Un mar compartido

Existen pocos ámbitos más reveladores que el mar para entender las virtudes de la cooperación internacional en materia científica. En las ciencias marinas esta cooperación es más que deseable: es imprescindible para poder contestar preguntas relacionadas con el movimiento de las corrientes, el aporte de los ríos, los ciclos migratorios de las especies, las pesquerías, etc. Se analiza la importancia de los proyectos conjuntos donde participaron países latinoamericanos, algunos con éxitos, y sobre todo, la importancia de la continuidad. Se detallan un amplio conjunto de recomendaciones que surgieron de varias reuniones sobre ciencia, tecnología y sociedad (CTS) celebradas en la Argentina, Uruguay y Brasil sobre la cooperación científica entre países que comportan el mismo ambiente marino, como es el Atlántico sudoccidental

Marine and coastal ecosystems management in Latin America and the Caribbean : problems and research capacity

Meeting: Reunión sobre Capacidad de Investigación en Temas de Medio Ambiente en América Latina y el Caribe, 27-29 enero 1992, Montevideo, U

Darwin y el mar

Además de sus conocidos aportes a la geología, la paleontología y la biogeografía de ecosistemas terrestres de la región pampeana y la Patagonia (Argentina), Darwin realizó notables y poco difundidas contribuciones al conocimiento de los ambientes marinos costeros del actual territorio argentino y de los organismos que habitan en ellos. La intimidad de Darwin con el mar se advierte en toda su obra: en el Viaje y en el Origen igual que en numerosos trabajos de investigación realizados y publicados a su regreso a Inglaterra. Entre 1846 y 1854 dio a conocer una extensa obra sobre cirrípedos o cirripedios, que sentó las bases del estudio de esos crustáceos y, aún hoy, es bibliografía obligada de los taxónomos. Su trabajo sobre la estructura y distribución de los arrecifes coralinos de 1842, es considerado un documento fundacional del conocimiento sobre el origen de los atolones. Los moluscos fueron igualmente objeto de publicaciones y cartas entre 1848 y 1871. La difundida imagen de Darwin sentado ante un escritorio escribiendo sus libros lleva a olvidar que pasaba también mucho tiempo con el microscopio. En el Viaje del Beagle incluyó párrafos sobre aves marinas, lo mismo que sobre briozoos o briozoarios, y en El origen, explicó sus pensamientos acerca de la migración de los ojos en los lenguados. Dedicó especial atención a las algas gigantes o sargazos marinos de Tierra del Fuego (donde se los conoce por cachiyuyos). Se incluyen los siguientes trabajos de divulgación científica -Darwin y los briozoos; -Darwin y el desarrollo larval de crustáceos; -Sobre Cirripedios; De Darwin a los acelerómetros; -Los peces de cara torcida; -La incursión en la costa sur de Buenos Aires

Perspectives of marine biodiversity studies in Argentina

This paper provides an overview of the research being carried out at the moment by a group of Argentinean scientists working on the subjects of marine biodiversity and oceanography. When the idea of the Census of Marine Life (CoML)was proposed following the Symposium held during the IAPSO-IABO conference in Mar del Plata in October 2001, there was a wide response from the marine scientific community. Information about current research projects, as well as plans for future work in the context of the CoML, were then obtained from about 70 scientists (Appendix I) belonging to 12 institutions located along the Argentinean coast (Appendix II, Figure 1). This has been used to illustrate what is currently being pursued in marine biodiversity in Argentina and which subjects are considered as priority for future research in the area. This paper is, thus, not an historical update of the knowledge of marine biodiversity, but it attempts to give an idea of the current situation and what is planned for the future. The development of an extensive database of what is known on marine biodiversity in the region is considered to be a necessity, but it constitutes a complete project on its own; as such it is included in the proposals for future work (see Future Work in this paper). It is emphasised that this synthesis is not exhaustive in the content of the topics being studied or in the number of researchers working in marine biodiversity in the country. It is, though, considered to be a representative sample of the knowledge in marine science in Argentina today. This is a starting point for the CoML project in South America and it is hoped that, as it develops, it will be improved by the active participation, advice and experience of many other scientists in the region

Crepidula cachimilla (Mollusca: Gastropoda), a new species from Patagonia, Argentina

A new species, Crepidula cachimilla, is described based on a population from 15 m depth in San Antonio Oeste, Argentina. Shell length ranged from 5.4 to 28.5 mm for males and from 9.6 to 52.2 mm for females. The minimum shell length recorded for a brooding female was 23.5 mm, and the maximum shell length was 49.3 mm. A detailed anatomical description is given, showing as main characters of the species a relative thick columellar muscle, a greater closure of the palliai cavity aperture by a fusion of the mantle border, a very small osphradium, with about 16 broad filaments, endostyle divided by a middle longitudinal furrow, very large salivary glands, duplication of both gastric ducts to the digestive gland, male seminal vesicle very long and with irregular walls, pallial oviduct with a broad vaginal duct and a tall papilla originating both from palliai floor and roof. Brood egg masses of mature females contained from 15 to 65 egg capsules. The triangular-shaped egg capsules measured between 2.2 and 3.4 mm in length and between 2.3 and 3.8 mm in width. Each egg capsule contained between 129 and 563 eggs. The number of eggs per capsule and the egg diameter did not correlate with female shell length. Uncleaved eggs measured between 180 and 200 μm in diameter. They all developed synchronously within the egg capsules. Prehatching veliger shells measured between 260 and 300 μm in length. After hatching at the veliger stage, protoconch length during metamorphosis ranged between 700 and 800 μm. These parameters neither coincide with those reported by Hoagland (1977) for the similar Californian Crepidula onyx, nor with the reproductive characters reported by Miloslavich & Penchaszadeh (2001) for Crepidula aplysioides, which supposedly occurs in the region.Fil:Cledón, M. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil:Penchaszadeh, P.E. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina

Egg capsules, eggs and embryos of the southwestern Atlantic gastropod Coronium coronatum (Gastropoda: Muricidae)

The egg capsules, eggs and embryos of the muricid gastropod Coronium coronatum are described for the first time. Capsules are sessile, bulliform, semi-circular, with a plug in the dorsal center. Sutures split the capsule into two asymmetrical halves. Recently laid capsules showed the presence of 3639 (n = 2) uncleaved nurse eggs with a diameter of 180-210 μm (mean = 197.4 ± 8.9). The number of early embryos was 9-11. The size of the embryos was 320 × 320 to 820-880 μm. Nine pre-hatching embryos of 3.94 mm (n = 8, SD = 0.32) were found inside the older capsule. SEM illustrations of embryos and radulae are provided. Comparison of shell and radula of embryos with the protoconch and radulae of adults of C. coronatum revealed that the capsule belongs to this species. © The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Malacological Society of London, all rights reserved.Fil:Penchaszadeh, P.E. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina