ALBERT

Description: We determined the coordination environment of Zn2+ in aqueous Cl- brines at 25 °C and 300 °C using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The ZnCl+ and ZnCl2 complexes exist as pseudo-octahedral ZnClm(H2O)6-m clusters at 25 °C but occur as pseudo-tetrahedral ZnClm(H2O)4-m clusters at 300 °C. The ZnCl3- complex occurs as the pseudo-tetrahedral ZnCl3(H2O)- cluster at 25 and 300 °C. The tetrahedral ZnCl42- complex, however, is the dominant Zn−Cl complex at 25 °C, at least in highly concentrated (7.4 m) Cl- brines. The change in hydration number with temperature for the ZnCl+ and ZnCl2 complexes will complicate extrapolations of solvation energies to hydrothermal conditions using a Born-model-based equation of state.

Description: Microcionamides A (1) and B (2) have been isolated from the Philippine marine sponge Clathria (Thalysias) abietina. These new linear peptides are cyclized via a cystine moiety and have their C-terminus blocked by a 2-phenylethylenamine group. Their total structures, including absolute stereochemistry, were determined by a combination of spectral and chemical methods. Compound 1 was shown to slowly isomerize about the C-36/C-37 double bond when stored in DMSO. Microcionamides A (1) and B (2) exhibited significant cytotoxicity against the human breast tumor cells lines MCF-7 and SKBR-3 and displayed inhibitory activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra.

Description: Lipid content, lipid class and fatty acid composition of four Southern Ocean cephalopod species – the myopsid Sepioteuthis australis and three oegopsids, Gonatus antarcticus , Moroteuthis robsoni and Todarodes spp. – were analysed. The lipid content of the digestive gland was consistently greater than that of the mantle, and was an order of magnitude greater in oegopsid species. The lipid class and fatty acid composition of the mantle and digestive gland also differed markedly in each species. Digestive gland lipid is likely to be of dietary origin, and large amounts of lipid in the digestive gland of oegopsids may accumulate over time. Thus the digestive gland is a rich source of fatty acid dietary tracers and may provide a history of dietary intake. However, the absolute amount of dietary lipid in the digestive gland of oegopsid species exceeds the absolute lipid content of mantle tissue. Therefore the overall lipid “signature” of an oegopsid may more closely resemble its prey species rather than its mantle tissue. When lipid techniques are used in dietary analysis of teuthophagous predators, squid may not be represented by a unique signature in analyses and their importance in the diets of predators may be underestimated.

Description: The onychoteuthid squid Moroteuthis ingens was collected as by-catch from a commercial trawl fishery in the vicinity of Macquarie Island, within the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean. Squid were collected during 3 austral summers and 1 austral winter between January 1995 and June 2000. Stomach contents and fatty acid profiles of both mantle and digestive gland tissues were used to determine if the diet of M. ingens was subject to temporal variations in this region. Discriminant analysis (DA) of stomach contents data and digestive gland fatty acid data indicated that the diet varied significantly on an interannual basis, most likely due to an increase in the consumption of the myctophid Gymnoscopelus nicholsi during the summer of 1999 relative to the summers of 1995 and 2000. Comparisons with oceanographic data reveal that the summer of 1999 was a period of warmer sea-surface temperatures and reduced primary production compared to the summers of 1995 and 2000. Fluctuations in oceanographic conditions may have underpinned variations in the availability of prey during the study period. DA of digestive gland fatty acid data also indicated that the diet varied significantly between the summer and winter of 2000. Stomach contents data indicate that the myctophid Electrona carlsbergi replaced Krefftichthys anderssoni as a key prey species for M. ingens during the winter period, as has been observed for other marine predators in the sub-Antarctic Southern Ocean. A comparison of methods reveals that, while fatty acid analyses greatly aid the interpretation of stomach contents data, both techniques are subject to limitations and are best used in combination.

Description: The diet of the sub-Antarctic onychoteuthid squid Moroteuthis ingens was assessed using stomach contents analyses and fatty acids as dietary tracers. The contents of 54 stomachs (50 from squid collected near Macquarie Island and 4 from squid collected near Heard Island) were examined visually, and prey remains were identified to species level where possible. Myctophid fish were the most common prey item in the stomach contents of M. ingens and were identified in 59% of stomachs. In total, teleost fish remains were found in 96% of stomachs. The lipid class and fatty acid profiles of the digestive gland and mantle tissue were analysed for 5 to 6 squid from each area, in addition to 4 stomach fluid samples taken from Heard Island animals. Mantle tissue was low in lipid, and contained high concentrations of phospholipids and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Digestive gland tissue had a high lipid content, with a mean value of 26.8 ± 12.9% wet mass in Macquarie Island squid and 41.7 ± 8.5% wet mass in Heard Island squid, and was rich in triacylglycerol (TAG) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA). Stomach fluid generally contained high concentrations of TAG, although 1 sample was high in wax ester. Stomach fluid was also characterised by high MUFA concentrations. The digestive gland of M. ingens grouped with the fatty acid profile of stomach fluid and some myctophid species in cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling, and appears to be a source of fatty acid dietary tracers. Thus the fatty acid profile of the digestive gland supports findings from stomach contents analyses that myctophids, particularly TAG-rich species, are an important prey group of M. ingens at Macquarie and Heard Islands. This combination of techniques has a potential to increase our knowledge of the feeding ecology of squids in the Southern Ocean.

Description: Specimens of the onychoteuthid squid Moroteuthis ingens were collected from four sites in the Southern Ocean: Macquarie Island, the Falkland Islands, the Chatham Rise (New Zealand) and the Campbell Plateau (New Zealand). Spatial variations in diet among these areas were investigated using stomach contents and lipid and fatty acid profiles. Myctophid fish were prominent prey items at all sites, and the diet at New Zealand sites contained temperate myctophid species that were not identified at other sites. The diet at the Falkland Islands differed considerably from other sites due to the large proportion of cephalopod prey that had been consumed by M. ingens . This is likely to be due to the absence of key myctophids, such as Electrona carlsbergi , and the abundance of smaller squid such as Loligo gahi and juvenile M. ingens over the Patagonian Shelf. Stomach contents data could not be used effectively to determine dietary differences between the Chatham Rise and Campbell Plateau, largely due to differences in sample sizes between these sites. Lipid class and fatty acid profiles of the digestive gland indicated that the diet of M. ingens differed significantly between the Chatham Rise and Campbell Plateau, despite the relative proximity of these sites. We conclude from total lipid content that this was due to a reduction in food availability to M. ingens at the Campbell Plateau. The highly productive waters of the Subtropical Front pass over the Chatham Rise, whereas the Campbell Plateau is situated in less productive sub-Antarctic water. Differences in oceanographic conditions are likely to have driven dietary variations between these two sites.

Description: Possible effects of “El Niño” Southern Oscillation (ENSO) components “El Niño”and “La Niña“ on populations of southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina L., are considered in this study. Information on pup weaning mass, collected at King George Island, South Shetland Islands, over a ten-year period (1985–94) was analysed with respect to the occurrence of ENSO and recent research in feeding ecology of this population in the Bellinghausen Sea. Weaning mass of elephant seals was found to be higher during “La Niña” and a lower during “El Niño”. Differences in weaning mass between sexes varied in different proportions during El Niño and La Niña. The teleconnection between tropical Pacific anomalies and the Bellinghausen Sea deserves further research, and our results suggest a way to study this phenomenon using data of elephant seal pups weaning mass as indicators of changes in food availability.