Mosammat Rasheda Chowdhury, Munira Nasiruddin, M. A. Azadi, Md. Saiful Islam, Md. Nazmul Haque Nayeem, Sunil Kumer Mahato

An investigation was conducted to record the fish fauna, fishing gears, methods, and crafts used in Pabna and Sirajgonj districts of Chalan beel, the largest inland wetland of Bangladesh during July 2020 to December 2020. A total of 88 species of fin fish, including 78 native and 10 exotic, belonging to 9 orders, 24 families and 58 genera and 2 species of shell fish under one order were recorded from the study areas. Of the recorded orders, Order Cypriniformes was the most abundant followed by orders Perciformes and Siluriformes. Among the studied fishing gears and crafts, 8 types of nets, 6 types of traps, 2 types of hooks and lines and 2 types of wounding gears and 4 types of fishing crafts were recorded. The study showed that the water body of Chalan beel is a very important wet land of Bangladesh which supported a wide range of freshwater and estuarine fishes, which are inhabitants of both lentic and lotic water habitats, indicating that the running and stagnant water conditions prevailed in this important water body.

Luca R. Valandro, Roberto Caimmi, Yiannis G. Matsinos, Emanuele L. Secco

Complexity of complete ancient and modern food webs assumed to capture essential forests network trophic topology scales similarly to that of ancient and modern lake webs and communities from variable environments. Reasonably these groupings and patterns are not exclusively driven by environmental fluctuating conditions. Unexpectedly, disparate aquatic and terrestrial communities can belong to the same connection trend with network size whose nodes represent the number of trophic species. Although some aquatic communities can host apex predators at higher trophic levels than terrestrial ones, it is not clear if this relates to different connectance or hierarchical structure. OBJECTIVES - In this study we analyzed, reviewing literature trophic webs, extreme number of trophic levels data and their relationship with trophic link distributions (vulnerability and surrogate energetic parameters). Furthermore, we report about a gap on the number of energetic pathways at a threshold modal trophic level. General differences, among aquatic and terrestrial communities, in primary consumers fractions or percentages were tested. METHODS - A new network approach to food webs was presented to interpret maximum chain length or extreme trophic levels from matrix information and few assumptions. Two opposite logarithmic trends were analyzed, and sigmoid models were utilized to predict missing predatory links in large cumulative food networks. RESULTS - The main results are the presentation of two opposite trends of link density vs topological connectance in log-log correlation analysis where communities belonging to different eco-regions of the richest lake in terms of trophic species (i.e., Lake Malawy-Nyasa-Niassa) were submitted to further scrutiny for the interpretation of their maximum chain length. Herbivore’s Fraction^-1 equal the number of trophic levels in newly defined size ambivalent communities that are characterized by relatively small number of species but displaying the same complexity pattern of species rich ones. CONCLUSION - Maximum number of trophic levels of ecological communities from different habitats could be associated with extrapolated link density obtained by the trends of vulnerability link and surrogate energetic link distributions. Top-down and bottom-up control were discussed under this new perspective where ubiquitous anti-predatory strategies, inferred by reduction in trophic links, were also estimated. This wide new perspective could be preparatory for the interpretation of the effects of changing scenarios or contexts and habitat/species safeguard.

Arash Taheri

Interaction between an animal and its habitat is one of the crucial factors in the evolution process. In aquatic environments, marine species have developed some unique morphological features with hydrodynamic consequences to overcome necessity of life over the course of million years. In this paper, hydrodynamic effects of the longitudinal-dorsal ridges covering the upper-lateral sides of whale shark’s body as a prominent eidonomic characteristic of these species are studied with the aid of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In this regard, flow physics of the problem is numerically simulated at high Reynolds number, i.e. 1.4×10⁷ corresponding to the swimming of a 10 meter-whale shark at its average speed, i.e. 5km/h, using Lam-Bremhorst turbulence model. The results indicate that presence of the longitudinal ridges leads to formation of streamwise vortices which delays flow separation on the body and modifies hydrodynamic characteristics of the whale shark swimming. At sideslip angles, flow simulation results show that the ridges noticeably contribute to the ‘sinking feeling’ of the animal. Furthermore, spectral analysis of the unsteady simulation results in start-up phase of the whale shark’s tail beating in a quiescent flow environment depict that these morphological features uniformize energy content of the vortical structures originating from the tail/caudal peduncle (not caudal fin) via suppressing of its energy peaks.

