Asterinid seastars (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) from the Gulf of Oman, Iran

829-834Field surveys in the rocky south-east coast of Iran and northern part of the Gulf of Oman were conducted during a period from October 2014 to March 2015. The Asterinid seastars Patiriella paradoxa (Campbell and Rowe), Aquilonastra watersi (O’Loughlin and Rowe) and Aquilonastra iranica (Mortensen) are reported for the first time from the Iranian coast. The morphological taxonomy and the ecology of these asteroids are discussed in this work

Morphology and phylogeny of the sea anemone Stichodactyla haddoni (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria) from Chabahar Bay, Iran

Carpet anemones of the genus Stichodactyla are characterized by having no calcium carbonate skeleton, being flattened with rather short tentacles, being exclusively tropical, and being hosts for clown fish species. Most of the species belonging to this genus, however, are often very similar morphologically; thus, identification by external features is rather difficult. In this study, we have described the morphology and phylogenetic affinities of a carpet anemone species collected from Chabahar Bay. Although the Iranian species showed different coloration patterns within the same geographical area, they strongly resemble Stichodactyla haddoni Saville-Kent, 1893 in having short tentacles densely covering the undulated oral disc and white, pointed, recognizable exocoelic tentacles. Comparison of 18S rDNA with other actiniarians revealed that the 2 Iranian species are closely related to Stichodactyla haddoni, Stichodactyla gigantea, and Heteractis magnifica. This is the first record of Stichodactyla haddoni from the south eastern coast of Iran and the northern part of the Sea of Oman

A Review on the Impact of Environmental Pollution from Municipal Waste Disposal on the Health of Marine Ecosystem of Kharchang Coast, Konarak, Chabahar Bay

The entry of materials extracted from municipal, industrial and hospital waste into marine ecosystems is one of the serious environmental problems in coastal cities. One of the most important environmental challenges is the improper and unprincipled disposal of waste on the beaches. The Kharchang coast of Konarak city is one of these beaches that is subject to improper waste management in the country. In the present study, the possible environmental hazards of the landfill on the coast were investigated. According to the results, the traditional and inefficient waste disposal system on the shores of Konarak near the mangrove forests, has brought about the soil and air pollution, and with the entry of toxic leachates, plastics and microplastics, heavy metals and organic matter in the bed of sand, mud and also their entry into the sea has caused many health problems in these ecosystems and consequently the destruction of the marine environment of Chabahar Bay. Therefore, creating and organizing a fully standardized and mechanized system based on up-to-date methods seems to be essential in order to achieve the health of local ecologists. In addition, due to the proximity of the landfill to the aquatic ecosystems of the Oman Sea, the principle of choosing a suitable place for disposal and landfilling is effective in reducing potential environmental hazards in the region and will improve waste management

Identification of local microalgae & their evaluation as live food in aquaculture from Oman Sea

Microalgae are very important organisms in aquaculture as major live food in all growth stages of bivalve, some larval stages of crustaceans, some fishes and zooplankton. In this project with the knowledge that local algae can provide better nutritional balance for local animals. Microalgae were isolated, identified and evaluated for their nutritional value for the first time. Another aim of this research was to create phytoplankton culture collection (Bank) in the south of Iran. Water was sampled from Sistan and Baluchesta coasts, then isolation and purification process were carried out in the lab. Species identification was based on morphology and molecular analyses. rDNA was extracted from each strain after PCR, partial LSU-rDNA region were sequenced and compared with similar sequence from GenBank. In order to evaluate their nutritional properties, relative growth, fatty acids composition, total lipid, carbohydrate, protein, and some vitamins of each purified strain were determined. Totally 25 species were isolated and purified, of which 12 strains were recorded in GenBank and their nutritional potential were assessed. Dunaliella cf. bardawill, Isochrysis sp. Cheatoceros sp. Clorella cf. volgaris, Ochromonas sp. and Synechococcus sp. were the most important species research. Iranian strains were varied in their amount of protein (27-40%), carbohydrate (221%) and lipid (8-13%). Proportions of SFA (21-48%), MUFA (33-53%) and PUFA (11-28.5%) were varied among strains. The highest amount of PUFA and B3 vitamin were found in Clorella cf. vulgaris. The highest content of protein (40.12% dry wt) and total fatty acid concentration (30% dry wt) were found in Dunaliella cf. bardawil and Ochromonas strain(CHPO2) respectively. The maximum content of total fatty acid was observed in Ochromonas sp. (CHPO2). Cheatoceros sp. had higher relative growth rate in comparison with other species

