A new record of deep-sea caridean shrimp Plesionika narval (Decapoda: Pandalidae) from the south west coast of India

Pandalid shrimp, Plesionika narval (Fabricius, 1787) was recorded from trawl fishing off Kochi (9°59’ N 76°14’E), Kerala, south-west coast of India. The specimens were obtained from deep-sea shrimp trawlers operated at a depth range of 250-300 m. Samples were collected from the Kalamuku Landing Centre on 4th April 2014. 14 males and 12 females in good condition were segregated from the mixed deep-sea shrimp doscards and their measurements recorded (Table 1). Body was transparently pinkred in colour with a pair of sub dorsal and lateral red margined white stripes extending along almost entire body length from anterior carapace to posterior abdomen

Note on Occurrence of Jaydia queketti (Osteichthyes: Apogonidae) from the Bycatch of Tropical Trawl Fishery

Three specimens of apogonids species of total length 72.69, 106.28 and 110.67 mm were caught off Tuticorin at the depths of 90-100 m as a bycatch on 1st January 2013 from the commercial trawler operated from Tuticorin Fishing Harbour, Southeast coast of India. In this paper, on the occurrence of Jaydia queketti was figured and the comprehensive diagnostic features of the recorded specimens were elucidated. The species of this genus Jaydia is distributed continentally and often caught as a bycatch from shrimp or fish trawl. These species are widely distributed in New Guinea, larger islands in the Coral Sea, Australia, Arabian Sea of India and also from Africa to Japan. Nevertheless, the present observation shows the occurrence of J. queketti from the bycatch of trawl fishery operated along Gulf of Mannar, Southeast coast of India

24,4,8-Trioxa-21-aza-1,3,6(1,2)-tri­benzena-2(2,3)-bicyclo­[3.3.0]octa­na­cyclo­octa­phane

The crystal structure of the title compound, C26H25NO3, was determined as part of an investigation of host–guest and electron donor–acceptor complexes. The oxazole and the pyrrole rings both adopt envelope conformations. The dihedral angle between the two benzene rings directly linked to the oxazole ring is 49.5 (1)°. The crystal structure is stabilized by a C—H⋯π inter­action

On a cryogenic noble gas ion catcher

In-situ purification of the gas used as stopping medium in a noble gas ion catcher by operating the device at low temperatures of 60 to 150 K was investigated. Alpha-decay recoil ions from a 223Ra source served as energetic probes. The combined ion survival and transport efficiencies for 219Rn ions saturated below about 90 K, reaching 28.7(17) % in helium, 22.1(13) % in neon, and 17.0(10) % in argon. These values may well reflect the charge exchange and stripping cross sections during the slowing down of the ions, and thus represent a fundamental upper limit for the efficiency of noble gas ion catcher devices. We suggest the cryogenic noble gas ion catcher as a technically simpler alternative to the ultra-high purity noble gas ion catcher operating at room temperature.Comment: Submitted to Nucl. Instrum. Meth. Phys. Res.

Assessment of heavy metals distribution in a coastal environment of Versova coast, Mumbai, India

1058-1065The existence of heavy metals namely, copper, chromium, and cadmium was studied in coastal waters off Versova, Mumbai. Monthly sampling was carried out from October 2012 to March 2013 across 36 stations. Concentrations of Copper (Cu), Cadmium (Cd) and Chromium (Cr) were measured using the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). The concentration of dissolved elements in surface water varied from 0.01 to 0.03 mg/l. Concentrations of dissolved elements in sub-surface waters were as follows: Cu (0.01 to 0.02 mg/l), Cd (0.02 to 0.03 mg/l) and Cr (0.02 to 0.03 mg/l). The concentrations of Cu, Cd and Cr in suspended solids of the surface water were 0.82 – 1.68, 5.22 – 10.24 and 3.26 – 16.03 mg/kg, respectively, while their concentrations in suspended solid obtained from the sub-surface water were 2.77 – 4.29, 3.24 – 10.10 and 1.91 – 5.67 mg/kg, respectively. The concentrations of Cu, Cd, and Cr in sediments were 74.52 – 112.81, 3.02 – 22.88 and 65.05 – 107.74 mg/kg, respectively. The physico-chemical parameters of water and sediment were analyzed to understand the temporal distribution of heavy metals

Fishery and biology of Plesionika quasigrandis Chace, 1985 off Sakthikulangara, south-west coast of India

The fishery and biology of Plesionika quasigrandis Chace, 1985 from Sakthikulangara Fishing Harbour was studied for the period 2006-2008. The average annual catch was 2400 t, forming 28% of the total deep sea shrimp landings at Sakthikulangara. August to November was the most productive period in terms of catch and catch rate. The growth parameters L∞ and K y-1 for males and females were 124 mm, 0.7 and 130 mm, 0.8 respectively. The growth performance index (φ’) and t0 were 4.032, -0.0036 and 4.131, -0.00275 for males and females, respectively with a longevity of 5 years. Recruitment pattern was bimodal with two peaks, one in March and the other in June. The relationship between total length (TL) and total weight (W) revealed an isometric growth in case of females and allometric growth in males. The length at recruitment (Lr) and length at 50% capture (Lc50) was 73; 84.8 mm (males) and 78; 93.4 mm (females), respectively which corresponded to an age (tc) of 1.6 years. The natural mortality, fishing mortality, total mortality, exploitation ratio, exploitation rate and Emax were 0.81, 2.14, 2.95, 0.62, 0.72, 0.90 and 0.88, 2.97, 3.85, 0.71, 0.77, 0.93 for males and females, respectively. The rate of exploitation for P. quasigrandis was found to be lower than the Emax which indicates sustainable utilisation of the resource

Assessment of heavy metals distribution in a coastal environment of Versova coast, Mumbai, India

The existence of heavy metals namely, copper, chromium, and cadmium was studied in coastal waters off Versova, Mumbai. Monthly sampling was carried out from October 2012 to March 2013 across 36 stations. Concentrations of Copper (Cu), Cadmium (Cd) and Chromium (Cr) were measured using the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). The concentration of dissolved elements in surface water varied from 0.01 to 0.03 mg/l. Concentrations of dissolved elements in sub-surface waters were as follows: Cu (0.01 to 0.02 mg/l), Cd (0.02 to 0.03 mg/l) and Cr (0.02 to 0.03 mg/l). The concentrations of Cu, Cd and Cr in suspended solids of the surface water were 0.82 – 1.68, 5.22 – 10.24 and 3.26 – 16.03 mg/kg, respectively, while their concentrations in suspended solid obtained from the sub-surface water were 2.77 – 4.29, 3.24 – 10.10 and 1.91 – 5.67 mg/kg, respectively. The concentrations of Cu, Cd, and Cr in sediments were 74.52 – 112.81, 3.02 – 22.88 and 65.05 – 107.74 mg/kg, respectively. The physico-chemical parameters of water and sediment were analyzed to understand the temporal distribution of heavy metals