea musciformis in preference to Padina gymnospora or Sargassum filipendula suggests that the susceptibility of phytal amphipods to predation by omnivorous fishes like Lagodon may be affected by both host-plant morphology and host-plant palatability to fishes. In field experiments the density of amphipods colonizing and surviving on Hypnea was significantly lower than their density on Padina or Sargassum regardless of whether the plants were protected from or exposed to fishes. In similar assays using only Sargassum, no clear effect offish predation on abundance of phytal amphipods could be demonstrated in the presence of high colonization rates by amphipods. Seasonal patterns of amphipod abundance on different host plants suggested that fish predation may be affecting the density of amphipods on Hypnea more than on Sargassum or Padina. In the summer, fish predation on amphipods becomes high. During this period, amphipod density per algal mass declined on Hypnea, slowly increased on Sargassum, and remained relatively constant on Padina. This field pattern of seasonal change in amphipod abundance as a function of algal host is consistent with our conclusion from laboratory studies that amphipods are more susceptible to omnivorous fish predation when on Hypnea, which is both morphologically complex and a high-preference food for the fish.

Ultrastructure of Diplonema ambulator larsen & patterson (euglenozoa) and its relationship to Isonema

The fine structure of a small phagotrophic protist, Diplonema ambulator, associated with deteriorating leaves of some species of the common fresh-water aquarium plant, Cryptocoryne is described. The organisms bear two short flagella which arise subapically and have a flexible cell surface often exhibiting pronounced changes in shape. Under the plasma membrane is a single layer of interconnected microtubules. Adjacent to the microtubules is a peripheral reticulate mitochondrion with plate-like cristae and numerous dense beaded inclusions. A large complex microtubular-based feeding apparatus extending to the cell surface is surrounded by several food vacuoles. Because the organism fits the light microscopic description of the genus Diplonema and has ultrastructural features attributable to Isonema we recommend that these taxa be regarded as synonymous and that existing species of Isonema be transferred to the genus Diplonema.

Failure to find Ca 2+-dependent proteinase (calpain) activity in a plant species, [formula omitted][formula omitted

Five and nine-tenth kg of Elodea densa (Anacharis), a common aquarium plant, was extracted, and the extract was subjected to column chromatographic procedures that successfully purify the two Ca 2+-dependent proteinases (calpains) and their protein inhibitor (calpastatin) from a variety of animal tissues. Although these procedures purified a protein having 55- and 16-kDa polypeptides, neither this protein nor any of the other chromatographic fractions contained detectable proteinase or calpastatin activity. Moreover, the purified 55- and 16-kDa polypeptides did not react on immunoblots with polyclonal antibodies that were monospecific for the calpains or calpastatin. We conclude that Elodea densa contains no calpain nor calpastatin at the level of 4 μg per g plant protein (1 part per 250,0000, which was the sensitivity of our assay.

New observations of galls on Zosterella dubia (Jacq.) small ( Heteranthera dubia (Jacq.) macm.) infected by Membranosorus heterantherae Ostenfeld and Peterson

The fungus or protozoan Membranosorus heterantherae Ostenfeld and Peterson ( Sorodiscus heterantherae Wernham) was first described from galls on the aquatic monocot Zosterella dubia (Jacq.) Small ( Heteranthera dubia MacM.) from Ontario, Canada. Holotype material could not be located, therefore specimens from Conesus Lake, New York, with both nodal and root galls have been designated as neotype. Searches of herbaria show that the galls are found on plants from New England to the midwest of the United States and Washington State, indicating that they probably occur throughout the range of the host, although they are particularly common in the fertile New York lakes. Similar galls have been observed on aquarium plants of Heteranthera limosa (Sw.) Willd. grown from seeds collected in Kansas. Both nodal and root galls have anthocyanin and raphid crystals of calcium oxalate. Chlorophyll has been observed in nodal galls. The nodal galls have been considered hypertrophied adventitious roots, but they appear to be anomalous structures containing xylem, chlorenchyma and a variety of other cells. Most of the gall parenchyma cells are anatomically very similar to the isodiametric cells of the nodal area cortex. The nodal galls are exceptionally rich in nitrogen, and caddis fly larvae cluster around them.

Avoidance of macrophytes and additional notes on avoidance of the shore by ‘Acanthodiaptomus denticornis’ (Wierzejski, 1887) from Lake Pavin (Auvergne, France)

1. Literature on the horizontal distribution patterns from the littoral zone into the open water of fresh-water zooplankton is reviewed. The results of experiments on the avoidance of macrophytes and of the shore are presented. 2. In the lightAcanthodiaptomus avoidedMyriophyllum andPotamogeton as well as plastic plants in aquaria. The repelling effect of the macrophytes was stronger than that of the plastic plants. In the dark the avoidance reaction was absent, showing that both living and plastic plants exert a repellent ‘shading effect’ onAcanthodiaptomus, and supporting that macrophytes militate against zooplankton due to the secretion of repelling substances that is coupled with photosynthesis. 3. When a shore was gently slopingAcanthodiaptomus avoided the shore where trees (at a distance of 20 m of the waterside) were present; this reaction did not occur where, about 100 m further, meadows bordered the lake. 4. Adults were far more abundant in the littoral zone during the night as compared with day-time. This phenomenon was less distinct in the copepodites and absent in the nauplii.

Review: Aquarium Plants, by Niels Jacobsen

Book Review| April 01 1980 Review Aquarium PlantsNiels Jacobsen Patricia L. Waller Patricia L. Waller Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar The American Biology Teacher (1980) 42 (4): 251. https://doi.org/10.2307/4446916 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Patricia L. Waller; Review. The American Biology Teacher 1 April 1980; 42 (4): 251. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/4446916 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentThe American Biology Teacher Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 1980 The National Association of Biology Teachers Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

The microdistribution of epiphytes on the leaves of natural and artificial macrophytes

The microdistribution of two diatoms (Cocconeis placentula, Eunotia spp.) and two epiphytic green algae (Coleochaete orbicularis and Coleochaete nitellarum) on leaves of Potamogeton richardsonii and on those of plastic aquarium plants was compared using a new “peel-off” technique. Differential colonization of the upper and underside of the leaves was much more evident on the living plants, which were characterized by a distinct CaCO3 incrustation on their upper-side. The diatom preference for the edge of leaves appear to have a physical basis because it was equally pronounced on both natural and plastic leaves.

Isolation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Other Bacterial Species from Ornamental Aquarium Plants

Ornamental aquarium plants were demonstrated to carry as many as 10(8) viable mesophilic bacteria per g. Gram-negative organisms predominated among the 19 genera of bacteria identified. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was readily isolated from 53% of the samples tested.

New species of the genusEchinodorus from South Brazil

In recent years 4 species of the genusEchinodorus have been imported in large quantities to Europe from Southern Brazil, being cultivated as decorative plants in aquaria. In spite of the fact that up to now not all organs from these plants are known, they differ so greatly from the known species by character of the submersed leaves that there is no doubt that the species, in question, viz.E. osiris, E. opacus, E. horemani andE. portoalegrensis, are new.