The best DNA extraction method from sea anemone species with the mucosal tissue

1011-1016DNA extraction is the first and the most important step in genomic analysis of desoxy ribonucleique acid (DNA) for subsequent activities. DNA isolation is very difficult from sea anemones due to the mucosal contaminants. Different protocols are suggested for DNA extraction from sea anemones. The present study provides a DNA extraction protocol by some changing in common Phenol Chloroform method. This method was modified during the examination to achieve the best result. Sea anemones were collected from the southeast coasts of Iran, Oman Sea. They were transported to the laboratory and kept alive under in vitro conditions. The DNA was extracted by Phenol Chloroform/Isoamyl alcohol (PCI) method and extracted DNA was used as template for amplification in PCR. We proposed a modified PCI method in this study

Evaluation the Effects of Sub-lethal concentrations of Zinc Chloride on hepatic enzymes activity in grey mullet (Mugil Cephalus) in vitro

In the recent years, water pollution by contaminations are increasing rapidly, the problems of aquatic pollution with heavy metals which is one of the important pollutions indicate that necessary to assess in fish as an important source of human food. The aim of this study was investigated the sub-lethal effects of zinc chloride on hepatic enzymes activity in grey mullet (Mugil Cephalus). In this study after determining the LC50, Two sub-lethal treatments of zinc chloride includes (1.73 and 3.46 mg/L) was considered that any treatment has three replications. Fish were exposed to different doses of sub-lethal for 1, 7, 14 and 21 days and the end of each period samples of liver tissue was taken. The results showed that with increasing concentration of sub-lethal levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) significantly increased (P≤0.05). Also with the prolonged exposure amount of enzymes AST, AST and ALT were increased significantly (P≤0.05). Results of this research showed those hepatic enzymes as stress indicator can be important factors to the investigation of eco-toxicological changes

Diversity and abundance of diatoms (Bacillariophyceae) in sediments of the south coast of Iran

In this stud, the diversity and abundance of benthic diatoms were evaluated in 9 stations located in Persian Gulf (Sirik) and Oman Sea (Gwatar, Abshirinkon) in winter and spring of 1394 -1395.  Environmental factors including salinity, pH, aggregation and organic matter were evaluated. In this study, 72 species of diatoms belonging to 38 genera were identified. Abundance of diatoms in winter and spring were 23258 + 2961 and 16030 + 1206 per 100 g of sediment, respectively. Seasonal changes of biological indicators, Margalef, Shannon Parker, and Berger were 1.30 – 3.72, 1.28 – 2.89, 0.09 – 0.40, respectively. Based on two-way analysis of variance the abundance of diatoms was significantly different between stations (P > 0.05), but no significant differences were observed between two seasons (P > 0.05) based on t-test. There were positive correlations between grain size, salinity and organic matter with the diversity and abundance of diatoms. Station 9 in the Gwatar region with the highest percentage of silt-clay, organic matter and high salinity showed the highest diversity and abundance of diatoms in the sediment. The results showed that the diversity and abundance of benthic diatoms depend on grain size, organic matter and salinity

An assessment of abundance and biological indices of Polychaetes in intertidal zone of Tis Coast - Chabahar Bay

Polychaete worms with high species richness and diversity play a key role in the water food chain. In this research polychates of the intertidal zone of Tis coast in Chabahar bay were studied. Sampling was conducted over a period of one year, from summer to winter 2013 and during four seasons by 50 cm×50 cm quadrats. Twenty two families and 30 genera and 4 species were identified polychaetes.The dominant species of polychaetes were identified: Prionospio sp., Nepthys spp., Scoloplos spp., Spio sp., Ophelia sp., Aphelochaeta sp., Armandia leptocirris. Polychaetes were the most common in winter with 305 Ind.m and autumn with 89 Ind.m is the minimum frequency. Statistical analysis by two-way ANOVA showed significant differences (P>0.05) between the abundance of polychaetes in the year seasons. The species diversity and richness with values 3.6 and 0.88 in winter and the level of environmental integrity in the spring and autumn with value 0.63 and 3.11, respectively, were the highest dominance. The third station with mean 3.29 in four seasons had the highest Shannon index, which reflects the greater diversity of polychaetes in this station. The results showed that this area is very rich in terms of density and diversity of polychaetes. The result obtained from this study could examine the status of contamination by comparing records

Morphology and molecular assessment of two Seastars species (Echinodermata: Asteroidea: Asterinidae) from Chabahar coastal (Oman sea)

In this study, sea stars Aquilonastra watersi and Patiriella paradoxa were collected from the rocky intertidal area in Tis Port on the western coast.and the rocky shallows depths of 7-8m at Konarak on the Iranian eastern coast of Chabahar Bay, respectively in November 2014. Specimens were collected in plastic sampling boxes containing seawater and transferred to the laboratory of Chabahar Maritime University. The specimens were morphologically assessed. Then in order to examine gene sequences, DNA was extracted by CTAB method and after performing PCR, mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene was sequenced. The phylogenetic-trees for these species were drawn by Maximum Likelihood methods. The evaluations of results showed that despite differences in morphology, A. watersi is sister group of Aquilonastra. Batheri. Based on the results P. paradoxa from present study andP. regularis are in a monophyletic clade, supported by high bootstrap