Morphological variation of Philodryas patagoniensis (Girard, 1858) (Serpentes, Dipsadidae) from Brazil, based on the study of pholidosis, coloration and morphometric features

Abstract The current study aimed to verify the relationship between the patterns of coloration, the morphometrical features and pholidosis of specimens of Philodryas patagoniensis from Brazil, with the sexual dimorphism of this species. We studied specimens of P. patagoniensis deposited in several herpetological collections from Brazil. A total of 355 specimens were analyzed, of these 145 were males (87 adults and 58 juveniles) and 210 were females (134 adults and 76 juveniles). Adult specimens exhibit sexual dimorphism in snout-vent length, tail length, head length, number of ventral shields, and number of subcaudal shields. The analysis of variance showed that the adult females are significantly longer than adult males, both at snout-vent length and tail length. Females have a greater number of ventral shields (138-210) than males (151-200). The specimens studied also exhibit two distinct patterns of coloration unrelated to geographical or sexual variations

Mesoscale and upper ocean variabilities during the 1989 JGOFS bloom study

Altimetric data from Geosat and some critical hydrographic measurements were used to estimate in real time the mesoscale physical oceanographic environment surrounding the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) 1989 North Atlantic Bloom Experiment. Three cyclonic eddies, including an exceptionally large one, evolved and interacted over the 10 weeks of observations. Subsequent analysis of all available hydrographic data confirmed the real time estimates and provided further quantitative information concerning the mesoscale and submesoscale structure of the upper ocean. Remotely sensed indicators of near-surface chlorophyll content reveal significant biological variability on these wavelengths. The altimetric and hydrographic data have been assimilated into a dynamical model to produce optimal estimates of physical fields of interest as they evolve in time for use in physical and biological process studie