Hsu Htoo, Thida, Nang Yee Mon Htoo

This study was to compare the morphological blood cell profiles of hybrid bovines in Pyinmapin dairy farm. The study period started in October 2017 and ended in September 2018. Blood samples are taken every 2 months. After Dacie and Lewis (1975), basic experiments of conventional thin blood membrane preparation and staining methods were performed. Cell morphology will be identified based on cell morphology and average size, average cell morphology and size, and staining characteristics. Hematology analysis is performed in the Department of Zoology, University of East Yangon. Based on the results obtained, the morphological blood cell profiles of the three hybrid cows will be compared.

Mehrnoosh Pirhayati

Imagine you did not have the system of producing human language and only what you had were the numbers of one to ten. How would you thought that you might use them for communicating? one for hello? and two for bye bye? Now imagine you had only the system of songs, do, re, mi, fa, sol…So, you might probably use sol for saying hello? In here, some questions can be raised such as, does the language of animals can be assimilated to our understanding of sound ranges that human cannot comprehend them? For example, the sounds produced by ants, because what they produce are 1 kHz. How can be possible interpreting the language of them, even the ant? Does each types of animals have a particular recognizable culture which their languages, like human being were originated from it? Does this culture has overlaps with human’s culture? - Does understanding their language can lead to appropriately employing them in human’s life, instead of to working robots? Imagine you be able to talk with an animal by meaningfully using its language and telling him/her to do something for you and instead of psychologically accustoming them to work like this. That is the structure of this research to shed the lights on the language of non-human beings specially koalas, to probably kick the door of more investigation about them and make their lives easy in this modern world.

Stephen J. Maxwell

This paper uses the now accepted tool of phototyping in conjunction with extensive published anecdotal evidence to describe a new carnivorous Marsupialia. This new taxon differs from all known Marsupialia in having reduced incisors and greatly developed canines. Bicingulatus ninjabearus new species is purported to be an aggressive mimic, with the primary prey item Phascolarctos (sl.). This paper tests the limits for taxonomic validity using phototypes, where the formal structure for erecting taxa grants validity irrespective of physical evidence, and also where the use of phototypes can be demonstrably supported with axillary evidence. This paper seeks to establish precedents on how nature-bound encounters resulting in the capture of an image of a purported new species that is then widely distributed is treated. It is demonstrated that the use of that image can be as a phototype and primary evidence for a species description in taxonomy. Therefore, this paper seeks to test the limits on the application of phototypes. (urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:453BD8CA-E8C5-48DE-8578-A42D7633E006)

Yahaya M. M.

Effects of varying densities of larvae and feed with an amino acid lysine (1.5g) additive on the mortality of larvae and growth of pupae of Musca domestica (L.) were determined. Larvae were initially kept at density of 3 larvae per group in a beaker and fed with 40 per cent milk (w/v) concentration. Both the density and feeding concentrations were increased progressively. Mortality of the larvae was zero at 3 larvae per group but the mean axial ratio of puparia was observed to be 13.75±0.33. As the number of larvae increased subsequently from 3 to 6, 12, 24, 42 and 74 per each group, varying mortality values and marked reduction in axial ratios of the puparia were observed. Increasing mortality rate was also observed with the constant number of larvae kept at 24 per group at different feeding regimes in some cases. Lysine additive however, seemed to influence the reduction of mortality rate but only slightly improved mean axial ratios of puparia. This suggested that factors other than food also affected survival of larvae and growth of pupae in crowding conditions.

