Biology

Progress

Are Invasive Plants More Toxic than Native Ones?

The Chemical Ecology and Toxicology group at UAB analysed the concentration of certain molecules of the Senecio pterophorus shrub, which are toxic to vertebrates and invertebrates, in plants collected in their native environment and in three non-native environments, to determine whether changes in their own chemical composition and toxicity take place.

[+]

Progress

Production of Toxin-Free Bacterial Amyloid

Inclusion bodies or amyloids are nanostructured protein aggregates produced inside a cell, frequent in certain bacteria, and with interesting biomedical applications. A study has developed several toxin-free E. coli strains from which amyloids free from potentially hazardous cell contaminants have been produced.

[+]

Progress

How the World's Largest Salamander Feed?

An international team has developed three-dimensional models of the bite of the world's largest living amphibian, the Chinese giant salamander, an endangered animal. Understanding how this species hunts not only broadens the knowledge of its biology but can also help in reconstructing how early tetrapods and extinct amphibians fed.

[+]

Progress

Cairanoolithus: a Large Egg for a Small Dinosaur With Wide Hips

The study of the microstructure of the eggshell of Cairanoolithus conducted by Albert G. Sellés and Angel Galobart, both researchers at the ICP, reveals that this egg type does not belong to sauropod dinosaurs but to ankylosaurs, and probably to Struthiosaurus, a genus of armored dinosaurs. The finding would represent the first description of thyreophora eggs in the world.

[+]

02/2007 -

Fish in the Bellingshausen Sea

The Bellingshausen Sea is a remote part of the ocean surrounding the Antarctic, isolated, inhospitable and almost unexplored. A Hespérides expedition has managed to study the fauna which inhabit this region. Examples of 23 species of fish have been studied and at present we are in the process of discovering more species.

References

"Fishes of the Bellingshausen Sea and Peter I Island". Matallanas, J; Olaso, I. POLAR BIOLOGY, eFIRST date: 5 OCT 2006. 2007, 30:333-341.

Many studies on animal biodiversity have been carried out by members of the Zoology Unit (Biosciences) since the beginnings of the UAB. One of the most recent has been that of Dr. Jesús Matallanas, who has participated as an expert in fish taxonomy in Antarctic campaigns undertaken by the Hespérides in the Bellingshausen Sea.

Up to now, the ictiofauna of this sea was unknown. The fish were caught with a Agassiz dredge net and baited bag nets, at depths of between 355 and 1947 m. The results, in collaboration with Dr I. Olaso, from the Spanish Institute of Oceanography have just been published in the latest edition of the German journal Polar Biology.

The aim of the work was to discover the taxonomic composition of the ictiofauna of this sea, the abundance of the distinct species and their zoogeographic affinities. 23 species were found in the sea. The dominant families are Zoarcidae and Nototheniidae: 98 % of the examples captured (52 % in weight) belong to species of these two families. Nevertheless, the means of capture of these two species differs; 98 % of the Nototheniidae were caught with the Agassiz dredge net, while 97 % of the Zoarcidae were caught with baited bag nets.

Various Zoarcidae.

A widely held opinion is that Antarctic ictiofauna is dominated by Nototheniidae. However in the Bellingshausen Sea, the dominant group is Zoarcidae, which exceeds Nototheniidae in number and almost triples it in weight. As regards the batimetric distribution we should point out that at depths of less than 550 m, Nototheniidae dominate with 73 % of the examples, followed by Zoarcidae (18 %); below this depth, 76 % of the examples belong to Zoarcidae, while Nototheniidae hardly exceeds 2 %.

In spite of the lack of knowledge we had of the Bellingshausen Sea it has been repeatedly included in the Western Antarctic Province. However, from an ictiogeographic point of view we have not discovered any species which are characteristic of that province. On the contrary, its ictiofauna is more similar to that of the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea and, therefore, it would fit better in the Eastern Antarctic Province.

Most of the Zoarcidae captured in the Bellingshausen Sea belong to species never before described. The author is at present working on just such a taxonomic study.

Jesús Matallanas

Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Jesus.Matallanas@uab.es

2024 Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

B.11870-2012 ISSN: 2014-6388