Ecological Networks of Allometric Growth,Feeding Behavior and Gut Microbiota in Chinese Alligator Hatchlings

Chinese alligator hatchlings in captivity are fragile and have a high mortality rate within first year.The body mass gain of reptile animals is closely related to their feeding behavior and gut microbiota.This study analyzed the intrinsic factors influencing the allometric growth of Chinese alligator hatchlings based on their body mass gain,feeding behavior,and gut microbiota.This information would enhance the health management of Chinese alligator hatchlings.There was a significant correlation between the total distance moved,the average number of conspecifics nearby,and body mass gain.Chinese alligator hatchlings with a greater growth rate showed greater activity and more independent behavior during feeding than those with a lower growth rate.Moreover,after feeding started,some functions of the gut microbiota showed significant relationships with growth rate and feeding activity.Chinese alligator hatchlings with a greater growth rate showed greater levels of heme biosynthesis than those with a lower growth rate,and feeding activity was inhibited by long-chain fatty acid biosynthesis.These results elucidate the relationships between health,feeding behavior,and the gut microbiota of Chinese alligator hatchlings.Understanding the intrinsic factors of their health and feeding behavior can improve the health management of Chinese alligator hatchlings in captivity for conservation.

Morphological changes and allometric growth in hatcheryreared Chinese loach Paramisgurnus dabryanus(Dabry de Thiersant, 1872)

The length-weight relationship and allometric growth patterns of hatchery-reared Chinese loach, Paramisgurnus dabryanus(Dabry de Thiersant, 1872), were determined from hatching to 60 days after hatching. A best power model was estimated for the length-weight relationship during the early life stages. Positive allometric growth for the head segment, trunk length, tail length and eye diameter was also found in the early life stages, while body depth, tail depth, tail fi n length, pectoral fi n length and barbel length displayed a negative coeffi cient. During the subsequent early developmental stage, the growth coeffi cients showed a clear and common tendency towards isometry for all measured body ratios. The allometric growth changes in Chinese loach during the early stage are possibly the result of selective organogenesis directed towards survival priorities.

Experimental Analysis on Allometric Growth in Spualiobarbus curriculus Larvae and Juveniles in Zhaoqing Reach of the Pearl River

Ecological experiment was conducted in this paper to study the allometric growth in Squaliobarbus curriculus larvae and juveniles from Zhaoqing Reach of the Pearl River. The results showed that after first feeding, the organs associated to swimming, feeling and feeding of larvae differentiated rapidly, and exhibited allometric growth. The head length, tail length and head height exhibited positive allometric growth, while trunk length exhibited negative allometric growth before reaching the growth inflexion point 20 d after first feeding, and positive allometric growth after the inflection point. Body height exhibited positive allometric growth both before and after the growth inflexion point at 18 d after first feeding. The inflexion points of snout length, eye diameter and post-eye head length occurred 23, 19 and 16 d after first feeding. For swimming organs, the dorsal fin, pelvic fins and anal fin exhibited positive allometric growth both before and after the inflexion point at 18, 19 and 17 d after first feeding; but the tail fin exhibited positive allometric growth before the inflexion point at 14 d after first feeding, and negative allometric growth after the inflexion point. S. curriculus larvae can possess various abilities soon after first feeding to survive at early stage due to the rapid development of swimming, feeling, feeding and other organs, which has important ecological significance to adapt to the complex external environment.

Growth and maturity of Chiromantes dehaani in the Dazhi River estuary

Chiromantes dehaani, as one of the dominant species in intertidal regions of the Yangtze estuary, plays an important role in the ecosystem. To study allometry and maturity in different phases, morphological data had been collected from October in 2009 to September in 2010. Morphologic data such as carapace, cheliped and abdomen were processed by cluster and piecewise linear regression analyses. Discriminat function and logistic curves were built to determine different phases and sizes at 50% maturity, respectively. The results showed that the cheliped width in males and abdomen width in females both presented obvious allometry. The sizes of 50% morphometric maturity occurred at 16.36 mm and 18.22 mm carapace width in males and females, respectively. The life history of males could be divided into three phases while that of females only had two phases according to different growth rates. A significant change in allometry of juvenile males with a break point was detected at 11.78 mm carapace width; carapace width of juvenile and adult females overlapped in a range of 13.04 - 18.64 mm. The crabs attained 50% physiological maturity at the size of 17.50 mm and 17.20 mm for females and males, respectively. For male, the size of morphological maturity was larger than that of physiological maturity, which was opposite to that of female.

