ALBERT

Description: The stomachsof 23 striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba Meyen, 1833, Cetacea), stranded along the Ligurian coast (western Mediterranean Sea), contained 32 species of cephalopods, crustaceans and fishes, totalling an estimated 2,723 prey specimens representing about 36 kg in weight. Cephalopods and bony fishes were equally important in the diet (50%). Todarodes sagittatus (34.5%) and Micromesistius poutassou (25.9%) were found to be the most important food species. Other species belonging to six cephalopod families, three crustacean families and nine bony fish families, contributed to the diet with variable numbers, weights, and occurrences, demonstrating the opportunistic character of striped dolphin feeding.

Description: Samples of two loliginid squids Alloteuthis africana and A. subulata were collected from the continental shelf off the west Sahara in August-September 1987. Statoliths were taken from 124 specimens and processed using statolith ageing techniques. Statoliths of both species were very similar in shape. In the ground statolith, growth increments were examined and grouped into four growth zones distinguished mainly by the width of the increments. Age of adult mature males of both species did not exceed eight months, that of females six months. Alloteuthis africana grew faster than A. subulata in weight and, particularly, in length. At age 180 d the mantle of A. africana was twice as long and the body weight 1·2–1·5 times as large. Both species matured over a wide range of sizes and ages (from 120 to 180 d). The life span of A. africana and A. subulata hatching between January and May on the west Saharan shelf is about six months, much shorter than that of A. subulata in its northern temperate range.

Description: Statoliths of Loligo gahi were sampled in the fishery region 45–47°S on the Patagonian shelf during September 1989. Peculiarities of the growth zones in the ground statoliths of adults are described. Maximum age of large maturing and mature females (130–160 mm of mantle length, ML) was estimated to be 325–345 d, that of large mature males (250–290 mm ML) ranged from 360 to 396 d. The squid Loligo gahi d'Orbigny, 1835, occurs in temperate shelf and upper slope waters of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America and is caught commercially by the international fleet in the southern part of the Patagonian shelf within the Falkland Islands Interim Conservation Zone (FICZ) (Roper et al., 1984; Csirke, 1987). Occasionally, dense shoals of L. gahi appear in the fishery region 45–47°S off the Exclusive Economic Zone of Argentina (EEZA) and have been caught in significant numbers by trawlers at depths of 120–150 m in September-October (Chesheva, 1990). Loligo gahi is a medium sized loliginid; in Falkland waters males attain 350 mm ML, females 210 mm ML (Hatfield, 1991), while in the fishery region 45–47°S maximum size is 260 mm and 160 mm, respectively (Chesheva, 1990). Patterson (1988) revealed two Falkland spawning stocks of L. gahi of unclear status, spring-spawners and autumn-spawners (austral seasons) and pointed out that the life span of squid of each stock lasted ~1 y. Recently Hatfield (1991) used statoliths to elucidate Patterson's (1988) estimations of age and growth of Falkland stocks of L. gahi and confirmed the 1-y duration of L. gahi's life span.

Description: Outer membrane (OM), cytoplasmic membrane (CM) and intracytoplasmic membranes (ICM) from the halophilic phototrophic purple sulphur bacterium Ectothiorhodospira mobilis 9903 were purified and characterized. The three membrane fractions were significantly different in regard to protein profiles on SDS-PAGE, and to the composition of amino acids, fatty acids and lipids. The presence of lipoproteins, the occurrence of lyso-phosphatidyl-ethanolamine and an increased content of saturated and short-chain fatty acids are characteristic properties of the OM. CM and ICM fractions are different on the basis of buoyant density, of protein profiles and amino acid composition, and due to the presence of succinate dehydrogenase activity in CM. In addition, CM and ICM showed significant differences in pigment content and absorption spectra.

Description: Within the Western Ross Sea, there are six emperor penguin colonies of widely different size that occur exclusively on sea ice. In 1990 a survey of all six sites, two by close overflights and four from the ground, showed that the breeding habitats were highly variable. The most important physical characteristics of these habitats appear to be stable fast ice, nearby open water, access to fresh snow, and shelter from the wind.

Description: The groundmass of andesitic dykes at Sezaki, southwest Japan, has trachytic texture and contains microscopic shear zones. The shear zones comprise a conjugate pair formed by flattening of the solidifying dyke rock, probably caused by the magma pressure of the still molten part of the dyke. This pressure shortened the solidifying rock perpendicular to the dyke margins and caused it to extrude parallel to the magma flow direction. The groundmass shears indicate that locally the magma flowed 60° upward in the dykes. It is concluded that while groundmass shears are a useful indicator of flow direction in dykes, phenocryst alignment in dykes is strongly influenced by magma-pressure flattening and thus may be a poor indicator of flow direction.