ALBERT

Description: Scientists have long attempted to explain why closely similar age patterns of death are characteristic of highly diverse human and nonhuman populations. Historical efforts to identify a general "law of mortality" from these patterns that applied across species ended in 1935 when it was declared that such a law did not exist. These early efforts were conducted using mortality curves based on all causes of death. The authors predict that if comparisons of mortality are based instead on "intrinsic" causes of death (i.e., deaths that reflect the basic biology of the organism), then age patterns of mortality consistent with the historical concept of a law might be revealed. Using data on laboratory animals and humans, they demonstrate that age patterns of intrinsic mortality overlap when graphed on a biologically comparable time scale. These results are consistent with the existence of a law of mortality following sexual maturity, as originally asserted by Benjamin Gompertz and Raymond Pearl. The societal, medical, and research implications of such a law are discussed.

Description: There was a seasonal biomodality in the distribution of breeding activities of King Penguins Aptenodytes patagonicus, studied from 1991 to 1994 at South Georgia, with peaks of courtship and egg-laying 2-3 months apart. The late peak was of birds that bred successfully the previous year, whereas the early peak was of birds that had failed. Successful birds were delayed because the median time for a complete breeding cycle, including moult, was 〉 14 month. Although most birds made a breeding attempt each year, none bred successfully in two consecutive seasons. Hence, in practice the cycle was biennial. The egg-laying period spanned four months but only pairs that laid within the first quarter of this period were successful. Parental quality, rather than laying date, strongly influenced the outcome of first quarter breeding attempts. No late breeding attempt was successful and why they are undertaken is unclear. At least they posed no measurable cost, either by delaying subsequent breeding or by increasing mortality; this may be important for balancing the low benefit. After the over-wintering fast the chick could be fledged by a single parent; but no sex-specific difference in invested time in the chick near to fledge was observed.

Description: Two species of the family Bothidae (lefteye flounders), Mancopsetta maculata metadata and M. milfordi occur in the south‐west Atlantic but are caught rarely by commercial bottom trawlers. Little is therefore known about their general biology from this area. A total of 251 M. maculata and 276 M. milfordi were sampled during deep‐water exploratory fishing conducted in November 1994 within the Falkland Islands Interim and Outer Conservation Zones, at depths of 400‐1000 m, using standard commercial bottom trawling gear. The two species were found to have similar geographical distributions between 48.30′‐53.30'S and 55°‐62° W and were often obtained at the same stations in depths of 400‐900 m on the continental slope. Mancopsetta maculata maculata showed a uni‐modal cohort structure with a modal length at the 29‐cm total length size‐class. Males of M. m. maculata outnumbered females in a ratio of 3.5 : 1. Mancopsetta milfordi showed a tri‐modal length distribution, the main mode at the 37‐cm total length size‐class, with females outnumbering males in a ratio of 1.1 : 1. Length‐weight relationships and length‐at‐age information are presented for the two species. Diet was determined from the analysis of stomach contents and, although the major prey type for both species consisted of crustaceans, the morid fish Austrophycis marginata also formed an important part of the diet of M. milfordi. Key words: Mancopsetta maculata maculata; Mancopsetta milfordi; distribution; south‐west Atlantic; size; diet.

Description: Records of demersal deep‐sea fish assemblages in waters around the Falkland Islands (Patagonian shelf area) are rare. Twenty deep‐water stations to the east and south of the Falkland Islands were sampled by commercial bottom trawl deployed in upper, middle and lower benthopelagic zones (depth range of approximately 500‐1000 m). Forty‐one species (22 families) of teleost fish were recorded, 10 species (two families) of elasmobranch and one species of agnathan. Different assemblages of fish were found to characterize each depth zone (e.g. Moridae in deeper waters, Bothidae and Rajidae in shallower waters), with diversity being greatest in the mid‐zone and biomass greatest in the upper and lower zones. Some species occurred in all zones but showed depth‐related abundance. Four species, namely the grenadiers Macrourus carinutus and Coelorhynchus fasciatus, the southern blue whiting Micromesistius australis, and the Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides, accounted for 85% by weight of all fish caught. Quantitative sampling of selected species revealed depth‐related variations in their population structure. Length‐frequency analyses are presented for M. carinatus and D. eleginoides and show a tendency for larger individuals to inhabit deeper water. Discard rates from the commercial catch were sometimes high, particularly for the smaller species, raising concerns about the impact of a fishery on by‐catch species. The potential for deep‐sea fisheries in Falkland waters is discussed and further studies are suggested in the light of developing oil, gas and fishing industries. The presence of some invertebrate taxa is recorded.