Ontogenetic Changes in Meristic Measurements of Silver Carp and Bighead Carp

The study analyzed 30 exterior meristic characters for 255 silver and bighead carp samples of 1- to 5-year-old collected from the National Primary Breeding Farm at Laojianghe Lake at the Middle Reach of the Yangtze River. Multivariate analysis was performed. In silver carp, the Euclidean distance was the greatest between the 1-year-old group and other age groups. Silver carp individuals were correctly classified at 98.0% accuracy with a discriminant function established by discriminant analysis based on meristic measurements. Similarly, bighead carp had the greatest distance between 1- to 2-year-old group and other age groups. Individuals of bighead carp were correctly classified at 90.7% accuracy by the discrimination function. The data showed that morphological transformation occurred during the life history of silver and bighead carp development. Eighteen meristic measurements showed highly significant differences, while four showed a significant difference between the two silver carp groups. Ten parameters decreased, while twelve measurements increased during development. In bighead carp, fourteen parameters were significantly different, while three parameters were significantly different between the two groups. Twelve parameters were significantly decreased and another five were increased during development. The results suggest allometric growth should be taken into account when identifying species, analyzing population differences and establishing germplasm standards based on morphology.

Evolution mechanism of demand for comprehensive transportation system based on metabolic ecology

The metabolic evolution model of transportation demand for comprehensive transportation systems is put forward on the basis of a metabolic theory of ecology. In the model, the growth rates or changing rates of transportation volumes for the various transportation modes of a city are determined not only by the GDP per capita which reflects the size of the city itself, but also by the relationship of competition and cooperation among transportation modes. The results of empirical analysis for Chinese cities show that the allometric growth exponent in the equation for the variation rate of passenger demand volume on rail is greater than the predicted value of 1/4 in metabolic ecology, whereas the allometric growth relationship is not so evident in the equation for the variation rate of passenger demand volume on road. The changing rate of road transportation is thus mainly affected by the relationship of competition and cooperation among transportation modes for Chinese cities.

Length-weight relationships for six freshwater fish species in Iran

The aim of this study is to report the length-weight relationship parameters （a and b） for some economically important fish species from Iranian freshwaters. The length-weight relationships （LWR） are calculated for six freshwater fish species collected during 2006 and 2007 in Iran. The values of the exponent b in the LWR （W=aL^b） vary between 2.985 and 3.543. The LWR with high correlation coefficient （r^2） is significant for all the species. These parameters axe of great importance to evaluate the relative condition of populations, biology, species management and their fisheries and stock assessment. The application of the length-weight relationships presented here should be limited to the observed length ranges.

Variation in the life-history traits of a Schilbid catfish,Clupisoma garua (Hamilton, 1822) in the coastal waters of southern Bangladesh

For the first time, the present study reports the life-history traits, comprising length-frequency distribution （LFD）, sex ratio （SR）, length-weight relationships （LWRs）, condition factors （CFs）, and relative growth （WR）, of Clupisoma garua in the coastal waters of Bangladesh. A total of 150 specimens ranging from 8.60 to 25.20 cm total length （TL） and 4.26 to 128.80 g body weight （BW） were collected using traditional fishing gear from August 2013 to July 2014. The overall sex ratio of males to females in the study did not differ significantly from the expected value of 1：1 （χ2=0.96, P〈0.05） but there were significant sex differences （P〈0.05） in the intercepts and slopes of graphs characterizing traits in C. garua. The calculated b values for the LWRs were 2.955, 2.893 and 2.927 for males, females and combined sexes, respectively, and there was negative allometric growth in all cases （b〈3）. The condition factors （KA, KF, KrR） and relative growth （WR） also did not differ significantly （P〈0.05） between the sexes. This study provides a useful tool for fishery specialists to evaluate the relative condition of fish and to initiate early management strategies and regulations for the sustainable management of the remaining stocks of this species in the entire coastal region of southern Bangladesh.

Driving Mechanism of Urban Space Expansion in Luoyang, China

Urban space expansion is the result of the interaction between internal and external forces of the urban. Based on the remote sensing image data of 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020, and the social and economic development data, this paper analyzes the driving mechanism of the Luoyang space expansion characteristics and its correlation characteristics. By using urban land use efficiency index, urban expansion elastic index;urban allometric growth index, and grey correlation analysis in 4 times sections and 3 periods. The research results show that the urban space expansion of Luoyang mainly comes from the needs and support of economic development, the coordination between urban space expansion and population development is poor, and urban space expansion effectively attracts the inflow of external funds, and the settlement of migrants, drives the development of the tertiary industry, and increases the local revenue.