Shilpa Adhikari, Dikshit Poudel, Sandesh Bolakhe

Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) is only surviving member of family Gavialidae which is native to Indian sub-continent. IUCN has listed Gharial as Critically Endangered and categorized in Appendix-I by CITES. In response to high population declination, Government of Nepal has started the restocking program from 1978. Environmental temperature has a pivotal role in the behavior of ectotherms. A pilot study was conducted from December 2017 to March 2018 to assess the impact of temperature variability on behavioral thermoregulation of gharial in the winter season at Gharial conservation Breeding Centre (GCBC), Chitwan National Park, Nepal. The paper attempts to analyze the effect of atmospheric and pool water temperature fluctuation on thermoregulatory behavior of gharial in the winter season which is an important consideration for conservation issue. Primary data was collected using focal animal sampling method and the temperature was recorded with a thermometer. The results of this study revealed, in morning gharials spent 91.44% time inside water when mean water temperature 14.93°C was greater than the atmospheric temperature of 12.80°C. Meanwhile, during day and evening, they spent 87.98% and 81.49% of their time basking outside as outer atmosphere was warmer with average 20.80°C and 20.14°C than pool water temperature 17.67°C and 17.60°C respectively to maintain their body temperature. In winter, basking was triggered when outer temperature surpassed pool water during day and evening hours but warmer pool water than the atmosphere in the morning resulted in gharials to stay inside pools for thermoregulation and ecological needs of their body. In extreme temperature, thermal stress may affect normal functions causing extensive damages. Thus, it is important to understand behavioral pattern and consider temperature fluctuation to prevent gharial from deadly extreme as well as for management and establishment of captive centers.

Niamien Coffi Jean Magloire, Dago Dougba Noel, Kadjo Blaise, Koné Inza, N’goran Kouakou Eliézer

The spatiotemporal activities of straw-colored fruit bats, Eidolon helvum (Kerr, 1792) a near-threatened species has been studied in the Commune of Plateau in Abidjan from August 2012 to July 2013. The present survey carried out by direct observations aimed in monitoring the straw-colored fruits bats population with the purpose to discriminate their circadian rhythm activities patterns in terms of time and space by processing behavioural pattern frequencies as well as by identifying distribution discriminant factors. Results showed that daily activity pattern was characterized by (i) sleeping activity from 07:00 Am to 05:00 Pm, (ii) awaking (05:00 Pm-05:30 Pm) and (iii) grooming in the early evening (05:30 Pm-06:00 Pm) and (iv) dispersion from 06:00 to Pm-07:00 Pm. Activities patterns varied with food availability, reproduction and season. A right integration of presently processed data into the biodiversity system preservation strategy should contribute to ensure and guarantee a rational and as well a sustainable management with regard these near-threatened species.

Henry A. J., Halilu A., Ibom L. A., Edet A. E.

This study evaluated the growth performance and body parameters of two ectotypes of Archachatinamarginata var. saturalis. The study was carried out at the Botanical garden, University of Calabar, Calabar. Thirty (30) adult black-skinned snails, thirty adult white skinned (30) each of the A.marginata with 2, 3 and 4 whorls were used respectively for the study. Identification and sorting of the snails sourced from a reputable snail vendor in Ibadan into breeds was done using the appropriate profile and template. The body weights of the snails ranged from 11.65 to 30.99 g. The indices used were body weight, body length, body width, ‘mouth’ length and ‘mouth’ width. Results obtained from the study showed that black skinned snails gain more weight than the white skinned snails (P<0.05). The results showed that body length and width increment were higher (P<0.05) for black skinned snails. All regression coefficients (R²) were found to be significant (P<0.001) with high R² values (0.680 – 0.867) for black-skinned. The actual and predicted body weights were more or less similar which confirmed the fact that body weight can be predicted from quantitative traits measurements with accuracy. Thus, these quantitative or phenotypic traits of the two ectotypes of snail studied could be chosen to differentiate snails.