Description: Stomach contents were analyzed from 85 Dall's porpoises, Phocoenoides dalli, taken in the southern Sea of Okhotsk during the summer of 1988. Thirteen species of fish and five species of cephalopods were identified. Fishes comprising 9 families were predominant and made up 79.9% of the total number of prey, with an overall occurrence in the stomachs of 100%. Three families of cephalopods made up 20.1% of the total number of prey ingested, with an overall occurrence of 74%. The Japanese pilchard, Sardinops sagax melanostictus, was the primary prey and represented 72.0% of the total prey in 97.3% of the stomachs examined. The gonatid squid, Berryteuthis magister, ranked second and made up 16.9% of the total prey in 61.6% of the stomachs. Walleye pollock, Theragra chalcogramma, was the third most abundant prey item consumed and represented 6.0% of the total, with an occurrence of 53.4%. Composition of the sample by the calculated total mass and caloric intake supports the numeric findings on the relative importance of the three major prey species to the DaIl's porpoise diet. The Japanese pilchard was clearly dominant using these indices and constituted 65.4% of the total mass and 80.7% of the caloric intake. Berryteuthis magister made up 26.8% of the mass and 15.5% of the caloric intake. Walleye pollock contributed the least to the diet with 7.9% of the total mass and 3.8% of the caloric intake. Volumetric data indicate that porpoises are feeding heavily on Japanese pilchard throughout the daylight hours. Berryteuthis magister was probably fed upon in the late night or early morning hours. Occurrence of both Dall's porpoise and Japanese pilchard in the coastal waters of the southern Sea of Okhotsk is seasonal. The summer movements of Dall's porpoise into this region may be related to the seasonal migration and abundance of the Japanese pilchard.

Description: Strong latitudinal gradients in species composition were revealed by two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) of 41 species of epipelagic fishes and squids in 513 gillnet collections by research vessels of Hokkaido University over a huge area of the northern North Pacific during the summers of 1978-1993. Salmonids inhabited northern subarctic water and skipjack tuna (Euthynnus pelamis) and flying squid (Ommastrephes bartrami) inhabited the regon of the Subarctic Boundary, but distinct boundaries between species groups and sample groups were lacking, largely because abundant species, such as Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) and Pacific pomfret (Brama japonica), migrated across most of this region during the summer. Longitudinal differences were not pronounced, but some species, including Japanese sardine (Sardinops melanosticus) and Japanese anchovy (Engraulis japonicus), were only found in the western pacific. Pacific saury was more common in the western Pacific, whereas sockeye samlon (Oncorhynchus nerka) was concentrated in the eastern Pacific. Interannual flucuations in the latitude of species groups were most closely correlated with changes in sea surface temperatures. In the western Pacific, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987-88, and 1992-93 were cool years when subarctic and transitional assemblages were found farther to the south than other years. Temperature and silinity at various depths were highly correlatied with each other with first-axis DCA ordinations scores. Long-term trends in community structure were not apparent during the 1.6 decades.

Description: We propose that ocean conditions of the Near Islands in the western Atleutian Arc mimic those of the shallow continental shelf of the eastern Bering Sea to the extent that the marine community, including assemblages of forage fishes and their avian predators, has disinctly coastal characteristics. In contrast, marine avifauna and their prey at neighbouring Buldir Island are distinctly oceanic. For example, at the Near Islands, the ratio of thick-billed to common murres, Uria lomvia and U. aalge, is low and black.legged kittiwakes, Rissa tridacytla, but not red-legged kittiwakes, R. brevirostris, nest there. Diets of murres and kittiwkaes are dominated by sand lance, Ammodytes hexapterus, an abundant coastal species. At Buldir Island, thick-billed murres greatly outnumber common murres, red-legged kittiwakes and black-legged kittiwakes are both abundant, and diets of the birds consist primarily of oceanic squid and lantern-fish (Myctophidae). This mesoscale difference in food webs is apparently a consequence of the local physiography. A broad escarpment on the Near physiographic block creates a comparatively expansive, shallow, shelf-like habitat around the Near Islands, where a pelagic community typical of coastal regions flourished. Buldir Island is the only emergent feature of the Buldir physiographic block, with little shallow water surrounding it and, apparently, little opportunity for other than oceanic species to exist. Patterns in the distribution of fishes, and thus of sea birds, throughout the Atleutian Islands might be largely explained by the relationship between physical environments and food webs. In the larger context of fisheries oceanography, this model for the Aleutian Islands improves our ability to interpret physical and biological heterogeneity in the ocean and its relationship to regional community dynamics and trends in the abundance and productivity of individual species at higher tropic levels.

Description: Current methods for the replacement of skeletal tissue in general involve the use of autografts or allografts. There are considerable drawbacks in the use of either of these tissues. In an effort to provide an alternative to traditional graft materials, a degradable 3-dimensional (3-D) osteoblast cell–polymer matrix was designed as a construct for skeletal tissue regeneration. A degradable amino acid containing polymer, poly[(methylphenoxy)(ethyl glycinato) phosphazene], was synthesized and a 3-D matrix system was prepared using a salt leaching technique. This 3-D polyphosphazene polymer matrix system, 3-D-PHOS, was then seeded with osteoblast cells for the creation of a cell–polymer matrix material. The 3-D-PHOS matrix possessed an average pore diameter of 165 μm. Environmental scanning electron microscopy revealed a reconnecting porous network throughout the polymer with an even distribution of pores over the surface of the matrix. Osteoblast cells were found attached and grew on the 3-D-PHOS at a steady rate throughout the 21-day period studied in vitro, in contrast to osteoblast growth kinetics on similar, but 2-D polyphosphazene matrices, that showed a decline in cell growth after 7 days. Characterization of 3-D-PHOS osteoblast-polymer matrices by light microscopy revealed cells growing within the pores as well as on surface of the polymer as early as day 1. This novel porous 3-D-PHOS matrix may be suitable for use as a bioerodible scaffold for regeneration of skeletal tissue.